JOB DESCRIPTION
Title: Deputy Country Director – Program
Location: Ramallah/Cairo
Travel: 50% of Travel
Job Family and Grade: Program Management & Leadership Family, Grade M6
Pre hire checks
This role is classified as requiring Enhanced Due Diligence
- Scope
Department: Management/Program
Reporting to: Country Director
Direct reports: 6+
Budget responsibility: $15m
Relationship management: Country Director, Country SMT, Support Functions, Regional Program Director
2. Context
About Relief International
Relief International (RI) partners with communities impacted by conflict, climate change, and disaster to save lives, build greater resilience and promote long-term health and well-being.
Currently, RI is active in 15 countries around the world, including some of the most fragile: Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Myanmar, occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), Pakistan, Philippines, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen.
Relief International includes the four corporate members of the RI Alliance: Relief International Inc., Relief International-UK, Relief International-France and Relief International-Europe Under our alliance agreement, we operate with a single, shared management structure.
About our Country Program
Relief International was operational in OPT starting in 2007, and after entering hibernation period in 2017, has recently reactivated its operations at the end of 2023. Relief International is currently building its response to the current and evolving situation in both Gaza and the West Bank through both a direct implementation and partnership approach. Relief International’s programming in OPT follows Relief International’s global strategy with Health as a central focus with components linked to our work in Health through the sectors of WASH, Protection, Education and Livelihoods. The context in OPT is extremely dynamic and requires focus on nexus programming that brings together both humanitarian service delivery combined with systems strengthening and longer-term programming. Navigating complex program challenges, including ensuring program quality within a very difficult operational environment, will be a key area of focus for the Deputy Country Director – Programs.
Middle East Region
RI operates in seven countries in the Middle East region: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Turkey and Yemen, with a focus on the four RI sector pillars: Health, WASH, Education and Livelihood. We employ more than 4,000 staff (direct and indirect) in the Middle East region and implement a range of humanitarian and development programs valued at approximately $70 million USD on an annual basis.
3. Job Profile
The Deputy Country Director of Program (DCD – P) shares the overall responsibility for the direction and coordination of the Country Office operations. The DCD-P, as a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT) for OPT, is accountable for overseeing the quality of RI’s programming in the Country, drive the CO strategic plan, and work closely with Country Director on new program development initiatives, program advocacy, and innovation.
The DCD P will be responsible for ensuring development of high quality, evidence based, high impact, innovative programs that deliver immediate and lasting changes in the communities RI works in. In coordination with key in-country, regional and global stakeholders, s/he is responsible to ensure the compliance with technical standards in program design and implementation.
4. Key responsibilities
Accountability and Complexity
- Leads country level or functional teams and/or is responsible for a specialized program of moderate/ large resource requirements, risk, and/or complexity
- Adapts plans and priorities to meet service and/or operational challenges
- Is a people manager and directly manages other team members or specialized teams.
- Leads in representing RI in large complex contexts: externally with donors, partners, and communities
- Ensures programs are delivered safely, and services are high quality, and ensures effective management of operations, funding, and teams
Strategic oversight and representation
- Provide leadership, strategic vision, coherence and direction to the country program as a member of the SMT
- As delegated by the Country Director, takes the overall leadership in leading coordination for the development and updates of Country Strategy which reflects needs on the ground as well as the RI Global Strategy
- Support development of cross-team coordination mechanisms to ensure effective collaboration and integration across key programs related departments (e.g., awards, supply chain and operations)
- Promotes safe programming as an integral component of all departments’ work.
- Lead and/or champion change management initiatives.
Program and Budget Management
- Responsible for effective management of program implementation, including the delivery of high-quality programming, in a timely, on budget and compliant manner in alignment with internal system and processes as well as donor regulations.
- Ensure preparation of timely and high-quality progress reports, program reports, and donor reports
- Ensure adequate coordination between program teams (i.e. PMs, Technical Advisors, MEAL and Awards and Partnership) for quality, timely and compliant delivery of all interventions.
- Serve as overall budget holder for all programs; manage and support delegated sub-budget holders for individual projects.
