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Head of Office – South East Liberia

Based in Harper – Maryland County

BACKGROUND

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has been present in south east Liberia since 1998. Since 2006 DRC has been pursuing a regional strategy determined and shaped by the displacement patterns stemming from the conflicts in the West Africa region.

With the aim of building up protection capacities for people in displacement and of working towards durable solutions upon return, DRC strives to have a presence in refugee/IDP producing areas and communities as well as in refugee/IDP receiving and hosting areas and communities. Currently, DRC runs a regional programme focusing on border areas between Liberia, Cote D’Ivoire and South East Guinée that includes protection and emergency interventions as well as rehabilitation and recovery activities. In the coming three years, DRC will continue to focus on these areas as they are particularly prone to conflict related displacement and protection violations due to resource competition and inter-ethnic tensions. The regional office is located in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

DRC’s South East Liberia programme focuses on protection, emergency response and community recovery and development within the sectors of Camp Management, WASH, livelihoods and social cohesion. The program is currently funded by Danida, EC, UNHCR, SIDA, OFDA, DRC own funds and private donors. The current annual portfolio is app 2 million USD, but set to grow over the coming year. The Liberia Country Director will supervise 3 local recruited expatriate staff, as well more than 80 local staff. A close working relationship will be maintained with the regional management team.

JOB PURPOSE

The Head of Field Office (HoFO) for DRC South East Liberia is responsible for overseeing planning, implementation and monitoring of DRC programs, contributing to writing proposals and developing concept papers, supervision of staff, and preparing reports. He/she represents DRC vis-à-vis local authorities, donor representatives, international organizations and NGOs in the area of operation. The HoFo is responsible of the financial, administrative and logistics of the program in the area of operaton as well as for security planning and implementation of security precautions. The HoFo is supervised and reports to DRC Liberia Country Director.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Programming

 Planning and coordinating successful and timely implementation of all projects/programs in the area of operation, and in collaboration with the Emergency Coordinator to support the current refugee emergency related interventions

• Responsible for regular project documentation and reporting (collecting technical data, compiling reporting from the technical and field staff)

• Conducting assessments and fact finding missions to set up new or follow-up projects, assisting in preparation of project proposals for external donors and negotiate/defend them, conceptualizing and developing sectoral and local strategies in close co-operation with the Country Director

• Coordination with all actors involved in the implementation of the programme, including local partners and authorities, and ensure that programme activities are well-coordinated with activities of other humanitarian actors in the area

• Maintains close and good collaboration with major donors and partners of the programme

• Ensure that the DRC South East Liberia program is implemented in accordance with DRC standard regulations and operational procedures (e.g. Code of Conduct, HAP Principles, DRC Assistance Framework, DRC Operational handbook and DRC Program handbook)

• Ensure that at all times contact with beneficiaries, target groups and representatives of authorities is conducted in a sensitive and respectful manner

• Ensure input for and participate in the operationalisation of the DRC Regional West Africa Strategy

Monitoring and Reporting

• Supervising implementation of the projects by monitoring and evaluation (quality control, monitoring objectives and indicators) to ensure that activities/projects are implemented in accordance with agreed strategies, principles, implementation plans, and donor requirements

• Ensure that timely and quality project narrative reports are provided to the donors on time according to donors requirement

Administration and Personnel Management, Finance and logistic

• Responsible for project budget and administration, procurement, logistics, and storage in collaboration with Regional Head of Administration and Finance

• Personnel management: guiding, advising, participating in training, supervising and recruiting local project staff and taking care of their security

Security

• Ensure appropriate information regarding security in South East Liberia

• Ensure a Security network with all possible stakeholders in South East Liberia

• Responsibility for security planning including regular updating of security and evacuation plans and measures, and implementation of security and contingency plan

• Ensure that security incidents are reported to the Country Director

• Other duties as handed down from the Country Director

REQUIREMENTS

• Solid professional international field experience at senior level

• Demonstrated HRM and leadership experience

• Practical experience at all levels of the programme cycle (undertaking assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring and documenting ones results)

• Experience in working with EuropeAid, USAID, ECHO and UNHCR guidelines is an advantage

• Fluency in written and spoken English, computer literate, knowledge of French an added advantage

• Cultural sensitivity and adaptability

• Acceptance of, and preferably experience from, working under difficult conditions in conflict-affected areas.

TERMS

Starting Date: 1. December, 2011

Duty station: Harper, Maryland, Liberia (Non-family station)

Contract: 12 months, with possibility of extension (subject to funding)

Salary: EUR 3,000. This is a local recruited expatriate position.

FURTHER INFORMATION

You are welcome to contact Head of Desk Elsa Moreno on email: elsa.moreno@drc.dk or Regional Director Gilles Ponserre on email: rd-wa@drc.dk for further information on the programme and the position.

Please note that applications are not to be sent to Ms Moreno or Mr Ponserre; we only receive applications via our online-application form at www.drc.dk under Vacancies/Current vacancies/Head of Office – South East Liberia. Applications sent directly to Ms Moreno or Mr Ponserre WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

APPLICATION AND CV

Only motivated applications that address the stipulated duties and meet the required qualifications sent together with a CV, in English and marked “Head of Field Office –South East Liberia” will be considered.

We only accept applications sent via our on-line system at www.drc.dk under Vacancies/Current Vacancies/IA “Head of Field Office – South East Liberia”.

Please remember to upload a letter of application together with your CV. CV-only applications will not be considered.

Applications are to be sent to no later than Monday 31. October, 2011.

Please contact Anne Oxholm, job@drc.dk, if you experience problems with your on-line application.

ABOUT DRC

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a private, humanitarian organisation covering all aspects of the refugee cause. Our aim is protection and promotion of durable solutions to refugee and displacement problems, on the basis of humanitarian principles and human rights. We work on the basis of the Code of Conduct for the ICRC and NGOs in Disaster Relief, and the UN Conventions on Refugees.