Afghanistan: Country Director - Afghanistan

Contract Type: Fixed term Contract of 1 year with possible extension dependent on funding.

Reports to: Programmes Director (HQ, London)

Working with:

· The Programmes Directorate and the Finance Directorate (HQ, London).

· Field Programmes and Project Coordinators in other countries, where relevant.

· Local Stakeholders, Donors and other War Child colleagues.

Responsible for:

• Programmes Managers/Directors in Kabul and Herat, and other field and national staff (as applicable).

• A team of 3+ expatriate and 20+ national staff and supporting and monitoring national implementing partners.

Overview:

War Child works with children who, as a result of conflict, live with a combination of poverty, exclusion and insecurity. These children might include street children, child headed households, children conscripted into armed groups, and children who have been put in prison. Our mission is to support and improve the care and protection of children and young people who live with a combination of insecurity, poverty and exclusion in some of the worse conflict-affected places. We look forward to a world in which the lives of children are no longer torn apart by war. This is a vision that can only be realised through the collective actions of children themselves, communities and their leaders, organisations like War Child, governments and key decision makers.

War Child UK has worked in Afghanistan since 1993 with partners and local authorities to support improvements in child protection, education and livelihoods. Programmes have largely been focused in the west of the country in Herat Province and in Kabul. In recent years our operations have expanded to the Afghanistan/Iran border, supporting the rights of displaced and returnee children. Funding partners in Afghanistan have included the European Union, UNICEF, and the US Government, as well as a range of private trusts and foundations.

Purpose of Post:

We are recruiting a new Country Director for our Afghanistan programme. We need an experienced NGO leader who is familiar with the particular challenges of operating within the constraints of a setting such as Afghanistan. Our CD will ensure that the War Child team remains safe, and that our security protocols are well maintained. We want to further grow our programme, and central to this role will be the ability to build networks and alliances with local and international partners and to represent effectively with a wide range of donors. We place a very strong emphasis on national advocacy as part of our theory of change, and the Country Director will need the representational and relationship skills to ensure that War Child is connected to the appropriate national and local authorities across our areas of operation. War Child has developed a clear vision and approach to programme quality, and our Country Director will have a track record in ensuring effective monitoring, accountability and learning.

Leadership and team building skills are paramount. Working with a cross cultural and dispersed team the Country Director will inspire results and performance across the team. The post also forms part of War Child’s dynamic and experienced Country Director Group, with the ability to share experience across our country programmes.

The role is based in Kabul, with regular travel to Herat and other programme locations as they emerge, and within the context of War Child’s security policy.

Key Responsibilities:

· Programme Development: Participatory programme planning and development, in line with WCUK’s organisational strategy; time frames and budgets as well as development of new concept papers and liaising with in-country donors.

· Representation: Ensure effective networking, profile and representation with local and national authorities, donors and peer agencies.

· Partner liaison: Working with national partners to achieve shared programme objectives and build strong and accountable partnerships.

· Financial Management: Rigorous financial and administrative management**:** supplying UK Finance Department with grant management and expenditure information in an accurate manner on a monthly basis.

· Security Management: Effectively manage all staff security within the guidelines of security SOPs.

· Child Protection: Ensuring compliance by all staff and partners with WCUK’s Child Protection Policy and providing training to staff and partner staff when needed.

· Grant Management, and Donor Compliance: Ensure timely quality reporting to donors and compliance with donor requirements.

· Reporting: Ensure adherence to organisational requirements, including Child Protection Policy, minimum standards for quality programme cycle management and regular programme reporting.

· Fundraising: Identifying and securing in-country funding from Afghanistan based donors, and providing Programme Development Coordinators with the information necessary to help develop proposals and report to donors, in line with donor schedules. Drafting of concept papers, proposals and budgets.

· Human Resource Management: Lead and motivate the team, ensure effective use of the Performance Management System.

