Country Director At ChildFund International

ChildFund International

Job Description

Title: Country Director**

Division/Department: Global Operations

Location: India**

Reporting Relationship: Regional Director**

About Us:

Worldwide, 570 million children live in extreme poverty, vulnerable to many factors that threaten their well-being. Children need protection, support and care at each stage of childhood to stay safe, healthy, learning and on track to achieve their potential. ChildFund works with local partner organizations, governments, corporations and individuals to help create the safe environments children need to thrive

ChildFund International is committed to a workplace culture that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion in all its forms. Furthermore, ChildFund International is committed to ensuring a workplace that safeguards and protects all children, including preventing their sexual exploitation and abuse, as well as preventing the sexual exploitation and abuse of its staff, partners, and program participants.

SUMMARY

The Country Director is responsible for strategic leadership and oversight of ChildFund operations in India, including Strategy development and implementation, Resource Mobilization, External Engagement, Country Management, Advocacy and Communications, Partnership Portfolio Management, Program Delivery, Monitoring & Evaluation, Research and Knowledge Management, Administration and support, Enterprise Risk Management, Disaster Risk Management & Response and ensuring Safety and Security of staff and agency assets.

The Country Director is expected to demonstrate progress in achieving the ambitions of the Global Strategy and the overall goals of the Country Strategy plans. For this purpose, s/he plays the leading role in establishing a strong team of managers, responsible for the programs, sponsorship and operations in the assigned countries, continuously evolving them to become relevant, more effective and efficient, and innovative. S/he will function as the most senior representative of ChildFund International in the country and is accountable to ensure that its profile and reputation with associates, partners and stakeholders are strong and reflect organizational Values, Operating Principles, and Mission. The Country Director is expected to work in close consultation and coordination with regional and global teams to ensure compliance with organizational standards, policies and procedures.

DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

· Leadership – Exhibits demonstrable and inspiring leadership in promoting the ChildFund values, vision and mission. Leads the development and execution of high-quality country strategic plans relevant to the local context and reflecting the global priorities and goals outlined in the Global Strategy. Provides leadership in the change management of transformative initiatives in the countries. Provides strategic oversight and ensures excellence for a healthy growing operational portfolio with program quality, satisfied and engaged staff, program strategies with monitoring and learning systems, a portfolio of strong Local Partners, ambitious resource mobilization, and grant acquisition with appropriate pre- and post-award management.

· Strategic Representation – The Country Director is the most senior representative of ChildFund International in the country. As such, s/he ensures the proper registration and compliance with statutory regulations related to INGOs and engages with the relevant authorities.
In particular, the Country Director is member of the ChildFund India Society on behalf of ChildFund International and serves as member and Secretary to the Governing Council of the Society. All duties and responsibilities deriving from this role and function inherently form part of this Job-Description.

· Program Management – Provides leadership in the management of functions associated with the implementation of ChildFund program models and delivery mechanisms. Ensures strong teams are in place in the country to oversee and incentivize the evolution and innovation in programs and their delivery models, and to guarantee the delivery of programs with high quality, integrating child protection, timely and quality completion of M&E processes, adoption of quality standards and guidelines, and efficient use of global and regional program resources.

· Enterprise Risk Management – Ensures the overall enterprise risks of the country operations are addressed, revised and managed proficiently. Drives and ensures the adaption, integration, and learning around key areas including child safeguarding standards, monitoring and evaluation, disaster risks reduction, gender equity and diversity, including the follow up on any findings to address gaps or weaknesses given the uniqueness of the local operating context and best practice. In this context, appropriate, timely and effective disaster emergency response and preparedness plans, are developed and updated regularly.

· Human Resource and Performance Management – Oversees the recruitment and orientation of senior staff, their on-going talent management and guidance ensuring their high level of engagement. Mentors senior staff to achieve performance metrics and core outcomes and oversees the establishment and functioning of a strong, effective senior management/leadership team, driven by a culture of innovation, in the country.

