Roving Rapid Response Manager at Save the Children Nigeria

Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in over 120 countries. We save children’s lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfil their potential. Save the Children is working in Nigeria because one in five children in Nigeria dies before their fifth birthday. About 40% of children miss out on school and have to work to survive while nearly 2 million children have lost one or both parents to an AIDS-related disease.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Roving Rapid Response Manager

Job DI: 2300003B
Location: Abuja (with ability to deploy within 72 hours to any newly arising needs in any SC's implementing and accessible areas)
Reports To: Director of Programme Operations
Grade: 3
Post Type: National/International  
Employee Status: Permanent
Contract Length: 12 months with a possibility of an extension

Child Safeguarding

• Level 3: The responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people

Role Purpose

• Save the Children Nigeria has established Roving Rapid Response Team. The team will be based in Abuja, with the ability to mobilize and respond within 72 hours to any newly arising needs in any SC's implementing and accessible areas. The Roving Rapid Response Team will be trained in conducting rapid needs assessment and timely managing the start-up of the responses, while supporting new proposals development and further on appropriate handover to the FO’s teams.
• The Roving Rapid Response Manager will generally be deployed to support the teams to manage a Category 2, 3 and 4 responses, and to provide response oversight and strategic direction to the country programme in collaboration with the Director of Programme Operations.
• Roving Rapid Response Manager is responsible for identifying needs and resources and elaborating programmatic, operational, strategic and leadership recommendations for the emergency response in line with Save the Children national and global priorities.
• The post holder will play a leading role in the effective scale up and management of Save the Children emergency programmes to increase impact and enable positive change for children.
• In addition, the Roving Rapid Response Manager is expected to fill in the staff capacity gaps which might occur within SCI Nigeria at the Programme or Field Offices Management level. In addition, the Roving Rapid Response Manager is expected to fill in the staff capacity gaps which might occur within SCI Nigeria at the Programme or Field Offices Management level.
• The post holder will be responsible to organise and facilitate SCI Member update calls on the Cat 2 response. Moreover, the post holder will be responsible for liaising with relevant team members and providing in writing biweekly updates of the Cat 2 response to the Director of Programme Operations.
• The Roving Rapid Response Manager will be responsible for liaising with relevant team members and providing in writing biweekly updates of the Cat 2 responses to the Country Director and Director of Programme Operations.
• The role holder will act as a CO KPI improvement focal point and coordinate with the DDPO and HTL and will ensure that programme delivery is on time ensuring delivering programmes on time, on budget and with quality and compliance.
• The post holder will play a leading role in the effective scale up and management of Save the Children emergency programmes to increase impact and enable positive change for children.

Key Areas of Responsibility

• Provide oversight leadership for the Roving Rapid Response Team in capacity strengthening, development, conducting needs assessment, and providing in-person leadership for active delivery in designated project locations.
• Ensuring strict compliance of programme activities with Save the Children national and global policies and procedures and relevant project regulations and agreements, SOPs, and SCI guidelines and code of conduct.
• Delivery of high-level in-country deployment support and coordination for overall delivery of roving team
• Proving effective strategic planning for the response to ensure a timely emergency response in all of its phases of delivery
• Support the DDPO Humanitarian and Field Managers to manage multiple grants (across thematic sectors), ensuring strict compliance of programme activities with Save the Children national and global policies and procedures and with relevant donor regulations and agreements.
• Lead on development of and monitoring of action plans to ensure an effective emergency response and in flagging needed steps towards a smooth transition to an eventual recovery/phase out status.
• In coordination with the Director of Programme Operations, the Rapid Response Senior Manager will engage with relevant (E)SMT level members from both the Response and CO teams to ensure the preparation of timely programme delivery and submitting the donor reports on project activities in compliance with internal SCI requirements and any relevant external donor requirements.
• Ensuring the project delivers on time and monitoring plans and systems for identifying and tracking the indicators and develop processes/procedures and forms to support monitoring and inform learning are established and implemented.
• Ensure optimal safety and security management procedures and practices for the emergency response programme and continually monitor the safety and security situation, adapting staff safety and security procedures accordingly in collaboration and cooperation with the Country Security Manager.

Emergency preparedness:
Contribute to the review of contingency planning

• Follow up with field teams to ensure contingency plan actions are undertaken, including:
• Working with DPO and logistics to ensure contingency supplies are in place
• Work with Field Teams to identify personnel for emergency response deployments
• Provide surge support for direct implementation in the event of an emergency.

Systems strengthening:

• Ensure that systems and procedures are adopted and implemented that satisfy Save the Children and donor compliance requirements
• Work with other department leads on the roll-out of policies and systems at field level, ensuring ‘join-up’ and synergy with Head Office processes
• Address any gaps in support service capacity or systems, as identified at field level, with relevant department leads.

Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development – Humanitarian:

• Ensure that staff under his/her supervision understand and can perform their role in a humanitarian response.
• Mentor staff under her/her supervision on humanitarian response to enhance their capacity.
• Manage her/his team; define expectations, provide leadership and technical support as needed, and evaluate direct reports regularly.
• Manage the performance of staff under her/his supervision in the Humanitarian work area through:
• Effective use of the Performance Management System including the establishment of clear, measureable objectives, ongoing feedback, periodic reviews and fair and unbiased evaluations.
• Coaching, mentoring and other developmental opportunities.
• Recognition and rewards for outstanding performance.

Representation & Advocacy & Organisational Learning:

• Organise and co-facilitate the SCI Member update call for Cat 2 and Cat 4 response
• Represent Save the Children's emergency response on a national, regional, and international level to donors, the media, and members of the humanitarian community.
• Help shape broader sector strategies through the influence of and leadership within inter-agency coordination forums, ensuring the specific needs of children are being addressed
• Regularly undertake high-level representation and advocacy with Government partners and officials as well as donor representatives. Establish systems for communication with local Government partners, relevant line departments, and community representations in the project area(s).
• Lead on organizational level operational practice, innovation, and learning in consultation with the Humanitarian team.
• Ensure SCI response review framework is implemented, and lessons learned / recommendations followed up

General:

• Comply with Save the Children policies and practices concerning child safeguarding, code of conduct, health and safety, equal opportunities, and other relevant policies and procedures.

Qualifications And Experience
Essential:

• Extensive experience working within a senior management role and within a complex country programme in an emergency response or fragile state setting.
• Previous experience of managing programme teams in large-scale
• Degree or equivalent field experience
• Senior management experience of leading a diverse multi-sector team.
• Field management experience needed, and the ability to work in remote locations and still effectively deliver
• Multi-site security management in insecure environments
• Experience in international level representation with key stakeholders and coordination with other
• Proven ability to influence change at an operational and strategic level
• Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact, and diplomacy
• A high level of written and spoken English
• The capacity and willingness to be highly flexible and accommodating in difficult and sometimes insecure working circumstances.
• Commitment to the aims and principles of SC. In particular, a good understanding of the SC mandate and child focus and an ability to ensure this continues to underpin our support.

Desirable:

• Fluent in English.

Competencies for this Role:

• High-level delivery: Demonstrates leadership in practical programming, escalation of issues, providing programme operations support in an emergency context, and deliver until handover is complete
• Problem Solving and Decision-Making: Takes effective, considered, and timely decisions by gathering and evaluating relevant information from within or outside the organisation.
• Leadership and Oversight: In-charge of key roving staff, their effectiveness, and management, as well as their overall delivery to the assigned field office in the country.

Application Closing Date
26th January, 2023.