Head of Country Office India

Job Advertisement

Name of the position : Head of Country Office India

Location : Delhi or Kolkata with frequent travel to project sites

Job type : Full time

No. of Vacancy : 1 (One)

Closing date of application : 18 February 2023

Start date :1 April 2023

About the Organisation:

Terre des hommes (Tdh), the leading Swiss child relief non-profit organization, is active in more than 30 countries with its programs focused on mother and child health, unsafe migration, Access to Justice and emergency response**.** In India, Tdh implements projects through local partners in the states of West Bengal and Jharkhand. Tdh India Country Office’s areas of expertise lie in Child Protection, Mother & Child Health, and Emergency Response. Besides financial aid, Tdh in India supports its partners with technical inputs and is involved in all stages of the project- from designing to monitoring and evaluation.

Tdh work at a systemic level, engaging with formal and non-formal actors, Government, service providers, civil society organisations, communities, families, and children themselves to ensure the care and protection of vulnerable children on the long-term.

Overarching responsibilities:

• Under the supervision of the Multi-country Head of Delegation, he/she ensures the proper functioning of operations at the national level; as such he/she represents the Foundation in the assignment country
• He/she directs and supervises all activities connected to the Tdh projects in his/her assignment country in line with the SP (Strategic Plan) and strategic orientations
• He/she represents Tdh (including legally) and promotes the entirety of its remit in the assignment country
• He/she demonstrates ethical and exemplary leadership in order to maintain the Foundation’s good reputation and leads all the Country Office collaborators in a shared vision in compliance with the Foundation’s strategic orientations. In collaboration with the Head of Multi Country Delegation, programs and expertise, he/she develops the Strategic Plan of the Country Office operations in compliance with the general reference framework.
• He/she develops and guarantees the implementation of the Country Office Annual Operational Plans (AOPs) in compliance with the Strategic Plan and internal processes (budgetary management, HR and logistics management, quality and accountability)
• He/she guarantees the implementation of an operational risk-management system for the Country Office.
• He/she supervises and supports all staff attached to the Country Office
• He/she ensures the Country Office internal and external communications
• He/she feels accountable to the beneficiaries, collaborators, and donors
• He/she makes sure that his/her teams and partners have learned the security policies and the general code of conduct and always comply with them
• He/she is responsible for the security of the Tdh teams under his/her responsibility and is in charge of the security rules and the contingency plans of the country under his/her responsibility

Specific Responsibilities:

More specifically he/she has the following responsibilities:

Strategy and steering :

• In charge of developing the country strategy based on a full contextual analysis and the result of an inclusive and participatory process (MCD, region, PROG&EXP, etc.)

In connection with the MCD India & Nepal, programs and expertise, he/she ensures the implementation of the country strategy and guarantees a professional implementation in an allotted time of the projects in compliance with the 2021-2024 global strategy and in compliance with the available resources and the demands of donors and identified needs.

• In connection with the programs and expertise, he/she develops new operational avenues in compliance with the 2021-2024 global strategy and the identified needs
• Ensures that the monitoring and assessment systems are implemented by the project teams
• Supervises the implementation of the country strategy and ensures with their respective colleagues in charge that they be executed and updated, if necessary, in compliance with the context’s evolution
• Guarantees to all collaborators involved a clear and precise understanding of the strategic plan and approaches, the goals to be attained and the Tdh common vision
• Guarantees the final endorsement of interventional proposals, the resources needed to do this and reports in the allotted timeframes

Representation :

• As part of his/her responsibilities, he/she establishes and maintains quality professional relations with the competent influential national, regional and/or local or stake-holder authorities: partners, multi-or bilateral donors represented at the national level, United Nations agencies, foundations, international and national NGOs and civil society organizations
• Watches over the Foundation’s good reputation in the country and positions Tdh as a major reference agency on the issue of children’s rights
• Develops synergies and partnerships with the international, national and/or local players present in the assignment country according to the Foundation’s operational and strategic priorities and as such, participates and works effectively in coalitions, forums and adequate networks
• Ensures a good operational information flow in the country office, ensures the interface between the country office, MCD India & Nepal the region and headquarters
• Maintains quality professional relations with the media and acts as Tdh’s spokesperson if the context calls for it

Security and safety:

Is accountable for the following tasks to the MCD and portfolio owner and in close collaboration with the risk-management sector and, if appropriate, with the other collaborators involved:

• Foresight

  • Monitors the world security context relevant to the mission
  • Identifies the main stakeholders for access to Tdh
  • Maintains an information network enabling the follow-up of the evolution of risks and threats
  • Manages and documents the context and the risk analysis
  • Shares the risk analysis with the staff, the new arrivals and visitors on a regular basis (meetings/regular information sessions)
  • Assesses the risks and threats connected to the implementation of Tdh activities throughout the mission
  • Chooses and decides on the appropriate strategies according to the risk/benefit relationship of operations
  • Keeps MCD in the loop about any new risk incurred and any development in the security context

• Preparation

  • Designs, defines and manages the implementation of all needed responses to risks (regulations, training, networking, communications, coordination, etc.)
  • Designs and manages/coordinates the mission’s access strategy
  • Compiles the security plans (rules, procedures, standards, emergency plans) and sees to sharing and following up the implementation
  • Ensures the participation of all staff members in the development of the response to risks and security practices
  • Acts as mentor for basic coordinators on issues of steering risks and access
  • Identifies and assesses the necessary support, in particular with the risk sector (training, mentoring, thematic or technical expertise)

