Project Manager at Danish Refugee Council

Project Manager- Protection- Tikrit

The Danish Refugee Council assists refugees and internally displaced persons across the globe: we provide emergency aid, fight for their rights, and strengthen their opportunity for a brighter future. We work in conflict-affected areas, along the displacement routes, and in the countries where refugees settle. In cooperation with local communities, we strive for responsible and sustainable solutions. We work toward successful integration and – whenever possible – for the fulfilment of the wish to return home.
The Danish Refugee Council was founded in Denmark in 1956, and has since grown to become an international humanitarian organization with more than 7,000 staff and 8,000 volunteers. Our vision is a dignified life for all displaced.
All of our efforts are based on our value compass: humanity, respect, independence and neutrality, participation, and honesty and transparency.
In 2003, following the start of foreign military operations in Iraq, DRC became one of the first organisations to provide humanitarian assistance in the country, and now operates in 11 governorates, including Anbar, Baghdad, Babel, Diyala, Duhok, Erbil, Karbala, Kirkuk, Najaf, Ninewa and Salah-al-Din.

About the job
• Under the supervision of the Area Manager, the Protection PM is responsible for the planning, implementation and follow up of the protection projects in the assigned area.
• In close coordination with the Technical Coordinator the Protection PM contributes to the development and implementation of DRC’s protection strategy in Iraq, utilizing and rolling out harmonized tools and guidelines.
• The Protection PM contributes to the fulfilment of the aims and objectives of DRC’s protection program in Iraq.

Responsibilities:
General Management
• Responsible for ensuring high quality, on time protection project implementation in defined area of operation. This includes meeting donor targets (activity and budget), ensuring donor compliant implementation and supervising quality for protection activities including legal assistance, PSS, case management, IPA and protection monitoring, in line with DRC guidance and SOPs as well as international protection standards;
• Produce and regularly update implementation plans. Plans should set out future activity and track progress to date on outputs and activities in the Project Management Tool for presentation at monthly Grant Review Meetings;
• Conduct regular field visits to key sites to ensure technical quality and adherence to key standards and processes;
• Maintain close communications with colleagues in (a) other sectors, (b) Area Office management, (c) Country Office technical supervision, and (d) support office (Finance, HR, Supply Chain) regarding challenges and opportunities;
• Prepare high quality and timely narrative reporting for donors, check this reporting against area financial reports, liaise with technical coordinators for quality assurance and feed into checking of financial reports for accuracy;
• Develop procurement plans and liaise with relevant support departments to ensure that activities are carried out according to plan, including participation in supply chain processes and ensuring goods are in line with programmatic standards;
• Complete and regularly update budget forecasts for project activities and staffing and monitor budget vs actual on a regular basis. Manage expenditure and take timely corrective action to prevent over and under expenditure;
• Maintain ongoing communication with Safety regarding relevant contextual developments and incident reporting;
• Support integration of Protection interventions with other core sectors, ensuring close collaboration between field teams;
• Regularly update the project monitoring tools, including (a) ensuring appropriate indicator and quality tracking (both quantitative and qualitative) and (b) working closely with MEAL to put in place accountability measures;
Program Team Management
• Recruit and line manage (including conducting appraisals performance management and providing instructions to HR around contract amendments and termination) project staff;
• Provide regular constructive feedback to direct reports, following DRC’s Performance management procedures, and support direct reports in performance management of their team members;
• Assess training and development needs within the Protection team, develop a capacity building plan and implement the plan, in line with DRC Iraq nationalization policy and guidelines;
• Liaise with line and technical management as necessary regarding team performance.

Strategy implementation
• Ensure the roll out of the DRC Iraq protection sector strategy and its integration into the DRC Iraq program strategy and the response as a whole;
• Work closely with Technical Coordinators and line manager on identification of needs of communities and gaps in Protection services within DRC’s areas of intervention; conduct protection monitoring and protection analysis on a regular basis and upon need;
• Provide, upon request, technical input into the development (and implementation) of relevant SOPs and technical standards; work with the Technical Coordinator to develop innovative approaches to increase access to Protection services for targeted communities;
• Contribute to the Base level program strategy and to the establishment of sector-based log frames and targets;
• Participate in the proposal development process by providing field specific context analysis, technical sector specific analysis, beneficiary information, feedback on the concept including proposing the activities and costing at field level in line with Area Log Frames; and
• In coordination with MEAL, provide inputs to tools and use the tools for data collection including indicator tracking tables.

Coordination and Representation
• Regular coordination and liaison with other protection partners in the field, with attention to the specific needs of at risk communities;
• Engage with sub-national clusters as necessary and relevant;
• Responsible for conducting donor visits in close coordination with the country office donor focal points;
• Pro-actively build good rapport with local authorities and community representatives;
• Identify opportunities and material to contribute to communications work, and support facilitation of media visits.
• Work with DRC’s Country office regarding rollout of new partnership policies and guidelines;

Other
• Ensure the respect of DRC Code of Conduct and DRC’s zero tolerance policy of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA), humanitarian principles and contribute to the integration of Protection and Age, Gender, Diversity (AGD) mainstreaming into DRC programming.
• Undertake any other duties that may be assigned by the Line Manager.

Reporting lines
Reporting to: Area Manager
Technical reporting to: Protection Coordinator
Direct reports: Team Leaders (x3)

About you:
Experience and technical competencies:
• An excellent professional track record with a minimum of 3 years’ work experience in Protection, preferably in an emergency or early recovery context;
• Significant knowledge of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Laws, particularly International standards relating to the protection of IDPs;
• 3 years’ experience managing teams and providing technical guidance, training and capacity building of staff and CSO partners or government counterparts;
• Significant experience managing projects, ensuring tracking of targets and activities, and donor reporting;
• Proven communication, negotiation, advocacy and diplomacy skills;
• Ability to quickly develop understanding of the human rights situation and insight into the political environment of the program country;
• Prior experience implementing case management/PSS/legal assistance and community-based protection activities;
• Knowledge of Gender and Protection mainstreaming, AGD, PwSN and AAP approaches;
• Experience working and living in a challenging security environment and under strict safety rules and willingness to travel to conflict affected areas.

Education:
• University or Master’s degree relevant to humanitarian protection work: preferably in law, social sciences or humanitarian aid.

Languages:
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.
• Arabic desirable

Key stakeholders:
• Base and Area Manager
• Protection Coordinator
• Protection staff
• Other project managers
• Local authorities and community leaders

In this position, you are expected to demonstrate DRC’ five core competencies:

• Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process.
• Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback.
• Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.
• Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly.
• Demonstrating integrity: You act in line with DRC’s vision and values.

We offer
Contract length: 1 year
Band:F
Designation of Duty Station:Tikrit, Salah al-Din
Start date:1 July 2021