Organisation Background
Founded in 2011, the International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO) is an international 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 1000 beneficiary organisations (NGO) in fourteen of the world’s most insecure countries and has earned a strong reputation for performance, principles & professionalism.
South Sudan Country Office
INSO South Sudan launched operations in 2018 and currently assists approximately 200 NGO partners through its main office in Juba. Specifically, the programme provides the NGO community with tailored safety support through three main services: Capacity Building (provision of training to humanitarian workers); Information and Advice (provision of regular context reports, risk assessments and tailored advice on humanitarian access); and Response (support during crisis and critical incident management).
We are now seeking an experienced individual to join our team as a Country Director, to be based in Juba who would navigate the program through the current funding challenges.
Job Summary:
The INSO Director sets the overall strategic framework within which all other programme elements occur and provides leadership, coordination, representation, supervision and management in relation to all staff and services. The Director will be an experienced and emotionally mature individual with advanced understanding of humanitarian operations at leadership level.
The Director will possess solid programme and human resources management skills and will be a natural and confident communicator, consensus-builder and networker. Successful candidates will combine keen intellect and analytical skills with pragmatism, patience and a good sense of humour. They will enjoy the challenge of translating strategic concepts in to workable practices in difficult environments. Ideal candidates will come from an NGO/humanitarian background (senior management and programs) and are not required to have military/police backgrounds.
Major Responsibilities:
Programme Leadership and Management
* Provide engaged, effective leadership across the programme, ensuring that INSO South Sudan performs well across all functions – programme delivery, finance, operations, HR – and in compliance with INSO SOPs.
* Steward INSO resources effectively and transparently in full compliance with internal and donor policy.
* Develop and deliver annual programme planning, aligning programme development strategy with realistic assumptions of future funding.
* Manage INSO South Sudan donor relations and produce high-quality, compelling donor proposals and progress reports that underscore INSO South Sudan’s impact.
* Line manage a Deputy Director, Finance Manager, Operations Manager.
* Ensure that INSO South Sudan recruits and retains high-calibre staff and orients them to the INSO mandate.
* Promote and exemplify a culture of openness and collaboration.
* Uphold rigorous risk management standards, not least as it affects the welfare and wellbeing of staff.
Service Delivery
* Develop and maintain a sophisticated personal understanding of the South Sudan context and the prevailing challenges to humanitarian safety and access.
* Supervise all INSO South Sudan service delivery, ensuring that programme targets are met, quality is maintained and that services remain relevant and responsive to the evolving context and needs of NGO partners.
* Deliver strategic analysis to senior humanitarian leadership, including through monthly directors’ briefings, quarterly analytical reports and as needed on request.
* Lead crisis management support to individual NGO partners or the NGO community at large during critical incidents.
External Representation
* Effectively represent and protect INSO’s principles of independence, impartiality and neutrality and actively promote INSO as an integral member of the humanitarian community.
* Represent INSO towards senior humanitarian leadership, on a bilateral basis and in relevant coordination fora, utilising INSO’s expert understanding of the context to promote more informed, more effective decision making on issues affecting humanitarian access and safety.
* Engage with third parties, including local government, the UN, diplomatic missions and international military forces.
Mandatory Requirements:
* Fluency in written and spoken English
* Minimum of one year of recent experience in South Sudan or a similar context and advanced knowledge of local history and current social, political, and security contexts within the region.
* Solid understanding of principles and practices in broad humanitarian action, NGO safety and risk management, humanitarian access, and civil-military coordination
* Master’s Degree-level of education or equivalent work experience in a relevant field (please specify).
* Minimum of five (5) years in conflict affected contexts.
* Minimum three (3 years) in an NGO senior management role and crisis management.
* Proven analytical skills and experience with producing and editing analytical products
* Experience with humanitarian grant management, donor proposals and reporting (preferably with DG ECHO, USAID-BHA, SDC and FCDO grants)
* Experience with budget management and monitoring
* Outgoing and confident personality, and a calm demeanour during crises. A self-starter who takes initiative to achieve results.
* Excellent networking, diplomatic, and representative communication skills.
* Flexibility to frequently work within irregular hours and within austere environments.
Preferred Characteristics:
*** Previous experience as an NGO Country Director
* Direct experience and involvement in a crisis management role.
* Experience in a highly-visible interagency role.
* Detailed understanding of INSO mandate and services.
* Existing (relevant) local information networks and contacts.
* Previous INSO experience (as a team member, a member of INSO’s country advisory board or as a beneficiary closely involved with the programme).
Key Personal Competencies:
* A people manager
* Quiet demeanour in stressful or crisis situations
* A good listener
* An effective communicator
* Team player
* Excellent interpersonal skills
* Excellent analyst
INSO’s Safeguarding Policy
INSO is fully committed to safe recruitment, selection and vetting of all potential new staff, trustees and volunteers and we will ensure rigorous compliance with our Code of Conduct and Safeguarding policy throughout the recruitment process. As such, the following safe recruitment practices will be applied:
* All offers of employment will be conditional on receiving at least two satisfactory professional references;
* INSO will ask candidates about significant gaps in employment history or frequent changes of employer and address;
* All essential qualifications and relevant professional accreditations and memberships will be verified;
* The successful candidate will be required to provide a valid proof of identity (passport, ID card);
* All new hires will receive an orientation in INSO’s safeguarding policy and procedures and associated documents (Code of Conduct, Whistleblowing etc.);
* All new hires will be required to sign and abide by the Code of Conduct as a condition of employment.
Terms & Conditions:
12-month contract with expected start date of 16 June 2021. €5,500 per month salary, four days annual leave per month and seven days of R&R every two months, global medical coverage (excluding USA), USD $200,000 AD&D coverage.
How to apply
Interested applicants are requested to send the following to [email protected]
and reference “Country Director-SSD ” in the subject line of the email. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Applicants are screened on a rolling basis.
* Cover Letter specifying how you meet the mandatory requirements, any preferred characteristics, your motivation for applying, and what you hope to bring to INSO (2 page maximum).
* Updated CV (5 page maximum).
* One relevant and substantive writing sample, which demonstrates your analytical and reporting abilities (10 page maximum).
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.
