YEMEN – WEST COAST FIELD COORDINATOR (H/F) – AL MOKHA At Solidarités International

Desired start date: 01/11/2021

Duration of the mission: 6 months (renewable)

Location: Position based in Al Mokha – West Coast / Yemen

ABOUT THE MISSION

SI opened its mission in Yemen in 2017, establishing its coordination in Aden. With the support of the Emergency DESK, SI mission was able to quickly acquire operational capacity, which was first deployed in Lahj Governorate, for implementation of WASH and Food Security Programming. Over the course of 2018, SI expanded the geographical scope of its intervention, and established presence in Al Turbah and Al Mokha in Taizz Governorate.

For the year 2020/21; the mission has a forecasted budget of about 10M Euros. It operates from Aden, where the coordination is based, and 2 operational field bases located in Al Turbah and Al Mokha. The mission is run by 23 expatriates and 120 national staffs, and is funded by OFDA, CDC, YHPF, DutchMoFA and ECHO. SI Programming in Yemen focuses on addressing immediate food needs of communities at risk of famine, as well as providing timely response to displacements of population and AWD/Cholera outbreaks. Its portfolio is primarily composed of WASH Emergency projects, along with unconditional cash distribution.

In Al Mokha, SI implements emergency and resilience WASH programs, funded by ECHO, CDCS, and SDC and Dutch MOFA. WASH activities entail water trucking, rehabilitation of water network, construction of emergency latrines and showers, distribution of hygiene kits, hygiene promotion, and cleaning campaigns; and a 3-years resilience project looking for more innovative, sustainable and resilience focus wash activities. Under its FSL portfolio, SI distributes unconditional, multi-purpose cash to IDPs.

SI has been one of the first humanitarian actors to access the West Coast, and remains as of today positioned in hard-to-reach areas close to the frontline of Hodeidah. SI aims at maintaining this positioning and further expanding its presence in southern districts of Hodeidah. After a significant scale up in financial and operational volume on the West Coast in 2019, SI is expecting to maintain a similar portfolio in the area for 2021.

ABOUT THE JOB

• General objectives

SI is looking for a proactive and intuitive collaborator able to lead the team and operations for a young but evolving project based in Al Mokha (with sub-base in Al Khawkhah), in highly volatile environment.

In coordination with the Technical Coordinators and under the leadership of the Country Director, he/she develops the response strategy of the mission.

• Specific stakes and challenges

Volatile security context and access constraints: the West Coast is located on one of the frontlines of the conflict, south of Hodeidah city, which was until late 2018 one of the most active battlefield. While the frontline has since the Stockholm agreement froze on the West Coast, instability, tensions and clashes remains a possible scenario. Security and access constraints today on the West Coast relate to landmines, and regular shelling of villages/cities (that are very far from SI base but close from our areas of operation) by one party to the conflict, bureaucratic impediments with civil and armed actors.

Structuration of the base: Al Mokha base was opened late 2018, hence still in need of structuration (HR setup, inter-department work, compliance, etc.). The unattractiveness of Al Mokha for national teams adds to this challenge, with low retention of skilled staff, and need to strengthen capacity of locally-recruited teams. While a lot has already been done, the structuring of the base, which has gone in 2020 through a substantial scale up, remains a challenge for the next months, and new set up is being introduced.

Strategic orientations: the humanitarian context in the West Coast is slightly moving from pure emergency to protracted situation, with IDP facing long displacements, few pockets of emergency, necessity to tackle roots cause of needs, host community to be targeted with resilience approach, etc. New projects development will therefore have to address this complex context.

RESPONSIBILITIES

He/she supports and oversees the implementation of programs across the different areas of intervention. He/she actively coordinates with humanitarian partners and the community to identify emergency needs, gaps in response, and proposes appropriate response as part of the mandate of SI. With the support his/her team, he/she maintains close monitoring of the security situation in its areas of operation, and negotiates access to hard-to-reach areas with relevant stakeholders. He/she oversees support department and ensure adherence to SI procedures.

