Pakistan Head of Mission

COUNTRY: Pakistan Starting date: 01/02/2012 Closing date for application: 31/01/2012 CITY: Islamabad Length of the assignment: 1 year Advertisement reference: Surname/Name/HOM/PAK

Handicap International is an independent and impartial international aid organisation working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. Working alongside persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, our action and testimony are focused on responding to their essential needs, improving their living conditions and promoting respect for their dignity and their fundamental rights.

Handicap International is a not-for-profit organisation with no religious or political affiliation. It operates as a federation made up of a network of associations that provide it with human and financial resources, manage its projects and implement its actions and social mission.

Through its Emergency Response Department (ERD), created in 2006 after the merge with Atlas Logistique, the organization is committed to: - Provide an adequate response to major natural disaster and conflict situations, anywhere in the world as much as possible within 72 hours; - Provide assistance to vulnerable groups (refugees, IDPs, persons with injuries, elders, children, etc.) affected by a crisis and maximize the number of beneficiaries. Within vulnerable groups, target especially PwD and meet their specific needs; - Constantly monitor chronic crises and/or conflicts to ensure preparedness for and rapid response to eventual emerging needs.

Directly linked to the Emergency Response Department of Handicap International France, the expatriate will be mandated for the following mission:

MISSION CONTEXT

Handicap International is present in Pakistan since 2005, in response to the earthquake. From then, Handicap International has implemented firstly emergency activities, leading to a longer term strategy implemented since then.

In April 2009, offensive lasting months were launched by Government to wrest control of north-western districts from militants. Millions of persons were displaced by the conflict and returned a few months ago. Since then, there is still a lot of uncertainty on the stability of the area as threat of violence is constant, not to mention the confirmed presence of landmines, explosive remnants of war and other explosive devices. In November 2009, a conflict broke out in South-Waziristan. Again, the PAK army tracked militants there. Others hundred of thousands of people flew to the district of Tank and D.I Khan in south NWFP. In such a context, the response provided by the local and international community is designed to be global, therefore not taking in account the particular needs of the most vulnerable population (persons with disabilities/injuries/chronic diseases, older persons, etc). As a result, persons with special needs are most of the time forgotten because they are factually “invisible” to the relief actors. To ensure an appropriate response is provided to the most vulnerable persons, HI is initiating a response to support the vulnerable communities at their place of return.

August 2010: the worst floods to hit Pakistan since 1929 have left more than three millions people in need of emergency assistance. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), the worst affected province, the Provincial Government now puts the death toll at nearly 1500 people, with more than 500 people still missing. The actual figures could be higher as communication networks in many areas are still disrupted. Initial assessments indicate that Charsadda, Nowshera and Swat are amongst the worst affected districts. Other badly hit areas, including Lower and Upper Dir, remain largely inaccessible to humanitarian actors.

The intervention of the Emergency Response Department is therefore declined under three main axes: Conflict response (ongoing since 2009) – KPK province - - Direct response to the basic and specific needs of the vulnerable persons through mobile units: 1/ Provision of essential basic items / NFI mitigating their vulnerability 2/ Provision of specific items with regard to specific needs, including protection items 3/ Establishment of psychosocial support, specifically targeting the vulnerable persons - Provision of safe and accessible water and sanitation (WASH) facilities for vulnerable persons with restricted mobility, through modification of the existing facilities and building of new facilities - Emergency Mine Risk Education (EMRE), in order to mitigate the possible risk of accidents for this very exposed IDP population at the time of their return.

Flood response (ongoing since august 2010) –KPK and Sindh provinces - - Improve the access of affected population to safe drinking water on short term basis - Emergency shelter and NFI distribution - Support to solid waste /water management and cleaning debris in affected cities - Disability and Vulnerability approach

Development activities (ongoing since 2005) – Kashmir and KPK - - Disaster Risk reduction: a project about to start by early January - Community based Rehabilitation: a project about to start by early January

MAIN RESPONSABILITIES OF THE EXPATRIATE

Based in Islamabad, under the direct supervision of the Head of Mission, the successful applicant will play a crucial role in the implementation of HI’s programs in Pakistan in supporting the head of mission. The deputy head of mission will be responsible for:

Main purpose of the Role To support the Head of Mission in the daily management of the Pakistan mission

