Niger: Deputy Director, Niger & Cameroon

Organisation Background:

Founded in 2011, the International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO) is a British charity that supports the safety of aid workers by establishing safety coordination platforms in insecure contexts. INSO provides registered NGOs with a range of free services including real-time incident tracking, analytical reports, safety related data and mapping, crisis management support, staff orientations and training.

INSO services help NGOs with their day-to-day risk management responsibilities and improve their overall situational awareness to support evidence-based humanitarian access decisions.

The Organisation has grown from innovative start-up to become a globally recognised charity and a valuable component of the humanitarian safety coordination system.

Today the Organisation provides daily support to more than 850 NGOs in twelve of the world’s most insecure countries and has earned a strong reputation for performance, principles & professionalism.

INSO Lake Chad Basin Regional Office:

Since becoming registered in Nigeria in 2016, INSO has developed a strong regional approach, supporting NGOs working on the Lake Chad Basin Crisis from all neighbouring countries. The coordination office, which is based in Abuja, oversees two operational offices in Maiduguri, Nigeria and in Maroua, Cameroon. The scale-up of operations in Maroua and the opening of a new sub-office in the Diffa region of Niger are planned for August 2018.

We currently seeking an experienced humanitarian professional to join our team in the Lake Chad Basin Regional Office as a Deputy Director, Niger & Cameroon. The position will be based in Diffa/ Niger, with frequent travels to Maroua/Cameroon.

Job Summary:

Reporting to the Director of the Lake Chad Basin programme, the Deputy Director Niger & Cameroon oversees all aspects of the opening of the two sub-offices in Maroua and Diffa. Specific responsibilities include the recruitment and training of new staff, the physical opening of the offices, and donors and host governments’ relationship building as well as and support to the Director on the broader strategic development of the programme. The Deputy Director will also provide a technical support to the operations department, including staff hiring, initial inductions and trainings, editorial review of key INSO products.

The successful candidate will have a strong background in donors and governments relations, donors reporting, NGO safety and security, be outgoing, inquisitive and detail oriented, and have significant experience building and leading high performing teams. He/she will also be able to communicate to an excellent standard of English and French, both verbally and in writing, and above all else share INSO’s commitment to humanitarian principles

Major Responsibilities:

• Representation of the programs in both Niger and Cameroon with all stakeholders.
• Leading the opening of the two sub-offices of Maroua, Cameroon and Diffa, Niger, including logistics, administrative and finance tasks, in conjunction with the Lake Chad Basin HR Admin Manager and Finance Manager.
• Drafting of donors’ reporting, proposals, including maintaining contractual compliance in all areas at all times.
• Mentoring of the INSO regional teams, including recruitment, training, orientation and on-the-job mentoring of regional and operations team members.
• The development and implementation of locally specific internal security management policy, SOPs and guidelines.
• Application of INSO global policy in both administrative and operational areas including HR, Finance, Logistics, Security etc.
• INSO’s organisational development and on-going improvement of internal operational protocols and services.

Mandatory Requirements:

• Fluency in English & French, both written and spoken.
• Experience with NGO security and project management, including donor relations.
• Well-developed personal, personnel, organisational and team management skills and standards.
• Demonstrable and significant operational NGO safety experience.
• Personal and professional resilience in a fast moving, high output, quality-driven programme.
• Independent drive, motivation, and excellence, and ability to operate and sustainably manage staff and teams under strict systems and deadlines.
• Demonstrable understanding of humanitarian safety practices and principles.
• Commitment to humanitarian principles and values.
• Graduate level education in a relevant field or equivalent work experience.
• Minimum 2 years spent in insecure/conflict-affected environments with progressive seniority.

Preferred Characteristics:

• A year’s recent experience working in the Lake Chad Basin, ideally in an NGO management role or equivalent - and demonstrable understanding of the context.
• Prior experience in an inter-agency role.
• Employment history that reflects experience in both security and civilian fields.
• Experience in staff capacity development and training.
• Existing information networks and/or local language skills.

Key Personal Competencies:

• A good listener
• An effective communicator
• Excellent analyst
• Team player
• Excellent interpersonal skills

A people manager

Terms & Conditions:12-month contract with expected start date in August 2018, €5000 per month salary, 4 days annual leave per month and7days of R&R every 2 months, global medical coverage, AD&D coverage.

Interested applicants are requested to send the following to jobs@ngosafety.org and reference “INSO Deputy Director, Niger & Cameroon” in the subject line of the email. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

• Cover Letter specifying how you meet the mandatory requirements, any preferred characteristics, your motivation for applying, and what you hope to bring to INSO (1-page maximum).
• Updated CV (2 pages maximum).

Please note that during the course of the recruitment process, one relevant writing sample in English or in French that demonstrates your analytical and report writing abilities (10-page maximum) will be required.

Please do not send any additional information (such as copies of certificates, copies of diplomas, other writing samples, etc.) and keep the total size of your application under 2MB if possible.