A) Job Specification: Task and responsibilites:

Programme Development and Management

• Undertake programme planning and development in line with WCUK’s organizational and country strategy.
• Develop and implement programmes in consultation with all staff and stakeholders, in line with the Programmes Directorate strategy, programme cycle management, country plan, and in accordance with War Child’s methodology.
• Ensure stakeholders, including children, their communities and government, participate meaningfully in the planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of projects.
• Conduct participatory research to identify and develop new projects, aligned with War Child’s organisational strategy.
• Plan time frames and budgets as well as development of new concept papers and liaison with in-country donors.
• Implement programmes as per grants requirements and compliance, delivering and reporting of projects on time, on budget and to the required standard.
• Mobilise the support of government, NGO and community stakeholders, including development of fundraising strategies in country with submission of proposals that have to be signed-off by the London office.
• Development of coordination and capacity building initiatives for local partner organisations to ensure learning and best practice is shared and developed. This will evolve to include partnership management and transferred learning.
• Embed War Child’s methodology concerning child rights programming, child participation, child protection, project management, gender, monitoring and evaluation, learning and partnership.
• Development, in consultation with Programmes Director, national advocacy strategy to draw grass-roots participation in projects with national and international lobbying coordinated in the UK.
• Produce monthly and quarterly reports on a timely basis to HQ as required.
• Organise and facilitate internal and external evaluations of the project, using these as opportunities to elicit and document achievements, challenges, learning and opportunities

Fundraising

• Working in line with the institutional fundraising strategy and with support from the Programmes Director allocate approximately 20% of time to raising funds bi-laterally, institutionally or though trust funds for the Afghanistan programme.
• Submit concept notes for review to Programmes Director ensuring compliance with donor requirements and synergy with strategic outputs.
• Complete donor report in timely manner with feedback from Operations Team in the UK and sign-off from the Programmes Director.

• Negotiating grants and partnership agreements with in-country donors.

• Identify in-country funding opportunities, aligned to War Child’s organisational strategy.

• Provide the UK-based Programme Development Coordinator with the information required to assist with writing donor proposals, on time and to the required standard.

• Work with the Finance, Admin & Security Manager to develop accurate and realistic donor budgets.

Partner liaison

• Identify, provide support and initial monitoring of national partners to instigate and satisfactorily complete projects.

Financial Management

• Comply fully with War Child’s finance policies and procedures and provide the Finance Directorate (HQ, London) with financial requests and expenditure information reports in an accurate manner on a monthly basis.
• Ensure all expenditure is authorised and in line with the programme and project budgets.
• Ensure receipts and supporting documents are compiled.

Security Management

• Responsible for ensuring compliance of security protocols within the team, imparting and training partners in security planning, and maintaining oversight of the country-security context at the tactical level.
• Report and record incidents for the UK-based Security Advisor.
• Update at least annually and/or whenever appropriate, security and evacuation plans with UK-based Security Advisor.
• Ensure all national staff and visiting staff comply fully with WCUK’s security policy and procedures.

Child Protection

• Responsible for managing organisational child protection within the Afghanistan Programme, including ensuring observance of child protection guidelines by the local team.
• Comply fully with WCUK’s Child Safeguarding Policy.
• Record and report child safeguarding incidents to the Programmes Director and Child Protection Officer (HQ, London).
• Provide new staff with induction training on WCUK’s child safeguarding policy and procedures.
• Provide all staff with annual refresher training on WCUK’s child safeguarding policy and procedures.

Grant Management and Donor Compliance

• Provide the UK-based Programme Development Coordinator with the information required to write donor reports, on time and to the required standard.
• Facilitate visits to project sites by donor representatives and other War Child representatives.

Reporting

• Ensure adherence to organisational requirements, including regular programme reporting.
• Record quarterly reach figures for each project to submit to Programmes Director.

Communication and Representation

• Represent the organisation to key donors, diplomats, multilateral organisations, journalists and visitors.
• Represent WCUK in external network meetings, to donors and government officials.
• Ensure quality of communication material including case studies for UK based communications team.
• Interface with Advocacy and Communications Team in production of blogs, photos, case-studies.
• Circulate and inform staff of WCUK’s communications strategy and external messaging.
• Develop and support local advocacy initiatives that can link in with UK advocacy strategy.

