Job Description
The Opportunity – Head of Gaza Operations
Post location: Gaza Area Office
Contract Duration and Level of Effort: 12 months
***Due to the urgency to fill this role, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Kindly note that the position might be filled before the vacancy announcement is closed; therefore, early applications are encouraged.***
***This role will be contingent upon securing available funds, and we might use this vacancy to fill more than one post.***
ROLE PURPOSE:
Under the supervision of the Humanitarian Director for Gaza, the Head of Gaza Operations will supervise and provide leadership for the multi-sector program management team in Gaza, as well as Partnerships and Awards. The Head of Operations is responsible for driving delivery of high quality and compliant implementation of a wide range of programing across a range of sectors and communities. Specific sectors include: Education, Child Protection/MHPSS, WASH, Shelter / NFI, Health, Nutrition, Cash and Voucher Assistance and Food Security and Livelihoods.
The Head of Gaza Operations will ensure that the programme, awards and partnership teams are aware of an adhere to all Save the Children policies and procedures with respect to child safeguarding, safety and security, code of conduct, equal opportunities, risk management and other relevant policies that are in place in line with the COs interaction framework mitigating compliance risk.
SCOPE OF ROLE:
Reports to: Humanitarian Director - Gaza
Staff reporting to this post: Between 6-8. Including Health & Nutrition Program Manager, Child Protection & MHPSS Manager, WASH / Shelter / NFIs Programme Manager, Cash and Voucher Assistance Manager, Food Security & Livelihoods Programme Manager, Education Programme Manager.
Budget Responsibilities: The Head of Operations has delegated management responsibility for all above sectors within the Gaza office with an overall programmatic budget of between 20-30 million USD.
KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:
As a member of the Area Management, contribute to:
- Leadership of the Gaza Office for programme delivery;
- Ensuring strict compliance of programme activities with Save the Children national and global policies and procedures and with relevant donor regulations and agreements, SPHERE guidelines and the NGO code of conduct in line with the COs interaction framework mitigating compliance risk.
- Support the development of an organisational culture that reflects our broad spectrum programming values, promotes accountability and high performance, encourages a team culture of learning, creativity and innovation, and frees up our people to deliver outstanding results for children and excellent customer service for our Members and donors;
- Help design and implement a coherent organizational structure that is consistent with agency practices and appropriate to program needs;
- With the Humanitarian Director, help establish, maintain, and improve active and regular working relationships with authorities, donors, partner agencies including major institutional donors, and local and international NGOs; Share responsibilities with Humanitarian Director for representation and discussions with key partners, coordination fora, local authorities etc.
- Help establish, maintain, and improve active and regular working relationships with key internal stakeholders
- Ensure required support is provided promptly, at scale and in line with the rules and principles during emergencies
- Lead cross-fuctional management of programmes with enabling functions to ensure strong delivery of compliant and safe programming
Programme Management
- Oversee the management of all programmes in Gaza, ensuring that programmes are delivered according to award agreement requirements and Save the Children standards.
- Ensure that activities are appropriately planned and resourced and that progress is systematically monitored against targets.
- Ensure that internal and donor reporting is of high quality, timely and informs managerial and strategic decision making.
- Ensure appropriate budget allocation and expenditures.
- Maintain an oversight of the humanitarian situation on the area of responsibility ensuring that programme strategy, development and implementation is orientated to need and that gaps are addressed.
- Contribute effectively in developing the contingency plans, Advance Preparedness Action (APA) and Early Actions ensuring the field office is at the highest degree of preparedness and in line with SCI standards.
- Ensure effective coordination and communication flow between departments (thematic and support) to ensure efficient programme delivery and a constructive and supportive working environment
- Provide oversight of project implementation plans, assess progress of implementation of activities against plans, and document the progress and action corrective measures, when required.
- Take the lead in demonstrating practices for quality program implementation;
- Supervise and coordinate all implemented programs across Gaza
- With the support of the program development and quality team, including MEAL and Technical Advisors, design and manage all programs in line with quality standards and guidelines and Save the Children policies and strategy;
- Line manage and support Program Managers, working closely with Awards, Partnerships, Supply Chain, and other Enabling Functions
- Lead integration of programming and cultivating synergies across sectors to ensure the overall coherence and relevance of multi-sectoral response;
- Ensure that all programs properly retain program learning for future programming and that all key lessons and information are documented;
- Ensure with the program managers that the capacity of national staff and team resilience is built to enable them to successfully navigate a changing context and changes in management arrangements, is built;
- Ensure that all projects have up-to-date procurement plans, reviewed and updated at least on a quarterly basis.
- Track budget spending and support the preparation of financial reports and the award review process and overall financial planning and analysis
- Ensure that all projects have clear indicators aligned with Save the Children global standards, useful and accurate baseline data and staff friendly reporting formats.
- Ensure that country strategy and the annual country plans are implemented and reviewed in line with the regional and global strategies.
- Maintain clear overview of the security, political and legal context and ensure programme teams adhere to safety and secruity guidenlines
- Ensure appropriate participation of staff in program management and decision making and raise necessary issues to the Senior Management Team
- Act as the primary budget holder for the majority of programs; oversee and support budget holders responsible for specific projects and grants.Ensure that expenditures are approved in accordance with budget authorization procedures outlined in the Scheme of Delegation (SoD)
- Play a key role in partners’ capacity assessment and development for building national civil society.
