Head of Mission

Job Title: Head of Mission

Function: Management

Job Group: Senior Leadership

Duty Station: Juba, South Sudan

Line Manager: Executive Director

Line Management Responsibility: Head of Programmes, Director of Operations, Security Advisor, Safeguarding Advisor

ABOUT US

Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) envisions a worldwide culture of peace where conflicts within and between communities and nations are managed through nonviolent means. NP is a global civil society organisation that works with people affected by violent conflicts to enhance their security and dignity through unarmed civilian protection (UCP) and by helping to transform the world’s response to conflict situations.

NP has been operational in South Sudan since 2010. It is currently NP’s largest country program with approximately 200 staff and between 12-15 field teams across the country, depending on project cycle and needs. The successful candidate will be an exceptional, people focused leader who supports this dynamic and experienced team to thrive. We are looking for someone with substantive and proven senior management experience in a complex operating environment. This will be a great role for someone who is intellectually energized by the idea of innovating violence reduction efforts in the nexus of humanitarian protection and stabilization as South Sudan continues the difficult journey out of conflict. The successful candidate will be steady minded, generous, and kind in leadership style and having a sense of humor can be a great asset.

ABOUT YOU

As Head of Mission, you will be a member of the Global Senior Leadership Team where you can contribute to the development of NP worldwide. You are excited to be a key part of a dynamic, challenging, and growing organization.

KEY OBJECTIVES/RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Leadership & Representation

• Maintain and communicate a coherent strategy for the long-term development of the country program appropriate to the context and in harmony with the global strategic plan, including innovating programming and advocacy into the identified innovation areas
• Contribute to strategic thinking on NP’s potential role in the region. Represent NP in South Sudan and when assigned at regional or international fora, to the full range of stakeholders including host government, security services, diplomats, donors, within the humanitarian architecture, policy and advocacy spaces, community leadership and so on

Program Implementation & Development

• Accountable for the delivery, effective management and monitoring, evaluation and learning of the programme.
• Co-ordinates and supports the Program Development staff to identify new funding sources and negotiate funding opportunities to facilitate program implementation; provides leadership on building strategic partnerships with current and potential donors
• Ensures that secured funding contracts and income are managed effectively and efficiently in compliance with donor contractual requirements and NP policies and procedures
• Provide direction for in country and regional advocacy work while contributing to NP’s global advocacy engagements

Risk Management

• Provides overall leadership and responsibility on due diligence and risk reduction to NP’s staff and operations
• Provides in-country leadership during safety and security incidents & leads on crisis management
• Provides leadership to imbue the country programme with the organizational culture and values including personal and mutual accountability to facilitate a safe, inclusive, diverse work environment where colleagues feel a strong sense of belonging
• Serves as line manager to the Safety & Security Advisor & the Safeguarding Manager
• Responsible to report, in real-time, all security incidents to the Executive Director

Financial & Operational Management

• Responsible for maintaining legal compliance in all relevant areas of operation
• Accountable for overseeing sound financial management in accordance with NP financial policies, practices, and internal control systems
• Responsible for ensuring the financial health of the country programme through budget management, oversight to burn rates, monitoring for potential funding gaps, expense control
• Provide leadership on anti-fraud and anti-corruption awareness, training, and enforcement
• Provides leadership, together with the Head of Operations & Finance on project, program, and annual audit processes
• Ensure procurement, logistics, HR, and administration processes are implemented by following NP’s policies and in compliance with donor contracts

Personnel Management & Leadership

• Directly manages members of the in-country Senior Management Team (SMT)
• Provides strategic guidance that ensures robust, timely and appropriate recruitment of staff as needed in accordance with NP values
• Leads internal dispute resolution processes with the support of NP’s Global Head of HR
• Coaching & mentoring colleagues in thriving in their current positions, providing leadership for career development, and bringing NP values and code of conduct commitments to life

Other

• Serve as an active participant in NP’s global Senior Management Team
• Any other tasks as delegated by the line manager

QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES

Education, Knowledge, and Experience

• Relevant university degree or higher education, preferably in management, social sciences, humanitarian or development sector or international development; or equivalent professional experience
• Minimum seven years of proven ascending leadership and management experience
• Previous experience working as a senior manager in a complex emergency context, including security management experience
• Demonstrated experience working with state and local, civil, and armed actors
• Demonstrated ability to live, work and solve problems independently and effectively in remote, highly challenging locations
• Proven communication and interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated ability to analyze conflict, security, and political contexts

Skills

Independent Judgment/Analytical:

Ability to set priorities, solve problems and analyse data Ability to manage information with discretion Demonstrable conflict analysis skills, identify entry points and design prevention and protection strategies Able to work under pressure, independently and with limited supervision

Interpersonal:

Result oriented and problem solving Ability to communicate effectively with individuals and motivate and provide leadership to team and to work in a multi-cultural environment Solutions focused, creative problem solver Proven ability to build relationships with the full range of actors including government, chiefs, military, police and non-state actors Genuine commitment and interest in living and working at the community level Flexibility and adaptability; able to cope with a changing environment, both on a professional and a personal level;

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English is required.

Information Technology:

Good skills in Microsoft Office applications. Salesforce an asset

Other Specialized Requirements

• This position will have to travel to field sites, including locations with limited access to communications as well as periodic regional and international travel
• NP missions are often in a complex security environment where conditions change rapidly; ability to provide leadership and sound management in insecure environments is essential to success in this position