Somalia & Kenya – Head of Mission at COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale

COOPI is looking for a Head of Mission in Somalia & Kenya

Somalia is a country that has been devastated by more than 27 years of civil war. Human development indicators remain the worst in the world and the humanitarian situation is extremely fragile: over 2.5 million people were displaced between Jan 2016 and 30 Jun 2019 and the country is cyclically affected by drought and frequent escalation of violence. In response to this deep crisis, COOPI has been running emergency and long term resilience building projects including; health, food security & livelihoods, water and sanitation projects since 1981 to improve the living conditions of thousands of vulnerable families.

COOPI has been present in Kenya since 1992 and has managed interventions in rural development; access to water, food security, shelter, healthcare and education.

Purpose of the role

The Head of Mission is responsible for the Coordination of all the activities of the projects implemented in the two countries and all the fundrising activities and positioning within relevant clusters and working groups, related with both countries (Somalia and Kenya).

Besides, the Head of Mission:

• Guarantees the monitoring system of ongoing COOPI activities in the country;
• Assures the internal Human Resources management;
• Assures the administrative supervision;
• Guarantees the coordination with different stakeholders (nationals, internationals, and COOPI HQ).

Main responsibilities

Institutional Relations

• Manages relations with the main institutional donors and with the potential ones;
• Represents COOPI in the country/area by engaging in relations with institutions, NGOs, local and international organizations and partners;
• Is responsible of the organization’s reputation in the country.

Strategy and Planning

• Verifies and proposes to the regional office the intervention priorities to consolidate COOPI’s positioning in the country;
• Contributes to the definition of the Country Strategy and the country planning (projects and coordination).

Project’s management

• Coordinates and directly monitors projects, guaranteeing the correct implementation in conformity with the contractual obligations and donors’ procedures, and in line with COOPI’s procedures and management standards;
• Is responsible for the coordination of the proposal drafting process and the documents’ preparation aimed to the submission of new projects.

Country office management

• Is responsible for all different aspects related to the country office management: economic and financial situation, local regulations, office organization charts, logistics, local and expatriate personnel management, in conformity with the organization’s guidelines;
• Guarantees the respect of the country’s legislation and administrative regulation.

Staff management

• Is responsible for the local staff management;
• Participates and supports in the selection of the expatriate staff;
• Coordinates and monitors the country’s expatriate staff management.

Safety

• Is responsible for the expatriate staff security, for the correct implementation and respect of the general security rules.

Economic and financial management

• Is responsible for the country’s economic result;
• Supervises the financial management and ensures that all financial reporting deadlines and donor/COOPI’s procedures are respected;
• Participates to the projects/coordination budget preparation;
• Has the signature for all COOPI’s bank accounts in the country.

Visibility

• Cooperates with the Communication and Fundraising office for all communication, awareness and fund raising activities implemented in and for the country.

Requirements

Essential

• University degree in relevant subjects;
• Minimum 5 years of relevant working experience in international relief and development, of which minimum 3 years in the role;
• Excellent oral and written communication and negotiation skills, multi-tasking and organizational skills;
• Experience in liaising with governmental/local authorities, IOs and NGOs;
• Demonstrated ability to work in stressful environments and under pressure;
• Proven capacity in managing a team;
• Fluency in English language;
• Computer literacy.

Desired

• Experience in working in conflict-prone environments;
• Experience in logistics, procurement and security matters;
• Previous work experience in Somalia and Kenya;
• Experience in managing complex consortium/partnerships.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the application closing date, once a sufficient number of applications have been received.
Please note that only the shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Interviews will be conducted on rolling basis and the vacancy will be closed when filled, thanks for understanding.

COOPI Cooperazione Internazionale is a humanitarian, non-confessional and independent organization founded in 1965 in Milan, Italy. For more than 50 years we have been dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty and to supporting populations affected by wars, socio-economic crises or natural disasters in their path to recovery and sustainable development, by making use of the professionalism of local and international operators, and through our partnerships with public and private bodies and civil society organizations.