Associate Country Director - Abuja, Nigeria

Oxfam Novib is committed to ridding the world of poverty. We have a conviction that people are well capable of building a livelihood without poverty on their own, once given the chance to do so. Which is why we support local projects in developing countries, why we lobby governments and companies to take into account the interests of the poorest people, and why we campaign to involve Dutch men and women also in our work. We work together with other Oxfam affiliates to increase our impact on development issues.

As Oxfam Novib will be setting-up a Country Office in Abuja in order to be able to fulfill its role as Managing Affiliate in Nigeria, in preparation for the SMS go-live and decentralization of all its operations, both planned for November 2012, Oxfam Novib wishes to recruit a:

Associate Country Director
To be based in Abuja, Nigeria
40 hours per week
Starting date: ASAP for one year (with possible extension)

Overall purpose of the job

Support the Single Management Structure (SMS) and decentralisation planning process under the leadership of the Country Director in Abuja, and act as the liaison person & acting Associate Country Director between HQ in The Hague and the emerging Country Office

• Contribute to and participate in the Oxfam co-location committee to prepare for the moving to the new joint office around May-June 2012.
• Building relationship with the Oxfam staff and managers in Nigeria, and in particular with the CLT.
• Prepare for Oxfam Novib to take over the Oxfam humanitarian & security lead role in cooperation with HU-HQ & HR-department by November 2012.
• Prepare for Oxfam Novib to develop longer term programming for external donors in Nigeria, in relation with the Oxfam Novib Programme Officers, IFO, KPM and SPEF/EFU.
• Be the Oxfam Novib representative in the Country Leadership Team CLT and coordinate the preparations of this with the program officer Nigeria HQ and other colleagues working on Nigeria.

Prepare for the establishment of Oxfam Novib field office

• Work in close cooperation with Nigerian lawyer contracted to facilitate the formal registration of Oxfam Novib in Nigeria by July 2012 latest.
• Liaise closely with headquarters units – ICT, HR, FA, Q&C – to develop a business plan that will ensure the procedures and policies are in place before the formal establishment of the office. This business plan will include: financial procedures, HR-procedures, organogram and job profiles.
• Lead the recruitment and induction process of the Oxfam Novib team in Nigeria, ensure that the Oxfam Novib procedures and approach to partnership and program development are enshrined and practiced in the Oxfam Novib Nigeria team.
• Provide backing to Nigeria portfolio lead (based in The Hague) when necessary.

In country you will work under the leadership of the Oxfam Country Director, in HQ you will be line managed by the Oxfam Novib Regional Manager.

You

• Have an university degree in international relations, development studies, anthropology, political science, geography, or related field and proven experience at this level;
• Have at least 5 years of work experience in the field of development cooperation preferably with an NGO;
• Have the ability to initiate, develop and build up processes into concrete frameworks and are result-oriented;
• Have experience in long term development work and programme development. Specific experience in humanitarian work, CSR and/or campaigning work is an advantage;
• Have proven analytical skills and ability to think strategically;
• Have rich experience in working with national NGOs, including institutional and organizational development support, facilitation of combining a donor role with support to capacity-building & program development;
• Have good communication and coaching skills, particularly in multi cultural and interdisciplinary environment;
• Are diplomatic and a good negotiator, particularly in working with government offices;
• Are a good planner, resourceful and creative in looking for solutions;
• Are a natural networker with substantial experience of building relationships with with a wide range of stakeholders;
• Are required to be fluent in English (orally and in writing).

We offer
A competitive, fair and comprehensive pay and benefits package that is justifiable to our donors. We offer a salary in the range from € 3,229,- to € 4,969,- on the basis of a fulltime position. This is excl. 8% holiday fee, and the additional expat allowances which will be offered.

More information and application procedure
Are you interested? Send your application in writing, including a motivation letter and curriculum vitae and mentioning reference number 5-129 to jobs@oxfamnovib.nl to the attention of Shabinah Asgarali, Recruiter, before July 10, 2012.
For more information about the procedure you can contact Shabinah Asgarali, +31 70 3421868.
Information on the job is available with Gerard Steehouwer as from July 2, 2012, +31 70 3421978.