Country Managers at International Alert

International Alert employs over 200 people of 30 nationalities both in our London offices and in the regions where we work. Most are full-time staff, but we also employ consultants, interns and volunteers.

COUNTRY MANAGER

Reports to: West Africa Regional Manager
Grade:2
Contract Duration: 1 year with the possibility of extension

JOB PURPOSE

The purpose of this job is to lead Alert's peace building work in Nigeria, managing Alert's country programme and ensuring that projects deliver quality peace building outcomes. Alert's portfolio in Nigeria includes a number of contracts with consulting firms for technical assistance, primarily in the area of conflict sensitivity and security governance as well as a series or research and peace building initiatives in the northeast.
The Country Manager works with programme, finance and M&E staff in Abuja and Maiduguri ensuring quality and accuracy of programme and finance operations.
The post holder will play a pivotal role in developing new longer-term peace building programmes and in consolidating Alert's operational presence in Nigeria.
It will also provide technical assistance in peace building and conflict sensitivity either directly or managing and supervising the role of national and international technical advisers.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Provide strategic leadership:
Adapt and enhance Alert's country strategy for the long term development of Alert's Nigeria programme, taking into account local and regional dynamics, and Alert's strategic perspective;
Ensure quality and relevance of state and country-level conflict analyses and update Alert's peace building strategy.
Nurture collaborative relationships with a wide array of stakeholders including with Government, private sector, international agencies and institutions, civil society, national and international NGOs and key bilateral donors;
Contribute to strategic development on Alerts role in the wider West Africa/Sahel region, looking specifically at conflict dynamics and peace building opportunities in the Lake Chad basin;
Develop and deliver internal reports and programme and projects plans in a timely manner, and ensure that these highlight programme impact and lessons learned, including through case studies/stories.
Ensure that Alert's team in Nigeria is well staffed, managed and coordinated:

Provide internal leadership and communicate clearly the vision and mission of Alert in Nigeria, working to ensure ownership and participation by all staff in Nigeria working effectively together to achieve the common objectives;
Ensure the team is well staffed, with the appropriate mix of talents, knowledge and skills, and that the management structure enables staff to work effectively in pursuit of Alert's goals in Nigeria;
Line manage 4 staff directly, providing support and encouragement (including staff development as necessary) and ensuring efficiency and accountability;
Ensure all staff have clear roles and responsibilities and that teams work effectively together to achieve common objectives;
Provide opportunities for staff to learn and develop; and monitor staff’s progress in capacity, knowledge and insight as much as in performance and skill;
Hold relevant staff accountable for responding to the requirements and demands of functional leaders, (e.g. in Finance, DME, etc.), and mediate these relationships;
Promote coordination and cross learning within the Nigeria team, regionally and at the organisational level.
Support direct project implementation and grant management as needed
Supervise systems and procedures to ensure good stewardship of Alert Nigeria’s human and financial resources:

Line manage and support the Finance Manager to ensure that country office finance management policies and practices are in line with Alert's global finance manual, ensure efficient use of financial resources (by staff and partners), minimize fraud, maximise project results and respect donor contractual obligations;
Work closely with the Finance manager (with support from AP finance manager) to monitor the evolution of the country programme Master budget and take corrective measures to minimise and/or fill identified gaps;
Ensure that budget forecasts submitted to the Africa programme are realistic and accurate;
Ensure realistic planning and effective implementation by project managers and teams to achieve budget expenditure targets in a timely manner;
Ensure respect for Alert recruitment, retention and staff performance management policies, including overseeing revision and roll-out as necessary of the Alert Nigeria staff manual and associated policies.
Ensure HR and administrative systems and procedures comply with Nigerian law, Alert global policy and donor-specific requirements.
Ensure continuous evaluation of risks and oversee updating of standard operating procedures as per evolving security situation in zones of operation, drawing on information collected by the security focal points and recommendations by the operations coordinator;
Ensure that all staff in Nigeria are informed about and respect the Nigeria country security manual, and liaise as necessary with WARM, CMG in London and Africa programme staff for security management purposes;
Following agreed security procedures of Alert, be responsible for security management decisions within Nigeria, including evacuation or relocation of staff, decisions to limit movements to/from or within certain areas, and ensure updating of security manual and procedures as necessary;
Liaise with the INGO platforms in Nigeria and Alert's in-country lawyer to collect relevant information and ensure Alert respects all its legal obligations while minimising unnecessary cost.
Provide strategic leadership to project design, monitoring and evaluation:

