Afghanistan: Country Director - Re-opening

Position Title: Country Director
Location / department: Afghanistan, Kabul with frequent travel to Badakhshan and Takhar offices.
Length of contract: 12 months, with possibility to renew. The first three months are a trial period.
Responsible to: Desk Officer, Brussels and Operations Director, Brussels
Line Management of: Chief of Programmes, Chief of Finance and Administration, Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, NRM and Livelihoods Advisor, WASH Advisor, Security Manager

Background:
Mission East, founded in Denmark in 1991, is an international humanitarian and development organisation, carrying out relief and development programmes in Eastern Europe and Asia.
Mission East has worked in northern Afghanistan since 2001 implementing a variety of infrastructure rehabilitation, water/sanitation and hygiene education, and livelihood development projects.
Mission East currently works in Takhar and Badakshan provinces.
More information on Mission East can be found at: www.miseast.org.

The position of Country Director provides an opportunity to work with a dynamic and diverse team in a multi-sectoral (WASH, livelihoods, food security, emergency response etc.) multi-donor programme, addressing humanitarian, early recovery and developmental needs in rural Afghanistan. The successful candidate will be an experienced leader and qualified specialist capable of supporting a growing and evolving programme in an increasingly sensitive and challenging operational environment.

Overall responsibility:
To oversee all aspects of Mission East’s work in Afghanistan, with key roles of government, donor and NGO liaison; staff management; country finance control; new donor and project identification and development; strategy design and implementation; and security management.

Key tasks and responsibilities:
Strategic Leadership
* Update and maintain Mission East Afghanistan country strategy, identifying trends and developments, new areas of project involvement and new donors to support the organization’s strategic direction.
* Oversee needs assessments and project evaluations.
* Seek in-country funding for the ME Afghanistan programme or for its particular thematic components.
* Ensure organization-wide compliance with the Common Humanitarian Standard

Liaison & Coordination
* Appropriate and extensive liaison with other NGOs, donors, and governmental agencies and Ministries, for excellent coordination and representation through established in-country coordination mechanisms and networks.
* Raise Mission East’s visibility and profile in all relevant and key in-country networks (Clusters, UN CHAP/CHF, etc.)
* Ensure that Mission East’s programming conforms with governmental strategies, and Afghan law and collaborates/ coordinates with government programmes as possible.

Security Management
* To be responsible for the safety and security of all national and international staff & visitors
* Oversee security and Health/Safety management systems in Afghanistan.
* Lead security planning and field security management
* Oversee awareness and implementation of Mission East security policy and procedures through field staff, including regular risk assessments.
* Represent Mission East at appropriate security coordination meetings.

Project/Programme Management and Development
* Assume overall responsibility for the successful completion of Mission East projects and programs, and achievement of planned targets and objectives.
* Oversee needs assessments for new projects, and assessment / identification of local project partners.
* Oversee monitoring and evaluation of projects (through the use of Project Work-books and trackers), recommending modifications and new activities, and dissemination of lessons learnt and good practices.
* Visit project sites on a regular basis and support good practices in community liaison and participatory development methodologies appropriate to the Afghan context

Staff Management
* Line management of and support to senior staff (expatriate and national), including staff development
* Conducting staff appraisals and setting of Performance Objectives.
* Participate in determination of ongoing/future staff requirements and recruitment processes.
* In coordination with senior management, ensure that staff training and capacity-building needs are being identified and addressed.
* Ensure that there are proper and adequate complaints and grievance mechanisms in place and accessible to all staff members, and that all grievances are being addressed in a sensitive and timely manner

Reporting
* Hold responsibility for internal reporting and communications as per Mission East requirements and procedures.
* Ensure timely delivery of quality reporting to donors and external partners as appropriate, including narratives, budgets, work plans.

Selection Criteria:

Qualifications required
Education should be of degree level or higher, preferably in development studies, engineering, community development or another relevant discipline.

Experience required
• Substantial previous overseas experience in an international relief or development setting, preferably with a non-governmental organisation and in a range of sectors relevant to Mission East’s Afghanistan programme. This must include significant field experience including management of national and international staff, project planning and implementation, and budget management.
• Demonstrated experience in donor liaison, preparation and successful funding of large relief and development projects, including budgets, logframes, and work plans.
• Demonstrated experience with security management in an insecure environment.
• Demonstrated experience in assessing the needs of poor rural communities and appropriate and sustainable ways of addressing them.
• Demonstrated leadership experience in a humanitarian/development NGO setting, including strategy development and detailed coordination
• S/he will demonstrate strong interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills to negotiate and work with foreign experts, managers, government officials, national staff, other non-governmental staff, community elders etc.
• Experience of living and working in Afghanistan or South Asia would be a distinct advantage.

Necessary Competencies
• Personnel management and team-building skills with an ability to delegate, follow-up and supervise as well as support.
• Fluency in spoken and written English. Some knowledge of Dari /Persian would be an asset.
• Excellent computer skills in Word and Excel. Experience with Outlook, Power Point etc.
• Agreement with Mission East’s Organisational Values