Deputy Country Director for Programs at Solidarites International (SI)

Solidarites International (SI) is a French humanitarian organisation operating for over 35 years who is committed to providing aid in the event of conflict and natural disasters. Our mission is to provide aid as quickly and as efficiently as possible to endangered populations by meeting their vital needs:  water, food and shelter.

SI has started activities in North-eastern Nigeria in August 2016 in the fields of Wash and is now intervening in 4 areas of the state for Wash and Shelter activities.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Deputy Country Director for Programs

Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Duration of the Mission: 12 months renewable
Desired Start Date: 15th May, 2018

About the Mission in Nigeria

• Solidarites International opened the Nigeria mission over the 2016 summer. Starting with a single project, this mission has quickly expanded and SI is now a major WASH and shelter actor in the Borno State. After fast growth it is not the time for the mission to settle and be structured in depth
• The current political and military crisis has affected millions of lives in the area and SI is answering the targeted needs of displaced populations and host communities in Maiduguri suburbs, but also is IDPs camps and host communities in Borno State. The targeted areas of intervention are WASH (wide range of activities), shelter and logistics.

Here are the Key Numbers and Information About the Mission:

• Number of bases: 4 (Maiduguri, Dikwa, Monguno, Ngala)
• Number of coordination bases: 1 in Maiduguri (The mission also has a liaison office in Abuja)
• Number of expatriates: 22
• Number of national staffs: 120
• Budget: 7 million Euro
• Budget forecast for 2018: 7,5 million Euro

Type and Content of Program Currently Running:

• Multi-sectorial WASH and FSL project funded by EuropeAid (3 Three years) in consortium (leaded by ALIMA) started in January 2018 in Monguno, Ngala, Askira and Hawul
• Logistic Platform funded by WFP Monguno
• Emergency WASH et Shelter response funded by OFDA Maiduguri, Monguno, Dikwa, Ngala
• WASH funded by CDC Ngala
• Emergency WASH inHealth funded by ECHO- in partnership with ALIMA (leaded by SI) in Maiduguri and Monguno
• Emergency WASH funded by ECHO Maiduguri, Monguno and Dikwa.

New Additional Projects are Being Validated by Donors for 2018:

• Multi-sectorial Health-Nutrition-WASH-Shelter-FSL-Protection project funded by ECHO (1 year) in partnership with PUI, ACTED, INTERSOS and TDH (leaded by ACTED) in Monguno/Kukawa and Maiduguri
• Emergency WASH in Health project funded by ECHO in partnership with ALIMA (leaded by SI) in Maiduguri and Monguno/Kukawa

Key Points

• This mission if young but rather strong and has potential to continue developing relevant and mandate-based interventions to cover the humanitarian needs in the area and to ensure a real humanitarian impact
• The teams are well staffed with very diverse profiles (half former SI, large part of former national staffs from several SI missions, various backgrounds and technicalities). Only one position remains to be filled at the moment (Field Co Ngala).
• Overall the atmosphere is very good, people get along and there should be no hidden conflict to deal with.

About The Job
Under the supervision of his Country Director and with the support of headquarters teams, the Deputy Country Director for Programs is responsible for:

Structuration:

• The mission is rather young (summer 2016) and has grown very rapidly, it is reaching a moment where it needs to be structured and strengthened to ensure a serene continuous evolution
• This process is currently ongoing, but needs to be continued. Considering his strategic position in the organogram of the mission, the DCD is in daily contact with the whole coordination team, and has to ensure that all those departments are working in good cooperation with the program teams.

Implementation:

• Important delays have been taken in the implementation of the current projects, because of internal and external factors
• The DCD has to ensure that all the program teams are not reproducing the same past mistakes.

