Operations Manager - Land Resources Division

• Suva-based position (Fiji)
• Competitive expatriate package
• Join the principal development organisation in the region

Description 

The Pacific Community (SPC) is the principal scientific and technical organisation in the Pacific region, supporting development since 1947. We are an international development organisation owned and governed by our 27 country and territory members. In pursuit of sustainable development to benefit Pacific people, our organisation works across more than 25 sectors. We are known for our knowledge and innovation in such areas as fisheries science, public health, geoscience, and conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.

The Land Resources Division (LRD) provides advice, technical assistance, research and training support to Pacific Island countries and territories on all aspects of agriculture and forestry. This includes plant protection, conservation, plant genetic resources, animal health and production, agroforestry, biosecurity and trade facilitation, and sustainable systems for agriculture, forestry and land management. This work has two objectives: improved food and nutritional security, and resilient communities. The division’s services are provided through seven technical/thematic teams: Animal Health and Production; Plant Health; Biosecurity and Trade Facilitation; Forest and Agriculture Diversification; Crop Production and Extension; Genetic Resources; and Forests and Trees. 

The Operations Manager will oversee and manage the operations of the Land Resources Division. This involves providing high level leadership and management oversight, supporting planning and integration and ensuring effective delivery of both corporate and programme enabling services. This role will report to the Director LRD and work closely with the Directors Office and the Deputy Director to achieve the intentions and aspirations as articulated in the SPC Strategic Plan 2022 – 2031, the LRD Business Plan and member country and regional priorities articulated through various strategies, frameworks and plans.

The key responsibilities of the role include the following:

Leadership and Management

• Contribute to a culture of collaboration, integrated programming, and shared success.
• Collaborating with leadership to build an environment of collective responsibility and accountability.
• Provide people leadership, engagement, and operational guidance to contribute to the effective delivery of all projects within the technical programme.
• Design, implement and effectively deliver annual work plans and work plan reports for the LRD Operations team within budget and in accordance with established targets, results and outcomes.

Planning and integration

• Work with Director and Deputy Director to ensure lessons learned from previous projects inform the plans of new projects/activities.
• Develop and oversight shared services models for improved service delivery.
• Support and develop operations team staff through individual annual work plans, linked to the strategic outputs of the division.
• Investigate research and evaluate ‘best practice’ business processes to support an integrated programming approach through programme enabling services.

Corporate Enabling Services

• Supervise the administration support services of the Division (finance, procurement, grants, risk, administration) and ensure the group is well staffed and ongoing capacity building opportunities are implemented.
• Works closely with management team to ensure all operational, administrative, and compliance functions within the division are being properly executed in accordance with regulatory-based best practices.
• Supervise the preparation of the Division’s annual and multi-year budgets and ensure regular monitoring and reporting against these budgets.
• Supervise the management of the internal / external audits applied by SPC and/or donor partners.

Programme Enabling Services

• Develop and embed a culture of customer focus and performance management to ensure high quality and continuous improvement in service delivery.
• Ensure that planning monitoring, evaluation, and learning (PMEL) activities and methods and are incorporated into project implementation and service delivery.
• Ensure data services including analysis and database management are coordinated, accessible, forward looking and effectively support programme and service delivery, including through engagement with the Pacific Data Hub.
• In collaboration with the Director and Deputy Director identify capability and capacity gaps (human resources and systems) in programme enabling services and identify options for closing the gaps.

For a more detailed account of the key responsibilities, please refer to the online job description.

Key selection criteria 

Qualifications

• A master’s degree from a recognised institution (and/or equivalent work experience) in a discipline relevant to financial management or business administration. 