Human Resources

• Be overall responsible for the implementation of HR policies and procedures in Afghanistan and ensure they comply with WCUK’s HR policies and practices
• Line management of team of diverse local staff and expatriate staff conducting regular supervision and support. This will include local and distance management of geographically separate teams and overseeing the management of relationships with local partner organisations
• Lead the recruitment and orientation of new local and international staff members
• Conduct or oversee all annual appraisals and quarterly supervision of all staff
• Implementation of local staff policy (reflecting local legislation and UK-based policies)
• Ensure compliance with security and child protection protocols and procedures
• Maintain learning and competency development amongst staff and partners through identification of individual learning objectives, institution of regular training programmes and competencies assessments.

B) Person specification – Essential Criteria:

The Programmes Team is looking for a dynamic, measured, team builder who can engage the staff and partners to build protective environments for children. He or she must have strong programme management skills and can lead a team in a challenging operational environment.

Experience:

• Significant experience of managing:

• Child protection, education and livelihoods projects

• Combining direct service delivery, capacity building, and advocacy

• Through direct implementation and partnerships with state and non-state actors

• In conflict-affected countries

• Team leadership and management

• Excellent interpersonal skills

• The ability to think and manage strategically

• Rigorous budget expenditure management

• Sound knowledge of participatory approaches

• Research and development

• Development and management of partnerships with state and non-state actors

• Capacity building state and non-state actors

• Security management

• Risk management

• Excellent IT skills

• Demonstrable successful track record in securing funding from institutional donors and grant reporting

• Grant management and reporting – experience of working on EC funded projects would be an advantage

• Setting up monitoring and evaluation systems, including the use of logical frameworks

Competencies (Soft Skills):

• Proactive
• Excellent analytical skills with a systematic approach and an eye for detail
• An effective problem solver
• Measured and responsive
• A self-starter
• A good and thoughtful listener
• Sensitive to the diverse needs of a diverse team, while being able to take effective decisions and negotiate commitment to them in the face of disagreement
• Ability to be administratively self-sufficient and work in challenging operational environment and a small, dynamic organisation with limited resources
• Effective negotiator
• Diplomatic
• Transparent and accountable
• Willingness and ability to travel to War Child country programmes
• Commitment to War Child’s aims, values and mission

Legal

· Eligible to work in Afghanistan and travel to the countries in which War Child operates

Other

· Clean driver’s license

Desirable Criteria:

· Proficiency in Arabic

· Experience and knowledge of working on projects assisting survivors of sexual violence

· Experience of working in DRC or related country

· Experience in the delivery and supervision of child protection or GBV projects in conflict and post conflict environments

C) Contract Terms

Working Hours: Full time, 5 days and 37.5 hours per week.

Probation: 6 months

Start date: Early 2017

Travel: Within Afghanistan as required, occasional visits to region and UK.

Salary: £45,150 per annum (basic salary)

In-country allowance of 30 USD (Per Diem/Daily living allowance) when in country of post

Leave: 30 days per annum pro-rata

Pension: Matching contribution to your private pension up to 5% of gross salary

Other: As per War Child Terms and Conditions: Private Accommodation, Rest & Recuperation, Travel, Private and Emergency Medical coverage, etc.

· Download the Application Pack from the War Child Website www.warchild.org.uk or request it from recruitment@warchild.org.uk.

· All applications must reach recruitment@warchild.org.uk by 30/10/2016. Please note that CVs will not be accepted.

· This is an international role based in Afghanistan.

· Due to limited resources, War Child HR will contact only the shortlisted candidates

· Interviews will commence as soon as possible after the closing date. Shortlisted candidates will be expected to complete a short written assessment test as part of the interview process.

· Any offer made post the second interview will be conditional on receipt of 3 favourable written references, (from your most recent employer, any other previous employer and a character reference). War Child reserves the right to call the referees, in case clarification is required post the receipt of complete reference forms.

· The successful applicant will be expected to undergo a DBS Police check and/or international police check, a medical check for overseas travel purposes, be compliant and sign up to War Child’s Child Safeguarding Policy prior to a final offer being made.