Deputy Country Director

The Danish Refugee Council assists refugees and internally displaced persons across the globe: we provide emergency aid, DRC Afghanistan is one of the largest DRC country operations supporting current Afghan crisis by provision of emergency lifesaving assistance, early recovery, protection , wash and Humanitarian disbarment and peacebuilding programs across 16 provinces and has a Large footprint in the overall humanitarian response.

About the job

The Deputy Country Director (DCD) is overall responsible for ensuring the timely and compliant delivery of DRC’s programme activities in the field, as outlined in the Strategic Programme Document, And supporting Area Managers to develop Area Strategies, and in line with the programme technical guidelines and advice deriving from those documents and the work plans for individual grants.

The The Deputy Country Director (DCD) will line manage DRC area managers across four area office in central, east, south and east regions of Afghanistan, The Deputy Country Director (DCD) is overall responsible and accountable for DRC budgets and will ensure proper spending and implementation across all areas of implementation and provinces.

The Deputy Country Director (DCD) works collaboratively with the Heads of Programmes (HoPs) to ensure that the programme strategies they are responsible for preparing are realistically achievable, and sufficient technical guidance and support is available to implement the grant components of those strategies effectively.

The Deputy Country Director (DCD) also works collaboratively with the Head of Support Services to ensure that processes to enable smooth delivery of operations in the field (e.g. HR, Admin, IT, Finance, Supply Chain, etc.) are being consistently applied and improved. The DCD also coordinates closely with the Safety Manager and Access Coordinator to ensure operations are conducted safely and in line with humanitarian principles wherever they are implemented.

The Deputy Country Director (DCD) will act as OIC when needed and in absence of the country direct, will lead the SMT and external relationship with other actors such as , UN, GOV etc.

Your main duties and responsibilities will be:

Strategy, Management and Programming

• Assist HoPs and other colleagues in development of achievable Strategic Programme Document for DRC Afghanistan
• Oversee development of Area Strategies by the Area Offices within frame of SPD & Sector Strategies
• Line manage Area Managers responsible for implementation of Protection, Emergency, Livelihoods, Mine Action and any other sectoral activities
• Supervise, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the area office programs to ensure that activities are implemented in accordance with agreed strategies, principles, implementation plans, DRC guidelines and donor requirements

Operations

• Collaborate with HoSS and HoPs to prepare Area Office-level budgets within context of country Master Budget
• Coordinate submission of combined purchase requests in Dynamics where necessary in line with procurement plans
• Cooperate with HoSS to coordinate other ongoing operational processes as required
• Oversee budgets delegated to Area Managers as next-level manager
• Engage with Access Coordinator to improve consistency and proactiveness of access negotiations

Safety:

Delegated responsibility from the CD to work with Safety Manager and Area Managers to ensure oversight of implementation of Safety Risk Management System in the Area Offices areas-of-implementation

Accountability:

• Champion a positive approach to gender and diversity mainstreaming in DRC’s area office operations (inc. Gender and Diversity focal points)
• Support the role out of accountability processes in the Area Offices (inc. CoC, BFMs and PSEA focal points)
• Act as a key member of the DRC Afghanistan CoC Intake Committee as required

Representation:

• Represent DRC Afghanistan in relevant forums at Area Office level (when more senior representation is required)
• Represent DRC Afghanistan in relevant forums at Country level as requested by the CD (e.g. INSO, AHF, ADF, etc.)
• Act up as acting Country Director from time to time when CD is absent (on rotational basis with other SMT staff)

Key Deliverables:

• Full delivery of grants outputs in line with grant targets
• Full expenditure of area office level funds in line with assigned budgets
• Accurate and timely reporting of necessary data and other information according to PMT schedules, Audit plans and other operational reporting requirements

About you

To be successful in this role we expect the following:

• University degree/ masters in social science, economics or other relevant sectors
• 5-7 years senior management experience
• Strong people management skills
• Strong background and knowledge of support services (finance, HR, Admin and supply chain)
• Previous experience as an Area Manager is an advantage
• Full professional proficiency in English
• Both Dari and Pashto local languages are mandatory requirement for national applicants.

In this position, you are 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.

We offer

Band: E

Contract lenght: 2 years

Designation of Duty Station: Unacccompanied Non-family Duty Station

Start date: 06 July

Salary and other conditions are offered in accordance with DRC’s Terms of Employment for international staff or DRC National Staff salary scale; please refer to drc.ngo under Vacancies. For questions regarding the vacancy please contact Mohammad Ismail Hamid at [email protected].