Area Manager – Dnipro

Location: Ukraine – Dnipro

Duration:12 months renewable

Conditions: Employment contract, gross monthly salary €6,000, Programme Management Allowance (up to €400/month), Risks allowance (up to €500/month – High risks areas), medical insurance and repatriation insurance and accommodation provided. Visa fees covered. Contribution to the luggage transportation up to €250. R&R (7 days) every 12 weeks with an allowance of €1,000. Annual leave of 25 days per fiscal year.

Starting date: 15/01/2023

Presentation of CARE INTERNATIONAL

CARE International (CI) is among the world’s largest international non-governmental humanitarian relief and development Confederations. Drawing on more than 75 years of experience, through its 21 Members, as both a practitioner and thought leader, CI’s work reaches over 100 countries worldwide to save lives, defeat poverty and achieve social justice.

CARE’s vision is to seek a world of hope, inclusion, and social justice; where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security. CARE focuses heavily on women and girls, and the areas of gender equality, diversity, and inclusion are at the center of our work because we know that we cannot overcome poverty and social injustice until all people have equal rights and opportunities. We recognize that power relations between people and within systems and structures are unequal and that these are entrenched in our broader systems, structures, and institutions.

At the core of the CI Confederation is a globally distributed Secretariat, which provides coordination and support to its Members in areas including governance, strategic planning, communications, membership development and accountability, advocacy, humanitarian response, and program development. In addition, the Secretariat represents the CI Confederation at the United Nations and the European Union, and with other external stakeholders.

Context

On 24th February 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine marked a significant escalation to the conflict that started in 2014. It continues to profoundly impact the lives of people across the country at various levels. The front line is continuously shifting and there are areas controlled by Russian forces as well as cities under siege. Aerial attacks on military installations and critical civilian infrastructures are conducted in the whole territory of Ukraine, often resulting in collateral civilian casualties. The conflict has caused the largest population movement in Europe since World War II, with 6.24 million displaced within Ukraine and 7.68 million refugees having fled to neighbouring countries. By October 26, OCHA had counted 17.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Amid the upcoming winter, which is anticipated to be the worst in decades, at least one-third of the country’s energy infrastructure is damaged, leaving millions without heating and access to water. In October, the Russian Federation claimed to have annexed four Ukrainian oblasts, further increasing the challenge of access to these areas. Therefore, in addition to preparing the population for the approaching winter, an ongoing priority for the international humanitarian response is to secure access to recently liberated and recaptured areas in the East and to provide aid to previously unreachable and particularly hard-hit areas of Ukraine.

Presentation of CARE UKRAINE

As a new actor in Ukraine, CARE prioritizes a locally led response and is partnering primarily with Civil-Society Organizations (CSOs), National NGOs, local authorities, and when needed, INGOs with a longstanding presence in the country and access to hard-to-reach areas. CARE Ukraine deliberately and strategically prioritizes partnerships with local and national Women Led and Women Rights organizations (WLO’s/ WRO’s), further strengthening the Gender in Emergencies (GiE) principle and the Women Lead in Emergencies (WLiE) approach.

In the first few weeks after the escalation of the war, virtually all humanitarian aid inside Ukraine was organized and implemented by local actors. These groups (together with local authorities) remain the principal aid providers but are quickly being exhausted of funds, fuel, and physical energy. Thereby, a considerable proportion of CARE’s resources is dedicated to strengthening and supporting the capacities of local partners.

As of November 2022, CARE Ukraine has established partnerships with twelve local/national organizations (incl. four WLO’s/WRO’s) and five international NGOs. From the more than 28 million that have been raised for Ukraine thus far, more than half is allocated to local/national partners. Through the activities that have been implemented so far, CARE Ukraine has been able to reach 550,030 people, including IDPs and affected populations in hard-to-reach areas.

While CARE Ukraine’s office is currently located in Lviv, we are continuously working on strategically expanding CARE’s presence and reach with plans to open an office in Kyiv as well as field offices in Dnipro and Odessa, covering both the East and South of the country.