· Finance Management – Ensures optimal financial, human and physical resource allocation and management and maintains quality standards for successful implementation of the country’s and organization’s strategic plan. In close collaboration with Regional and Global Teams and Service Units ensures that adequate internal controls are in place to protect the Country Office financial and non-monetary assets and that they are used in accordance with corporate policies and procedures and in compliance with donor terms and conditions.

· Resource Mobilization and Business Development – Leads the strategic positioning of the country offices to increase income and revenue through innovative resource mobilization efforts focusing on institutional grants, corporate and individual donors – both locally and internationally. Explores and follows-up on business development opportunities by enhancing appropriate relationships with the donor community, Government and corporate leaders in the country, and by fostering and maintaining strong relationships and collaboration with ChildFund Alliance members. Establishes innovative ways of growing the grant and donation portfolio and ensures effective implementation and close-out of grants, thus ensuring long-term health of the portfolio.

· Visibility and Profile – Ensures the organization is recognized by stakeholders (relevant government authorities, donors, other NGOs, media etc.) as a strong child development organization and credible reference point on issues related to development, and specifically to be a leader and a recognized voice in advocating for children’s issues and rights in both countries.

· Organizational Learning – Enables organization-wide learning and sharing by documenting approaches, project and program designs and lessons, case studies and other knowledge products from the country. Seeks and leverages existing knowledge products in order to increase efficiency and effectiveness and ensures teams in the country engage with and learn from each other. Participates in and contributes to the regional leadership team and global initiatives.

· Safety & Security – Enables the safe conduct of ChildFund operations. Creating a culture of prioritizing the safety, security, and well-being of ChildFund team members, premises, and assets of the Country Offices. Continuously monitors safety and security risks in the country, identifies and executes risk mitigation actions and works closely with Regional Director to assure an immediate and adequate response to safety and security issues.

· Child Safeguarding – Ensures an organizational culture and a work environment in which staff fully understand and apply child safeguarding standards and in which children are protected against violence, abuse and neglect. Ensures adequate reporting, investigation, decision-making and implementation of appropriate actions in case of violations in child safeguarding standards by staff or partner organizations.
The Country Director remains alert and responsive to any child safeguarding risks, acquires relevant knowledge and skills which will enable the country offices to promote strong safeguarding practices and to understand the child safeguarding policy and procedures. At all times, s/he conducts him/herself in a manner consistent with the organizational Values, Operating Principles, Mission and Child Safeguarding Policy

QUALIFICATIONS/EXPERIENCE

• 10 years and above experience in a similar senior management position in the development sector, preferably outside of the country of origin
• Good knowledge and understanding of child rights and child development issues
• Experience in child focused programming; knowledge of sponsorship operations is an added value
• Experience in managing during emergency and crisis situations and implementing disaster response programs
• Strong entrepreneurship and business development abilities
• Ability to building alliances in order to attract local and international resources and from corporations, foundations and individual donors.
• Experience in the acquisition, implementation and administration of institutional grants from major international donors
• Proven track record of strong management skills with complex programs and a large number of staff and partner organizations
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English, knowledge of local languages is an additional asset
• Demonstrated high-level interpersonal and cross-cultural skills including the ability to build collaborative relationships internally and externally with sensitivity to cultural, ethnic, social and political issues.
• Ability to pragmatically solve problems, plan a course of action using analytical, conceptual, strategic and forward thinking abilities to achieve an effective resolution.
• Strong visioning, strategic planning, implementation ability and effective under pressure, results oriented and proactive with the ability to multi-task.
• Ability to demonstrate support for innovation and organizational changes needed to improve the organization’s effectiveness; helping others to successfully manage organizational change.
• Proactive and adaptive to recognize, react and adjust to rapidly changing conditions

EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree in international development, human rights or any related field of community development/social science or another relevant discipline.

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

Last Application date: May 29,2022
ChildFund International is committed to safeguarding the interests, rights, and well-being of children with whom it is in contact and to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for children.