Country Director Colombia

"A seasoned manager with proven experience in Latin America - bilingual SpanishEnglish"

War Child Holland's programme in Colombia.

War Child Holland (WCH) is active in Colombia since 2005. The objective of the programme is to improve the protection, psychosocial wellbeing and education of children and youth affected by the armed conflict in Colombia.

At the moment WCH supports (financially and technically) 7 local NGO's and the organization is in the phase of self-implementation and growth. War Child has projects in the following regions of Colombia: Cundinamarca (Bogota), Choco, Putumayo and Cauca.

War Child is in the process of expanding the country programme (up scaling). The Country Director (CD) is based in the office in Bogota and bears the overall responsibility for the country programme in Colombia, which is implemented through local partners and implemented by War Child directly. The CD directly manages a team of local staff. The CD reports to the Head of Field Operations based at headquarters in Amsterdam.

Your challenge

You are responsible for the realisation of War Child's country programme in Colombia. This includes and is not limited to developing and updating the country strategy, planning and reporting (annually and quarterly), monitoring & evaluation and effectively supervising the country team. Capacity building of staff and local partners is part of your challenge. As the Country Director you play an important role in fundraising of institutional donors (in-country). You develop and maintain donor relations. Next to this you represent War Child in meetings and coordination platforms. You have the final responsibility for Security Management. You ensure to be well informed on security developments at all times. You ensure that the country security plan is updated on a regular basis and ensure implementation by all staff. You have the final responsibility for finance, office and logistics management (to a large extend delegated to the Operation Support Manager). You authorize investments and manage supplies. You maintain efficient financial control (of cash flows, local payment, etc.) accountability standards, procedures and records. You prepare budgets and budget control. You take action by imminent deficiencies or surpluses.

Profile

You have at least 8 years relevant experience in an international/ humanitarian context of which 5 years in a senior management position (e.g. as Representative or Country director). Proven experience in Latin America is a must, experience in Colombia preferred. You have a relevant academic background e.g. psychology, pedagogy, community development, social sciences, international relations. You are bilingual in English and Spanish. You have experience in working with local partners and knowledge of psychosocial, protection and education programmes for children affected by conflict. You have proven experience in financial management (including management of multiple grants). You are diplomatic with strong problem solving and social skills. You are result oriented and stress-resilient, able to cope with deadlines and complex problems. You are a team player and able to work independently. You have affinity with War Child's mandate. You have proven experience in growing the operations and funding of an organization.

The organisation

War Child Holland offers a challenging job, within an inspiring and motivated team of people and the backup of a strong and professional organisation in The Netherlands. War Child Holland offers its international staff a fair salary and comprehensive secondary benefits that includes housing, good insurances (including health, travel and disability) and opportunities to develop and learn professionally. Please visit our websitewww.warchildholland.org for more information on the organisation and the programmes.

Job Location: Bogota, Colombia

Contract: War Child Holland is looking for someone committed to invest at least 3 years in this position, starting with a 1 year contract with the intention to prolong

Starting date: as soon as possible

How to apply

Interested and qualified candidates are invited to send a CV and a letter of motivation before 5 June 2014 (please mention CD Colombia in the subject line and where you found this vacancy) to jobs@warchild.nl (your letter and CV should not exceed 5 pages). An assessment will be part of the selection process.

Planning

Ideally we schedule the interviews in the 2nd and 3rd week of June.

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The safety of children is essential to War Child. War Child does not tolerate or accept any form of abuse. 
This subject is addressed in our recruitment and selection procedures.