Humanitarian Disarmament and Peacebuilding Operations Manager- prepositioning of the EOD response and subject to funding

This is a pre-positioning of the EOD response and subject to funding
 

Who are we?

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a leading protection agency pursuing our mandate to protect and promote durable solutions to displacement-affected populations based on humanitarian principles. Our response in the occupied Palestinian territory is centred on empowering conflict affected communities to meet their basic needs and promoting safety and dignity by addressing protection risks. Operating from two hubs in Deir al Balah and Gaza City, and with a coordination office in Ramallah and a representation office in East Jerusalem, the DRC maintains an active presence with over 30 national and international staff and four civil society partners. DRC now aims to grow our operation into a Country Office, as part of the Middle East Hub, which also comprises Türkiye, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan.

About the job

The Operations Manager leads the safe, effective and compliant delivery of DRC’s Humanitarian Mine Action operations in Gaza and the wider occupied Palestinian territory, overseeing planning, tasking, staff management, explosives storage, and internal QA/QC of all field activities in line with UNMAS tasking, national authorities’ requirements and DRC SOPs. The role further ensures robust coordination with UNMAS and national authorities, contributes to donor proposals and reporting, and drives continuous improvement of operational procedures, information management and national staff capacity.

Responsibilities:

Operations Management:

• Ensure the highest possible standards of safety and security are maintained in all operations.
• Plan, monitor and evaluate all aspects of HMA activities.
• Exercise responsibility for safe storage and handling of explosives, including within warehousing structures.
• Ensure that the prioritisation set by UNMAS are taken into consideration in the planning and implementation of operational activities.
• Manage, monitor, and supervise the HMA TFMs, medical staff, and radio operators, ensuring that they carry out their duties and responsibilities in accordance with their job descriptions and as tasked.
• Monitor and analyse productivity achieved and recommend methods and practices to enhance productivity, ensuring cost effective operations to be conducted in the programme.
• Lead the planning and monitoring of training and competence building of national operational employees, with a specific objective of nationalisation of posts.
• Assist support services in developing appropriate plans for operational support (e.g., procurement planning).  Purchase of team equipment and supplies are done in accordance with procurement plans and budgets.
• Ensure that the teams are adequately supplied with all necessary equipment.
• Report operational outputs to HDP HQ monthly, based on input from TFMs.
• Responsible for the internal Quality Control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA).
• Conduct regular QA visits to all teams and ensure the TFM and the teams are carrying out drills in accordance with the HDP SOPs.
• Keep a record of all training carried out by all employees together with the TFM.
• Promote safety culture, and safe and effective methods of munitions clearance and disposal.
• Collection and retention of technical information on munitions as well as the maintaining of the information library on such munitions. S/he is under no circumstances to carry out, or permit others to carry out, forensic work or similar to gain insight into weapon functionality.

External Relations:

• Support and advise in country management on operational matters and ensure that accreditation of operations is achieved and maintained with authorities.
• Support the HDP Manager with strategic planning and implementation of all HMA projects.
• Contribute to the writing of donor proposals and reports and assist the HDP Manager in donor liaison when required.
• Develop a professional collaborative relationship with national authorities and other agencies involved in mine action, and related fields of interest.
• Attend Mine Action Coordination meetings focusing on the Mine Action Area of Responsibility (AoR), especially sessions on clearance, survey, planning, and implementation.
• Ensure the prioritisation by UNMAS, and ongoing activities of other operators and stakeholders, is considered during strategic planning and operational workplan processes.
• With HDP Manager, assist in proposing changes and improvements of technical procedure and standards to HQ, for authorisation prior to adoption.

Other:

• Maintain and develop SOPs, workplans and other relevant operations documentation and implement changes within the programme accordingly.
• Recruit and manage HMA technical staff.
• Work directly with the HDP Global Senior Technical Advisor, Global Operations Advisor and HDP Regional Coordinator in analysing lessons learned from country to support other programmes regionally and globally, and vice versa.

Experience and technical competencies:

• Minimum 5 years’ previous experience in HMA and full understanding of its technical requirements.
• IMAS EOD Level 3+ and IMAS IEDD Level 3 qualifications and previous work experience as an operations Manager.
• Proven management experience gained in a range of settings.
• Experience with accreditation to IMAS standard.
• Proven record of training national staff and ability to train and mentor national counterparts.
• Experience of working in insecure environments.
• Diplomatic, patient and persistent.
• Fluency in written and spoken English.
• Good knowledge of Word and Excel.
• Willingness to embrace and further develop overall objectives such as gender equity, impact monitoring, and cross-sector cooperation.

Desirable

• Knowledge of Explosive Ordnance Risk Education and Victim Assistance concepts and programming.
• Knowledge of supply chain systems.

Education:

• IMAS EOD 3+ qualifications (mandatory)
• IMAS IEDD 3 qualifications (mandatory)

Languages:

• Fluency in written and spoken English
• Knowledge of Arabic is desirable 

Key stakeholders:

• DRC Head of Programme
• HDP Manager
• HDP Regional Coordinator
• HDP Global Senior Technical Advisor
• HDP Global Operations Advisor
• HMA operators
• Palestinian Mine Action Centre

In this position, you are expected to demonstrate DRC’ five core competencies: 

Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process. 

Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback. 

Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation. 

Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly. 

Demonstrating integrity: You uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation to our values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

We offer

Fixed Term contract for one year (possible to extend upon fund).

Band: E2

Work location: Gaza/ Ramallah

Start date: expected March 2026 (prepositioning of the EOD response and subject to funding)
 

Application process

All applicants must upload a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages) in English. Applications sent by email will not be considered.

Closing date for applications: 20/01/2026

For more information about the Danish Refugee Council, please visit our website drc.ngo.

Danish Refugee Council is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive and positive work environment based on mutual respect for all employees. All applicants are considered for employment regardless of personal characteristics or attributes.