TEAM/PROGRAMME: Program Operations
LOCATION: Mekelle
AM is expected to travel to the SCI field and project offices under the Area Offices.
GRADE: Executive B
POST TYPE: National
Child Safeguarding:
Level 3: the role holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work in country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.
ROLE PURPOSE: The Area Manager is a senior representative of SCI in the field and a member of the Extended Senior Country Leadership Team, responsible and accountable for the leadership and management of two or more Field Offices and project offices. He/ She will oversee the implementation of the Save the Children program, management staff, and resources and establish excellent working relationships with partners. S/he is also responsible for coordinating the development and implementation of Area office strategies and annual operational plans, and enforcing consistent implementation of Operational Core Business Processes, policies and procedures at all levels.
Reporting to the DPO, the role supports and facilitates key relationships between the CO Operational team and other CO units (PDQ, HR, Finance, and Safety & Security) with the Field Managers, Area-level support functions (Finance, HR/Admin, Supply Chain, Safety and Security, etc). In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.
SCOPE OF ROLE:
Reports to: Director of Program Operations (DPO)
Overall, the area office staff will consist of up to 100 or more people. There are seven direct reports, including 2-3 Field Managers and Area Office functional leads in Finance, Supply Chain, HR/Admin, Safety and Security, and others as applicable. The overall budget responsibility exceeds $5 million USD annually, with more than 10 active awards from a mix of bilateral and multilateral donors. Projects cover sectors such as Health, Nutrition, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), Education, Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL), Child Protection, and Child Rights Governance. The Area Manager will be based in Mekelle and will lead SCI’s program in the Tigray and Afar Regional States.
KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:
Field Office Leadership and Management
Ensure that the area leadership team and field office leadership teams have clearly defined objectives and accountabilities and that area and field office leadership teams meet regularly and coordinate effectively
Lead the continual improvement of ways of working that will ensure managers, coordinators and staff in area and field offices are accountable, can access the support they need when they need it and can collaborate effectively with Country Office teams
Lead the development of Area Strategic Plans, operationalize to goals and objectives, and follow up its implementation.
Ensure the Area Office has an up-to-date, context-based and achievable Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP)
Ensure programs are implemented in ways responsive to the communities and children in line with Save the Children principles, values and strategic plan and following Save the Children compliance procedures. This includes working with government, local administrations and national NGO-partners to strengthen national capacity.
Ensure that management support is provided to the Field Offices within the Area Office, implementation of quality programs for children.
Ensure accountabilities are clearly understood and communicated at all level (Field Managers, Area Support function Leads and Budget Holders)
Grant agreements and are completed within time and on budget with an emphasis on cost effectiveness, innovation and high-quality programming to serve hard-to-reach children.
Ensure adaptive programme and management approaches to meet the challenges of a volatile and constantly changing operating environment
Lead the implementation of Programme Operations Best Practices.
Ensure that effective mechanisms are in place to listen to, act upon and address children’s and communities’ concerns/recommendations through active participation by children and communities in project design, monitoring and evaluations
Ensure that staff capacity in quality project management is improved and strengthened through training, coaching and mentoring.
Ensure that rigorous remote project management tools are put in place and used by relevant managers (independent third-party monitoring, verification through other partners, operational plan, procurement plan, output trackers, etc ).
Closely work with PDQ and Awards Team on the coordination of the overall funding process from both grants and SC members. This includes: developing funding strategies, contribute to development of grant proposals, and identifying strategic concepts
With support from the Head of Humanitarian Operations and under the leadership of the Director of Program Operations, mount appropriate and timely responses at scale to all emergencies consistent with established benchmarks, plans and organizational policies, and in close cooperation with incoming surge teams.
Working with Field Managers/their team, ensure that all relevant staff across all work sectors are familiar with, adhere to and implement the procedures and processes, and adhere to applicable emergency response standards and guidelines (CHS, SPHERE, Protection Mainstreaming etc)
Strategic Human Resources Management
Work closely with the Area Sr. HR and Admin Coordinator as well as the HR Director to ensure that all HR policies and guidelines for national staff are in place, are understood by all staff and are adhered to. Support all managers in recruitment, induction, placement, promotion, training/development and separation/termination
Enhance staff performance through mutually agreed performance management plans, clarity of individual and collective roles and responsibilities; ensure a robust process of performance monitoring, learning & development initiatives and timely management actions, including full implementation of matrix management system
Address staff concerns in a timely manner and timely escalate to DPO or SLT for support required.
Promote an inspiring and motivating working environment through teamwork, delegation and the team building initiatives. Identify and nurture talents, and boost staff motivation for continued excellence
Promote and build a culture of trust and respects that promotes collaboration, embraces diversity, and inclusion
Ensure that SCI safeguarding policies and procedures are implemented in all offices and that all staff are aware of safeguarding policies and understand their responsibilities with regard to child and adult safeguarding, including awareness, prevention, reporting and response.
