Country Director

Location: Lviv, Ukraine with frequent travel within the country

Department: Country Management

Line manager: Deputy Humanitarian Lead

Salary Grade: UK Grade E

Contract: Fixed Term

About HelpAge

HelpAge International works with partners and a diverse global network of more than 170 organisations over 90 countries, supporting millions of older people to live safe, dignified, and healthy lives. Through our partnership and collaborations, we work to ensure the inclusion of older people across society and strive to deliver a just and fair world for everyone, whatever their age.

About the Job

The Country Director will have overall responsibility for the strategic vision and leadership of the country programme through a forthcoming transition period, with the primary purpose of ensuring that older persons lead dignified, healthy and secure lives. They will be responsible for the delivery of quality programmes and policy work, maintaining and expanding donor, government and other key stakeholder relations, fund raising, human resource management, partnership and operations management of the Country Programme.

Key areas for impact/influence and responsibilities

Strategic Direction and Leadership

• Lead the implementation and review of Ukraine Humanitarian Response Strategy and 2-year business plans, ensuring close alignment with HelpAge’s global Strategy 2030 and translating these into achievable goals and programmes which will deliver positive impacts for older people and deliver HelpAge’s commitment to localisation and partnership.
• Continue to build a unique value proposition for HelpAge in Ukraine, focused on key thematic issues of social protection, health and care, inclusive humanitarian approach but also in other result areas identified in the 2030 strategy.

Programme Quality and Learning

• Ensure the inclusion of older women and men, older people with disabilities, local partners in the design development and implementation of programmes and advocacy work to ensure relevance and legitimacy and collaboration and compliance with Humanitarian Inclusion Standards.
• Ensure the country programmes deliver on targets and outcomes by maintaining oversight on implementation of program activities, ensuring access to high quality technical support and resources, and an emphasis on learning.

Partnership Approach

• Develop and strengthen partnerships with other national and international organisations to coalesce around strategic issues of common interest and benefit from each other’s competence in terms of technical issues, donor experience and geographical presence.
• Prioritise identification of and collaboration with local partners and spearhead capacity building for new and existing partners for programming and policy work.

Resources

• Facilitate fundraising efforts with partners and local consortia in the country and ensure targeted fundraising from institutional, UN, private and corporate donors to build a sustainable resource base for local actors to advance the rights of older persons.
• Work closely with HelpAge supporting members and global business development team to mobilise resources and build donor engagement.

Stewardship and Operations Management

• Drive operational excellence to achieve optimal efficiency and cost-effectiveness in all functions and operations of the country programme and share learning, skills and knowledge on operational effectiveness with partners.

Staff Performance Management and Development

• Model and promote HelpAge’s core values, as they shape the way we work and organisational culture.
• Supervise and mentor direct report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting performance objectives, provide regular and timely performance feedback.

Representation and Communication

• Actively participate in various global meetings/ forums to discuss wider global and regional issues for the organisation- external and internal.

Safeguarding

• Lead a safe working and operational culture where people can speak up securely and confidentially about concerns through a variety of channels.
• Accountable to the Board on safeguarding, including reporting all safeguarding incidents seen, heard about, or suspected, to the Head of Human Resources within 24 hours.

Extent of Authority

The post holder is authorised to make decisions within the framework of the agreed annual plan and budget and approved project proposals. The post holder is expected to operate within all HelpAge International policies and procedures.

Skills and experience required

Essential

• Demonstrable experience of leading a large, multi-donor funded, humanitarian response in a complex and insecure context.
• At least 10 years’ experience of programme management or leadership at a senior level in a national or an International INGO
• Demonstrable experience in strategic planning, programme development and management of complex, multi-stakeholder interventions, including humanitarian response and recovery.
• Experience in fostering change management processes through inspiring and leading multi-stakeholder teams and networks
• Experience of strategic positioning and strategy development, collaborative networking and delivery of objectives, team building and management, programme & project management
• Experience in organisational development, management and support in delivering Programme quality, capacity building and continuous improvement
• Commitment to localisation of aid and development and experience of leading an organisational change process.
• Commitment and ability to foster and support capacity building in own staff and of national partners, including experience of managing teams across different sites.
• Demonstrable experience in establishing networks with governments, private and public sector entities and civil society.
• Fluent written and spoken English and the ability to write clear reports for a wide range of audiences.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to influence, communicate and negotiate with a wide range of people and organisations at all levels with tact, diplomacy and sensitivity to cultural differences.
• Ability to prepare and monitor budgets and accounts.

Desirable

• An appreciation of project appraisal, assessment, monitoring and evaluation methodologies.
• Demonstrable experience in resource mobilisation from a range of donors
• Knowledge of one or more local languages

Safeguarding

HelpAge International is committed to safeguarding the communities with which we work, our partners, staff and any others who we come into contact with. The post holder will also be responsible for:

• Preventing harm and abuse from our people, operations and programmes to anyone that encounters our work.
• Reporting all safeguarding incidents you see, hear, hear about or suspect, using our internal reporting mechanism.
• Complying with all safeguarding framework policies and practices.
• Completing mandatory training courses relating to our safeguarding policy framework and complying with HR vetting procedures.

SAFER RECRUITMENT

All employments at HelpAge International will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include misconduct disclosure schemes and terrorism finance checks.