Technical expertise

• At least 13 years of demonstrated management experience in a public sector or research environment in financial or operations management.
• Demonstrated ability to lead strategically with a solid understanding of financial management, budgeting and reporting.
• Demonstrated experience in relationship building and working with a wide variety of donors and development partners with awareness of their policies and procedures.
• Proven history of successfully building and leading multi-disciplinary teams, including people of different national and cultural backgrounds, and demonstrated ability to manage professional, technical, and program support staff in a team environment, ensuring everyone’s role contributes to successful team outputs.
• Proven ability to influence work collegially and in partnership with stakeholders and internal partners towards an agreed outcome.
• Demonstrated skills and experience in continuous improvement and facilitating innovation across teams.

Language skills

• Excellent communication skills and report writing skills in English. 

Interpersonal skills and cultural awareness

• Strong people skills (influencing and relationship building) and ability to work in a multi-culture and gender-sensitive environment. 

Salary, terms and conditions 

Contract Duration – Until 31 August 2026 – subject to renewal depending on funding and performance.

Remuneration – The Operations Manager is a Band 13 position in SPC’s 2023 salary scale, with a starting salary range of 4,087‒5,109 SDR (special drawing rights) per month, which currently converts to approximately FJD 12,057–15,071 (USD 5,477–6,846; EUR 5,188–6,485). An offer of appointment for an initial contract will normally be made in the lower half of this range, with due consideration given to experience and qualifications. Progression within the salary scale will be based on annual performance reviews. Remuneration of expatriate SPC staff members are not subject to income tax in Fiji; Fiji nationals employed by SPC in Fiji will be subject to income tax.

Benefits for international employees based in Fiji – SPC provides a housing allowance of FJD 1,350–3,000 per month. Establishment and repatriation grant, removal expenses, airfares, home leave travel, health and life and disability insurances and education allowances are available for eligible employees and their eligible dependents. Employees are entitled to 25 working days of annual leave per annum and other types of leave, and access to SPC’s Provident Fund (contributing 8% of salary, to which SPC adds a matching contribution).

Languages – SPC’s working languages are English and French.

Recruitment principles – SPC’s recruitment is based on merit and fairness, and candidates are competing in a selection process that is fair, transparent and non-discriminatory. SPC is an equal-opportunity employer, and is committed to cultural and gender diversity, including bilingualism, and will seek to attract and appoint candidates who respect these values. Due attention is given to gender equity and the maintenance of strong representation from Pacific Island professionals. If two interviewed candidates are ranked equal by the selection panel, preference will be given to the Pacific Islander. Applicants will be assured of complete confidentiality in line with SPC’s Privacy Policy.

Application procedure 

Closing Date: 20 September 2023 at 11:59pm (Fiji time)

Job Reference: JM000476 

Applicants must apply online at http://careers.spc.int/

Hard copies of applications will not be accepted.

For your application to be considered, you must provide us with:

• an updated resume with contact details for three professional referees
• a cover letter detailing your skills, experience, and interest in this position
• responses to all screening questions

Your application will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed at shortlisting stage if all the above documents are not provided. Applicants should not attach copies of qualifications or letters of reference. Please ensure your documents are in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format.

For international staff in Fiji, only one foreign national per family can be employed with an entity operating in Fiji at any one given time. SPC may assist on a case-by-case basis with submissions to Fiji Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their consideration and final approval. SPC cannot and does not make any guarantee whatsoever of approval for such applications to Fiji Ministry of Foreign Affairs and where an application is approved, the spouse or partner will subject to such terms and conditions as may be set from time to time by the Ministry.

SPC does not charge a fee to consider your application and will never ask for your banking or financial information during the recruitment process.

Screening Questions (maximum of 2,000 characters per question):

1. The Land Resources Division operational strategy is based on a matrix approach of intervention: thematic pillars on the one hand and integrated programs on the other hand. Can you briefly explain how such operational system could operate best. What kind of additional support mechanisms would be required – if any – for such an approach to succeed?
2. Please talk about your experience in financial management and oversight including developing budgets and work plans.

3. What techniques would you use to ensure quality control and efficiency on your team, please provide examples from your experience.