- Regularly monitor program’s expenditures, ensuring they are on track and swiftly raise identified risks for prompt action.
Program Development
- Support fundraising, ensuring the development of high-quality concept notes and proposals, and engage effectively with donors and relevant stakeholders.
- Ensure programs design have a strong evidence base resulting from learning via needs assessments, programs’ data and situational analyses.
- Ensure that the country office has high quality, cost-effective and evidence based multi-sector programs reflecting RI global initiatives and theory of change.
- Ensure gender, protection and environment mainstreaming across different RI sectors of intervention.
MEAL and Knowledge Management
- Ensure the establishment and implementation of a robust MEAL system that provides timely and accurate project results data by embedding MEAL across program implementation.
- Ensure the development and implementation of quality evidence and learning plans, ensuring outcomes and impacts are captured, documented, reported, and inform decision making.
- Ensure plans to promote accountability to affected populations (AAP) are high quality and inform programming.
- Ensure effective collaboration between MEAL staff, technical advisors and thematic specialists in the development of sector log frames, indicators, implementation plans, and monitoring and evaluation frameworks and related tools.
Quality Assurance
- Ensure RI programs comply with internal and international quality standards.
- Ensure effective working relationships with RI regional and global technical advisors, procuring technical support as needed to support program efforts.
- Set up Quality Benchmarks according to RI program quality standards and will ensure with the Program Technical Advisors regular monitoring and quarterly reviews.
- Support capacity development of technical experts, maximizing their role as technical support providers to field teams and local project partners.
- Ensure evidence-based approaches and learning are captured and documented to support quality reporting and proposals to donors.
Risk Management
- Lead on the Portfolio Review and Project Risk analysis on a monthly basis in coordination with the program team and SMT and responsible for submission to Regional Senior Management Team on a monthly basis.
- Actively contribute to the development/update and oversight of the Country Risk Register on a quarterly basis as delegated by the Country Director and drive key mitigations forward with functional leads.
- Ensure mitigation action plans identified by functional heads are implemented and are supporting programme operations.
Behavior and conduct
- Ensures that behavior inside and outside of work promotes the values in RI’s code of conduct and safeguarding policies.
- Acts with integrity and holds themselves accountable for being respectful, inclusive and professional.
- Reports any concerns.
Management and leadership
- Ensure the highest standards of behavior inside and outside of work promotes the values in RI’s code of conduct and safeguarding policies.
- Be a model for ethical conduct standards for other team members.
- Embrace diversity, and model inclusive and equitable behaviour.
- Ensure own actions and the actions of the teams’ members they manage do not adversely impact the safety of the RI team and the vulnerable communities we serve.
- Ensure donors, partners and communities are aware of RI conduct and reporting mechanisms.
- Ensure safeguarding is embedded in all the work we do.
- Be responsible for ensuring a culture and systems in place for reporting.
- Report any concerns.
5. Person Specification
Skills, knowledge and expertise required for the role.
Essential criteria
- 7-10 years of experience working in senior management positions, or similar role, in a humanitarian context.
- Master’s degree in a relevant field or bachelor’s degree with commensurate work experience.
- Knowledge of and experience working with key institutional donors including BHA, ECHO, EU, FCDO and UN agencies among others.
- Proven experience in new program development, project management and coordination
- Ability to think creatively to solve problems with effective and efficient ways to accomplish goals
- Ability to make decisions, work under pressure on a number of competing tasks meeting deadlines
- Experience in more than one of RI Thematic sectors: Health and Nutrition, WASH, Livelihood
- Excellent interpersonal, communication skills;
- Experience of managing and developing a team
- Excellent external representation skills
- Fluency in English, both written and verbal essential
Desirable criteria
- Experience working in conflict affected areas and/or in complex and fragile settings.
- Skills and proven experience in leading strategic planning, change management and program management processes – particularly from the knowledge and learning perspective.
- Arabic language
6. RI Values
Guided by the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, as well as “Do No Harm,” Relief International Values:
- Integrity
- Adaptability
- Collaboration
- Inclusivity
- Sustainability