Country Director

Danish Refugee Council

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Position: Country Director

Job Time: Full-Time

Job Type: Contract

Place of Work: Addis Ababa with frequent travel to the field, Ethiopia

Posted date: 8 months ago

Application Deadline: Submition date is over

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Background: 

DRC has been providing relief and development services in the Horn of Africa since 1997. Using a human rights framework, the DRC East Africa and Great Lakes (EAGL) operation focuses mainly on people who are affected by displacement, including refugees, internally displaced, and migrants in Burundi, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The EAGL Regional office also supports non-operational initiatives, focusing on mixed migration issues, civil society engagement, and advocacy and policy initiatives related to displacement.

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a leading protection agency and been operating in Ethiopia since 2010 and in Djibouti since 2013. Our mandate is to promote and protect durable solutions to conflict and displacement affected populations on the basis of humanitarian principles and human rights. DRC implements a multi-sector response to support IDPs, refugees from South Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea, and host populations in surrounding communities in and around Gambella, Dima, Dolo Ado, Jijiga, Bule Hora, Shire, Djiboutiville, Obock, and Ali Sabieh, supported by a country office in Addis Ababa. Current programme sectors include protection, food security, WASH, shelter and NFI, livelihoods, and resilience.  DRC Ethiopia also hosts a Regional Durable Solutions Secretariat EA (ReDSS) unit and plays a key role in the INGO coordination of the refugee response in the country. The total annual turnover is approximately 13 million USD with 320 staff across both countries.  

The overall purpose of the role:

The CD’s prime objectives will be to provide leadership and strategic management with a view to positioning DRC as the leading INGO in Ethiopia and Djibouti on protection of displaced populations and people on the move, as well as the promotion of durable solutions, overseeing the strengthening of DRC’s programme development, quality and accountability framework and to be a proactive partner in the wider regional strategic and programme development processes.

 

Responsibilities:

Direct managerial oversight and support: Ensure that the SMT and PMs have clear and realistic performance-based management goals. Tasks include:

• Direct line management of SMT, Consortium Managers, Area Managers, and countrywide programme support team;
• Support PMs to establish good management support for their teams;
• Provide on-going support and coaching, and ensure that staff has the necessary capacity to fulfil their responsibilities.

Programme Strategy: To develop and update the Ethiopia and Djibouti a programme strategy, within DRC/DDG’s overall regional and global strategic frameworks. Tasks include:

• Keeping abreast key conflict and displacement trends in the region impacting Ethiopia-Djibouti;
• Identifying key developments and trends in refugee response in countries and position the organisation to best deal with these
• Ensure that the key regional and global frameworks are contextualised and applied in the country program context and ensure that staff understand these,
• Leading a consultative process for local strategy development and ensuring that beneficiaries remain at the center of our work,
• Leading the Ethiopia-Djibouti annual programme portfolio analyses,
• Playing a key role in fundraising and donor contract management.

Quality and Accountability: To be responsible for ensuring that programmes comply with organizational quality and accountability commitments. Tasks include:

• Ensure that the Operations and Programme Handbooks are utilized throughout all offices,
• Lead process of developing and updating the local Humanitarian Accountability Framework and Quality Management System,
• Promote accountability concepts and practices,
• Promote effective evidence development and learning across the country operation

Safety and Security: To hold overall responsibility for ensuring that DRC’s Ethiopia-Djibouti programme is delivered in a safe and secure manner. Tasks include:

• Working with DRC’s Regional Security Advisor and Ethiopia-Djibouti safety specialists to ensure that all EAGL security management protocols and procedures are updated, made locally relevant and applied consistently,
• To be overall responsible for ensuring security analyses is being done collectively and regularly,
• Ensuring compliance with risk mitigation against corruption, fraud and diversion.

Representation, Coordination, and Stakeholder management: To ensure that DRC/DDG maintains excellent and productive relations with all key stakeholders, especially beneficiaries, local authorities, the humanitarian community and donors. Tasks include:

• Representing DRC/DDG at relevant and senior forums/ meetings,
• Ensuring other staff are appropriately representing DRC/DDG at relevant forums/ meetings,
• Maintaining agreed profile of DRC/DDG at the country level,
• Conducting regular stakeholder analyses to ensure that DRC/DDG has a good understanding of dynamics/ relationships,
• Engaging in, and where effective, leading coordination processes amongst key stakeholders.

Advocacy and communication: To lead the Ethiopia-Djibouti team’s advocacy in all DRC/DDG key messages. Tasks include:

• With the Regional Office to prepare and implement an advocacy and communication strategy,
• Guiding staff to advocate clearly, appropriately, and strategically.

Financial accountability: Ensure that the different programmes deliver financial accountability. Tasks include:

• Playing an active and coordinating role in linking finance teams with the Regional finance teams, and financial management itself,
• Ensuring that financial systems are followed by FOs and that financial reports submitted are accurate,
• Ensuring the finance and programme teams have a productive engagement.

Experience and technical competencies

• At least ten years’ management experience, as head or senior member of humanitarian or development programme/organization; at least five years in East Africa region
• Demonstrated experience with conflict-related displacement issues
• Good communicator and proven diplomacy with all types of stakeholders
• Proven commitment to accountable practices and knowledgeable of quality assurance systems
• Hands-on experience in managing staff in insecure and remote locations with strong human resource management skills in general.
• Experience in managing budgets and multiple donor contracts
• Demonstrated experience in donor contact, fundraising, and networking. 

About you:

Education: Master’s degree in relevant field

Languages: Fluency in English and French (speaking, writing, reading) is essential

Contract: Two years’ contract.  Other employment conditions in accordance with the Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for Global Expatriates.

This position is underemployment category D

Duty station: Addis Ababa with frequent travel to the field. This position is accompanied

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