Sub-Regional Country Representative, East Asia & Pacific Sub-Region

Job Title: Sub-Regional Country Representative

Reports to: ASIA Regional Director

Department: ASIA/East Asia & Pacific Sub-Region

Salary Grade: 12

Note: Global remote position, with preference for candidates residing in or near the time zones of East Asia and the Pacific.

About CRS:

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

CRS programs in the Philippines, Indonesia, Timor Leste, Micronesia, and the Pacific Outreach constitute a sub-region under the overall leadership of the Sub-Regional Country Representative (CR). The East Asia and Pacific Sub-Region encompasses some of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, with climate change exacerbating the frequency and intensity of many of these disasters. In recent years, CRS has also started to provide outreach support to Caritas Oceania to support organization development and build emergency preparedness capacities across south Pacific islands.

The sub-region has a robust portfolio of Disaster Risk Reduction, Humanitarian Response, Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture, and Peacebuilding & Good Governance programs implemented by a diverse team of committed staff and high capacity local partners. With the launch of the new Agency strategy, the sub-region has a renewed and reinvigorated commitment to expanding the impact of our programs by developing an influential voice with government stakeholders, staking out a position as the Agency leader in Homes & Communities post-disaster recovery, advancing local leadership with strategic government, Church, and civil society partners, and combatting the effects of climate change.

Job Summary:

As Sub-Regional Country Representative you will lead, manage and advance the programming and operations objectives and the mission of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to serve the poor and vulnerable. Your strategic leadership will enable you to advance CRS’ reputation and impact while you proactively identify, manage and mitigate and range of relationship, programming, and operational risks. Given that each country program is managed by its own Country Representative (Philippines) or Country Manager (Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Micronesia), your role will be to provide strategic leadership guidance and support to these local leaders and their senior management teams, in line with the guiding principles, organizational culture, vision and strategic goals of the agency.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Advance the ASIA Regional Workforce Strategy in the sub-region, including supporting CR/CMs to design and implement workforce plans for their country programs, promoting succession planning for all senior leadership positions (including your own!), and modeling how CRS leaders put REDI principles into action on a day-to-day basis.
• Advance CRS’ Vision 2030 strategy, as articulated in the ASIA regional strategy. Lead country team reflection of the evolving role of CRS in the sub-region’s countries, which will result in the design of medium and long-term goals. Ensure program and operations leads coordinate their objectives in alignment with strategic priorities.
• Ensure that all projects meet and exceed donor expectations and are designed and implemented for maximum impact and reach. Ensure that CRS program quality standards are adhered to per the Agency’s Monitoring Evaluation Accountability and Learning (MEAL) policy and procedures.
• Effectively manage senior programming and operations talent. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching and mentoring for all direct reports, and ensure they do the same for their respective team members. Champion and model planning for development through which staff identify career goals, reflect on their job capabilities and behavioral competencies, and develop/implement plans to improve their proficiency in key capabilities.
• Advance local leadership in line with global and regional parameters, and as articulated more specifically in country strategies. Lead the development of strategic partnerships with national and international organizations that leverages resources, reputation, and expertise in line with CRS partnership principles. Ensure strong representation to key stakeholders, including Church partners (namely Caritas Oceania, Caritas Aoeteroa New Zealand, and Caritas Australia), local and national government, US government and international donors, including the Asian Development Bank and other multilateral finance institutions.
• Manage and mitigate risk through monitoring national and regional issues that may impact staff and programs. Ensure all staff understand and adhere to CRS’s Code of Conduct, staff safety and security guidelines, and safeguarding & protection policies and ensure the updating of such plans.
• Promote, uphold and model a commitment to the efficient use of agency and donor resources. Ensure compliance in operations functions. Provide oversight and analysis of monthly expenditures.
• Lead and direct the pursuit of strategic growth opportunities, prepositioning and capture planning.
• Create and maintain proper conditions for learning. Establish a safe environment for sharing of ideas, solutions, and difficulties and the capacity to detect, analyze and respond quickly to deficiencies. Promote accountability, learning and knowledge management through the effective use of data and open feedback mechanisms, as well as cross-sectoral/cross-department learning.
• Ensure that staff engagement priorities are analyzed, discussed, and addressed in a timely and effective manner.

Required Languages – Fluency in English

Travel– Up to 30% international travel per the criteria laid out in the ASIA Travel/Event Guidance, primarily to Philippines, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Micronesia, and Oceania.

Position location: Global remote position, with preference for candidates residing in or near the time zones of East Asia and the Pacific.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent strategic, analytical, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills, with the capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment and decisions.
• Excellent relations management abilities. Ability to relate to people at all levels internally and externally. Strategic in how you approach each relationship.
• Team leadership abilities with diverse/multi-disciplinary teams. Coaching/mentoring skills.
• Strong communications and presentation skills; able to develop tailored and persuasive messaging for varied audiences.
• Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented and results-oriented.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience successfully managing a variety of complex, high-value projects from multiple international donors, including USAID, DFID, and UN agencies; understanding of relevant donor regulations.
• Experience advancing local leadership through strengthening partnerships and building organizational capacities. Experience working with Church partners.
• Experience in designing and implementing workforce planning, including talent mapping, succession planning, developing talent, coaching and mentoring local leaders.
• Experience in identifying, managing and mitigating a wide range of risks in complex contexts.
• Ability to represent the agency at high levels.
• Experience in MS Office package (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio), Web Conferencing Applications, and information and budget management systems.

QUALIFICATIONS

Basic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in international development, International Relations or a related field.
• 10 or more years’ experience managing complex relief and development programs.

Agency REDI Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Personal Accountability
• Acts with Integrity
• Collaborates with Others
• Builds and Maintains Trust
• Open to Learn
• Strategic Mindset
• Develops and Recognizes Others
• Leads Change

***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

Note: All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside their home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical examination.

CRS talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people – especially children and vulnerable adults – to live free from abuse and harm.

CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer