Deputy Director - North East (INGO FORUM) at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)

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, emergency food security, and water, sanitation and hygiene sectors.

We are recruiting to fill the position of:

Job Title: Deputy Director - North East (INGO FORUM)

Webcruiter ID: 4209620425
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Job Type: Full Time
Reports to: Director NIF
Supervision of: Access Advisor, Government Liaison Advisor, Admin/Logs Assistant
Travel: 30-40%
Project number: TBD
Duration and type of contract: 12 Months

Role and Responsibilities

• The purpose of the Deputy Director North East positionis to provide field level support to the Forum and its member organizations, supporting humanitarian efforts in the north-east BAY states (Borno, Adamawa and Yobe) through high quality information exchange, coordination, multi-stakeholder engagement, facilitating effective INGO representation in decision-making mechanisms, and advocacy efforts.
• S/he will serve as the primary liaison linking Abuja coordination structure with up-to-date realities from the north-east response.

Generic Responsibilities (max 10)

• These responsibilities shall be the same for all positions with the same title. The responsibilities shall be short and essential. Details belong in the Work and Development plan.
• Compliance with and adherence withNRC policies, tools, handbooks, guidelines and procedures
• Provide imputes to programme strategies, Country Strategy and Plan of Action
• Ensure optimal use of resources within allocated project budget
• Ensure that capacity building is provided to staff within defined line management responsibility
• Represent NIF in defined area of expertise
• Asses needs, develop and implement response plan
• Prepare and develop status reports as required by management. Summarize key documents (reports, assessments, etc) and share with partners in easily read format.
• Promote and share ideas for technical improvement

Specific Responsibilities

• These responsibilities shall be adapted to the particularities of the job location and context, phase of operation, strategic focus and type of programme intervention. This section shall be revised whenever a new employee is hired or the context changes significantly.
• Facilitate INGO coordination supporting INGO Forum member organizations in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe to plan bi-weekly action-oriented coordination meetings and identify gaps, duplication and opportunities for enhancing coordination be it information exchange, inter-agency assessments or analysis, problem solving, joined up responses and common messaging.
• Regular travel to Yola and Damaturu and deep field locations to engage with partners and identify coordination and advocacy gaps.
• Ensure regular high-level representation in key humanitarian decision-making platforms and other mechanisms that impact humanitarian operations and the protection and needs of affected populations.
• Facilitate regular coordination meetings, thematic discussions, planning sessions to support INGO operations and engagement with external stakeholders.
• Identify strategies to support INGOs to work collaboratively and in a principled manner that places the needs and interests of affected populations at the center.
• Support the coordination of the Advocacy Working Group and act as a technical support on critical topics including: humanitarian aid architecture in complex conflict settings, regulatory environment, humanitarian access, protection of civilians, accountability to affected populations, and effective delivery of assistance.
• Facilitate trips for key external and international stakeholders to raise attention to the extent of the humanitarian situation and response.
• Facilitate representation of the INGO Forum through direct bilateral engagement with key actors (UN, Government and other national actors), supporting elected representatives to the Operational Humanitarian Country Team (O/HCT) and Inter Sector Working Group (ISWG) to perform their duties and ensure transparent information sharing on decisions made and actions required.
• Ensure INGO Forum takes lead of key task forces and working groups thematically dedicated to access and protection.
• Assure NNGO interests are represented within INGO Forum key messages, and actively seek advocacy allies/partnerships.
• Provide linkages between INGO and NNGO community / identify opportunities for collaboration along with the NIF Director.
• Assist in drafting humanitarian updates, policy briefs, and talking points on the humanitarian situation.
• Facilitate structured and effective information exchange both between internal INGO partners/members, and with external partners (NNGOs, UN, Government, etc).
• Stay informed on political, humanitarian and security contexts, while providing structured updates to the INGO Forum
• Facilitate effective information flow between field-level realities in NE Nigeria and capital-level coordination in Abuja.
• Maintain and develop induction and guidance materials for new humanitarian actors leading on briefings and support as required.
• Maintain updated stakeholder mappings to inform strategic engagement.
• Chair the Humanitarian Platform meetings and act as a technical support on critical topics including: access, advocacy and policy environment, public sector reforms and private engagement.
• Facilitate structured and effective information exchange both between internal INGO partners/members, and with external partners (NNGOs, UN, Government, private sector etc).
• Stay informed on political, economic, and social contexts, while providing structured updates to the INGO Forum as it relates to humanitarian activities globally, regionally and nationally.
• Ensure compliance with donor and host agency (in this case, NRC) regulations
• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
• Draft or review scope of work to hire and manage technical consultants, including review for technical efficacy and contract budget, as required.

