Central African Republic: Program Director Cordaid, Central African Republic

Cordaid believes in a world without poverty and exclusion. We strive for just and sustainable societies where every person counts. We stand for knowledge and talent sharing between North and South, between farmers and businesses, between activists and policymakers. Where poverty, conflict and exclusion divide societies, we connect people and communities. We stand for professionalism, expertise and solidarity across borders. We aim at maximizing our social impact and contributing to systemic change. We operate where natural disasters strike, where conflicts tear up communities and where lack of opportunities and service delivery keep families in extreme poverty.

Cordaid is one of the leading CSO’s in the Netherlands, working in fragile contexts on Health, Resilience, Economic opportunities, Humanitarian aid and Security & Justice. Apart from our work abroad we also contribute to new forms of job creation and social innovation in The Netherlands.

Cordaid is a member of the international Catholic networks Caritas and CIDSE and we are active in worldwide civil society networks. We work in around 30 countries in Africa, Middle East and Asia.

For the Cordaid Country office in Central African Republic, Bangui, Cordaid is looking for a

Program Director

Introduction

Cordaid has 30 years of experience in the Central African Republic, working with civil society partners and the Catholic Church on both emergency relief and long term development programs. In 2008 Cordaid decided to become operational itself in CAR, and opened offices in the provinces (Nana Mamberé) as well as in Bangui to carry out health programs through the performance based financing approach. The health program gradually expanded and was fledged out by activities in the field of Education, Security and Justice, Relief, Resilience and Food Security. The office was temporarily suspended in the fall of 2015 due to a periodically worsening security situation. In northern parts of the country relief operations are still necessary, whereas in other parts a shift can be made to longer term development. Donors (EU, Dutch Government, DFID, World Bank, UN agencies) now make larger funds available to enable flexible operations. Cordaid is known as a reputable partner and stands to attract significant donor funding.

Cordaid In CAR has 9 sub-offices and has an annual portfolio size of 12 million euro since 2008. Cordaid has 5 thematic areas, supported by Lobby and Advocacy Activities: health, security and justice, humanitarian aid and education in emergencies, resilience and food security as well as specific focus on youth.

Position and responsibility

The Program Director will be supervised by the Country Director in CAR and reports directly to him. He/she is responsible for program design and technical support to ensure quality implementation, standardization, monitoring and evaluation of all activities in the Central African Republic Country Program in accordance with Cordaid’ strategy. He/she supervises Cordaid CAR Program Unit Coordinators and Program Managers.

Specific objectives

Strategy, Program Development & Management

· Translate global strategic goals of Cordaid to goals and targets for developing products, services and for the development of the role as national and local expert;

· Formulate strategy proposals to strengthen Cordaid’s position for delivering high level technical assistance and to strengthen Cordaid’s reputation for research and innovation;

· Formulate strategy and program developments and continuously work on improving quality of products and services;

· Ensure program quality through continuous Monitoring and Evaluation on results;

· Explore opportunities and facilitate Resource Development business planning;

· Develop and implement an effective National Resource Development strategy and implementation plan to generate funds locally;

· Implement long-term and short-term programs that create new opportunities for acquisition, retention and transformation of a diverse set of private and governmental donors;

· Ensure strong grants management to create trust and engagement with the donor for accessing future resources and increased credibility.

Leadership & Management

· Promote Cordaid’s vision, mission, core Values and key standards and practices among the staff and partners and ensure these are the core foundation of Cordaid CAR strategies and work;

· Co/Lead (with the Country Director) SMT and ensure diverse representation on the leadership team;

· In coordination with HR: implement intentional capacity building of national staff with an eye to increasing Central African staff in positions of leadership;

· Strong focus on leadership and people management, ensuring the most capable and qualified staff members are in place to implement office strategy and operational plans;

· Review and approve Cordaid’s succession plan; ensure that proper capacity is in place and succession plans are updated and executed;

· Promote and participate in talent and leadership development initiatives, including those for staff at management levels in the field and at the Country office level;

· Lead and manage Cordaid’s team in a way that facilitates a high-performance culture, open trustworthy relationships and integrity;

· Promote a culture of learning and development, employee engagement and good stewardship of human capital in the office;

· Develop and ensure the implementation and compliance to Performance Management Standards and Principles, while seeking to implement Performance Management guidelines on reasonable level; Champion Cordaid’s leadership team in the proper implementation of Performance Evaluations on a mid –term and annual basis for the whole organization;

· Support initiatives for staff care and well-being, both for international and local employees;

· Ensure excellent standards in the management of the human, financial, capital and technical resources of the organization, which includes inspiring and maintaining high standards of work and clear accountability to stakeholders;

· Visit field projects frequently to encourage, build relationships and support CORDAID programs;

· Ensure that initiatives directed to build capacity required to implement local fundraising are included in the office capacity-building plan.

