Deputy Country Director (DCD) – Program At Relief International

Position: Deputy Country Director (DCD) – Program

Location: Sana’a – Yemen

Reports to: Country Director ( CD)

Duration: 12 months

ABOUT RI:

Relief International is a leading nonprofit organization working in 16 countries to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and chronic poverty.

Relief International combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Our signature approach — which we call the RI Way—emphasizes local participation, an integration of services, strategic partnerships, and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them. RI includes the four corporate members of the RI Alliance: RI-US, RI-UK, MRCA/RI-France and RI-Europe. Under our alliance agreement, we operate as a single, shared management structure.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The DCD Program (DCD-P) is a key member of the Senior Management Team directly reporting to the Country Director. The position requires a dedicated, experienced and highly motivated individual capable of living and working in a challenging environment while maintaining a positive attitude, leading by example to ensure a healthy work environment. This position also requires exceptional flexibility in job function to serve the needs of programs in a complex operating context.

The DCD-P implements effective systems and ways of working in order to promote community participation, as well as ensuring high quality, evidenced based, and integrated programming. He/She supports the CD in monitoring and reporting of overall achievement of RI’s Country Strategic Plan in alignment with the Global strategy and priorites. The position holder also ensures that donor and local authority relationships are established, strengthened and maintained.

The DCD- P works closely works with the Area Managemnet team to ensure quality implementation while ensuring program quality is intergrtaed in all phases of the Program Life Cycle. He/she plays a key role in Business Development aligned with RI strategy and needs in the country. This includes developing partnrships with local and other international actors with a view to estabslihing collborative working relationships.

ESSENTIAL POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES:

Program Leadership

·Ensure new and innovative programmatic initiatives are designed to support the strategic direction of the organization and in line with the Country Strategy

·Cultivate and maintain strong team work across program departments and area maagemet teams to create a sense of shared purpose and vision

·Develop long-term goals and objectives to achieve program outcomes successfully and provide guidance and direction to the program teams

·Lead in indentfying and mitigating major programmatic risks. This includes developimg/updating program risks as per context evolution.

Program Management

·Reguarly engage with Area Managemnet teams to track progress of ongoing programs in line with donor approved technical designs, budgest and work plans.

·Directly oversight implementation of ECHO and BHA programs by keeping regular review of the progress and identifying appropriate solutions to emerging challenges.

·Identify and evaluate the risks and possible threats associated with program activities and take appropriate action to control the risks, communicating and collaborating regularly with the CD, DCD- Support and Humanitraan Access and Risk Manager .

·Ensure monthly consolidated portfolio review is conducted with key SMT members and specific recommendations shared with the CD and Regional Support Office ( RSO) SMT

·Ensure effective and agile program contingency plans are always up to date and evolving as needed.

·Ensure timely submission of quality donor reports as per approved agreements

·Create and maintain systems to ensure technical coherence a cross programs and promote cross learning between teams and programs.

Strategic Business Development and Partnership

·Contribute to and lead program development efforts by identifying opportunities and working with Yemen CD, as well as RI’s regional and headquarters-based Program Development department to draft proposals to respond to those opportunities

·Maintain strong donor relationships with current funders, and alongside the Country Director, strategically engage with new donors

·Ensure up to date country Businssness Development Plans are in place and used for proactive donor engagements

·Lead in developing a Yemen specific Partnership engagement framework

·Ensure RI Yemen contributes to the global localization agenda through the implemnetaion of the partnership strategy

Program Quality Management

·Support the Program Quality, Learning and Accountability Manager, (PQLAM) in establishing systems, Tools ,policies and approaches necessary to ensure and demonstrate the quality of programs

·Foster a culture that promotes learning within RI teams, programs and departments through regular program reviews and learning sessions

·Ensure a program evaluation framework is in place and implemented across the organization

·Monitor and report to the CD effectiveness of RI ‘s accountability systems with a focus on Complainats, Feedback and Response Mechanims and Safeguarding

·Enusre findings and recommendations of assessments and program evaluations are included in implementation and design of new programs.

·Actively liaise with RI counterparts in the Middle East Region (DcD P/ Program Directors) and the regional team to maximize synergies and application of best practice across the region

Team Management

• Directly supervise Sectoral Technical Advsiors, PQLA Manager, Awards and Grants team as well as Program Managers of ECHO and BHA funded programs.
• Participate in the recruitment, selection, orientation /onboarding of program staff at Country and Area Management levels.
• Develop and implement team capacity development plans
• Support the CD in developing a culture of healthly working environment across the organization
• Enusure performance reviews are objectively done in line with the existing HR policies and proedcures
• Support the CD in strengthening staff welfare, safety and security
• Promote adherence to RI’s Code of Conduct and Values at all times

Cordination and Representation

·Maintain effective communication with donors and other stakeholders in coordination with CD

·Actively engage with donors, partner agencies, and the humanitarian community in Yemen to ensure RI is strongly represented in coordination and advocacy efforts, across the program areas

·Participate in NGO sector coordination groups and identify areas for coordination and collaboration; Networking and bilateral engagements

·Remain abreast of ongoing humanitarian response and funding trends in the region, and provide regular updates on these trends and analysis of how they may affect RI’s programming in the short and long term.

·Actively engage in regional and global initiatives to ensure country perspective is represented (i.e. Core Humanitarian Standards, Greening, etc.)

·Represent the CD in any other Internal and External functions/fora.

QUALIFICATIONS & REQUIREMENTS:

·This position demands a dynamic individual with a demonstrated ability to achieve results in a demanding and fast paced environment. Creativity, flexibility and strong work ethic are highly valued.

·Must be a holder of Master’s degree in a relevant Humanitarian/Development field or Bachelor’s degree with commensurate work experience

·Minimum 7 years professional experience in the Humanitarian sector with at least 3 years in senior managemnet level. Prior work experience in conflict settings prefrerably in the Middel East region preferred.

·Past experience managing integrated Health, Nutrition, WASH, Livelihoods and Food security programs with strong Protection intergartion and mainstreaming is preferred

·Solid background and knowledge of key donors such as USAID, BHA, ECHO, FCDO, GAC , UN, Private donors/ foundations etc

·Extensive contacts with donors, U.N. agencies and other international emergency response and development actors

·Excellent interpersonal, communication, public speaking, and strategic planning skills required

·Fluency in English (spoken and written) required; Arabic language skills are highly advantageous;

·Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, tasks efficiently;

·Excellent time management skills and resourcefulness with strong attention to detail.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Relief International is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Relief International (RI) is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to RI’s Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis. [A1]

RI Values:

We uphold the Humanitarian Principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and operational independence. We affirmatively engage the most vulnerable communities. We value:

ü Inclusiveness

ü Transparency and Accountability

ü Agility and Innovation

ü Collaboration

ü Sustainability