Area Manager – Northern Bahr el Ghazal State At ForAfrika

Purpose of Position:

The main programmes and assistance provided by ForAfrika in NBeG State largely focus on early recovery interventions in food security and resilience as well as life-saving emergency food/cash and NFI assistance to IDPs, WASH software and infrastructure. ForAfrika also works through community structures and local partners to increase reach and build capacity of local institutions for enhanced ownership and sustainability.

The purpose of the Area Manager position is to ensure high quality and cost-effective programme implementation while building strong collaboration with local authorities and communities, field-based donor representatives and building capacity of project implementation staff. To achieve the above, the Area Manager will be responsible for managing and coordinating the Support functions (HR, Admin, Logistics, Security, Finance and ICT) within the Area, in compliance with ForAfrika Policies.

Key Responsibilities:

Programme planning, implementation and quality

• Provide leadership and strategic direction in all aspects of programme delivery and accountability in NBeG state;
• As a member of the Programme Management Team (PMT), the Area Manager will actively participate in PMT coordination meetings and make contribution to the development of strategic and operating plans;
• Maintain effective and efficient delivery and implementation of projects, serving as team leader charged with day-to-day execution of the programme while overseeing timely deployment of resources for programme success;
• Provide overall coordination and supervision of programmes to meet stated goals timely and have high impact, ensuing implementation is in accordance with donor requirements, sector approaches, activity work plans, timelines and allocated resources;
• Design and implement approaches and systems to integrate the different programme sectors and ensure synergy, value addition and cost efficiency;
• Participate in periodic review of partners’ project performance and support the partners with stakeholder engagement;
• Ensure the establishment of good relationship with key stakeholders in the area, including donor representatives, other humanitarian agencies, government authorities and community leaders;
• Integrate community approaches, gender-sensitivity and capacity building into all activities as appropriate.
• Follow on the changing or evolving context in the area and engage the Integrated Programmes Manager appropriately and support rapid needs assessments and field response coordination;
• Work with technical advisors to identify new business opportunities and participate in the design of project proposals.

Operations and budget management

• Manage Finance, Admin and Logistics sectors to ensure effective programme implementation in a secure and sound manner; approved all requests for procurement of goods, services and works at field level;
• Recruit staff and set-up administrative and other processes in the area office to ensure efficient and cost-effective operations;
• Provide direct line management for Programme Coordinator, Operations Officer and Finance Officer and well as indirect management of other field-based staff in the location.
• Ensure compliance with and adherence to ForAfrika’s policies, guidance and procedures with respect to safeguarding, safety and security, code of conduct, diversity, inclusion and other relevant policies. Implement SOPs and where needed establish specific area SOPs.
• Management of project activities budget and support budget, including funding requests from the Country Office, spending authorisations and liquidation of advanced funds.
• Responsible for implementation and closure of identified risk mitigation measures, including compliance spot checks, in line with internal and donor rules and regulations;
• Serve as security Focal Person in the Area, work closely with the country Security Lead to ensure that all the SMP and SOP are in place with regular update in case of any new security development that pose a threat to safety and programming.

QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES

• A university degree in relevant development field – economics, agriculture, international development, disaster management.
• Minimum of 7 years of experience in managing development and humanitarian programmes, at least 3 of which should be from working on Area management, or general managerial positions in a humanitarian/recovery context;
• Solid understanding of and experience in resilience, food security. Agricultural market systems, food systems
• Previous experience from working in South Sudan, or similar complex and volatile contexts;
• Experience in implementing in-kind assistance and managing cash-based interventions and market based programmes;
• Ability to integrate protection and inclusion, gender equality, vulnerability and safeguarding considerations into the humanitarian interventions.
• Commitment to a positive work environment in compliance with ForAfrika’s Core Values, Code of Conduct, Do No Harm, PSEA and other humanitarian accountability obligations.
• Commitment to ForAfrika values