Hub Team Leader

Position: NWS Hub Team Leader

Location: Gaziantep

Reports to: Syria Country Director

Duration: one year Contract

About Relief International.

Relief International (RI) is a leading nonprofit organization working in 16 countries to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and chronic poverty.

Relief International combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Our signature approach — which we call the RI Way—emphasizes local participation, an integration of services, strategic partnerships and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them.

Relief International includes the four members of the RI Alliance in the USA, UK, France, and Belgium. Under our alliance agreement, we operate under a single, shared management structure with one CEO and one Board of Directors.

About our Programs

RI is active in 16 countries around the world, including some of the most fragile: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen. Often, RI is the only organization providing assistance to highly vulnerable communities.

· RI employs 7,000+ staff and auxiliary workers

· 97% of staff are in-country nationals

· We only have some 90 ex-pat staff out of 7,000+

· RI spent $125 million in 2019 on our programs.

RI invests in four broad program sectors: Economic Opportunity, Education, Health, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). We design our programs to incorporate The RI Way: local participation, integrated programming, the development of civic skills, and partnerships including with local NGOs, governments, and the private sector.

RI supports solutions that reinforce and improve upon existing in-country systems. Where such systems do not exist or are chronically underperforming, RI’s crisis response lays the foundation for long-term, sustainable change.

Position Summary:

The Hub Team Leader (HTL) will be deployed to scope out, plan and mobilize RI’s initial response in Northwest Syria (NWS), and to provide strategic and operational direction to the initial response in collaboration with the Regional Director and the Humanitarian Director. Primary responsibilities will be to mobilize and coordinate with humanitarian actors and donors to identify needs and gaps, mobilize resources, and then to plan and manage the scale up of the emergency response in NWS. In the initial weeks of the deployment, the Team Leader is primarily responsible for identifying needs and resources and elaborating program plans and proposals for the emergency response in line with Relief International national and global priorities, donor priorities, and in line with identified gaps in the overall response in NWS. The post holder will play a strategic role in determining needs, gaps and opportunities, in program and proposal development and in the mobilization and effective scale up and management of RI emergency response in NES, taking the lead in representing the organization to donors, obtaining funding, and identifying and pursuing new program opportunities for the response. A crucial part of the Team Leader role involves networking and representation with donors and the successful identification, negotiation and securing of funding for the response.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

Emergency Response Planning and Mobilization (40% of role)

· In coordination with the Amman Team, lead all aspects of emergency response, including mobilizing initial response plans and activities; internal and external inter-agency coordination, networking and negotiations with donors and authorities, overseeing emergency assessments, leading the design and drafting of proposals, and resourcing and allocation of in-country staff and assets as appropriate.

· Plan and supervise needs assessments and data collection (or review of secondary data and needs assessments) in support of program design.

· Lead the process of developing immediate and longer-term response plans, ensuring that RI’s response meets immediate humanitarian needs and strategically positions the organization for short term emergency and longer-term program funding opportunities in NWS.

· Pro-actively ensure immediate and effective direct communications and networking with donors that produces actionable and timely business intelligence. Provide useful information to regional leadership for discussions with donors at regional / global levels.

· In collaboration with regional program and program development staff, lead and ensure that preparation of funding proposals is of the highest quality and closely responsive to response needs and donor requirements

· As needed personally draft substantial parts of funding proposals and budgets

· Track funding and program trends to understand specific donor priorities and resources.

· Lead the conceptualization and development of robust concept notes and proposals to fund response plans, and negotiate with donors (or participate in donor discussions) to ensure high rate of success.

· Initiate, establish and cultivate relationships with peers and with new donors. Negotiation with peer agencies and donors of participation in relevant consortia will form a significant part of the program development responsibilities of this role.

· Actively identify and pro-actively pursue new opportunities for program growth and start-up, in coordination with relevant country, regional and global support office Program Development, Grants and Program staff.

· Map peer agencies / other actors in the response and assess other humanitarian actor’s activities to identify geographic or sector gaps in the response.

