Head of Mission at COOPI - Cooperazione Internazionale

Donor: Several
Duration: 12 Months
Starting Date: January 2022

Context

• COOPI started its operations in North-East Nigeria in 2014 to carry out a rapid evaluation of the most relevant constraints suffered by the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) displaced by the food crisis and the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin.
• COOPI’s aim is to support the most basic and pressing needs of communities affected by the conflict. COOPI is providing a multi-sectoral emergency response to the IDPs, returnees and host population focused on food security, nutrition, protection and education.
• COOPI main area of intervention is Yobe State and Borno state and expanding our programs to North West of Nigeria in Sokoto and Kaduna States.

Purpose of the Role

• The Head of Mission provides leadership and strategic direction of COOPI’s operations in Nigeria and is responsible for the implementation and development of the country programme in line with COOPI’s organisational and country strategy, policies and procedures.
• The HoM is also responsible for the management and capacity building of the staff, securing donor funding and to represent the organisation to the government, donors, and other appropriate bodies – including clusters, UN agencies and the media.
• The HoM reports directly to the Regional Coordinator. The position is based in Abuja.

Responsibilities
Institutional Relations:

• Manages relations with the main institutional donors and with potential ones;
• Represents COOPI in the country/area by engaging in relations with institutions, NGOs, local and international organizations and partners;
• Is responsible of the organization’s reputation in the country.

Strategy and Planning:

• Verifies and proposes to the Regional Coordinator the intervention priorities to consolidate the organization’s opportunity to be more involved in the country;
• Contributes to the definition of the Country Strategy and proposes the country planning (projects and coordination).

Projects Management:

• Coordinates and directly monitors projects, guaranteeing the correct implementation in conformity with the contractual obligations and donors’ procedures, and in line with COOPI’s procedures and management standards;
• Coordinates the elaboration, writing and documents’ preparation for presenting new projects, referring to the Regional Coordination and the headquarters support offices;
• Is responsible for the preparation of projects reports and all the monitoring documents requested by the central headquarters;
• Ensures the transmission of all official and administrative project documents to the central headquarters.

Country Office Management:

• Is responsible for all different aspects related to the country office management: economic and financial situation, local regulations, office organization charts, logistics, local and expatriate personnel management, in conformity with the organization’s guidelines;
• Guarantees the respect of the country’s legislation and administrative regulation.

Staff Management:

• Is responsible for the local staff management;
• Participates and supports the Regional Coordination and the Human Resources office in the selection of the expatriate staff;
• Coordinates and monitors the country’s expatriate staff management.

Safety:

• Is responsible for updating the secutity plans at country and field level whenever necessary;
• Follow up on the evolution of national situation on security with the support of dedicated staff;
• Liase with the regionl office and the security advisor in the HQ when necessary.

Economic and Financial Management:

• Is responsible for the country’s economic result;
• Supervises the financial management and ensures – through the administrative function – that all financial reporting deadlines and donor/COOPI’s procedures are respected;
• Participates to the projects/coordination budget preparation;
• Has the signature for all COOPI’s bank accounts in the country.

Visibility:

• Cooperates with the Communication and Fund-Raising office for all communication, awareness and fund raising activities implemented in and for the country.

Requirements
Education / Experiences:

• Advanced Degree in International Education, International Development, Health and Nutrition or a related field or equivalent work;
• Minimum of 5 years experience in the humanitarian field and in a similar position, with a track record of success and results achieved;
• Experience of working within an insecure environment with responsibility for security planning, monitoring and management;
• Desirable experience of working on EU/ECHO, USAID and UN projects
• Proficiency in written and spoken English;
• Computer literacy, with high proficiency in the use of standard office software applications (e.g. Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint);
• Valid driving license.

Soft Skills:

• Strong analytical and practical problem-solving skills;
• Strong supervisory abilities and demonstrated capacity of teamwork and of coordination with the relevant actors;
• Very good inter-personal and writing communication skills;
• Ability to organize work efficiently and deliver assignments in a timely manner often under time constraints.