In 2012, Mali sustained a series of political and security crisis that culminated in the large scale takeover of northern regions by Islamist groups. Over half a million Malian people were displaced from their homes, with 150,000 Malians taking refuge in neighboring countries, and roughly 350,000 becoming displaced inside Mali. In 2013, French military forces succeeded in retaking control of key towns, and a UN peace operation – known as MINUSMA- was deployed to support the return of state authority to the north. Displaced Malians began, tentatively, to return to their areas of origin. On June 20, 2015 a peace agreement was signed by the separatist groups and the government and pro – government militias. The implementation of the agreement is highly complex and will require significant involvement of all key parties and support from international partners. The jihadist groups continue to operate outside any political or negotiated agreement. Enormous humanitarian needs persist, even as funding for the crisis has fallen sharply. Today the country still counts over 80,000 IDPs and 130,000 refugees. Those people who did not flee often stayed behind because they lacked the resources needed to escape. They continue to be vulnerable to extreme poverty, including chronic food insecurity, and – in the case of certain marginalized groups – to the discrimination and lack of protection that they suffered from prior to the conflict.
We are now recruiting a Head of Programme to develop a high quality portfolio while ensuring program quality with a specific focus on cross – cutting issues, monitoring and evaluation and advocacy.
The Head of Programme reports to the Country Director.
Job description
- Line management for Programme Development and Quality Team
- Member of the Country Management Group (CMG)
- Compliance with and adherence to NRC policies, guidance and procedures
- In coordination with Area Managers, Core Competency Programme Development Managers and Country Director:
- Provide programme input to Country Strategy and Plan of Action
- Development of Core Competency strategies
- Development of holistic and needs based programmes
- Identify funding opportunities, develop funding strategies and forecasts
- Grants management, BPO allocations and reporting to donors, including compliance with donor standards
- Quality control, M&E and organizational learning
- Capacity building of all technical staff
- Advocacy and Protection Mainstreaming
- In-country representation
- Promote the rights of IDPs/returnees in line with the advocacy strategy
- Development of program strategy through needs assessment, coordination, proposal development and training
- Lead coordination and compiling of cross sectoral data and information
- Ensure active monitoring of program progress are actively considered throughout the program cycle
- Take a leadership role in ensuring cross cutting issues are actively considered throughout the program cycle
- Manage the DFID grant dedicated to improving humanitarian access
- support country office advocacy strategy and act as focal point for national level advocacy and communication initiatives
- Take a leadership role in the country strategy development
- Develop and oversee the program development and quality team
- In the absence of the country director act as Bamako head of office
Qualifications
- Minimum 4 years experiences from a senior management position in a humanitarian/recovery context
- Fluency in French and English, both written and verbal
- Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts
- Core competency expertise ( shelter, food security, education, protection)
- Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities
- Proposal development and donor compliance experience
- Monitoring and evaluation experience including basic survey design and analysis
- Strong Writing skills in English and French
- Representation and coordination experience
- Budget development and management experience
- Organized and detail oriented
- Proactive and able to lead new initiatives
- Experience in putting in place new systems and policies
- Able to work in teams and provide leadership
- Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile
- Valid driver’s license
Personal qualities
- Goal oriented and visionary
- Ability to work under pressure, independently and with limited supervision
- Ability and willingness to work and live under difficult circumstances
- Strategic thinking
- Initiating action and change
- Planning and delivering results
- Handling insecure environments
- Working with people
- Flexible and creative
- Ability to maintain a good sense of humour
- All employees of the Norwegian Refugee Council should be able to adhere to our Code of Conduct and the four organizational values: Dedicated, innovative, inclusive and accountable
We offer
- Commencement: November 2015
- Contract period: 16 months
- Salary/benefits: According to NRC’s general directions
- Duty station: Bamako with frequent travels to the field offices. This is a non-family duty station. The town is relatively safe, and foreigners can move around in daylight hours without harassment or danger. International staff members are required to live in joint accommodation.
- Approved health certficate will be requested before contract start
- Application procedures and CV registration: Please note that you are required to enter the geographical location for all your previous positions while registering your CV. There is no specific field for this information in our CV form, but you can use the "Company name" field for both company and location
