Country Director
Medical Emergency Relief International (Merlin)
Medical Relief
Closing date: 14 Jul 2010
Location: Sudan (the) - Juba
Position: Country Director
Country: South Sudan
Responsible To: Regional Programmes Manager
Working With: Country Management Team
Location: Juba with regular travel to all field sites
Start Date: ASAP
Duration: 12 months
Salary: £38,470 - £39,970 per annum (dependant on relevant experience), inclusive of annual Cost of Living Allowance.
Benefits: Insurance cover, accommodation, R&R, and annual leave entitlement of 24 days per annum rising to 30 days at the completion of 12 months of continuous employment with Merlin.
Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short-listed on a regular basis and we may offer this post before the closing date.
Please note: this is an unaccompanied position.
Merlin International Profile
Merlin specialises in health, saving lives in times of crisis and helping to rebuild shattered health services. Each year, Merlin helps more than 15 million people in up to 20 countries.
Context and Background
Merlin has been working in Southern Sudan since 1998 and has had a continuous presence in the country since 2004. While Merlin is currently working in 4 counties in the Eastern Equatorial state and in Boma Payam, Pibor County, Jonglei state, the Country programme is poised for rapid expansion and will in the near future expect to work with a number of donors and ministries, especially the Ministry for Health at the National, State, County and local government levels. Merlin also expects to partner with NGOs and CBOs in the delivery a Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) for the government of South Sudan’s Ministry of Health (MoH). The principal objective for Merlin in Southern Sudan is to substantially improve the quality, accessibility and sustainability of the basic preventive and curative health services, while at the same time for International and Regional staff to enhance the capacity of local staff to efficiently plan and manage the operations by the end of their contractual period.
Main purpose of the role
The Country Director will provide overall leadership, strategic direction and operational management in line with Merlin’s vision and objectives as lined out in the Strategic Plan for South Sudan. The Country Director will also assume responsibility for the smooth running and development of Merlin programmes through analysis of the humanitarian context, needs assessments and appropriate responses. The post also includes responsibility at country level for identifying and securing donor funding and an expectation to increase Merlin’s profile through representation to external actors and advocacy on behalf of vulnerable populations.
Overall Objectives (scope)
Will be to:
- Provide the overall strategic direction of the South Sudan programme
- Build and strengthen team dynamics, capacity and clarity of vision
- Ensure the successful development and implementation of South Sudan’s quality public health programme
- Explore the possibilities for further programme development and in-country funding opportunities according to strategy
- Represent Merlin to national authorities, international donors, international organisations and other NGOs at the national level
- Ensure the integration of monitoring and evaluation into all aspects of country programming
- Ensure timely and effective support systems in line with Merlin policy and standards
- With Head Office Programmes and Policy departments identify and agree key strategic issues for influencing, developing and implementing an action plan to achieve this
Responsibilities
Leadership
- Develop and maintain a coherent country programme strategy with the Country Management Team, Regional Programme Manager and Health Adviser that contributes to Merlin's global objectives, reviewing this where necessary and looking towards a handover strategy in the longer-run
- Coordinate and manage the overall planning and direction of Merlin's operations and health activities at country level
- Create a shared vision, among all staff, of Merlin's programme's aims and their role in achieving these.
Security
- Ensure that appropriate security guidelines and procedures are established, maintained / updated quarterly or according to significant incident, and adhered to by the team
- Manage security incidents and evacuations in cooperation with HQ, ensuring that all incidents are reported in a timely manner using the Merlin Security Incident Report format
- Maintain an overall understanding of the general context and security scenarios with analyses and appropriate adaptation in Merlin areas of operation.
Programme Development
- Develop annual plans with Country Management Team and Regional Programme Manager to roll out Country Strategy using innovative approaches that look at both health-system strengthening and the humanitarian imperative
- Ensure effective coordination of technical inputs (e.g. health, logistics, etc.) in proposal development
- Ensure project development and involvement of Ministry of Health and local communities as appropriate
- Develop and secure funding for new programmes based on identified needs
- Maintain Merlin's emergency preparedness and response capacity as relevant to the geo-political and humanitarian situation
- Organise and/or undertake needs assessments as and when required
- Develop and maintain productive working relationships with donors and undertake all in-country negotiation related to programming and contracts
Programme Management
- With the OpsCo, ensure that projects remain within the remit of their initial design, budget and proposal
- Ensure, through the OpsCo, that appropriate systems and plans are in place for dealing with emergencies and provide leadership for staff and volunteers in emergencies
- Ensure establishment of systems and standards for assessment and monitoring/evaluation of programmes against their strategic aims
- Ensure there is a regular, documented forum / meeting for all key staff including Programme Coordinators and Medical Coordinators to discuss and plan programme objectives and plans
Representation
- Decide which development networks Merlin should invest time in, and commit time to those where participation will yield best results for Merlin
- Represent Merlin to National Authorities, International Donors, International Organisations, local communities and other NGOs at the national level with regular feedback to Head Office
- With the Country Health Director, represent Merlin’s health work
- Contribute towards the dissemination of Merlin’s health work through publications (general, health sector, academic literature, etc.) and Merlin’s influencing work in consultation with Merlin HO Programmes, Health/Policy and Communications departments
- Manage external/international communications with the media in consultation with Programmes and the Communications department in Merlin HO
Capacity building
- Enhance programme management skills of international, regional and national team through formal and non-formal training
- Improve capacity for facility supervision and service provision of Merlin’s team and that of Partner(s)
- Ensure adequate capacity for management of medical programmes including progress against indicator targets, drug supply and distribution and HMIS systems
Staff Management / Human Resource (HR)
- Manage staff effectively, including appropriate and regular delegation
- Co-ordinate and support/team building of national, regional and international staff teams, ensuring that the individuals work effectively together and achieve programme objectives
- Establish and / or maintain appropriate HR management tools with the HR Manager in-country and the HR Advisor in HO, e.g. organisational charts, job descriptions, salary scales, staff appraisals, staff holiday leave & R&R policy, plans and records, etc.
