Diaspora Programme Senior Officer (National Contract)

Who are we?

Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a leading global displacement agency working in 40 countries, in conjunction with our specialist mine action unit, Danish Demining Group (DDG), which has been working in Afghanistan since 1999. DRC commenced operations in Afghanistan in 2011 and is today a leading actor in humanitarian response with membership of the Humanitarian Country Team and recent high-level representation at the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan. DRC-DDG Afghanistan is part of DRC’s Central & South-West Asia (CASWA) region covering Afghanistan, Iran and Paki-stan. Within an overall strategic framework of responding to emergencies, seeking solutions to pro-tracted displacement; and tackling root causes, DRC-DDG Afghanistan’s current programming encompasses: mine action, emergency response, protection, armed violence reduction, and livelihoods. With more than 500 fulltime national and international staff members, offices in Kabul, Jalalabad, Kandahar, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif and a portfolio in 2016 of USD 13 million, DRC-DDG Afghanistan is one of the largest INGOs operating in Afghanistan.

About the job:

The Kabul-based senior officer will be recruited through the Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees (DACAAR) who will handle all related HR issues, including daily supervision and management. The senior officer will be tasked by the DP secretariat at DRC HQ (Copenhagen) in accordance with the Programme’s requirements and his/her first responsibility is to comply herewith.

Responsibilities:

During the DiPS project proposal assessment process:

• Assessing diaspora project proposals with a focus on the local context. This includes:
  • Ensuring no duplication of existing efforts by other actors;
  • checking for coherence with possible local development plans;
  • verifying the existence of local community governance structures that should be included in the project development (e.g. CDCs) to ensure that the project corresponds to local community needs;
  • Ensuring that projects are not tailored toward individual or family needs.
• Assessing proposals with preliminary approval in relation to
  • the capacity of potential new local partners as described in the DP field guidelines;
  • budget allocations vis-à-vis real costs in the target area;
  • access to monitoring;
  • approval letters from relevant authorities (is it the relevant authority? Are other approvals necessary?).
• Ensuring – when relevant – necessary technical input for above assessment by liaising with relevant DACAAR experts.

  E.g., for construction projects:

  • Engineers assessing drawings for technical sufficiency to assess cost-efficiency and feasibility (are budget and drawing compatible? Is the BoQ reasonable compared to local market prices? Advice on potential existing standard drawings - e.g. when building a school);
  • When relevant, visit proposed project site to verify needs as proposed in project application.
• Conducting – if relevant – field visits to ensure above. The benefits of a visit to assess a project proposal need to be balanced against the costs and risks. Also, when available/relevant, it might be more feasible to collaborate with existing DACAAR field staff to supply information. Advice must be sought from DP HQ prior to such a visit.

   

  During project implementation:

  Monitoring:

• Developing tailor-made, relevant monitoring plans for each project, according to DP guidelines and formats.
• Organizing, coordinating and conducting monitoring visits of projects being implemented.
• Reporting on monitoring visits to DP HQ according to the DP formats (reports are to be handed in one week after the monitoring visit at the latest and should focus on core findings and recommendations).
• Coordinating with relevant actors in cases where third party monitoring is deemed necessary by DRC DP and DACAAR due to access issues.

   

  Support to diaspora and local partner organisations:

• Functioning as local support contact for both diaspora organisations and their partners.
• Coordinating technical assistance – e.g. quality assurance of technical drawings for construction projects by relevant engineers.
• Developing a relevant capacity building programme for the diaspora organisations’ local partners, including on basic financial management and procurement. New subjects can be suggested from DP HQ and DACAAR, but need to be agreed on by both sides, also regarding human and financial resources needed for training.
• Coordinating and organizing capacity building activities. If training subjects are not part of the senior officer’s competences, then alternative training facilitators should be identified (to be agreed on with DP HQ).
• Supporting diaspora and/or local partner in implementing procurement procedures.
• Assessing procurement documentation submitted by diaspora and/or local partner in accordance with the DP field guidelines.
• When necessary, taking part in procurement procedures (field activity – certain procurement procedures might require the physical presence of the senior officer).
• Supporting the DP office in CPH in relation to financial and narrative project reporting, including in the verification of cashbook expenditures and vouchers.
• Other tasks as described and agreed to in the field guidelines.

   

  Cooperation with DP HQ in CPH

• Comply with regular and ad-hoc reporting requirements from the DP HQ.

About you

To be successful in this role you must have:

Qualification and Education:

• University degree in social sciences or other relevant fields

Experience:

• Minimum 3 years’ experience in similar position with international humanitarian organizations.

   

  Languages:

   

• Fluency in Pashto and Dari
• Good command of English

Key competencies:

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

Collaboration: 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 act in line with DRC-DDG vision and values.

Conditions:

• Availability: As soon as possible
• Duty station: Kabul, Afghanistan
• Gender: Any

We offer:

•  DRC will offer the successful applicant a contract till the end of 2017, renewable dependent on both funding and performance.
• Salary and conditions will be in accordance with DRC’s Terms of Employment for national staff. This position will be placed at salary Grade C, level 1, basic 1,155 USD.

Application process:

Interested? Then apply for this position by clicking on Apply button. All applicants must send a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages). Both must be in the same language as this vacancy note. CV only applications will not be considered.

Applications close 26 November 2017. However, please note due to the urgency of this position, shortlisting process will be ongoing. Should we find qualified candidates prior to expiry of this advert, interviews will be held immediately.