Chief of Party & Head of Pathways to Protections’ Consortium At Danish Refugee Council

Are you interested in working with and for refugees, migrants and displacement affected communities? Are you eager to develop new innovative approaches to more effectively respond to displacement crises? Then we have an offer you should know about.

Who We Are (Consortium Partners)

The project is a consortium between three partners, Danish Refugee Council, Danish Red Cross and The International Detention Coalition.

Danish Refugee Council (DRC) supports refugees, displaced people, and conflict-affected communities in over 40 countries. Focused on protecting rights, advocating for solutions, and providing aid, DRC offers emergency support, livelihoods assistance, and community development while promoting resilience and inclusion.

Danish Red Cross (DRC) as part of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, works to improve the lives of people affected by conflict, disasters and economic hardship by providing essential aid and health services, supporting disaster relief efforts, and promoting human dignity and respect for all.

The International Detention Coalition (IDC) is a network of organizations based in 75+ countries advocating for people impacted by immigration detention. IDC promotes alternatives to detention through research, advocacy, and strategic partnerships with governments and civil society, with a focus on rights-based migration pathways.

The position will be hosted by the Danish Refugee Council.

About the Job

The Danish Refugee Council, Danish Red Cross, and International Detention Coalition seek a Chief of Party to lead the Pathway to Protection (P2P) consortium project. Funded by DANIDA, this five-year program combines humanitarian service delivery with policy influence to establish a sustainable, locally-led safety net for migrants along Mediterranean migration routes. Implemented across ten countries in collaboration with 18 partners, including Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies, the program addresses protection needs and promotes safer migration pathways.

The Chief of Party will assume overall responsibility for the project, manage both the project’s programme and support staff, co-chair the project’s Steering Committee, act as a key focal point with the DANIDA MFA and contribute significantly to external engagements and advocacy.

Program leadership and strategy

• Lead the development and execution of the project’s overall strategy, Theory of Change, and results framework in collaboration with the Steering Committee and Project Management Team.
• Identify opportunities to scale successful approaches and integrate learning into project design and implementation.
• Ensure the timely delivery of agreed outputs and quality program implementation in line with the agreed strategy.

Consortium building, representation and advocacy

• Build and maintain strong relationships with consortium partners, national stakeholders, and donors to ensure coordinated and impactful implementation.
• Serve as the primary representative of the project with donors, government agencies, and other external stakeholders.
• Support project advocacy staff or focal points to develop a project advocacy strategy and promote the use of project-generated knowledge and learning internally and externally.
• Oversee the development and roll-out of a project communication strategy, including compliance with donor’s branding requirements.

Management and operational oversight

• Lead the recruitment of DRC project staff and participate in the recruitment of Danish Red Cross staff involved in the consortium, adhering to respective HR policies.
• Supervise a mixed team of DRC and RCRC staff, providing both direct and technical line management as appropriate.
• Assume overall responsibility for programme and budget monitoring by leading project cycle management processes and ensuring the consortium partners units, regions and countries contributing to the project are accountable to their respective commitments.
• Ensure that project budget holders and finance staff prepare regular budget vs actual reports and other financial information required for effective budget management.
• Co-chair the project’s Steering Committee, ensuring key information on the project is available to Steering Committee members and committee decisions are taken to support the effectiveness of the project.
• Facilitate and ensure the effectiveness of other governance structures, and other ad-hoc working groups deemed necessary.

Compliance and support

• Manage and guide project finance, grants and administrative staff or assigned focal points.
• Provide oversight to consortium partners, as well as regional and country-level teams contributing to the project, ensuring effective management of inception, implementation, and closeout activities.
• Ensure financial reports and expenditures are verified, coordinate audits, stay updated on donor requirements, and advise the consortium teams on finance, procurement, HR, and visibility standards.
• Maintain a project risk register, ensuring all risks have appropriate ownership, are monitored and mitigation and response measures are in place, and respond accordingly to risk escalation.

Reporting & Communication

• Establish and maintain clear lines of communication across all three partners and with project staff and project contributors.
• Ensure regular, quality and compliant reporting by all partners relevant units, regions and countries.
• Support grants staff to ensure consortium partners deliver high-quality, timely financial and narrative reports that meet donor and organizational standards.

About you

To be successful in this role we expect you to have at least 7 years of experience in a similar senior management role overseeing complex projects across different countries and regions, coordinating across organizational entities and engaging with external stakeholders. The main focus of this position is project management, whereas experience with and knowledge of protection-centred and mixed migration will be seen as an significant value add.

All employees should master DRC’s core competencies: Communicating, Taking the lead, Collaborating, Striving for excellence and Demonstrating integrity.

Required

• Leadership experience: at least 7 years of experience in a similar senior management role working for a humanitarian, human rights or development organization.
• Management experience: at least 5 years of experience managing large teams and in managing and overseeing compliance of both programme and support functions.
• Technical expertise: strong knowledge of migration and humanitarian work, with a demonstrated commitment to upholding the rights of refugees and migrants.
• Donor and stakeholder engagement: proven ability to manage donor relationships, oversee compliance, and contribute to advocacy and external representation.
• Operational excellence: expertise in program and support function oversight, risk management, and strategic alignment.
• Monitoring and learning: experience leading evaluation processes and leveraging insights to enhance programming.
• Fluent in English and French

We Offer

Contract Length: 2.5 years (30 months) – renewable once (project duration is 5 years)

Band: E1

Designation of Duty Station: Tunis, Tunisia.

Start Date: As soon as possible

Salary and conditions will be in accordance with Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for international employees or national employees in Tunisia; please refer to DRC website. Candidates from Tunisia and Libya are strongly encouraged to apply. International candidates will receive an international contract, while Tunisian nationals will be offered a national contract.

For questions regarding the vacancy please contact Raphaël Capony, Head of Global Projects Unit, raphael.capony@drc.ngo.