Operations Manager

The Organisation

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.

ROLE PROFILE

role PURPOSE

The latest Country Strategy (CS) for Cameroon has been approved for the period 2022– 2024 with an estimated budget of 48,7 million Euros. In order to realize it Ambition “to make an impact on the lives of two million girls over the five years of the country strategy”, Plan International Cameroon has since adopted a programmatic and operational approach which consists in setting objectives for a given period, mobilizing the resources, partnering, and implementing activities to reach the objectives P4G project will address the barriers to girls’ participation in the governance process, including the sensitivity of the government representatives to accept girls’ participation as well as addressing the gaps in availability of sex, age disaggregated data, and evidence backed arguments for girl-led, planning and monitoring.

The Operations Manager of P4G Project is responsible for leading, managing and developing finance and administration team to support the delivery of quality and integrated programming in line with the organizational standards, frameworks, procedures and donors’ requirements.

The Operations Manager is managed directly by the Head of Operations & PIIAM with operational supervision of the Project Manager.

Dimensions of the Role

• The Operations Manager of P4G project is playing an important role in the management of the project and is expected to understand the project guidelines and share with both internal and external stakeholders in the absence of the Project Manager.
• The Operations Manager supervises the functional areas of finance and administration & Logistic of the PIIA particularly the P4G project. He/she supports all the team above with particular attention to project team to deliver quality and timely output based on Plan and donor requirements.

• The Operations Manager engages on a regular basis with the Project Manager on the management of all risks associated with project delivery including budget, logistics & procurement in the Project P4G
• The Operations Manager provides technical oversight and support all the project team in managing risks and remaining compliant in the delivery of cost-effective of project outputs.
• The Operations Manager oversees the preparation and analysis of the Project budget/ amendment for submission to the Country office before sending to the donor.

Accountabilities

Team development and people management

• Staffing: Participate in the hiring, development of all operations positions (Admin & Finance) of P4G project to support the delivery of effective, efficient and high quality and timely outputs in line with donor requirements.
• Support organizational values among all staff under her/his supervision.

• Team building and maintenance: establish, agree, communicate and monitor standard of performance, and behaviours for the operations support staff in the P4G project. Team TOR, objectives, and key performance indicators (KPI’s) are agreed annually, and monitored and updated quarterly
• Individual development and performance management: manage and develop the performance of the operations support Project team to ensure delivery of quality support and services. Also, train other project staff in Operations Manual (OM) to acquire basic knowledge in procurement and financial procedures

Budgeting, reporting and support to project delivery

• Administration & procurement: Oversee the planning and delivery of all general services and logistical requirements of P4G project in line with established procedures and donor requirements e.g. procurements, storage, transportation and distribution.
• Budgeting: oversees the coordination of the preparation, consolidation, analysis, amendment and submission of the Project budget as per donor requirements.
• Reporting: coordinate the reporting process to the donor including timely submission of all required financial reports and implementation of follow-up actions and recommendations.

Compliance and management of risks

• Policies and procedures: coordinates with the Project Manager, the M & E Learning Specialist and the Technical Advisors so that systems and processes are in place to comply with Plan global policies, standards and procedures and legal requirements in the areas of finance, administration and logistics.
• Audit and investigation: oversees the facilitation of internal and external audit missions and ensure audit follow up and action lists are addressed in a timely manner for the Project;
• Risk Management: Contributes to identify, mitigate and manage risks linked to the project in collaboration with the Operations Manager of the Grand North.
• Loss and Incident reporting: report timely and consistently all losses and incidents, including updates, to the Project Manager for all incident occurred in the implementation of the project.
• Legal and regulatory: oversees the review of agreements and contracts and ensure compliance with the country laws and regulation.