· In close collaboration with regional and global support office management, participate in negotiation of contracts and agreements with donors, ensuring both programmatic and financial relevance.

· Identify, and where appropriate, initiate and maintain program partnerships with external agencies.

RI NWS Hub Management

· Assume overall management and oversight for the establishment of RI operation in NWS.

· Establish project monitoring plans and systems for identifying and tracking the indicators and develop processes/procedures and forms to support monitoring, timely implementation and inform learning.

· Ensure optimal safety and security management procedures and practices are in place for the emergency response program and continually monitor the safety and security situation.

· Oversee effective functioning of logistics systems to procure, store and distribute stock, supplies and services for the timely delivery of project objectives.

· Personnel Management and Development

· Plan, identify and resource appropriate and effective structure & staffing needs for entire response (including working with the RD and HR teams in ensuring that personnel policies are in accordance with national laws)

· Ensure that capacity building plans and performance management systems are in place to develop the requisite competencies in staff to ensure ongoing sustainability and quality of response into recovery phase.

Budget and Financial Management•

· In coordination with hub based finance and program teams, ensure program implementation and budget use is in compliance with grant requirements per relevant donors.

· Report any deviations from spending projection/plans to CD and Syria finance manager.

· Ensure timely and constant monitoring of the project spend-down plans, review BVAs in coordination with relevant hub-based team and take lead on project modifications and no cost/ cost extensions in coordination with and guidance from Syria MT.

Capacity building

· Provide capacity building to program managers and other department leads within the relevant hub. Focus on key capacity building areas such as management, leadership, work plan development, project cycle management etc.

· Develop overall staff competency through leadership, mentoring and coaching to program and technical departments.

· Conduct regular performance appraisals and annual performance reviews of managers and hub based technical and operational department leads

External Representation

· Represent RI’s emergency response on a national, regional and international level to donors, partners, relevant government bodies, the media and members of the humanitarian community.

· Help shape broader sector strategies through influence of and leadership within inter-agency coordination forums.

· Regularly undertake high-level representation and advocacy with governmental and non-governmental partners and officials, including UN and coordinating bodies, as well as donor representatives.

QUALIFICATIONS & REQUIREMENTS

This position demands a dynamic individual with a demonstrated ability to achieve results in a demanding and fast paced environment.

· This position demands a dynamic individual with a demonstrated ability to achieve results in a demanding, fast paced and often insecure environment.

· Experience of international level representation with key stakeholders, including donors and co-ordination with government, other NGOs/UN

· Proven expertise of leading in fundraising, seeking and securing new donors, successful proposal development and reporting.

· Extensive experience (over 10 years) of working within a senior management role within a complex country program in a complex emergency response or fragile state. Previous experience of managing program teams in first phase, scale up of emergency response is essential.

· Prior experience of networking with humanitarian actors, scoping out and assessing needs and gaps in response, and identifying / recommending response options and opportunities.

· Demonstrated strong project cycle management skills, inclusive of work plan/ timeline/ deliverables/ and budget tracking and course correction.

· Knowledge and experience in at least two of the following sectors / program areas essential: Health, Nutrition, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Food Security and Livelihoods, Education. Knowledge and experience of market-based and cash-transfer programming desirable.

· Absolutely essential is a strong understanding of UN and humanitarian coordination mechanisms.

· Evidence of understanding the challenges of donor and grant/contract management and the implications for program management

· Experience of managing large and complex, multi-donor, multi-sector programs (including ECHO, DFID, UN and OFDA / USAID / BPRM) in a first phase response.

· Substantial experience in the financial management of budgets, including preparing financial projections, general financial management and reporting.

· Strong report writing skills and experience

· Excellent English language skills, and knowledge of local language is desirable but not essential.

· Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy

· Commitment to the aims and principles of Relief International. In particular, a good understanding of the humanitarian mandate and principles.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Relief International is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Relief International (RI) is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to RI’s Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

RI Values:

We uphold the Humanitarian Principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality and operational independence. We affirmatively engage the most vulnerable communities.

We value:

• Inclusiveness
• Transparency and accountability
• Agility and innovation
• Collaboration
• Sustainability