Deputy Regional Director West Africa Region (WAF)

Organisational Context

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is an international non-governmental organisation with a mission to accompany, serve, and advocate for the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced people. The organisation was founded in November 1980 and has a presence in 57 countries. JRS undertakes services at national and regional levels with the support and guidance of an international office in Rome. The style of JRS service is human and spiritual, working in situations of greatest need, seeking the long-term wellbeing of refugees and displaced persons, while not neglecting their immediate or urgent needs. JRS offers opportunities to a wide variety of staff, local and international, while maintaining a realistic and localised scheme of salary/stipend, insurance, etc.

Role

The JRS West Africa & Great Lakes (WAF) Deputy Regional Director is responsible for assisting the Regional Director by providing him with the necessary support in the management of the Region. This position includes the responsibility to help propose and implement comprehensive regional strategies.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Vision and Planning

• Promote the vision, identity and unity of the JRS in the Region.
• Assist the Regional Director and Country Directors in the development and implementation of multi-year strategies.
• Assist the Regional Director in setting policies for the JRS WAF & GL in consultation with the Project Directors, Country Directors and the International Office.
• Assist the Regional Director in the design and implementation of regional strategic planning.
• Advise the Regional Director on key regional and country issues.

Supervision and Staff Care

• Assist the Regional Director in providing support, direction, and supervision to Country Directors (e.g., implementation of the regional priorities and strategic vision) and to the Regional Office Staff.
• Support the various processes at the country office level, in accordance with the JRS EAR Inter Office Coordination Procedures (IOCP).
• Assist the Regional Director to ensure a better workforce planning in the Region, in coordination with the Country Directors (recruitment of expatriates, annual performance evaluations, moving expatriates between countries taking into account experiences and needs, …)
• Assist the Regional Director in ensuring the well-being and commitment of the Country Directors and, as a result, the general well-being and safety of all the JRS staff in the Region in collaboration with the Country Directors and Country HR Officers.
• Encourage and strengthen the capacity of Country teams so that they can achieve their goals with greater operational autonomy.
• In coordination with Country Directors and Country HR Officers, ensure that all JRS HR Manual and Policies are updated and followed by all staff.
• Visit the Country and Project Field Offices, listen to them and support each member of the staff. Raise any particular concern to the attention of the Regional Director.
• Assist the Regional Director in the supervision of Regional Office Staff.

Programs and Grants Monitoring

• Ensure that the JRS project cycle is followed by the Country and Project Offices.
• Develop a tracking tool to consolidate all donor agreements for each Country in the Region and support the Country Directors in the continuous maintenance of various reporting deadlines to donors.
• Assess new initiatives to open new projects after consultation with the Regional Director and Country Directors and other key members of the regional management.
• Facilitate project evaluation and determine how the exit, closure or transfer process can best be achieved for each project.
• Ensure the capitalization of the Region’s achievements and learning.
• Ensure that best practices are harmonized between the different Country programs in the Region.

Finance and budgeting

• Prepare for the consolidation of the Region’s accounts and to ensure better distribution and optimal use of funds.
• Ensure that all offices in the Region (Regional, Country and Project Offices) implement Navision.
• Assist the Regional Director to ensure that the various Country and Project Offices have the necessary funds.
• Support the annual country-level planning and budgeting process. Ensure that the Regional Director approves the Country Budgets before they are implemented.

Coordination and Communication

• In coordination with the International Office Focal Points (Finance, Programmes, HR) for the Region, organize the technical monthly meeting with the Country Officers to provide them support in their areas of challenge.
• Hold a weekly meeting with the Regional Director.
• Oversee the weekly Country Directors meeting.
• Support the Regional Director in planning and facilitating the meeting of JRS Country Directors at the regional level twice a year.
• Support the Regional Director in planning and facilitating the Advisory Board meeting twice a year.

Qualification and Experience

The candidate should have:

• An advanced, accredited university degree in Management, Political Sciences, Law, International Development or another related discipline. An undergraduate degree with strong relevant field experience will be considered in lieu of an advanced degree.
• Minimum of seven (7) years’ experience of increasing responsibilities in human service organizations, ideally in humanitarian or development organizations with a strong human rights, and/or faith, background. Experience in project development and management, work with refugees, and/or advocacy with forcibly displaced people is a particular advantage.
• Minimum of four (4) years’ experience in leadership roles. Employment or collaboration with the Catholic Church (parish, diocesan or bishops’ conference level) in a leadership role is an additional asset.
• Demonstrated evidence of leadership in a professional setting/humanitarian response with the ability to think strategically, motivate others, create new projects, solve problems and be part of a multi-cultural and multi-faith team.
• Proven performance in organizational management, budget development and management, and general office coordination.
• Demonstrated ability to fundraise.
• Demonstrated evidence of an entrepreneurial spirit.
• A proven ability to capture impact and learning from operations and feed it into new programmes.
• Knowledge of and/or familiarity with key concepts and current trends in forced migration and challenges faced by forcibly displaced people.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to listen, effectively communicate, negotiate and work creatively with stakeholders of varying backgrounds: beneficiaries, government representatives, church leaders and refugee groups among them.

Language:

• Excellent proficiency in written and verbal French.
• A professional working knowledge of English is highly desirable.

Core Values and Ethics

• Commitment to JRS’s mission, vision and values; the ability to convey with enthusiasm JRS’s role in accompanying and serving forcibly displaced people and to advocate for their right to protection and a life in dignity;
• High integrity, honesty and confidentiality; ability to deal tactfully and discreetly with people, situations and information;
• Acceptance of diversity and inclusion as a core value.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The JRS remuneration policy is aligned with the JRS ethos to offer effective and professional services and at the same time express solidarity with the people served. Details will be discussed with short-listed candidates.