Communication, Representation & Advocacy

· Represent Cordaid CAR and engage and build strategic alliances with the government of the country, major donor agencies, Cordaid HQ, non-governmental agencies, churches, media and other external stakeholders;

· Lead and facilitate strategies for the promotion of justice that look for the change of unfair structures that oppress those in need;

· Strengthen awareness of Cordaid’s (CAR) program both within and outside of Cordaid;

· Provide leadership, strategic direction and support to the team for developing and implementing a strong donor experience and acquisition of funds;

· Identify new opportunities and forge alliances that lead to optimization of all resources.

Financial Management, Financial and Operational Audit Compliance

· Ensure efficient and effective organizational practices that result in successful financial and operational audit scores;

· Ensure action planning and execution to resolve audit findings in an agreed and timely manner; undertake appropriate reporting of audit results and actions;

· Ensure strong financial compliance through timeliness and completeness of financial reports;

· Manage overall financial integrity of the program to Cordaid funds, the government and other stakeholders;

· Provide overall strategic leadership and initiative for identifying and securing financial resources to support the program.

Security and Safety Awareness

· Develop and maintain capacity to respond to natural and man-made emergencies (at least within Cordaid operational area);

· Review security and safety plans and protocols (security manual, evacuation plan,) and ensure understanding and compliance by all staff and visitors;

· Develop with the team a disaster preparedness plan, contingency and risk assessments at all levels and ensure that the team is familiar with and abide by it;

· Liaise with other international organizations to collect information about the security environment and, where appropriate, discuss joint responses to security threats.

Qualifications

· Master’s Degree in a relevant field (Social Science, Project Management, Humanitarian Affairs, Development Studies, etc) or a Bachelor’s degree with relevant years of experience;

· Knowledge of the mission, vision, values, goals, structure, regions and the strategy of Cordaid;

· Social/Communication skills to advise, train and facilitate multi stakeholder processes;

· Social/Communication skills to acquire and to deal with multiple complex assignments;

· Experience managing large and complex operations and in complex emergency contexts;

· Excellent grant acquisition experience, including experience with a diverse set of donors, as well as a strong ability to partner and position for complex grants;

· Experience in leading local fundraising, including management responsibilities preferably over the areas of fundraising with major private donors and Governments;

· Significant management experience (general/operational) where there is evidence of both accountability and managerial know-how, and high-quality delivery of results;

· Strong ability to engage externally with government, donors, UN agency leads, partners and other stakeholders; evidence of building coalitions and engaging externally to influence policy and strategic directions;

· Strong written and spoken skills in French and English;

· Experience with Cordaid and understanding of the UN Cluster system would also be an asset;

· Able to interact with a variety of individuals and ethnic groups;

· Negotiation abilities with government representatives;

· Consultative approach and be a good and active listener;

· Have worked in conflict settings; Africa experience is an asset with a demonstrated understanding of the context and cultures of the continent.

Specifics of station

Office based in Bangui with frequent travel to the field. This is a non-accompanied posting.

Contract information

The contract period is for 1 year starting as soon as possible, with the intention to extend for a longer period. We offer a Cordaid contract with a competitive salary and a benefit package which includes R&R, a comprehensive insurance cover, social security and pension contribution, a holiday allowance, 13^th month, hardship allowance and cost of living allowance (if applicable).

Further information & how to apply

Applications including a motivation letter and extensive CV in English, including the contact details of at least three professional references, should be forwarded on attn. of mr S. Hicuburundi before 18 February 2020.

An integrity screening will be part of the application procedure.

Please note that we accept applications through our website only: https://www.cordaid.org/en/vacancies/international/?cd_job_id=153362