Head of Support Syria Response Office At Norwegian Refugee Council

Job Description

All NRC employees are expected to work in accordance with the organisation’s core values dedication, innovation, inclusivity and accountability. These attitudes and believes shall guide our actions and relationships.

Job Purpose

The role of the Head of Support (HoS) is to lead the Support Unit and has the overall responsibility for ensuring that NRC’s Human Resource (HR), finance, logistics, administration, risk and compliance, and ICT systems provide relevant and adequate support to NRC’s Syria Response. The HoS will also be responsible for designing, planning and leading the implementation of key strategic initiatives to improve systems and structures. This could eventually include managing and providing oversight for critical change management processes to ensure that NRC’s structure stays ‘two-steps-ahead’ in terms of having the right resources and structures to reach the objectives in our strategy. The HoS will be playing a key leadership role in planning processes, including the annual budget process, workforce planning and talent management.

What you will do:

1. Provide leadership of the Support Unit (Finance, HR & Admin, Logistics, Risk & Compliance, and ICT) and ensure all work as one team.
2. Facilitate the support function`s strategic input to the development of the Country Strategy and Plan of Action as well as support plans for emergency response and quick scale ups in existing and new areas of operations.
3. Responsible for the strategic development of country structures, technical systems, new country specific technical SOPs, guidelines and tools.
4. Actively contribute to any change management process in the Country Office and ensure adequate and fit-for-purpose support strategy rooted in talent management and national staff capacity development.
5. Responsible for ensuring quality support to project implementation, proposal development, coordinating and aligning operational support with programme plans.
6. Provide leadership, management and supervision of Human Resources functions which include recruitment, staffing, training, learning & development, staff care, performance monitoring and employee counselling.
7. Ensure strategic development of all SRO Support functions; responsible for strategic development projects and pro-actively planning and feeding into country wide strategies and plans, working closely with senior management and programmes to ensure Support functions proactively meets the needs of the programme
8. Work closely with Area Managers and Area Support Managers in the Syria Response Programme to ensure effective and constructive communication between related functions.
9. Lead on the development, monitoring and implementation of the Master Support Budget, country level budgets and Budget Programme Overview (BPO) and support in assessing and monitoring costs and resource allocation needs.
10. Ensure NRC’s HR, finance, logistics, administration and Risk & Compliance systems provide relevant and adequate support to NRC’s Syria Response.
11. Ensure mandatory monthly compliance checks are performed and recommendations for support Unit are followed up.
12. Ensure all global and regional support policies and guidelines are translated into country-specific Standard Operating Procedures.
13. Member of the Country Management Group (CMG)

Professional Competencies and Qualifications Required

These are skills, knowledge and experience that are important for effective performance.

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field of study.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience from a senior management position in a humanitarian/ recovery context
• Experience in working in complex and volatile contexts. Experience working in or knowledge of the Syrian context is highly desirable.
• Experience in change management processes is ideal.
• Experience managing humanitarian operations remotely.
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities with knowledge about own leadership skills/profile
• Ability to work well under pressure and able to mobilize and lead teams across all departments efficiently.
• Expertise in allocation of resources and costs.
• Fluency in English both written and verbal. Knowledge of Arabic is advantage

Behavioural competencies

• Strategic thinking
• Initiating action and change
• Managing performance and development
• Managing resources to optimize results
• Handling insecure environments
• Influencing

What We Offer

NRC is an equal opportunities employer and aims to have staffing diversity in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, nationality and physical ability.

We offer an opportunity to match your career to a compelling cause and a chance to meet and work with people who are the best in their fields.

Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply and join our work culture that empowers every employee to share ideas and take responsibility: At NRC we think outside the box. We encourage ideas and give responsibility to all employees at all levels, to help solve the complex issues that we face. You will have many opportunities to be heard and take initiative.

We are also looking for people who share our values:

• To be dedicated in what we do;
• To be innovative with our solutions;
• To act as one unified and inclusive team;
• To be accountable to the donors that make our work possible; the people we exist to serve, and to each other… the members of our NRC family.

Additional Information:

Duty Station: Amman, Jordan

Travel: Up to 20% within the Syria Response areas of implementation

Duration of contract:12 months full-time, renewable based on funding, structure, and performance

Grade 11 in NRC’s grading structure

Reporting line: Country Director

About Us

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee. We work in crises across more than 31 countries, providing emergencies and long-term assistance to millions of people every year. We stand up for people forced to flee, advocating their rights. NORCAP, our global provider of expertise, helps improve international and local ability to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from crises. NRC also runs the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre in Geneva, a global leader in reporting on and advocating for people displaced within their own country.

Employment with NRC may lead to employment in or deployment to Regions, Countries, Areas or Offices that may be host to considerable health, safety and security risks. NRC takes this very seriously and we have procedures in place to reduce known risks, but will never be able to take away all risks.

NRC is an equal opportunities employer and aims to have staffing diversity in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, nationality and physical ability.