Reporting and Proposal Writing:

• The DCD, with the support of the Grants manager, is in charge of the drafting of the reports to donors (interim, final…), or ad-hoc reports
• S/he is the one responsible of the redaction of the proposals: strategic orientations in cooperation with the other members of the coordination especially the Country Director, organization of assessments, division of the tasks between the departments involved in the redaction…

Quality Follow Up:

• As head of the Program Coordination department, the DCD is in charge of the improvement of the quality of the intervention, thanks to the supervision of a MEAL and technical department (shelter advisor, water analyst…).

Partnerships and Representation:

• The mission is working in partnership with various partners within 3 consortia (2 with ALIMA, 1 with PUI, ACTED, REACH, INTERSOS and TDH)
• The governance/management of these consortiums must be closely monitored and improved
• A regular participation in coordination meetings (Abuja and Maiduguri) must also be ensured.

The Main Challenges of the Position
Specific Stakes and Challenges:

• Security: the volatile security context can lead to delay/suspension of activities and reduce the access to the areas of implementation. Furthermore, the regular clashes between the different stakeholders of the conflict are causing important movements of population. Thus, the programs, and more globally the mission, should show a strong adaptation and reactivity capacity.
• Contractors: SI’s activities are sometimes requiring strong technical skills and heavy machinery (borehole drillings…). Thus, SI has to rely on contractors to conduct those works which should be very closely monitored.
• Lack of coordination: the several organizations active on the field are not coordinating enough, which has an impact on the implementation of the activities.
• Management: Head of a team of six persons, the DCD has the direct management of four staffs: one grants manager (expatriate), one WaSH Coordinator (expatriate), one Shelter advisor (national) and one MEAL Coordinator to be recruited (expatriate). As functional manager of the program team at base level, the DCD should have regular exchanges with the Program managers, without overlapping the Field Coordinators.
• A key management point is that in Maiduguri are located both an operational base and most of the coordination team. It will be important to ensure that communication schemes are in place and that there is no confusion between base and coordination (decision making, roles and responsibilities).
• National HR: the strong profile of some key staffs allowed to recently launching the nationalization of several expatriates’ position.

Priorities for the 2/3 First Months:

• Capitalization on the lessons learnt of the past projects recently finished and follow up of the redaction of the final reports.
• Supervision of the 2018 programs recently launched to make sure that the activities are on track.
• Reinforcement of the role of the Program Coordination team, in order to increase the quality and the monitoring of the activities implemented.
• In case of any new opportunities, follow up of the redaction of new project proposals.

Living Conditions:

• In Maiduguri, the base offers a comfortable environment, in spite of limited movements outside of the compound for security reasons.

Your Profile

• Strong leadership, capacity to inspire and bring together various profiles.
• Good capacity to delegate, but strong capacity of following up several projects in several areas to allow a quick reactivity in case an issue arises.
• Good communication skills, especially towards the remote bases, field teams and partners (NGOs, authorities, donors…).
• Strong workload resistance.
• Understanding of projects and programs stakes (experience in WASH and or emergency is an asset)
• Previous experience in managing a consortium and strong partnerships with other NGOs.

SI will Offer you …
A Salaried Post:

• According to experience from 2600 Euros gross per month, plus 10% annual leave allowance paid monthly + perdiem
• Bearing in mind that an increase in salary levels is planned for April 1, 2018, which will substantially change remuneration levels.

Social and Medical Cover:

• Expatriates benefit from an insurance package which reimburses all healthcare expenses (including medical and surgical expenses, dental care and ophthalmological expenses, repatriation) and a welfare system including war risks. Essential vaccination and antimalarial treatment costs are refunded.

Vacation:

• During the assignment, a system of alternation between work and time off is implemented at the rate of one break every three months
• For a one-year assignment, the expatriate will have a 7-day break during the 3rd and the 9th month (with 500 euros allocated by Solidarités)
• He or she will also be entitled to go back to his or her home country for a 14-day period after six months spent on the mission (Solidarites will cover travel costs)

Application Closing Date
10th May, 2018.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• Please send us your CV and Cover letter in English. CV only applications will not be considered.
• The vacancy may close before the deadline. Thank you for your comprehension.