Head of Relief and Development Department (RDD) At People in Peril

About People in Peril

People in Peril (previously known as People in Need Slovakia) is a Slovak non-profit organization, providing direct support to those who suffer the consequences of war, to victims of natural disasters, or those living in poverty on the margins of society. People in Peril was founded 1999 by a group of journalists moved by their experience of the devastating consequences of the conflict in Kosovo on civilians and has since then been providing humanitarian and development assistance worldwide. Currently, People in Peril is one of the major humanitarian actors in Slovakia responding the Ukraine crisis both in Slovakia and across border in Ukraine.

From 2016-2023, we operated as a member of the People in Need network operating from Central Europe. After a significant increase in our capacities following the response to the Ukraine crisis, we altered our affiliation with People in Need Czech Republic in 2024 and are continuing our operations under the name People in Peril. Our aspiration is to become a member of the European humanitarian NGOs family implementing principled aid in humanitarian crises worldwide, with a focus on restoring social cohesion, livelihoods and well-being of populations affected by forced displacement.

For more information, please refer to: https://clovekvohrozeni.sk/about-us/

Purpose of the position

The Head of Relief and Development Department manages People in Peril’s humanitarian and development programmes and operations (currently in Ukraine, Lebanon, Moldova and Kenya) and oversees the emergency response in case of any sudden conflict (or escalation of the current ongoing conflict) and natural disaster. The Department has undergone a rapid growth with the Ukraine response and significant transformation from working mostly through partners to also directly implementing programmes through country branches. This transition phase requires strategic leadership, resource mobilisation, capacity and partnership building and organisational development, but also at times taking a hands-on role in the activities of the department. The purpose of this position is thus to stabilize and consolidate programmes and operations following the major change, develop and implement countries strategies and improve the funding portfolio. The Head of RDD, as part of the organisational management team (MT), is also responsible for contributing to overall People in Peril organisational development, in close collaboration with other heads of departments.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategy and Leadership

1. Provides vision and direction in the design and implementation of PIP’s humanitarian and development portfolio in line with the overall strategic outline,
2. Proposes and contributes to the development of strategies, for example programmatic strategy, emergency strategy etc., in line with organizational (global) strategy, capacity and expertise;
3. Ensures implementation of the department programmes in line with the strategic documents, internal processes and donor requirements;
4. Provides leadership for operationalising PiP’s branches in countries of operations, together with country programme staff and support departments;
5. Participates in the decision-making in the crisis management and emergency response; builds PiP’s emergency response capacities; with relevant staff coordinates initial emergency response.
6. Ensures collaboration with other heads of programmatic, support and fundraising/communication departments to strengthen our programmatic support and collaboration, as well as to develop and implement wholeorganisational systems and policies.
7. Participates in the decision-making of People in Peril’s Management Team (MT), contributes to the organisational development and strategy;

Resource Development and Mobilisation

1. Explores and promotes funding opportunities that integrate initiatives and leverage the impact of the organization in countries of programmes;
2. Together with the Global Head of Programme and Programme Managers, identifies new sources of institutional funding and maintains adequate donor funding levels to sustain the identified programme and support activities;
3. Ensures the high quality of submitted proposals; according to the size and structure of the department teams, contributes to project development and proposal writing and approves project proposals application and submission in coordination with Global Head of Programme;
4. Liaises with donors and negotiates partnerships;
5. Collaborates on private fundraising efforts with the Fundraising and Communication teams;

Staff Management and Capacity Development

1. Coordinates, guides and supervises the department staff, including technical guidance provision, recruitment, performance management, well-being and development;
2. Ensures the staff respect the organizational values, Code of Ethics and People in Peril’s procedures, promotes team spirit, a culture of respect, personal responsibility, transparency and openness;
3. Together with HR, ensures main HR procedures are in place, followed, and well-documented including: transparent recruitment based on clear job descriptions, new staff induction and onboarding, regular performance evaluation, mapping of training needs, planning of capacity development, employment termination, duty of care, HR administration and regular revision of salary scale;
4. Is responsible for the recruitment of key RDD positions; makes sure that key programme staff have relevant technical capacities and experience;
5. Ensures that all support departments and functions are in place;

Representation and External Relations

1. Represents the organization externally (communities, donors, partners, local and international stakeholders where relevant) and manages relations with the humanitarian and development stakeholders (including Slovak authorities), ensuring smooth and timely implementation of planned interventions and safeguarding impartiality and independence;
2. Supervises the development of strategic partnerships;
3. Actively participates in thematic discussions, panels, conferences and events both in Slovakia and abroad;
4. Embeds organization in global humanitarian platforms and coordination systems;
5. Presents People in Peril in front of national and international media, in coordination with the Communication department, develops and promotes communication and advocacy materials.

Monitoring and Ensuring Quality

1. Together with the Global Head of Programmes oversees programme quality (and compliance with international standards) and impact in line with established programme goals and related indicators, as well as in line with humanitarian and development needs;
2. In cooperation with the Head of MEAL, collaborates on the development and operationalisation of an effective MEAL system;
3. Ensures information sharing, communication and coordination between country programmes;
4. Ensures overall compliance with policies, standards, and humanitarian principles.

Finance Management

1. With the support of the Finance Department and contribution from the team members, develops and ensures sound financial management of the department’s budget;
2. Enables and oversees high-quality and timely implementation of all projects (from institutional and private fundraising funding) according to agreed contracts, budgets, policies and in accordance with PiP procedures and specific donor requirements;

Security

1. Is accountable for contingency planning and emergency preparedness and ensures that those are in place, validates security plans and together with Security team members ensures awareness of risks and crisis strategies;
2. Monitors duty of care standards at country level;
3. Sets risk acceptance limits for each country programme;
4. Contributes to the security related decision-making based on recommendations from Security staff.

Performs any other tasks as required.

The successful candidate:

1. Has a higher education (master) suitable for the position in the field of International Relations, Development Studies, Political Studies or relevant;
2. Has at least 5 years of experience in humanitarian aid or development settings, preferably 2 years of experience in similar positions and experience in the field (having previous experience in actively hostile environments is an asset);
3. Has strong management and leadership skills;
4. Has experience working with institutional donors and in project proposal development;
5. Is a collaborative team player and manager with strong facilitation and problem-solving skills and able to develop team skills in others;
6. Has demonstrated experience in managing budgets;
7. Has ability to work under pressure;
8. Is fluent in written and spoken English (C1), knowledge of other languages is an asset;
9. Has strong organizational skills;
10. Has strong negotiation skills and decision-making skills;
11. Is diplomatic and has interpersonal and good communication skills;
12. Understands humanitarian operations principles, standards and best practices.

People in Peril offers:

1. Salary 2500 EUR gross/month, based on your experience and People in Peril’s salary scale (for full time);
2. Per diems based on Slovak law when traveling abroad;
3. Health insurance and travel insurance when traveling abroad;
4. Opportunities for learning, trainings and capacity development;
5. 25 days of paid leave annually; additional 3 sick days; additional 5 study days;
6. Active participation in People in Peril’s growth and development as one of the biggest Slovak humanitarian responders;
7. Multisport card and access to Seduo training platform.