Lead the identification of new areas of intervention for Alert's programme in Nigeria, compounding expansion with programme consolidation;
Work with the Senior PDFA Officer and the West Africa Regional Manager to devise an effective fundraising strategy for the programme
Conduct scoping and monitoring visits across the country ensuring these visits lead to sound conflict and peace analysis that can inform programming options;
Human Resources Department
Assess impact as the programme proceeds and make adjustments as necessary, ensuring this is in line with baseline studies and Alert's assessment framework;
Lead on programme design and fundraising, including writing funding proposals in coordination with the Programme Design, Fundraising and Assessment (PDFA) Team in London;
Represent International Alert and liaise regularly with donors in-country.
Contribute to Alert's organisational processes and strategies:

Contribute to organisational development; raising and engaging on organisational issues, e.g. strategic perspective , regional strategic workshops, organisation-wide priorities;
Take proactive steps to ensure that effective relationships are created and maintained with staff and consultants at different levels within the organisation;
Provide information orally and in written form to the West Africa Regional Manager and others as necessary on the progress of work in Nigeria - also to external audiences when appropriate;
Contribute to Alert's initiative on Knowledge Management and outreach, e.g. by articulating lessons learned from the Nigeria country programme, contributing to project diaries etc.;
Travel requirements
This post is based in Abuja, with regular national travel to Maiduguri where we have a sub-office and other locations across the country. International travel to London is also required.

PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential Requirements:
Talents:
At Alert, we have introduced Talent Management to our business model as we believe talented people are crucial to the success of our work. We believe all individuals are talented and success comes in matching the right talents to the right roles.
For this role, the skills, qualifications and experience listed below are important, but we believe that to be great in this job you are likely, to have a talent for entrepreneurial and strategic programme development, with strong technical peace building competences.
You will be an outstanding team player, supporting individuals and groups working together to advance peace building outcomes in Nigeria and across Alert's portfolio. You will have a talent for multitasking, leading and organising others but also working independently and making sharp decisions, using your judgment.
These are the qualities we will be looking for above all else:
University degree in a relevant subject
Fluent English
Excellent writing skills, including experience of writing policy briefings, project proposals and reports
Substantial experience at senior management level with INGOs (country manager, programme manager or chief of party) in conflict-affected or fragile context
Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to engage with a wide spectrum of actors, including political and civil society figures, military and security forces, diplomatic missions, donors and UN representatives
Experience in peace building, including direct experience in at least two of of the following areas: governance, political economy, gender, conflict analysis, natural resource management, conflict sensitivity
Solid experience of grant programmatic and financial management
Knowledge of Nigeria and its conflict dynamics

DESIRABLE REQUIREMENTS:
Master or PhD in a subject related to peace building
Experience of working and living in West Africa, ideally Nigeria
Experience in project design, monitoring and evaluation
Direct experience in research, assessment, analysis and policy development, ideally in fragile environments
Experience in peace building training, coaching and capacity building more broadly
Experience of negotiating and/or managing commercial contracts
Summary Terms and Conditions

Pension: All staff receive a pension contribution which is equivalent to 10% of their gross salary.
Leave entitlement: 36.5 days leave annually (comprising of annual leave, public holidays and closure of the office between Christmas and New Year).
Notice period: There will be an initial three month probationary period during which notice will be one month on either side. On successful completion of the probationary period notice will be three months.
Working hours: Full time staff are expected to work a standard 35 hour week, with some flexibility around start and finish times to be agreed with the line manager. All staff are required to work core hours 10am - 4pm.
Sports club membership: Staff can take advantage of subsidised membership of a local sports club, upon successful completion of the probation period.

TO APPLY
Applicants should download and complete "Application Form" and "Equal Opportunities Form" and send to: jobs@international-alert.org

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD APPLICATION FORM (MS WORD)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FORM (MS WORD)

NOTE
While International Alert will endeavour to contact all candidates within a reasonable time, this may not always be possible due to limited resources. Therefore, if you have not heard from us within two weeks of the closing date, you can assume your application has, on this occasion, been unsuccessful.
International Alert is an equal opportunities employer.
All applicants will be judged strictly on the basis of merit.

DUE DATE: 10 March, 2017