• Reactiveness

  • Coordinates and leads in the management of incidents
  • Alerts without delay the Head of MCD of all security incidents or threats that might have an impact on the mission, staff security and/or Tdh business
  • Under the management of the headquarters crisis cell (Crisis Management Team), puts in place a country crisis cell (management team for implementation) in case of a critical incident, if deemed necessary

• Learning/ documentation

  • Systematically debriefs the staff involved in an incident (victims, witnesses and management personnel involved) and compiles/documents return on experience (REX)
  • Drafts reports on each security-related incident affecting Tdh personnel and monitors the consequences
  • Identifies gaps in the preparation of the response to risks and plans improvements

Human Resources:

In connection with the Human Resources Department and other colleagues involved:

• In connection with the MCD and Human Resources Department, ensures that the mission has an HR strategy and a policy for managing human resources in compliance with the legal framework in force in the assignment country
• Defines and adjusts the country office HR sizing and remains vigilant so that the human means are able to guarantee the implementation of programs
• In coordination with their other colleagues involved (MCD, headquarters, region, etc.), participates directly in recruiting the members of his/her team(s)
• Ensures that the chain-of-command links and levels of responsibility be clearly defined
• Foresees, defines, and effectively manages eventual organizational changes needed in the mission according to the evolution of context and activity
• Ensures the dissemination of and compliance with the Foundation’s policies, in particular the Overall Code of Conduct and Gender & Diversity Policy. Ensures their collaborators’ Duty of Care
• Actively fosters the staff’s well-being by keeping an eye on the mission’s social climate and the staff’s morale and puts in place the corrective actions required
• Verifies the reliability, implementation and supervision of HR strategies, systems, policies, and processes
• Controls that the national and international staff work effectively together and meet the program’s goals
• Leads the follow-up of internal and external HR audit recommendations

Finance and logistics:

In connection with the Finance and Logistics Department and with other colleagues involved:

• In coordination with the Fund-Raising sector (FR), watches over the proper management of funds at the Country Office level and controls the budgetary follow-up of activities in compliance with the signed donor contracts
• In coordination with Head of MCD, FR and Operations colleagues, leads fund-raising and negotiations with donors and partners present in the operating country; identifies and secures adequate funding for current and future programs
• Ensures with those colleagues involved the proper financial management of the Country Office and the funds made available
• Ensures that the Tdh financial procedures and the logistic follow-up as defined by the Foundation are in place at the Country Office level
• Ensures the implementation of the internal control system with the intention of protecting the mission’s financial and non-financial resources and guarantees their use in agreement with the donor working rules
• Checks that an appropriate and accessible system of financial and logistic reporting is implemented so as to meet internal and external requirements
• Leads the follow-up of internal and external audit recommendations relating to finance and logistics

Management :

• Ensures the supervision of all Country Office staff
• Sees to the good practices of a management that complies with Tdh values
• Effectively guides the staff by appropriately delegating with a view to attaining results and developing skills

Reporting :

• Consolidates the drafting of monthly reports intended for the MCD
• Drafts intermediary and final reports intended for donors

Professional Skills and competencies

This function requires possession of fundamental personal, social and leadership skills (CPSLs), technical and methodological skills (CTMs) and Managerial and strategic skills (CMSs)

• Exercise matrix management leadership
• Represents and explains the Tdh mission and projects
• Develops strategic partnerships
• Has a practical understanding of donor mechanisms
• Is open-minded and bold

As well as the following specific “trade” skills:

• Confirmed experience in a similar job or supervisory function in the field
• Able to work intelligently and in close collaboration with all parties involved
• An excellent capacity to listen and motivate their colleagues
• Excellent organizational capacities, a strong capacity to operate autonomously, proactively and with much initiative, and meet deadlines
• A strong team spirit and collaboration
• Reliable and independent with a strong organizational capacity, decision-making and conflict resolution
• Experience in developing partnerships, identifying new opportunities and mobilizing resources
• An excellent capacity of and ease in speaking in public (conferences, workshops) in English (note: and adapt to his/her audiences (governments and local authorities)
• More than ten years’ experience in program/project management and team management
• Confirmed experience in drafting project proposals and subsidy management, fund-raising and a good knowledge of financial partners
• Excellent interpersonal qualities: integrity, a capacity to judge and diplomacy
• Proactive, rigorous and a results-driven attitude
• Confirmed experience in supervising multicultural teams
• An analytical mind
• Good resistance to stress and an aptitude to work under pressure
• The ability to identify difficulties, foresee risks and inform the management with substantive recommendations

Expected qualification and experience

• Master’s degree in Management, Development Studies, Business development, Sociology, or related discipline(s)
• Experience of working with or for institutional and/or private donors (including CSR)
• Evidenced experience in proposal writing with high win rates where grants 500,000 USD or greater were secured
• 5+ years of experience in a senior management position
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and conflict resolution skills; Excellent oral and written skills in English and Hindi
• Solid computer literacy skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Recruitment & Remuneration

Tdh offers a competitive package of remuneration, based on the candidates’ experience and credentials. Annual festival bonus & contribution to PF. In addition, Tdh provides Gratuity (as per Indian Gratuity Act), Mediclaim Health Insurance coverage of INR 10,00,000 for Employee & family and Accidental insurance coverage for the Employee of equal to Annual CTC