PRIORITIES FOR THE 2/3 FIRST MONTHS

• Structure the base/reach target structure and related capacity building and compliance work
• Operationalization of SI strategy in the area / projects development
• Close security follow-up and pursue the access strategy

MANAGEMENT

Mokha team is composed of approx. 35 staffs. The Field Coordinator will directly line-manage a team of 1 expatriate (1 log/adm manager) and 3 national staffs (1 Wash PM, 1 Field Coo Assistant, 1 MEAL Supervisor). The Field Coordinator directly reports to the Country Director and has strong interaction with the others coordination staffs.

YOUR PROFILE

The FieldCo Al Mokha has a relevant experience in project management, mixing emergency programming and early recovery response, and in implementing or overseeing such projects in complex humanitarian environment.

Education and experience

• Post-graduate with at least 5 years’ experience as humanitarian worker
• Previous experience as Field Coordinator (2 years) a prerequisite
• Experience in security management in conflict context;
• Experience in implementing/supervision emergency projects
• Knowledge of the sub-region/prior experience in Yemen is an asset

Knowledge and technical skills

• Previous knowledge of emergency and recovery programing
• Previous experience in coaching, delivering training and building capacity of staff;
• Multi-project support experience
• Proven knowledge of project cycle management, and project reporting
• Knowledge of SI rules, tools and procedures is an asset
• Good and proven writing and spoken English are required
• Knowledge of Arabic and experience of the Yemen or Middle-eastern countries is an asset

Transferable skills

• Advanced leadership and management skills
• Good analytical and writing skills
• Good context analysis, strategic view and planning capacity
• Good communication and diplomatic/negotiation skills

Qualities:

• Proactivity, flexibility, autonomy, pragmatism, solutions-oriented mindset.
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Skill transfer ability highly appreciated
• Anticipation and self-organization capacities
• Great work and stress management capacities, problem solving ability and ability to take decisions autonomously
• Willingness to work in complex and volatile environments

SI WILL OFFER YOU

A SALARIED POSITION: starting from 2860 euros gross per month (2600 € + 10% annual leave allowance paid monthly) and a monthly per diem of 750 USD a month. Please note that salary is not negotiable with SI.

VACATION: During the assignment, a system of alternation between work and time-off is implemented at the rate of one break after two months spent on the field. For a one-year assignment, the expatriate will have a 9 calendar days break for every 2 months spent on the field (with 850 USD allocated by Solidarités). In addition to these regular break, SI adds a day off per worked month. These days off as well as the breaks are not deducted from the paid leaves that are paid every months with your salary as they are offered by the organization.

SOCIAL AND MEDICAL COVER: Expatriates benefit from an insurance package which reimburses all healthcare expenses (including medical and surgical expenses, dental care and ophthalmological expenses, repatriation) and a welfare system including war risks. Essential vaccination and antimalarial treatment costs are refunded.

SECURITY AND LIVING CONDITIONS

The situation in Al Mokha city is relatively safe, but significant military presence of the coalition. Field visits are possible for international staff if the security situation allows. But movements are overall framed in a low profile strategy. The position is based in Mokha, but activities take place also in other districts along the West Coast. A sub-base was opened in 2019 in Al Khowkhah, located 40 minutes-drive from Al Mokha, where expatriate might occasionally spend some nights.

KEY INFORMATION ABOUT LIVING CONDITIONS

In Al Mokha accomodation is provided by SI in a GH.

Living conditions are good in a new guest-house/office building fully furnished with roof top and gym room, with internet (some limitation on internet video and streaming), and electricity (with some cuts). There are currently other expatriates from 5+ other INGOS permanently based in Al Mokha.

The coordination team and office are based in Aden.

Passing by Aden you’ll be accomodated in a shared guesthouse (same building of the office). Security rules in Aden are rather restrictive, with a curfew at 8 pm, extended to 9 pm in the area where most INGOs are located. Trips to the field is possible for expatriates under certain condition but are limited to keep the presence of international staff low profile.