General objectives of the mission

Overall, the Area Manager provides day-to-day management, coordination, and leadership to the field team across a particular geographical area, ensuring all team members are able to fulfil their objectives in a complex, dynamic and uncertain context.

As member of the Senior Management Team (SMT), the Area Manager directly reports to the Country Director (CD) and works in close collaboration with the Deputy CD for Programme implementation (DCD-PI) and the Deputy CD for Programme Quality and Development (DCD-PQD). The role is pivotal and requires strong capacities to proactively coordinate and cooperate with the Country Security, Safety and Access Manager (CSSAM), Grant Managers, the Technical Managers, the Partnerships Manager, the MEAL Manager, the Business development Manager (BDM), the Country Finance Manager (CFM), the Country Logistics Manager (CLM) and the Country HR Manager (HRM).

The position holder will be essentially responsible for:

• The Area Manager will lead the expansion of CARE’s programme in Eastern Ukraine. The post-holder will directly support the opening of CARE’s office in Dnipro, as well as the setting of field antennas in relevant oblasts to ensure a direct monitoring of the ongoing activities, collect relevant context and programme information, and supervise the rapid deployment of rapid response capacities when required
• Continuously overseeing security and safety risks in the assigned area of intervention to regularly updating risks assessment matrix and security management plans, and adequately following day-to-day deployment of the field teams
• Leading the overall planning and quality management of the projects implemented in the assigned area
• Developing an influential role in Humanitarian programming and Advocacy by maintaining high level coordination and cooperation with authorities, donors, partners, UN agencies and other NGOs
• Guaranteeing that CARE’s country programme and national partners in the assigned area receive adequate support from well-designed, cost-efficient and donor compliant support services, sufficiently resourced, and respectful of CARE accountability principles

The main responsibilities include:

General Management and Leadership

• The Area Manager is expected to provide stable and reliable leadership and guidance to all staff operating in the assigned area. This includes mentoring, troubleshooting, advisory role, provision of recommendations and guidance as needed
• Actively contribute to essential staff management functions of all departments under her/his management line including recruitments, contracting, objectives setting and performance appraisals, staff capacity development, disciplinary measures, dismissal procedures
• Take part of all internal coordination meetings as defined by the country coordination and reporting matrix and foster cross-team cooperation between the programme teams and the supports services at field level, as well as between field office and the country office
• Supervise Finance, Administration, Human Resources, Procurement and Logistics, ensuring that expenditures are compliant with CARE’s procedures, donors’ regulations, and national legislation
• Assure the implementation and understanding by staff members of the accountability framework in the field office (ie, Code of Conduct, PSHEA, complaint mechanism, etc.)

Security management

• Continuously analyse the political, security and socio-economical context, and ensure timely and accurate internal communication
• Keep in constant relation with local authorities, local partners and various military actors present in the area of intervention. Participate in all security related meetings with local or international, governmental, military and NGO actors
• Agree with the Country Director and the CSSAM on accurate security level applicable in the area of intervention and mitigation measures to be in place to continue operating as long as possible in a complex and volatile context
• Regularly participate in updating the security management tools, in collaboration with the Security, Safety and Access Manager and disseminate the necessary updates/guidance to all the area personnel
• Ensure the safety and security of CARE staff and assets in her/his area of responsibility, in coordination with the country Security, Safety & Access team
• Provide support to local partners to develop their security protocols
• Manage, in relation with the Country director and the Security, Safety & Access Manager, in accordance with the Incident Management Plan, any security incident and emergency situations, and write-up incident reports

