Area Manager

Danish Refugee Council, one of the world’s leading humanitarian NGOs, is currently looking for a highly qualified Area Manager to lead area activities and creates results which impacts displaced people in Ukraine and conflict affected population in eastern Ukraine.

As Area Manager, you will enable and oversee the implementation of policies or activities of an operational nature within the area of operation, in particular supply chain, finance, administration, HR and safety policies. Moreover, you will stablish and maintain a productive and accountable relationship with beneficiaries, communities’ leaders, representatives, relevant governmental authorities, NGOs, and UN Agencies.  

This role has an area focus and ensures compliance to DRC procedures and guidelines within the area. The area is defined as the government-controlled areas which will be accessible for humanitarian interventions in eastern part of Ukraine. The role leads the development of area strategies and contributes to development of country strategy, which are translated into action plans and day-to-day tasks. The role provides support and/or technical guidance to base operations. Due to staffing changes currently under consideration, the duty station could be Dnipro (eastern Ukraine) or Lviv (western Ukraine).

Due to the volatile security situation and complexity of needs, a clear geographical area is not defined. However, DRC Ukraine plans to establish a large-scale country programme by scaling up current operation across the country to address needs of effected population. In eastern Ukraine, the area office is located in Dnipro. In western Ukraine the area office is located in Lviv. The opening of base offices in each area is planned but will depend on assessments currently conducted.

The Area Manager is expected to establish base offices to reach most vulnerable people and regular visits to base offices, which requires approximately 50% of time away from duty station.

About the job

Management

• Provide leadership and direction to the east area location in line with country strategy
• Line manage area support and base managers.
• As a Senior Management Team member – contribute to developing country strategy
• People management of direct reports (including development, people planning and performance).
• With team leaders manage the programme activities budget lines; ensuring effective and efficient use of resources including financial, human and all assets
• Ensure overall dissemination of and adherence to DRC policies, procedures, guidelines, systems and standard practices
• Provide leadership in overseeing area supply chain, finance and administration and office services activities and ensure their timely/efficient delivering. In particular, ensure that processes area are unified and harmonized across all offices/bases in the Area and that the base and satellite offices receive adequate and timely support.
• Ensure that DRCs code of conduct, reporting mechanism and complaint response mechanisms are well understood by staff and other stakeholders and are well functioning at the field level. The AM will typically be the arbiter for complaints received at the field level which do not constitute misconduct.

Representation, coordination and reporting

• Primary DRC representative in the area of operation and attend all relevant fora/meetings in order to strengthen DRC’s position
• Foster relationships with Government authorities and civil society in the area of operation
• Maintain close working relationships with donors, national and international organizations and local counterparts
• Comply with internal reporting requirements, contribute to, and provide quality assurance of external reports from area of operation

Programme development

• With the close cooperation of the HOPs and programme managers, support the process of adapting DRC national strategy to the local context and circumstances
•  Provide regular analysis on the context and humanitarian situation in the area for the development of project proposals and safety assessments in cooperation with the Head of Programme

Safety

• Ensure a safe and secure environment for DRC staff, beneficiaries and assets by ensuring the local security procedures are up to date and SOPs are being followed in line with the SMP and DRC policy, and in close coordination with the Safety and Security Specialist and the Country Director
• Head of the Dnipro Incident Management Team and member of the country Critical Incident Management Team
• Facilitate access 

About you

To be successful, we expect you to posses the following:

• Master’s degree in political science, international development, economics or other relevant field.
• Minimum 7 years' experience in relevant field overseeing humanitarian and development multi-sector, multi-donor programmes in complex and volatile environments. Experience in post-soviet countries is a distinct advantage.
• Substantial work experience in the areas of emergency and early recovery, especially with displaced/refugees communities and conflict-affected communities outside of a camp-setting.
• Strong leadership skills and a competence in people management (at least 5 years' experience in people management)
• Practical and extensive financial, Human Resources and administration management
• External stakeholder management (especially with local authorities)
• Proven excellent communication and report writing skills
• Full professional proficiency in written and spoken English is mandatory.
• Russian or Ukrainian language skills are not mandatory, but are a distinct advantage

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

Contract length: 12 months

Band: E

Designation of Duty Station: Unacccompanied Non-family Duty Station

Start date: 18 July

Salary and conditions will be in accordance with Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for Expatriates; please refer to drc.ngo under Vacancies. For questions regarding the vacancy please contact Brieuc Le Merle at brieuc.le-merle@drc.ngo. Applications sent by email will not be considered.

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: 30 May

For further information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult our website drc.ngo.