Procedures, process and applications support

• Applications and systems support: oversees the use by all Project staff of corporate systems and applications including finance systems: SAP and HRIS
• In-country policies and procedures: oversees the development and implementation of up-to-date financial and administrative systems, policies, procedures and guidelines to support Project operations and ensure compliance of Plan’s global standards and donor requirements
• Cash Management: ensure that the bank account opened for the project is managed in accordance with Plan policy and requirements.
• Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection (CPP) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Key relationships

Internal

• Deputy Country Director -Operations
• Project Manager ( P4G)
• Operations Manager of the Grand North
• Country Management Team members
• Other non CMT Functional Heads in the Country
• Internal Control Team

External

• Implementing partners of the project
•  Bank Account Manager 
• Local administrative authorities

Technical expertise, skills and knowledge

Essential

• Strong knowledge of financial management with administrative, Audit and business management matters;
• Strong capacity in the supply chain management, particularly Procurement & logistic skills.
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), e-mail and the internet;
• Strong knowledge of the requirements of donors’ compliance and grants management;
• Fluency in French and strong working knowledge of English, spoken and written;
• Holder of at least University degree in Accounting/Finance/Management
• At least 5 years’ experience in a similar role.
• Fair knowledge of project management
• Good experience and knowledge on internal financial controls and
• Demonstrable knowledge as a result of education, training or practical experience on the key debates in development, particularly around gender and child safeguarding;

Desirable

1. Striving for high performance:
   • Organizes work clearly and effectively within Finance/Admin team;
   • Deals with poor performers by either improving their contribution or managing their exit, if appropriate.
   • .
2. Decision making and risk management:
   • Can address complex problems in a balanced way;
   • Good judgment in decision-making, making best use of available information;
   • Willing to make difficult or unpopular decisions and stand by them.
3. Influence and communication:
   • Uses the potential of varied cultures to reach solutions;
   • Excellent listener who understands and shows sensitivity to the views of others;
   • Forms good relationships quickly with the project team
   • Communicates with clarity and passion both 1-1 and with large groups;
   • Effective negotiator in complex situations;
   • Assertive without being aggressive.
4. Building effective teams and partnerships:
   • Creates a highly motivated team with a unified purpose;
   • Modifies own view to get best outcome for organization/Project;
   • Contributes effectively to work of other functions/ units and to management team as a whole
   • Able to build partnerships and improve relationships;
   • Resolves conflict effectively in own team or across boundaries.
5. Developing people:
   • Continuously uses both 1-1 and team situations to develop others;
   • Organizes work to give others development opportunities;
   • Adapts style to suit the needs of a wide variety of people;
   • Deals effectively with mistakes and re-motivates those involved.
6. Self-awareness and resilience:
   • Aware of own strengths, weaknesses and pro-active in using feedback and self-development
   • Aware of impact on others and uses impact to create positive climate at work
   • Aware of own emotional reactions and able to manage them
   • Manages own workload effectively and manages stress without harm to self or others
   • Positive about change and able to cope well with ambiguity and support others in doing so

Physical Environment

• Based in Garoua Program Unit located in the North with field visit in the project sites
• Ability to travel to remote areas,
• Follow the security rules in the area

Plan International’s Values in Practice

We are open and accountable

• Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.
• Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.
• Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.
• Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.
• Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people

We strive for lasting impact

• Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.
• Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.
• Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.
• Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.

We work well together

• Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
• Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
• Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
• Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

We are inclusive and empowering

• Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
• Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
• Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
• Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

Location:  Garoua

Closing Date: 22nd July 2022

Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for.

We want Plan International to reflect the diversity of the communities we work with, offering equal opportunities to everyone regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Plan International is based on a culture of inclusivity and we strive to create a workplace environment that ensures every team, in every office, in every country, is rich in diverse people, thoughts, and ideas.

We foster an organisational culture that embraces our commitment to racial justice, gender equality, girls’ rights and inclusion.

Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. This means that we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with and we must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.

A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International’s Safeguarding Children and Young People policy. Plan International also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this scheme we will request information from applicants previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.