Regional Director of Operations / Deputy Regional Director - Africa

Position: Regional Director of Operations / Deputy Regional Director - Africa

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Background:Established in 1990, Relief International (RI) is a leading global humanitarian, nonprofit organization committed to transforming adversity into renewal for the world’s most vulnerable populations. By partnering with communities on the front-lines, RI innovatively bridges the gap between immediate relief and long-term community development, providing them the tools and support they need to gain self-reliance.

Position summary:The Regional Director of Operations (RDO) and Deputy Regional Director (DRD) is responsible of the effective operation including all aspects of the human resource, administrative logistics& security/safety departments for the RI Africa region. Areas of responsibility include Human resource management, documentation and record keeping, internal and external compliance, planning to ensure the security, health and personal safety of both staff and premises, transportation management, design and revisions of local staff policies and procedures, the fair and consistent application of both local staff and expatriate policies, tracking and reporting on non-expendable inventories and office stocks, and the design and implementation of all administrative systems related to those areas listed above. He will ensure liaison between country program on operations issues and also with the program and finance departments in the region. He/She will assist RD, representing RI when necessary in various meetings with donors, government. The DRD will be acting in the absence of the Regional Director.

SPLIT BY CORE FUNCTION

Logistics & procurement
Human Resources
Administration
Security

SUPERVISION & DELEGATION

The ROD will supervise, directly or indirectly, the following staff and will appropriately delegate responsibility to those staff inorder to effectively and efficiently complete the duties and responsibilities

Direct Supervision to Human Resource, Administration, Logistics and Security staffs (within the RI Africa Regional office, potential direct supervision to Somalia staff)
Supervise Human Resource Regional Staff including HR Manager
Supervise the Administrative Staff, including office staff, guards and house staff
Supervise the Logistics Staff including fleet responsible, procurement, customs officer, and drivers.
Supervise the Security staff including the regional security Supervise all program support staff
Technical supervision
Technically follow up/manage the operations with his/her operation counterpart in each Africa country program with the country program operation managers (when they exist) but also other support departments such as logistics, administration and/or Human resource, security and their respective support staff or in a global sense (ensuring the consistent and fair application of policy and procedure, timely and accurate reporting, and use of RI administrative systems).
Also ensure that the operational structure is replicated within each country program in a coherent and efficient manner.
Liaison with HQ and other Regions
Ensure proper coordination with the HQ operation (Global Operation Director) support including the development of global organization level, but also ensure that operations are homogenously developed between regions (Africa, Middle East and Asia).

Duties and Responsibilities:

A. LOGISTICS & PROCUREMENT

Ensure proper procurement for the Somalia program, the Africa Regional Office and provide support to the Africa Country Offices including playing the role of regional procurement hub as well as ensuring proper liaison with RI Headquarters on operations.

Become familiar with the Kenya marketplace, and other regional hub capacity (including other countries with RI’s presence), knowing what is available,at what price and what quality.
Set up and maintain a “preferred vendors” list and keep other RI countries informed.
Be informed about the Kenyan laws (and others…) governing importation of goods, as well
Become familiar with the customs system in Kenya and others…
Get acquainted with regulations and requirements set forth by donor agencies. Ensure RI’scompliance with those regulations.
Devise a system ( based on all existing RI’s forms and documentation) and train allstaff on the use of the system for the purchase and delivery of program
Ensure proper procurement of supplies, both locally and internationally. Be willing to collect a minimum ofthree quotes (writing) on all purchases over $500.
Monitor small local purchasing by administration, and logistics.
Become knowledgeable about transporters and the means of moving goods.
Establish efficient system for issuing purchase requisitions and purchase orders for RI Kenya/Somalia and region (depending on threshold).
Establish a list of honest and reliable (accredited) suppliers and ensure regular verification of the favored vendors.
Establish a reasonable and appropriate lead time for ordering and delivery of goods.
Manage tracking of all outstanding PRs and POs.
Design and implement internal controls within the purchasing/procurement system.
Provide price list and quotes to program/departments managers upon request.
Work with the logs and admin team in transport/ fleet management and insurance cover tracking
Manage RI assets across the region in conjunction with the logs and admin team at the region and the country offices.

B. HUMAN RESOURCES

Supervise the HR function in: Personnel management, policies and procedures, Rewards, Training and Development
Regularly review the various regional National personnel policies and procedures for the Africa region and make recommendations to the CD/RD for any modification or amendment to existing policies;
Ensure compliance with RI administrative standards and with local laws and regulations;
Regularly meet with legal representation on all matters pertaining to labor law and contractual obligations;
Ensure that issues pertaining to RI’s rights and obligations are well pursued including potential litigations
Registration: ensure that all RI offices in the region are properly registered and fulfill legal obligations ….
Homogeneous Policies: ensure that policies are applied across countries in the same manner

C. ADMINISTRATION

PROPERTIES & LEASES

Tracks all RI leases and recommend renewals in a timely manner. Negotiates optimal lease agreements to the best interest of RI.
Advise expatriates on lease agreement and housing conditions
Facilitate choice of housing (when requested) by expats
Provide support/guidance to expatriate on lease agreement and relation with landlords
Monitors the condition of all RI buildings and take appropriate steps toward correcting problems or faults.
Provide support to expatriate reports on the need for either repair, finding specialistothers…
Liaises with all landlords and their designates for the re-negotiation of leases, the need to undertake repairs or improvements on properties, or for finding the resolution to areas of disagreement or difficulty.
Ensures that the temporary housing (guest house) or hotel of newly arriving expatriates is clean, furnished, and habitable, including the provision of all utilities.
Manage the guest house
Ensure that house and office are furnished properly
Ensures homogeneity and legal value of contracts

