Deputy Director – Disaster and Community Resilience Programme at Pacific Community

The Pacific Community (SPC) invites applications for the position of Deputy Director – Disaster and Community Resilience Programme within its GEM division. This position will be located at its regional office in Suva, Fiji.

Description

The Pacific Community (SPC) is the principal scientific and technical organisation in the Pacific region, supporting development since 1947. We are an international development organisation owned and governed by our 27 country and territory members. In pursuit of sustainable development to benefit Pacific people, our organisation works across more than 25 sectors. We are known for our knowledge and innovation in such areas as fisheries science, public health, geoscience, and conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.

The Geoscience Energy and Maritime Division provides advice, technical assistance, research and training support to Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs). There are three (3) areas of scientific programming and two areas of focus within this division:

1. Oceans and Maritime Programme (OMP) – assists member countries with services that provide applied ocean science and knowledge for evidence-based policy-making and technical solutions for improved ocean and maritime governance, management and capacity development.
2. Georesources and Energy Programme (GEP) – assists member countries by applying technical knowledge in the areas of geoscience and sustainable energy use.
3. Disaster and Community Resilience Programme (DCRP) – assists member countries to demonstrate strengthened resilience through integrated action on disaster risk management, climate change adaptation, natural resource management and increased access to water and sanitation.

The Deputy Director – DCRP will oversee the people and programs in the DCRP in the thematic areas of climate and disaster risk management, water security, ecosystems and natural resources.

Leadership and Management

• Provide people leadership, engagement, and operational guidance to contribute to the effective delivery of all projects
• Design, implement and effectively deliver annual work plans and work plan reports for DCRP within budget and in accordance with established targets, results and outcomes
• Develop guidance tools to enhance the project management capacity of the technical programme
• Provide supervision of project level reporting and reviews to ensure Programme/project activities and budgets are executed in accordance with contractual requirements and approved budgets
• Work with Director and Deputy Directors to ensure lessons learned from previous projects inform the plans of new projects/activities

Technical excellence of functions and outcomes of the portfolio

• Provide technical leadership to develop the area of scientific and technical programming
• Lead, coordinate and facilitate multi-stakeholder consultative approaches and forums
• Drive awareness of this capability with members and donors ensuring regional coordination and collaboration
• Develop and maintain an integrated divisional work programme that focuses on technical and scientific priority areas of member countries and territories
• Oversee and manage the outcomes of projects within the portfolio to deliver across the thematic and functional areas of DCRP and GEM

Resource mobilization and financial management

• Contribute to, drive and support mobilisation initiatives with funding agencies and advocate for long-term funding support for the work of the division among the donor community
• Explore new work opportunities that align to new / emerging development priorities of PICTs
• Budget allocations within areas of responsibility are managed with appropriate costings in place

Integrated programming

• Contribute to a culture of collaboration, integrated programming, and shared success
• Investigate research and evaluate ‘best practise’ business processes to enable an integrated programming approach
• Support and promote communities of practice, participatory workshops, learning events on programming policies to absorb the programming design approach into all potential opportunities across the technical programme

For a more detailed account of the key responsibilities, please refer to the online job description.

Key selection criteria

Qualifications

• A Master’s degree from a recognised institution (and/or equivalent work experience) in a discipline relevant to project/programme management, international development, natural resources management, climate or disaster risk management, water and sanitation

Technical expertise

• At least 15 years of demonstrated management experience in a public sector or research environment in managing science related resources or a similar field, including financial management
• Demonstrated ability to lead strategically with a solid understanding of Programme Management
• Demonstrated experience in relationship building and working with a wide variety of donors and development partners with awareness of their policies and procedures
• Demonstrated experience of leading and coordinating high level strategic consultation processes for regional positioning across a relevant sectoral agenda
• Proven ability to influence work collegially and in partnership with stakeholders and internal partners towards an agreed outcome
• Demonstrated skills and experience in continuous improvement and facilitating innovation across teams

Language skills

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Interpersonal skills and cultural awareness

• Proven history of successfully building and leading multi-disciplinary teams, including people of different national and cultural backgrounds, and demonstrated ability to manage professional, technical, and program support staff in a team environment, ensuring everyone’s role contributes to successful team outputs

Salary, terms and conditions

Contract Duration – 3 years subject to renewal depending on funding and performance.

Remuneration – The Deputy Director – DCRP is a Band 14 position in SPC’s 2022 salary scale, with a starting salary range of 4,667‒5,834 SDR (special drawing rights) per month, which currently converts to approximately FJD 13,768–17,210 (USD 6,674–8,343; EUR 5,601–7,001). An offer of appointment for an initial contract will normally be made in the lower half of this range, with due consideration given to experience and qualifications. Progression within the salary scale will be based on annual performance reviews. Remuneration of expatriate SPC staff members is not subject to income tax in Fiji; Fiji nationals employed by SPC in Fiji will be subject to income tax.

Benefits for international employees based in Fiji – SPC provides a housing allowance of FJD 1,350–3,000 per month. Establishment and repatriation grant, removal expenses, airfares, home leave travel, health and life and disability insurances and education allowances are available for eligible employees and their eligible dependents. Employees are entitled to 25 working days of annual leave per annum and other types of leave, and access to SPC’s Provident Fund (contributing 8% of salary, to which SPC adds a matching contribution).

Languages – SPC’s working languages are English and French.

Recruitment principles – SPC’s recruitment is based on merit and fairness, and candidates are competing in a selection process that is fair, transparent and non-discriminatory. SPC is an equal-opportunity employer, and is committed to cultural and gender diversity, including bilingualism, and will seek to attract and appoint candidates who respect these values. Due attention is given to gender equity and the maintenance of strong representation from Pacific Island professionals. If two interviewed candidates are ranked equal by the selection panel, preference will be given to the Pacific Islander. Applicants will be assured of complete confidentiality in line with SPC’s Privacy Policy.