Specific Responsibilities

SUPERVISION AND MONITORING  You support the head of mission to ensure in coordination with the M&E coordinator the coherence, the homogeneity and the quality of all projects (methodologies, indicators and results follow up), consistent with the project management cycle, program objectives, activities and indicators;  You may be asked to organise and animate team coordination meetings as frequently as possible;  You organize field visits on each operational base on a regular basis;  You organize and animate workgroups on a regular basis with each project manager;  You inform your head of mission of any relevant issue related to the project implementation;  You ensure in coordination with the M&E coordinator the monthly follow up of the projects impact indicators;  You guarantee the respect of applicable logistics and administrative procedures in coordination with the administrative and logistics coordinators;  You support the head of mission for ensuring the monthly follow up of the budgets through coordination with the administrator;  You support the head of mission for ensuring the transparency of acquisition, utilisation and follow up of all materials and equipments dedicated to the projects through coordination with the logistician;  You support the head of mission in ensuring eligibility and good utilisation of funds allocated to the projects.  You coordinate the drawing-up of plans, proposals, and budgets for new projects & extensions of projects in conjunction with the head of mission and the program staff;  You ensure project monitoring systems are in place and that reviews are undertaken periodically in conjunction with the team, the head of mission, project partners and relevant local stakeholders

REPORTING  You receive and take acknowledgment of technical sitreps sent by the team (administrative, logistics, and project technical sitreps), you validate these reports and transmit them to the head of mission and highlight critical information;  You ensure reports are completed in accordance with deadlines/ compliance requirements; and undertake report editing where necessary;  You support the head of mission to regularly update partners on the organisation activities (especially in relevant coordination meetings) and send activities reports when accurate;  You support the head of mission to regularly update donors on projects follow up (through contractual demanded or ad hoc reports);  You provide the head of mission with a mission report and/or handover document at the end of your contract;  Debriefing at HQ at the end of your mission (and during Home-Break).

TEAM MANAGEMENT (no expatriate staff under your direct supervision)  You support the head of mission to ensure a good communication – coordination – information level of each member of the team through regular coordination meetings (or other if needed);  You propose relevant needed adaptation to the organisational chart of the mission and contribute to its implementation (job descriptions, etc.), in collaboration with the expatriate team and the head of mission;  You may be asked to support expatriates in their national staff management and to monitor / support stress management

REPRESENTATION  You support the Head of Mission when needed to ensure Handicap International representation towards local authorities, institutional donors, humanitarian actors and partners;  You participate actively to coordination and information meetings (clusters, NGO coordination, etc.);  You participate actively to the liaison with Pakistani authorities, through preparation of administrative files, authorisation requests, and meetings with authority representatives;  You may be asked to represent the organisation, its activities and programs during delegation visits;

STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAMS  You may be asked to make suggestions for Handicap International strategy in the region;  You may be asked to lead assessment missions for the elaboration of new projects;  You ensure proposal and reports writing or revising (renewal of projects or new projects) in coordination with the head of mission and field coordinators for the drawing-up of plans, proposals, and budgets.

SECURITY MANAGEMENT  Ensure the respect of the security guideline and recommendations adopted on the mission, by yourself and the team under your responsibility, as well as the good functioning of the relative tools and process and the correct use and acknowledge from all the members under your responsibility;  Ensure that every single incident you are involved in or witness of is reported as fast as possible through the appropriate channel

This job description is not fully exhaustive. The Deputy Head of Mission is expected to be flexible according to the mission’s needs and accept extra duties as per the demands of the Head of Mission.

PROFILE REQUIRED

• Experience in Humanitarian field mandatory (3 years minimum) at the same position or as head of mission or field coordinator;
• Relevant previous experience in an overseas post-conflict or development environment;
• Knowledge of the intervention in emergency context;
• Strong communication and training skills, capacity to motivate and mobilize international and national teams;
• Ability to work well under unstable security environments, and administrative and programmatic pressures. Must demonstrate flexibility to adapt to changing requirements;
• Strong organizational and supervisory skills, flexibility and ability to handle multiple tasks at one time;
• Being a strong team player and adept at creating a strong team spirit;
• Ability to work with culturally diverse groups of people;
• Ability to write and edit quality project proposals and reports;

REQUIRED LANGUAGE SKILLS:

• Excellent written and spoken English;

EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS:

Salary: “2200 – 2600 upon experience” gross salary/month + 457 Euros net expatriation allowance + 50% of the medical cover taken in charge by HI + repatriation insurance + indemnity for partner and children

How to apply:

Thanks for sending your cover letter and resume by email at: Jeanne Vogt Handicap International/Direction de l’Action d’Urgence Ref : NAME/SURNAME/DepHOM/PAK E-mail : officerh3@handicap-international.org