HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE DIRECTOR, UKRAINE RESPONSE

CARE is an international NGO with local staff and community partners in more than 90 countries. We create local solutions to poverty and inequality and we seek dignity for everyone every day and during times of crisis. These solutions have a broad range, from clean water to access to education; from microfinance to ensuring that everyone has nutritious food; from agriculture and climate change to disaster response. CARE puts women and girls at the center of everything we do because they have proven to be the best hope for creating lasting change in the world. Our staff live where they work, which makes us effective at understanding the challenges they face. We’ve been doing this for over 70 years, since World War II. It started with the world’s first CARE Package® of food for the post-war hungry in Europe. Our work today is as important as ever, we believe that poverty and inequality are historic injustices that we can end within a generation, for good. If you share our core beliefs: poverty is an injustice; poverty is solvable; and together, we have the power to end it, join us, and fight with CARE.

The Humanitarian Response Director is responsible for establishing CARE’s humanitarian operations and response to support the Ukrainian refugees in Poland, including cross-border. The incumbent will provide oversight, leadership, and management of CARE’s humanitarian response and operations and ensure program quality, accountability, and timely delivery of response as per CARE’s and global humanitarian standards. This also includes ensuring all interventions are gender-focused and are relevant to the needs of the affected populations, particularly women and girls. Of particular importance is maintaining effective financial and resources management standards and measures that ensure effective, efficient, and compliant utilization of resources. The incumbent will also support resource mobilization and fundraising by ensuring the availability of required content and reporting. S/he is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective engagement and coordination with other humanitarian actors, including local partners, authorities, NGOs, UN agencies, donors, and representing CARE in all relevant Fora associated with the refugees’ response. S/he is responsible for managing CARE’s humanitarian team deployed to Poland and ensuring their safety and wellbeing. The incumbent will be based in Poland and will be reporting to the Vice President of Humanitarian Affairs, and coordinating with the Humanitarian Affairs SLT and MENA regional leadership.

Responsibilities

Oversight, Leadership, and Management

• Conduct an overall assessment to determine priority actions for the establishment of humanitarian response and operations and prepare a comprehensive strategy and action plan accordingly. Identify response locations, suitable accommodation/workplaces for the team and prepare the workplaces with required facilities and equipment.
• Define the response needs and prepare strategies, plans, approaches, and operational modalities to deliver an effective response.
• Identify and establish the required contractual arrangements with local partners to support effective and timely program delivery.
• In coordination with the Humanitarian Affairs team, continue to assess and ensure the relevance and quality of CARE’s humanitarian interventions and their suitability for the program participants.
• Ensure compliance with all host country legal, contractual, labor, and statutory requirements including registration process if required by CARE.
• Uphold a culture of respect and adherence to CARE’s programmatic principles, quality standards, strategies, and approaches and be results-oriented in planning and implementation.
• Ensure the Line Management, CI Secretariat, and CARE Member Partners (CMPs) are kept informed about assessment progress, emergency response implementation and strategies, project plans, progress reports, and other significant developments.

Establishment of Humanitarian Response

• In collaboration with local partners and other actors, assess and define the target population numbers, their priority needs, residential locations and decide on response and operation modalities based on the operating environment.
• Develop a comprehensive budget, operation plan, response modality and share it with the Humanitarian Affairs and CMPs to be utilized as a part of the fundraising materials.

• Coordinate the development of all project implementation plans and budgets within the framework of the agreed humanitarian response program and strategy.

• Maintain ongoing surveillance of the developing humanitarian emergency and adjust response activities accordingly.

• Ensure adequate monitoring, reporting, and acquittal of emergency response activities in accordance with CARE’s humanitarian accountability framework, relevant quality standards, and essential risks mitigation measures.

• Ensure that different sectoral activities are implemented in a coordinated and integrated manner.

Financial Stewardship

• Support project design and proposal preparations, and communications materials for institutional and public funding.
• Ensure preparations and sharing of regular sitreps with relevant actors within and outside CARE.

• Ensure establishment and maintenance of effective financial and assets management systems to ensure effective, efficient, and compliant utilization of resources.

• Ensure that program support functions are established and maintained in accordance with CARE policies and procedures to ensure effective compliance.

• Ensure establishment and maintenance of functional procurement and supply chain management system.

Coordination, Engagement, and Representation

• Establish and maintain effective coordination mechanisms with all relevant actors including local partners, NGOs, UN agencies, local authorities, donors…etc.

• Ensure CARE’s representation in all key relevant fora such as NGOs coordination meetings, clusters and donors’ meetings etc.

• Ensure positive coverage and the timely provision of situation reports and fundraising materials to the relevant parties in CARE. Continue to collect fundraising and media materials i.e. photos, assessment reports etc, and share them with relevant CARE actors.

• Ensure that secure and reliable communications/ information management facilities are established and maintained.

• Coordinate with relevant colleagues in Humanitarian Affairs and advocacy teams for advocacy messaging and activities.

Human Resources and Staff Wellness

• Assess staffing needs/requirements and develop a proper HR plan with a budget and recruitment timeline.
• Establish and maintain productive teamwork and a suitable work environment respectful of CARE’s Code of Conduct, with zero tolerance for verbal and physical abuse or discrimination against people.
• Ensure staff wellbeing and safety issues are continuously monitored and addressed. Conduct regular reviews of HR policies (i.e. R&R, CTO) to ensure that they are appropriate for an emergency response context.
• Conduct performance appraisals of staff if and as required, ensure regular feedback and mentoring on individual performance.
• Evaluate human resources requirements/needs and make recommendations and adjustments accordingly.
• Ensure all staff is fully briefed on all aspects of risks/security, social and cultural norms, and local conditions and behavior and advise them on suitable safety measures.

Qualifications:

Core Competencies

• People Skills: Ability to work independently and as a team player who demonstrates leadership and is able to support and train local and international staff and also able to work with disaster-affected communities in a sensitive and participatory manner.
• Communication Skills: Well-developed written and oral communication skills. Able to communicate clearly and sensitively with internal and external stakeholders as a representative of CARE. This includes effective negotiation and representation skills.
• Integrity: Works with trustworthiness and integrity and has a clear commitment to CARE’s core values and humanitarian principles.
• Resilience/Adaptability and flexibility: Ability to operate effectively under extreme circumstances including stress, high-security risks, and harsh living conditions. Works and lives in a flexible, adaptable, and resilient manner.
• Awareness and sensitivity of self and others: Demonstrates awareness and sensitivity to gender and diversity. Have experience and the ability to live and work in diverse cultural contexts in a culturally appropriate manner. Has a capacity to make accurate self-assessments,s particularly in high-stress and high-security contexts.
• Work style: Is well planned and organized even within a fluid working environment and has a capacity for initiative and decision making with competent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Knowledge and skills: knowledge of CARE policies and procedures, Sphere, and the Red Cross/ NGO Code of Conduct. Requires general finance, administration, information management, and telecommunication skills and proficiency in information technology/ computer skills.
• 5 – 7 years of humanitarian aid experience.
• Multiple language skills are desirable.

Required Technical Competencies

• Minimum of 10 years of humanitarian aid experience in complex and natural disasters.
• High level of all aspects of managerial experience, including managing multi-million dollar budgets.
• Experience in complex decision making and leading a multi-disciplinary, multi-national team under difficult circumstances.
• The highest level of expertise in representation and negotiation with governments and donors.
• Strong understanding of the humanitarian emergency operating context, including Sphere, the humanitarian system, donors, security, civil-military liaison, and program management.
• Relevant language skills for the country of deployment are added value.