Programme Director – Surge

Our vision, our mission and our work are all defined by one goal – ending extreme poverty, whatever it takes. We believe that no-one should have to live in fear that they won’t have a home to sleep in or enough food to feed their children. For over 50 years we have been working with the world’s poorest people towards this goal.

Today we are a team of over 4,400 highly skilled and dedicated professionals from 50 countries who share an exceptional depth and diversity of experience. We want committed, values driven staff to join our HQ team and are currently looking for a Programme Director, be part of our Surge Team in our Emergency Directorate.

Concern offers in-house management and leadership courses and tailored organisation-wide learning opportunities both in-person and online. We are committed to providing our staff with the skills needed to excel in their jobs. All employees are required to undertake training in equality, diversity and inclusion; the Code of Conduct; and safeguarding, along with any other training required for the role.

Our culture is values driven and friendly. A global engagement survey conducted in 2022, responded to by 3,577 of our staff, showed that 89% of our staff would happily recommend Concern as a great place to work and 94% are proud to tell people that they work for Concern.

Members of Concern’s Surge Team will be deployed to various Concern country programmes for varying time periods ranging from six weeks up to six months. When not deployed, team members will work from home.

Contract details:

• 8 weeks annual leave increasing to 10 weeks after completion of first full year and R+R where applicable

• Up to 3 weeks home-based work

• All Surge Team members must be available to travel overseas within 24 hours of being requested to deploy

• Unaccompanied position

The job: You will respond quickly and flexibly to new and existing emergencies and provide support in the development of contextual analysis, programme design and implementation, the management of programme teams, and in the preparation of funding applications and donor reports. You will fill appropriate gaps in non-emergency programmes and existing chronic emergencies. This may require deployments in a specialist advisory as well as managerial capacity.

If you join us, this is what you will be doing:

Emergency Response

• Lead in emergency assessments
• lead in the design, delivery and management of emergency response programmes

Programme development and management

• Manage emergency responses as necessary
• Lead in developing high quality programmes in line with country strategies
• Develop and maintain effective relations with donors, UN and NGOs, and key government institutions to widen our impact, raise funds and stay responsive to changing needs
• As a member of the in country SMT, ensure stable leadership for Concern and coherence between programmes and systems
• Actively support and ensure the roll-out of accountability across the country programme
• Lead in the mainstreaming of HIV and AIDS, equality and disaster risk reduction
• Support the development and management of an effective learning system

Programme Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Support programme staff build and increase the quality of monitoring and evaluation
• Ensure that the monitoring and evaluation system is clear and that staff fully understand their role in this and receive feedback on the overall programme performance

Finance:

• Ensure that the Concern programmes are managed in accordance with approved budget and responsible for monitoring expenditure against budget of all programmes
• Ensure close management of all grants and contracts with responsibility for their execution effectively delegated through the programme teams
• Work with the Country Financial Controller (CFC), Country Director and Systems Director in-country to prepare and monitor programme budgets and provide the CFC with information necessary for the preparation and revision of country budgets

People Management:

• Line manage Programme and/or Area Managers as required
• With the HR Manager and the CD, ensure timely recruitment of staff, succession planning, and retention and staff development
• Ensure that systematic Performance and Development Review (PDR) processes are undertaken with all staff within the programme remit
• Conduct training and staff development needs assessments of programme staff and in consultation with the CD and HR Manager, ensure that the needs are addressed through sourcing and delivering appropriate training/ mentoring and follow-up

Management Team:

• Contribute to the effective management and development of Concern country programme through active participation in the Senior Management Team (SMT) and Country Management Team
• Actively participate in the development, revision and roll out of organisational and country specific policies and procedures
• Deputise for the CD when required

Security support:

• Assist in developing, revising and implementing the Security Management Plan, ensuring that security measures are appropriate to the context and adhered to by the programme team. Report all security matters to the CD

Skills you will bring:

Essential:

• Third-level qualification in humanitarian studies or a related discipline
• At least five years’ experience of working in humanitarian contexts, of which at least two should have been at progressive management level
• Broad knowledge of programming from assessment through design to evaluation, and an appreciation of the different sectoral approaches
• Understanding of the gender implications of emergency responses
• Experience of working in insecure environments
• Familiarity with Sphere and other good practice standards
• Be a strong team player with a can do attitude
• Have a strong commitment to helping the poorest people in the world to improve their wellbeing and achieve their goals
• Ability to work to deadlines and under pressure
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, including being able to work effectively in English and French – written and spoken

Desirable:

• Experience in emergency assessment and response management, or other technical skills related to humanitarian response
• Experience in the use of participatory approaches in project design and implementation and understanding of key vulnerabilities

You will report to the Head of Emergency Operations overall and between deployments, and to the Country Director while on deployment. You will manage relevant programme staff in country when deployed.

The salary is from €62,393 to €73,405 (band 6) and this is a 2 year full time, fixed term contract

We encourage all eligible candidates, irrespective of gender, ethnicity and origin, disability, political beliefs, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status to apply to become a part of the organisation. Concern is against all forms of discrimination and unequal power relations, and is committed to promoting equality.

If this role sounds right for you, please apply with your CV and cover letter. We will respond to every applicant. Please be aware we may offer positions before the closing date.

If you have any concerns about our recruitment process and need particular assistance – for example if you have a visual impairment or are neuro-divergent – please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you.

Important information:

Concern has an organisational Code of Conduct (CCoC) with three Associated Policies; the Programme Participant Protection Policy (P4), the Child Safeguarding Policy and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Policy accessible here. These have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation, and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staff, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organization, and the standards of behavior expected of them. In this context, staff have a responsibility to the organization to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in the day-to-day conduct in their workplace in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and Associated Policies as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Concern Code of Conduct, candidates acknowledge that they have understood the content of both the Concern Code of Conduct and the Associated Policies and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these policies. Additionally, Concern is committed to the safeguarding and protection of vulnerable adults and children in our work. We will do everything possible to ensure that only those who are suitable to work or volunteer with vulnerable adults and children are recruited by us for such roles. Subsequently, working or volunteering with Concern is subject to a range of vetting checks, including criminal background checking.

During this job application, you will provide Concern with your personal data. Concern takes its responsibilities towards this personal data very seriously and is committed to complying with all relevant data protection legislation. You have certain rights under data protection legislation. For more information on how to exercise those rights please visit www.concern.net/about/privacy