Awards management
- Manage and support the Awards Management team to ensure compliance and completion of activities / budgets
- Lead the monthly Project review meetings to ensure a consistent and detailed follow-up of project implementation and progress
- Lead discussions on necessary and timely budget realignments, and provide oversight of budget revisions with Field Offices and Members across the entire grant
- Support the Awards team in the monthly Awards review meetings, both at field and CO level
- Support the Awards team in the management of awards, including contact with SC Members
- Lead on multi-sector awards in coordination with the sectorial Programme Managers
- Ensure quality and timely reporting for all awards
- Collaborate closely with the Awards team to address budget under/overutilization and take appropriate corrective actions.
- Ensure that direct-report budget holders prepare financial performance reports for their respective awards as required by donors or internal stakeholders.
- Obtain prior approval from the Member (and/or donor) for any expenditure exceeding the budget line flexibility outlined in the Fund Summary, and review with the Awards Unit for variations exceeding 10% of the allocated amount for that line item.
Partnerships management
- Manage and support the Partnerships Manager in all activities related to local partners in Gaza
- Ensure local partners are well supported by Save the Children in all relevant areas (programmatic and non-programmatic) following consistent and timely capacity strengthening plans
- Ensure that SCI implements more locally led response initiatives in Gaza.
- Support the Partnerships team to develop a sustainable partnerships stratecy for Gaza
- Support scoping of new partners in the area
Programme Design
- Contribute to project design ensuring that new proposals are responsive to the target communities and children’s needs in the field.
- Contribute to programme design ensuring that design and implementation is aligned with the CO strategy, and regional and global priorities.
- In close coordination with Project/ Programme Managers, Technical Advisors and Programme Development & Quality (PDQ) to improve the quality of programming that shows impact on the situation of children. Ensure the successful roll out of quality improvement programmes and benchmarks and accountability framework.
- Help respond to opportunities to expand programmes/impact. Help draft/develop concept papers and proposals with staff, Programme Managers, and other Technical Advisors as requested.
- Help staff build on synergies and integration among all projects.
- Support the development/evolution of existing programmes, with the aim of ensuring that staff has the capacity to support others (local partners and government counterparts) in the implementation of quality programmes that show impact.
- Support staff in the preparation and implementation of advocacy and communications plans as related to their programmes.
Staff Management, Mentorship and Development
- Ensure appropriate staffing structure and capabilities across the Programme Operations team.
- Ensure that all team staff understand and are able to perform their roles in humanitarian programmes.
- Manage team members, define expectations, provide leadership and technical support as needed, and evaluate direct reports regularly.
- Ensure the recruitment, training, and promotion of staff as appropriate and ensure availability of appropriate professional development opportunities for staff.
- Incorporate staff development strategies and Performance Management Systems into team building process. Establish result-based system and follow up.
- Actively develop staff, including carrying out succession planning
- Manage the performance of all staff in the team through effective use of the Performance Management System including the establishment of clear, measurable objectives, on-going feedback, periodic reviews and fair and unbiased evaluations.
- Coach and mentor staff, and create a culture of learning.
- Recognition and rewards for outstanding performance.
- Documentation of non-satisfactory performance, with appropriate performance improvements / work plans.
Communications and Coordination
- Ensure SCI representation and influence in sectoral and cross-sectoral cooridnation mechanisms across the Gaza response
- Maintain regular communications with enabling functions to update on progress, financial performance, early identification of any issues, and communicate any delivery support required.
- Lead on communications with Member Offices or donors, as needed;
- Facilitate and support productive lesson learning across the different components of Awards.
Reporting
- Ensure the production of a consolidated, evidence-based and high quality technical/narrative and financial reports to be submitted to the donor
- Ensure adherence to all Save the Children and Donor reporting requirements
General
- Comply with Save the Children policies and practice with respect to child protection, code of conduct, health and safety, equal opportunities and other relevant policies and procedures
In order to be successful, you will bring/have:
QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND ATTRIBUTES:
Required:
- At least 8+ years/substantial experience working with a humanitarian/ development organisation, including at least 3+ years of senior management experience.
- MA degree in related academic discipline or equivalent work experience.
- Significant experience of NGO emergency program cycle management, and experience of working within a complex and matrix organisation structure
- Excellent planning, management and coordination skills, with the ability to organise a demanding workload comprising diverse and challenging tasks and responsibilities.
- Skills in monitoring, review and evaluation preferably from a child rights approach in accordance with the Child Rights Convention and international humanitarian rights standards.
- Experience with Program management of institutional donors projects (i.e., ECHO, EU, BHA, FCDO, etc.) highly desired.
- A very good understanding and general technical experience of at least 3 of the sectoral programs and a working knowledge of the program priorities of the Country Office (WASH, Shelter, Child Protection, Cash and Voucher Assistance, Food Security and Livelihoods, Education)
- Solid experience in Award management, including budget holding and donor reporting.
- Previous experience in similar roles within Save the Children highly valued
- Substantial understanding or proven experience of security management issues.
- Ability to produce high quality reports in English.
- Representational, political awareness and advocacy skills.
- Ability to work independently with limited supervision from line manager.
- Experience of working with partners and a participatory approach.
- Fluency in written and spoken English and computer literate.
- Commitment to and understanding of Save the Children’s aims, values and principles
We offer a competitive package in the context of the sector**. This role is offered on the basis of national/international terms and conditions. Priority will be given to nationals at national contract.**
Save the Children promotes a diverse and inclusive work environment, women and people with different abilities are strongly encouraged to apply.
The Organisation
Save the Children works in development and humanitarian contexts with children and partners to help families, communities, and governments identify and use innovations to ensure all children survive, learn and are protected.
We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realize the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.
We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:
- No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated
We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.
