Area 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: Area Manager

Location: Mubi, Adamawa
Start Date: 15 May 2022
Band: E
Contract Length: 12 months

Job Description

• Danish Refugee Council, one of the world’s leading humanitarian NGOs, is currently looking for an experienced, highly- qualified and enthusiastic Area Manager to lead the coordination, strategy and quality assurance aspects of DRC’s programme implementation in Adamawa State.
• The Area Manager will provide direct supervision and day.to-day management of DRC’s teams in Adamawa State in Northest Nigeria. S/He will be based in Maiduguri, but will have to travel regularly to other locations in Adamawa State and at time to Abuja. Travels can represent around 40% of the working time per month at times.
• This position is a senior one, requiring a strong previous experience in the management of teams and operations. This position also requires strong communication and analysis skills in order to feed informed decision making regarding DRC operations.
• Danish Refugee Council (DRC) 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.

About the Role

• The Area Manager will oversee program implementation according to DRC strategies in Nigeria and ensure that operations are implemented within DRC’s regulations, procedures, guidelines, and strategy; enable a productive and accountable relationship with beneficiaries, communities’ leaders/representatives, relevant governmental authorities, sector working groups, national and International NGOs and UN Agencies.
• The Area Manager is DRC’s primary representative with relevant actors in the area of responsibility; s/he is the line manager for all staff with area responsibilities and s/he is responsible for ensuring a result-oriented team.
• The incumbent will also ensure a safe environment for DRC staff, beneficiaries and assets through a proactively using DRC’s security framework.

Key Responsibilities
Management:

• Line manage area support and program staff ensuring inter-department co-ordination
• Closely coordinate with the senior management team ensuring regular information flows
• 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 provision of and adherence to DRC policies, procedures, guidelines, systems and standard practices
• Provide leadership in overseeing logistical/procurement, Human Resources/administration and office services activities and ensure their timely/efficient delivering.
• Ensure overall provision of and adherence to DRC policies, procedures, guidelines, donor regulations, systems and standard practices.
• Lead on recruitment of senior staff in coordination with SMT, as appropriate.
• Maintain oversight of narrative and budget development of proposals and concept notes.
• Ensure quality implementation of Core Competency programs ensuring optimal use of financial resources, regular project follow up, reporting, among other tasks.
• Responsible to ensure Area Office compliance with internal procedures and donor regulations.

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 other relevant stakeholders 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
• Strengthen efforts to document the impact of DRC activities in the area.

Programme Development:

• Lead 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 and Programme Development and Quality Manager.
• Participate in DRC internal coordination mechanisms (e.g. SMT, Programme meetings, etc.) as required.

Crisis And Critical Incident Management:

• Act as the Area-level coordinator for the Incident Management Team (IMT); Ensure are-level IMT members are aware of their responsibilities.

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.

About You
To be successful in this role, we expect you to posses the following:

• Master's Degree in Political Science, International Development, Economics or other relevant field.
• In lieu of the above, a Bachelor’s Degree and several years of relevant experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience managing a large team
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in project implementation
• Experience working in fragile context and insecure environments
• Experience developing and implementing organizational strategy
• Previous experience in Northeast Nigeria is considered an asset
• Experience working in multicultural work settings
• Experience with critical incident management
• Experience working in hostile or hazardous environments
• Full professional proficiency in English
• Proficiency in Hausa or other Nigerian languages is considered an asset but not a requirement.

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.

In this Position, you are also 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.

Salary and Conditions
Salary and conditions will be in accordance with Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for Expatriates or DRC National staff salary scale.

Application Closing Date
10th April, 2022.