Head of Base

Action Against Hunger (AAH) is an international non-governmental, private, apolitical, non-religious and non-profit organization created in 1979. Its goal is to combat hunger and dangerous situations that threaten men, women and children. Currently 500 expats and more than 5,000 employees are working for Action Against Hunger in more than forty-six countries working in projects concerning four areas of focus: nutrition, health, food security and water and sanitation.

Action Against Hunger is recruiting for its Gaza office a

Head of Base

GENERAL OBJECTIVES:

• Represent AAH in Gaza at the inter-agency level and oversee all AAH activities, staff, and assets.
• Support the Logistician/Security Officer, oversee security at the base level, leading the “context/risk analysis” and the adoption of all necessary measures to protect the staff and the organisation.
• Build on the current expansion of AAH’s donor base and FSL/WASH programme portfolio, implementing AAH’s new country strategy.
• Assure compliance with all AAH administrative procedures, with the support of the Country Director (CD) and Jerusalem office.
• Supervise the base-level work and continuing capacity upgrade of all Gaza senior staff through ongoing training and support.
• Support the Administrator through the supervision of work and the provision of such support as it is required.

KEY ACTIVITIES

Objective 1: Programme Management

Tasks:

• Ensure the effective implementation of programmes through careful oversight of and adherence to logistics, communications, transport, human resources, and finance policies and procedures. Oversight on the implementation and monitoring of programmes to ensure their timely and effective implementation and financial management.
• Agreement on goals and objectives with key staff and monthly assessment of progress against outputs.
• Collaborate with the technical coordinators in the appropriate identification and effective implementation of projects.
• Contribute to programme development through participation in and facilitation of assessments, visits, and evaluations.
• Ensure that a high standard is maintained in all proposals, reports, and other material to be submitted to donors.
• Ensure that programmes are implemented in accordance with AAH-Spain policies and strategies.
• Ensure the maintenance of accurate project documentation summarised in weekly minutes and in reports for submission to donors.

Objective 2: Human Resources Management & Capacity Building

Tasks:

• Application and respect of AAH procedures, internal regulations, deontology, and principles for both the Head of Base and staff members.
• Update and review of the base structure according to programme needs, with input from the Technical Coordinators, Jerusalem Admin, and the Country Director.
• Participation with the HR Officer in the recruitment of new national staff as needed.
• Line management of Deputy HoB HR Officer, Finance Manager, Liaison Officer and Base Logistician and their regular evaluation according to AAH procedures.

Capacity Building

• Assume responsibility for capacity building of Gaza staffs.
• Identify needs and organize appropriate training through the Mission Training Plan tool.
• Initiate and implement internal training where required.

Objective 3: Ensure effective intra-base coordination in Gaza

Tasks:

• Monitoring of financial and administrative management of the base including the preparation of budgets, financial requests, accountancy, payments, tenders, procedures, and movements.
• Coordination of all staff activities through weekly base meetings and activity planning sessions.
• Support in the identification and implementation of programme strategy.
• Ensuring that programmes are designed and implemented in consultation with local authorities, partners, and all other stakeholders.
• Supporting the CD in the development of strategic partnerships and the assessment of existing partner capacity.
• Collaborating in the development of concept notes and proposals in the FSL and WASH teams, technical staff such as the base administrator and logistician and submitting these into the validation chain.
• Assessing the relevance and feasibility of other interventions in the area in accordance with mission strategy in discussion with relevant external actors.
• Assisting external evaluators in the assessment of AAH programmes.

Objective 4: Logistics and Administration

Tasks:

• Monitoring the financial, administrative, and logistical management of the base (including the preparation and of budgets, accountancy, payments, tenders, fulfilment of procedures, movements etc.).
• Following up on the implementation of logistics procedures, policies and practices as defined in the Logistics Kit.
• Supervising, supporting, and following up on the compilation and timely submission of monthly logistics and administrative reports and accountancy to the Jerusalem office.
• Authorization of expenses for the base in compliance with monthly treasury forecasts.
• Participation in the financial management of the base in collaboration with the base administrator: this includes budget drafts and updates, budget follow ups and projections,
• Follow up on co-funding and partner contributions according to mission tools.
• Regular communication with the Administration Coordinator on all important issues regarding finance and administrative matters.

Objective 5: Ensure proper management of the AAH security procedures and tools in coordination with the Country Director

Tasks:

• Continuous monitoring of the local situation through the collection and analysis of security information.
• Identification of security threats and measures to mitigate risk.
• Follow up on the implementation of security measures.
• Contribute to updating the security plan as required.
• Comply with AAH’s security procedures.
• Follow up and analysis of security incidents.
• Ensuring that staff members are aware of AAH’s security management system including AAH’s Security Guidelines and monitoring their compliance.
• Oversight on the preparation and submission of security reports to Logistics Coordinator as required.
• Management of the Gaza ERU.

Objective 6: Additional responsibilities

Tasks:

• Represent AAH at the inter-agency level.
• Maintain high team spirit and motivation within the AAH Gaza team
• Participate in coordination meetings in Jerusalem as required and ensure high level of coordination with stakeholders and partners.

CANDIDATE DESCRIPTION:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Sociology, International Development, Political Science, or International Relations.
• Project cycle management, logistics and administration.
• At least five years of experience in the humanitarian field, with a background in base and budget management, accountancy, and familiarity with logistics, security management and European donor rules.
• Familiarity with AAH procedures is considered as an asset.
• Ability to write donor reports and proposals in English.
• Training and capacity-building experience.
• Diplomacy and tact .
• A professional and transparent operational style..
• Good communication, management, and planning skills.
• Ability to quickly integrate and understand a complex socio-political working environment.
• English is the working language in Gaza (spoken, read, and written); Familiarity with Spanish or Arabic would be useful.
• Windows domain, expertise in Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Internet.