D. LIAISON

Establish good working relationship with local authorities and Government Officials, such as :HAC, HAD, Aliens Department/Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Labour, Tax Authorities, Immigration departments, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning, customs department, NGO board etc
Liaise with country program approval of on-going and new RI programs and locations.
Coordinate visa, work permit, documents and travel permits applications and processing for RI Expats, and national staff, incoming or outgoing.
Making appointment for the RD/CD with the government personnel and Ministries and if applicable accompany the RD/CD to those meetings.
Responsible for getting updates on regulations from security, labor, customs, civil aviation and other local regulation policies.
Work with customs and Ministry of finance regarding clearance of RI goods through the airport.
When requested assist RI staff with clearance and exiting of the country at the end of their mission.

E. SECURITY

(in close coordination with the country focal points, RD, CDs and RI global Security Manager and Operations Manager)

This position will be responsible for monitoring and providing support in security management to all RI country programs and regional office, including field offices. The RDO will provide support and advice to regional and country programs, monitoring global situation, identify inherent threats and minimize risks to the RI missions.

(i) Security Focal Point:

Serve as a security focal point for RIAfrica region;
Represent RI Africa region at interagency regional security forums and meetings (Kenya, Horn…);
Advice and program recommendations to the Regional and Country Director on all matters related but not limited to security management, security planning and implementation, staff and site security, protocols and procedures;
Orientate new staff arriving in the region with a global trend, analysis as to complement in country focal pints orientation.

(ii) Information Management:

Deliver reports forwarding recommendations and observations from field trips;
Monitor national, REGIONAL and international information sources (UN, Governmental and NGO sources, etc) and inform the RD/CD of changes impacting RI’ security;
Maintain an incident reporting, maps and analysis capacity through simple means for RI staff in both region at regional, country and field level;
Offer an incident warning system that informs RI’s emergency communications pyramid (warden system);
Based on the existing RI documents, prepare a weekly security update for submission to RD, CD and the RI HQ Senior Security Management Team for information and when necessary for action.

(iii) Security Planning, Guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures:

Gets familiar with security plan and procedures and propose adequate modifications, ensuring existence of an efficient security system for RI offices, houses and warehouses to ensure protection of both lives and property.
Follow and ensure in the Africa region the implementation of the RI Global Security policies and manuals, including the Security Management Plan, Minimum Operating Standards for Security, and contingency plans;
Maintain and ensure RI Africa region has a current, updates, appropriate Security Management Plan that reflects an updated risk assessment; Update the Standard Operating Procedures according to the above mentioned assessment in relation with the Security Focal Points in country offices;
Working in conjunction with the RD/CD, undertakes a security assessment based on the guidelines provided by RIHQ. Presents the information to the RD/CD in report form.
Updates the information on a twice-yearly basis and change the security plan accordingly.
Collects information concerning security incidents from all RI locations and with all RI staff. Reports security information in writing to the RD/ CD promptly. Suggests preventative measures to reduce security risks. Suggests solutions to security problems.
Working with the RD/CD, revises security procedures and protocols based on changing security environments, factors or threats.

F. OTHER INDIRECT DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

(i) INTERACTION WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS

In collaboration with the Finance Director, Regional Director and CDs, ensure systems are streamlined between HR, Administration, Operations, Finance, Grants and Programs
Ensure compliance with organizational and donor requirements.
Follow up the operation component of grants at the regional and country program level at all stage of the grants from the proposal to closure stage

(ii) OVERALL MISSION SUPPORT

Communicates and cooperates with other RI Regional Heads, Program Coordinators, CDs and country operation counterparts, field office managers to ensure effective communication and smooth program operations.
At the request of the RD, represents RI at meetings and functions organized by Government officials, Donors, INGO Networks, INGO working group and other stakeholders where deemed appropriate.
Communicates with operation counterparts for the collection and dissemination of information and synthesis of reports
Participate in Regional SMT meetings (and Somalia), potentially in senior HQ meetings
Participate in the Program development efforts of the region
Participate in operation related discussions between countries for a coherent approach.
At the request of the Regional director, host delegations affiliated with RI, project donors, or other parties whose arrival has been cleared through the proper channels.
Represent RI and RI’s interests with various Government Officials, partner Ministry, other operating partners and donors (if required).
Acting RD in the absence of the RD.

Requirements/Qualifications:

This position demands a dynamic individual with a demonstrated ability to achieve results in a demanding and fast paced environment.
Master's degree in development studies, Business Administration, Operations Management with NGO management in economic and logistic or equivalent work experience
Demonstrable management experience in programme operations, including significant field operations experience in operations/programs; experience running development programmes across countries an asset
Previous overseas experience in coordination and managing a wide range of support services, ideally supporting operations across multiple projects
Experience with representation and management of institutional donors projects (i.e., ECHO, EU, USAID, DFID, etc.)
Demonstrable financial and budget management experience, including the ability to train and mentor skilled national staff in these disciplines.
Significant knowledge of INGOs systems, institutions and donors procedures, accountability frameworks and best practices in operations management
Significant knowledge and experience of logistic management and procurement procedures and IT, in order to recommend improvements in these areas
Ability and willingness to travel regularly into the field across RI programmes in Africa
Proven team working skills, adaptability and flexibility with excellent people management skills.
Strong communication and representation skills;
Excellent written and spoken English; French language an added advantage