- Maintain good inter-team communications through regular information exchange and brain-storming, engendering good team dynamics, and take suitable action when problems occur
- Develop and apply policies, guidelines, terms and conditions following both Merlin and donor policies and guidelines and national employment law(s)
- Ensure that all personnel costs are adequately funded by programme budgets in coordination with the Finance and Admin Manager (FAM)
- Take an active part in staff recruitment for the country in coordination with Merlin London HR department
- In liaison with the OpsCo, ensure all field members are adequately briefed upon arrival and debriefed upon departure, and ensure that appraisals are completed for all members of staff on time during employment and on departure
Logistics
- Ensure that appropriate logistics systems and procedures are established and / or maintained in accordance with the Merlin, donor and national government guidelines and policies, e.g procurement policy, asset management
- Maintain, with the Logistics Coordinator, tracking of movements and effective programme communications to support the security guidelines
- Ensure timely and effective coordination between Logistics, Finance and the Health team over purchases, proposals, stocks and budgets
Finance Management
- Together with the OpsCo and FAM, monitor expenditure through the monthly BvAs and other appropriate mechanisms, ensuring analyses and recommendations are shared with the teams
- Ensure that country programmes are implemented within their budgets, assisting teams to forecast as necessary with the support of the FAM.
- Oversee budget preparation, setting the parameters and the process, ensuring compliance to Merlin, donor and national requirements
- Ensure and anticipate donor reporting schedules, including spending plan projections
- Oversee the completion and return to London of the monthly field accounts within the agreed deadlines
- Establish and / or maintain the Merlin field accounting systems
Reporting
- Ensure draft donor reports and proposals are shared with and comments received by HQ in a timely manner as agreed prior to submission
- Ensure completion of reports and proposals before deadlines with final version shared with HQ
- Maintain regular communications with HO using established reporting procedures, monthly and quarterly sitreps
- Ensure timely agreement with HO on any commitment that carries organizational risk (financial and/or reputational, such as MoUs, new proposals etc)
Other
- Carry out any other responsibilities as requested by the Regional Programmes Manager or Programme Director
Person Specifications
Essential
Qualifications, experience and competences
- Extensive overseas management experience including strategic planning, programme management and management of budgets.
- Proven experience of building and maintaining relationships with donor agencies with the aim of creating partnership and increasing funding for the country programme.
- Considerable experience of working in a highly insecure environment with responsibility for security monitoring and management
- Excellent interpersonal and consultative skills, including the ability to communicate, present, negotiate and influence a variety of audiences
- Experience of developing and maintaining relationships with other NGOs, government and other relevant stakeholders.
- Able to create and maintain an innovative and enthusiastic working environment at all levels
- Experience of providing high quality supervision, line management and support to staff.
- Experience of providing leadership and coordination in planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation.
- Experience in training, capacity building and community participation
- Proven programme development and proposal writing experience
- Strong communication skills, with excellent written and spoken English
- Confident and proficient in the use of MS Office
- Experience of establishing strong working relationships with colleagues from different functions and cultures
- Experience of a flexible approach to managing and prioritising a high workload and multiple tasks in a fast paced environment with tight deadlines
- Experience of proactively identifying and addressing issues
- An understanding of and commitment to Merlin’s mission and values
Desirable
Qualifications, experience and competences
- Previous experience in South Sudan or the region
- Knowledge of a local language
- Health background e.g. Doctor, Nurse, Public Health
- Previous responsibility for health project management in emergency and transitional/development settings
Data Protection
Please note, on submitting your application, you are agreeing to Merlin holding and using the information that you have given for the purposes of recruitment and employment – should an offer be made.
In order to process your job application, it may be necessary for your application form to be sent to the Country Director (in the country you are applying for) for consideration. If you do not agree with this, please can you state so when applying.
How to apply
Please download an application form from our website www.merlin.org.uk Completed forms should be emailed to applications@merlin-uk.org stating clearly in the subject field the job title, country and reference number (if any)
