Head of Programme - Talent Pool - Region Middle East

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a non-governmental, humanitarian organization with 60 years of experience in helping to create a safer and more dignified life for refugees and internally displaced people. NRC advocates for the rights of displaced populations and offers assistance within the shelter, education, emergency food security, legal assistance, and water,sanitation and hygiene sectors.

The Norwegian Refugee Council has approximately 5000 committed and competent employees involved in projects across four continents. In addition, NRC runs one of the world’s largest standby rosters -NORCAP, with 650 professionals, ready to be deployed on 72 hours notice when a crisis occurs

The Middle East Regional Office was created in January 2014 as part of NRC’s reorganization process. We currently have more than 2,000 staff in the Middle East region assisting people displaced by conflict inSyria, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Palestine, working in the shelter, education, food security, legal assistance and water, sanitation and hygiene sectors with strong protection and resilience focus integrated into our programs.

The Norwegian Refugee Council is calling applications for Senior specialized candidates in Programs in an Emergency/Recovery Context to fill the position(s) of Head of Programme across the region. Qualified vetted candidates who meet the minimum requirements will be added to the Regional CVs Roster.

The Head of Programme advises the Country Director and the Country Management Group on programme direction. The post-holder is committed to ensuring that, through NRC’s programme, refugee rights are respected and that refugees are protected. The Head of Programme represents NRC nationally with in-country donors, key Government Ministries, UN agencies and other NGOs, in both bilateral and broader coordination meetings as well as in advocacy.

The Head of Programme has delegated responsibility for ensuring that NRC’s programme design is relevant to the needs of refugees, offers value for money and is of high quality during the whole project cycle. The post-holder provides leadership to the Programme Management Unit and ensures that core competency strategies and programmes are developed in line with the overall country strategy. Decisions on whether ornot to apply for particular funding opportunities, consolidation of donor proposals and donor reporting are under the management of the Head of Programme.

With a strong focus on programme quality, the Head of Programme guides the development and continuous evolution of NRC’s M&E systems, ensuring that programmes are adjusted based on learning from monitoring and evaluation and that refugee feedback is received and acted upon.

The Head of Programme is a member ofthe Country Management Group and actively contributes to the strategic direction of the country programme, and is an advocate for refugees and host communities. As a member of the leadership team the Head of Programme ensures that staff observe NRC’s Code of Conduct and other guiding principles, that and that NRC’s financial, human and other resources are carefully controlled to ensure maximum impact for refugees and affected hosting communities is achieved.

 

For this vital role our ideal candidate is:

A university graduate and experienced Manager, with a minimum of 4 years' experience as a Senior Programme Manager in a humanitarian/recovery context.  A strategic visionary, with an aptitude for motivating and driving highly professional teams to achieve results. Familiarity with the context in the Middle East and Syria Crisis, as well as, knowledge of the donor landscape would be a considerable advantage. Highly organised and structured individuals with a solid understanding of NRC’s core competencies are particularly encouraged to apply.

 

Key Job Tasks and Responsibilities:

·     Leadership of the Programme Management Unit, and direct line management of seven staff (five Sector Specialists, M&E Manager and Grants Manager.)

·     Overall responsibility for defining and implementing the programme strategy, documented in the Country Strategic Plan and Core Competency Strategies. 

·     Develop a multi-year funding strategy, programme forecasts and identify funding opportunities, taking particular account of changing donor priorities as the crisis becomes more protracted.

·     Develop project proposals in collaboration with Area Managers and Head of Support/Support Managers (including budgets, M&E plans) and coordinate input for reporting to donors.

·     Ensure high quality programming that is relevant to the needs of refugees and host communities, in compliance with contractual commitments (i.e. value for money, synergies, timeliness, use of resources) and NRC's policies, guidance and procedures.

·     Ensure a robust M&E system is in place, including a beneficiary feedback mechanism. Regular monitoring and data collections should be analysed and factored into future programme design and development. 

·     Represent NRC with in-country donors, Government Ministries, NGOs, build relationships and actively participate in the coordination of the response.

·     Promote optimal use of resources –financial, human, physical – to achieve strategic objectives. 

·     Ensure all programme staff are trained in NRC’s project cycle management and receive appropriate technical capacity building as necessary.

·     Promote the rights of refugees in line with the advocacy strategy.

·     Support the development of quality standards/frameworks in NRC’s core competency programming

·     Encourage greater programme integration, developing accountability and monitoring mechanisms to support the integration

·     Identify and train team members in NRC emergency response, including rapid needs assessments and coordination.

·     Responsible for the programmatic input to contingency plans

·     Deputise for the CD when appointed

Note: Applications will be screened after the deadline.