Programme Development and Quality Manager at Danish Refugee Council (DRC)

Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a Danish international non-governmental organisation, which promotes and supports durable solutions to the problems faced by refugees and internally displaced people all over the world. DRC is present in more than 30 conflict territories around the world assisting displaced people with shelter, food, income-generating activities, and a wide range of other assistance. It is of utmost importance for DRC to work in compliance with the DRC Accountability and Quality Management system and national legislations. Smooth, reliable and effective operational systems are preconditions for DRC to maintain its position as a trustworthy and reliable partner for our donors and an accountable organisation towards our beneficiaries.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Programme Development and Quality Manager

Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Contract type: Expatriate
Employment Duration: 12 months starting from January 2022
Area of Operations: Nigeria
Reporting to: Head of Programme
Supervised by: Head of Programme

Background

• Danish Refugee Council (DRC), and its Humanitarian Disarmament and Peacebuilding technical unit - the Danish Demining Group (DDG), has had an operational presence in Nigeria since 2015. DRC Nigeria is the largest DRC country mission in the West Africa region and one of the largest DRC country missions globally.
• Currently, DRC delivers life-saving assistance and protection to vulnerable, conflict-affected populations including internally displaced persons, returnees and host communities in the areas of armed violence reduction, humanitarian mine action, livelihoods, nutrition and food security, protection, shelter and non-food items (NFI) and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in 30+ Local Government Areas (LGAs) across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in northeast Nigeria.

Purpose

• The DRC Nigeria is looking to recruit an experienced, highly- qualified and enthusiastic professional to lead the effective implementation of DRC’s programme quality activities in Nigeria and oversee a committed team consisting of a MEAL Coordinator, Communications Officer, and Grants Management Specialist.

Duties and Responsibilities

• The Programme Development and Quality Manager (PDQM) is responsible for strategic leadership, technical guidance, and management of the Grants and MEAL functions for DRC in Nigeria.
• The PDQM will develop and maintain systems and tools for efficient grant management; and ensure a coordinated approach to risk-management in cooperation with the finance department. The role also contributes to the development of country strategies, which are translated into action plans and day-to-day tasks.
• The Programme Development and Quality Manager is based in Maiduguri (Borno State) - but expected to travel frequently to Abuja and field locations in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe States.

Responsibilities
The main responsibilities and tasks inculudes:

• Provide strategic leadership and management oversight of the Quality Assurance department, with a portfolio including: grants management, programme quality, reporting, and information management.
• Line manage and provide technical support to the Communications Officer, Grants Management Specialist, and MEAL Coordinator.
• Oversee the timely submission and reporting in relation to DRC Nigeria’s portfolio of projects
• Organize and lead monthly budget follow-up meetings
• Establish in-country level grants filing systems based on donors and periods.
• Liaise with relevant Regional Office and HQ counterparts responsible for programme design, reporting, and monitoring and evaluation.
• In coordination with the DRC Head of Programme, Technical Sector leads and Area Managers ensure high quality and evidence-based programme design and proposal development, monitoring and evaluation, and learning processes are streamlined throughout the country mission;
• Ensure timely compliance with all internal and external grants management requirements, including contractual compliance and reporting;
• Coordinate and provide timely reporting and feedback to the Head of Programmes, Country Director and SMT on Programme Quality activities.
• Any other duties as may be assigned by the DRC Head of Programme and the CD

Other Responsibilities:
As Manager the post-holder is responsible for the following:

• Accountable for achieving DRC’s strategic goals and objectives within the area of responsibility
• Accountable for making significant decisions on what the unit does: its purpose, functions and role, and for making commitments and decisions that require the expenditure of significant unit resources.
• Accountable for people management of direct reports, generally at least 3 employees. This includes hiring & firing, objective setting, probation, performance appraisal, development of staff, managing performance, including poor performance, etc.
• Accountable for making sound decisions based on DRC policies, MOPs, standards, and the advice of technical experts in DRC
• In addition to the above, the Programme Development and Quality Manager may be asked to carry out other duties requested by the Head of Programme - but always in the scope of this job description.

Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Political Science, International Development, Economics or other relevant field.
• In lieu of the above, a Bachelors Degree and several years of relevant experience.
• Full professional proficiency in English is required.
• At least five years of professional experience in humanitarian emergency contexts with PDQA responsibilities, preferable to have at least two years of experience at senior management level.
• At least 3 years' experience with people management.
• Knowledge and experience working protection, food security, WASH, shelter, NFIs, mine action, mine risk education, and armed violence reduction is an asset.
• Proven ability to lead a high performing and diverse team, manage performance, foster a positive working environment and manage issues sensitively and diplomatically.
• Extensive knowledge of US and European institutional donors and their compliance requirements with proven experience of developing successful funding proposals and overseeing large complex grants.
• Excellent understanding of the principles of budgeting, financial and contract management.

General Regulations

• The employee shall follow DRC instructions on safety, confidentiality and ethical guidelines, including the Code of Conduct and the Humanitarian Accountability Framework.
• Employee should not engage in any other paid activity during the DRC contract period without prior authorization.
• Employee should not engage in any activity that could harm DRC or the implementation of any project during the DRC contract period.
• Employee should not give interviews to the media or publish project-related photos or other material without prior authorization.
• Employee shall return all borrowed equipment for the project to DRC after the end of the contract period or upon request.

Salary & Benefit
Management F, unaccompanied position.

Application Closing Date
14th November, 2021.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• All applicants must send a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages). Both must be in English.
• However, all applicants shall take into consideration that DRC cannot offer an international work contract to a citizen of the country of assignment (in this specific case: Nigeria).
• Applications submitted after this date will not be considered.
• Due to the urgency of the position, DRC has the right to recruit a candidate who matches the required profile before the above deadline.