Programme management

• The Area Manager will maintain a robust understanding of the context in the assigned area, including needs assessment, resources available, partners’ capacities, actors mapping, etc. She/he should be able to clearly articulate priority programmatic and geographic areas of intervention
• Participate in the definition and the review of the programme strategy and business plans in the assigned area of intervention and propose updates as necessary. Lead the process of adapting CARE Country Strategy and Business Plans to the local context and circumstances
• Organise and carry out field assessments, fact-findings missions and/or Real-Time Review when required, in close coordination with Partners organizations and relevant internal stakeholders
• Contribute towards concept notes and proposal writing under the supervision of the Business Development Manager
• Support and monitor programme staff/partners’ planning of activities. The Area Manager will anticipate procurement and finance needs based on planned activities. The Area Manager will also routinely join field visits as an independent eye to monitor for quality, efficiency and effectiveness of CARE’s activities and help overcome challenges as needed
• The Area Manager will foster the flow of information between support and programme functions within the field office, as well as between the field office and the country office, ensuring decision makers have up to date relevant information, and staff at all levels have an additional channel to have their voices and expertise heard

Finance and Administration

• The Area manager may have, under specific circumstances, the authority to sign binding agreements and other documents on behalf of the organization. This requires a high level of familiarity with policies, legislation and internal discussions/agreement with the CD
• Support with property management needs. This includes liaising with landlords and identifying new properties as needed
• Ensure together with the Country Finance Manager that budgets and budget lines allocated to the Field Office are designed in accordance with the needs. Ensure that expenditures on the budgets and budget lines allocated to him/her are planned and properly managed
• Ensure the mutualisation of means with local partners whenever possible

Representation, coordination and accountability

• Enable a productive and accountable relationship with beneficiaries and communities’ leaders/representatives
• Cultivate good relations with key humanitarian actors, including UN agencies, INGOs and donors, through regular attendance at coordination meetings/clusters and bilateral meetings. Maintain a strong contextual awareness of who is doing what in the area and up to date contacts to the greatest extent possible
• Represent CARE as required by the CD. This includes supporting or leading visits from donors, journalists, diplomats, authorities, etc.

Requirements

Mandatory criteria for longlisting

• Minimum 8 years of experience in managing humanitarian programme with international NGOs in complex and conflict-affected contexts
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in people management and leadership
• Minimum 3 years in managing acute emergency crisis, including rapid response mechanisms
• Minimum 3 years of relevant experience in security management in a complex conflict environment
• Strong and recent knowledge of Ukraine humanitarian context

Expected

• Excellent knowledge in project cycle management, essentially in emergency settings
• Proven experience in humanitarian advocacy and networking with duty bearers (negotiation and influence skills)
• Skills and knowledge of financial, procurement, safety and HR practices in Ukraine and in humanitarian organizations
• Proven experience in developing partnerships with national aid organizations, CBOs, CSOs and/or WROs
• Proficiency in English, Ukrainian and or Russian would be an asset
• Computer skills (including Excel and Word)
• Excellent interpersonal and diplomatic skills
• Good organizational skills
• Leadership skills and ability to make decisions in difficult situations
• Capacity to work under a high level of stress
• Adaptation capacities to dynamic context
• Trustworthiness and sense of responsibility
• Organizational skills, reactivity, ability to be thorough and to adapt

Accountability within CARE:

A commitment to CARE values and CARE’s integrity framework is critical to working with CARE. Any candidate offered a job with CARE will be expected to adhere to the following key areas of accountability:

• Comply with CARE’s policies and procedures with respect to safeguarding, code of conduct, health and safety, confidentiality, do no harm principles and unacceptable behaviour protocols.

• Report any concerns about the welfare of a child or vulnerable adult or any wrongdoings within our programming area.

• Report any concerns about inappropriate behaviour of a CARE staff or partner.

Safeguarding:

Children and vulnerable adults who come into contact with CARE as a result of our activities must be safeguarded to the maximum possible extent from deliberate or inadvertent actions and failings that place them at risk of abuse, sexual exploitation, injury, and any other harm. One of the ways that CARE shows this on-going commitment to safeguarding is to include rigorous background and reference checks in the selection process for all candidates.

Gender equality:

CARE is committed to meeting the standards of the CARE International Gender Policy (2019). Through this policy, CARE seeks to promote the equal realization of dignity and human rights for girls, women, boys and men in all diversities, and the elimination of poverty and injustice. Specifically, this policy seeks to improve the explicit incorporation of gender in programmatic and organizational practices.