Budget, Finance and Awards Management
Serve as overall budget holder for all programming in the area; appoint, manage and support budget holders for individual projects and grants as appropriate.
Ensure that programme budgets are managed through rigorous budget and finance monitoring practices with participation of all key functions involved in projects.
Oversee the general application and observance of financial procedures and guidelines set out in SC financial manual and donors’ requirements
Ensure that budgets are spent and charged to their respective budget heads and grants by diligently reviewing the financial (AGRESSO) reports at least every month and bringing to the timely attention of the DPO and the Finance Director any major budget concerns
Efficiently and successfully manage the grant cycle by putting in place robust mechanisms to start, implement and close grants in line with donor as well as Save the Children’s policies
Ensure that adequate support to and monitoring of the field finance teams is provided by the finance and awards team at country office
Ensure that grants are managed as per Save the Children’s and donors’ requirements including the quality and timely submission of reports
Establish a good command and oversight of the budget situation in each field office and ensure that field offices are efficient at covering all of their costs.
Working with colleagues in the PDQ department to ensure the preparation of timely and high-quality progress reports, program reports, and donor reports.
Compliance and Risk Management
Ensure full compliance with SCI policy and procedure on HR, SC, Finance, Program and Security Management
Regular planning and Implementation of Area and Field office Risk Management Plans
Ensure internal systems and processes are consistently adhered to and meet the purpose
Coordinate the provision of management response on internal and external audit findings, and follow up its implementation
Ensure follow up improvement actions identified from monitoring visit by CO and RO team are implemented in a timely manner
Ensure that partners and SC staff understand and implement Save the Children’s policies and procedures including child safeguarding, procurement, fraud and whistle blowing.
Networking, Partnership and Representation
With the support from the Head of Partnership and Localization, establish a quality partnership management environment through mutual respect and trust, robust partnership assessments, capacity building, project monitoring, sharing, and networking by drawing support from technical resources from within the country programme.
Establish and maintain excellent working relationships with regional, zonal and woreda government authorities, donors, partner agencies including major institutional donors, UN Agencies and local and international NGOs.
Ensure representation with UN agencies, donors and other INGOs
Work with partners and SC staff to ensure that effective mechanisms are in place to listen to, act upon and address children’s and communities’ concerns/recommendations through active participation by children and communities in project design, monitoring and evaluations
Ensure that partners understand and implement Save the Children’s policies and procedures including child safeguarding, procurement, fraud and whistle blowing.
Ensure effective representation in all relevant meetings: clusters, working groups, NGO Consortium, etc
Security Management
Responsible for safety and security of all SCI staff and assets in the area and field offices
In close collaboration with the Director of Security, the Field managers and the Security Focal Points, proactively monitor the political and security situation at both national and local level and ensure that a clear and updated security management plan is in place for all areas of.
As far as possible ensure that all staff are involved in the sharing of security related information, review of guidelines, protocols and developing security plans that should be formally reviewed on a weekly basis.
In close collaboration with the Area Security Coordinators and the director of Security, the Field Managers and the Security Focal Points, report and manage any significant security incident in your area of operation. If this involves a “critical incident” the Director of Security, the DPO and the CD must be informed immediately.
Adapt to security constraints and ensure that staff are adequately aware of security risks and management issues in order to deliver projects for children.
Support the DPO and the Director of Safety and Security to ensure that all safety and security minimum operating standards and in country guidelines and procedures are met by all area offices. Promote a culture of security awareness and a shared duty of care amongst staff in area teams
About You
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Master’s in business administration, Management, Development Studies or other Social Sciences.
EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
Essential
Minimum of 12 years management experience in a corporate or an NGO environment, and at least 5 years in senior leadership role or relevant experience
Experience in strategic planning and operationalizing into achievable targets and outcomes
Ability to drive, adapt to and mange change. Strive for continual improvement and organizational excellence;
Experience of working within a complex and matrix organisation structure
Proven experience of developing leaders and managers
Analytical skill, ability and tact to deal with complex problems
Good understanding of the humanitarian landscape and complexities, procedures and accountability frameworks and good practices in emergency management.
Substantial and proven experience and knowledge of effective financial and budgetary control
Ability to analyse information, evaluate options, think and plan strategically.
An in-depth understanding of nationaland international developmentissues particularly in relation to children.
Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills.
Fluency in written and spoken English.
Flexibility for unforeseen demands, willingness to spend up to 50% of time in visiting field offices security allowing.
Commitment to and understanding of Save the Children’s aims, values and principles including rights- based approaches.
Additional job responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties with respect to their level of skills and experience
Equal Opportunities
The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures. The post holder must commit to work in an international agency that respects racial diversity and fights racism in all forms; and to model positive behaviours and respect to all colleagues, partners and communities.
CHILD SAFEGUARING POLICY
We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.
Adult Safeguarding
The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy, all employees are also expected to carry out their duties in accordance with the SCI protection from sexual exploitation abuse policy.
Health and Safety
The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.
Save the Children is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to employ and assign the best qualified talent.