Critical interfaces
By interfaces, NRC means processes and projects that are interlinked with other departments/units or persons. Relevant interfaces for this position are:

• Internal: NIF Team, Logistics, finance, HR/Admin, Security, Programmes,
• External: INGOs, Local NGOs, Civil society, government bodies, private sectors, Media outfits vendors.

Scale and scope of position:

• Staff: Access Advisor, Government Liaison Advisor, Admin/Logs Assistant
• Stakeholders: UN agencies, INGOs, local NGOs, civil society, governmental bodies)
• Budgets: NGFM1908
• Information: NIF platforms, Agresso, Social media channels
• Legal or compliance: NRC Terms of Employment, NRC Code of Conduct, NRC Policies, NRC security policies and Standard Operating Procedures

Competencies

• Competencies are important in order for the employee and the organisation to deliver desired results. They are relevant for all staff and are divided into the following two categories:

Professional competencies:

• These are skills, knowledge and experience that are important for effective performance.

Generic professional competencies:

• Experience from working within technical expertise area in a humanitarian/ recovery context
• Previous experience from working in complex and volatile contexts
• Core competency expertise
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal

Context/ Specific Skills, Knowledge and Experience

• Advanced University Degree in Public Policy, International Development, Political Science, International Relations, Journalism, Social Sciences, International Development or related technical field or undergraduate degree with significant field experience in development or resilience contexts
• Demonstrated experience of 5-7 years in managing humanitarian emergency responses in conflict contexts
• Demonstrated experience of coordination in complex emergencies and/or active engagement in high level humanitarian coordination structures (eg. as member on HCT)
• Knowledge and understanding of key thematic priority areas including access, protection, humanitarian aid architecture in conflict settings, and responses to acute and protracted crises.
• Proven relationship building skills and ability to facilitate common space between disparate views and agendas.
• Ability to represent collective views diplomatically to various stakeholders
• Public speaking skills
• Experience in developing advocacy strategies and stakeholder maps.
• Applied knowledge and experience of working in insecure contexts and in constrained access contexts
• Prior experience in managing INGO Consortia/fora desirable
• Written and spoken fluency in English.
• Strong data analytical and interpretation skills.
• Excellent writing, editing and analytical skills and ability to formulate well-targeted strategic documents.
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced and often demanding environment.
• Proven experience in influencing for policy change and practice desirable.
• Demonstrated experience in facilitating meetings in high-pressure professional setting.
• Demonstrated experience in lobby and engaging with high level actors with strong evidence from the field.
• Knowledge of and contacts in Nigerian humanitarian space desirable.

Behavioural Competencies (max 6):

• These are personal qualities that influence how successful people are in their job. NRC’s Competency Framework states 12 behavioural competencies, and the following are essential for this position:
• Planning and delivering results
• Empowering and building trust
• Communicating with impact and professionalism
• Handling insecure environment

Performance Management:
The employee will be accountable for the responsibilities and the competencies, in accordance with the NRC Performance Management Manual. The following documents will be used for performance reviews:

• The Job Description
• The Work and Development Plan
• The Mid-term/End-of-trial Period Performance Review Template
• The End-term Performance Review Template
• The NRC Competency Framework

Application Closing Date
3rd April, 2020.