Job for Country Director at Oxfam Nigeria

Oxfam, one of the leading global development organizations, mobilizes the power of people against poverty. We are a diverse confederation of 17 strongly interconnected national affiliates working in over 90 countries, either directly, or with partners to enable transformational change, using a unique combination of long-term development, campaigning and humanitarian programs.

We are recruiting to fill the vacant position below:

Job Title: Country Director 
Req ID: 2281 
Location: Abuja, Nigeria     
Reporting to: Regional Director, West Africa       
Staff reporting to this post: Country Leadership Team of approximately 8 staff       
Total Workforce: 180+ including a core team, humanitarian response team and project funded staff.       
Annual Budget: Approximately €20 million, may vary depending on humanitarian response     

Job Purpose

• To contribute and implement Oxfam’s Global Strategy, by providing vision and strategic direction to all of Oxfam’s work in the Country. This includes Oxfam’s humanitarian responses, long term development programme design and implementation, advocacy and policy and influencing.
• Responsible and accountable for the strategic direction and effective management of the Country programming ensuring development, continued improvement in quality and impact of programmes and effective financial and human resource management in line with Oxfam Policy.
• The Country Director will be responsible, with support from change groups and the Regional Director, to implement the Oxfam 2020 Vision which aimsto create a stronger Oxfam that is globally coordinated and relevant in every country in which we work. This may involve planning, developing and implementing the vision so Oxfam’s in Nigeria will become an independent Oxfam Affiliate

Who we are looking for

• We are looking for an outstanding, senior leader with substantial management experience gained from working in humanitarian and development work. The ideal candidate will have experience, knowledge and passion for working in West Africa and have a proven track record of managing multi-disciplinary teams.
• In addition, He/ She will have excellent representation and influencing skills, the ability to represent at a senior level and substantial experience of successfully delivering strategic and large programmes and working in large and complex humanitarian responses.

Context and Oxfam Programme in Nigeria
Country Context:

• With approximately 184 million inhabitants, Nigeria is Africa’s most populated country and has one of the largest populations of youth in the world. Nigeria is also Africa’s biggest oil exporter and has the largest natural gas reserves on the continent. Consequently, the country economy is overly reliant on oil and gas revenues.
• Nigeria faces many development challenges. Inequality, in terms of income and opportunities, has been growing rapidly and has adversely affected poverty reduction. According to UNDP, almost â…” or 62.8% of the population is living in poverty with lack or inadequate access to basic social services including health, education, and water. Women make up 80% people living in poverty.
• Over the past few years, terrorist attacks perpetrated by the Boko Haram insurgent group in in the northeast have resulted in the death of thousands of people and an estimated of 1.8 million displaced people. This situation crisis has led to one of the largest and worse humanitarian crisis in Africa affecting all countries of the Lake Chad Basin (Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon).

Oxfam Programme:

• Our vision is of a secure and prosperous Nigeria, where the benefits from economic growth are shared so the basic needs of all people are met; where the rights of women are respected; where all people, especially the youth, can participate in decision making and influence the policies that impact on their lives; and where public and private sector institutions are accountable and transparent. Oxfam Country Strategy (2015 – 2019) focuses on four areas:
  • Saving lives,
  • Sustainable incomes for the poor,
  • Women’s economic, social and political rights and
  • Active citizenship and governance.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities
Accountability:

• Accountable to the West AfricaRegional Director, for the delivery, effective management (which includes budgets and plan), monitoring and evaluation, learning from the programme. Shaped by advice and guidance from the Country Governance Group (CGG).

Strategy Development and Implementation:

• To be responsible for developing the country strategic plan with the support of the Regional Director and Country Governance Group (CGG), having taken on board their views and feedback.
• Provides strategic leadership and management of Oxfam’s programme in country including all development, advocacy, and humanitarian programming to maximise our influence and impact.
• Successfully lead the design, communication and implementation of the One Oxfam Structure, in a participatory process with the support of the Change Management Task Force.

People Management:

• Line manage the Country Leadership Team and manage the work in the country which will include: staff, budgets, funding and programme, ensuring that managers in country are in accordance with Oxfam’s policies and procedures, including but not limited to the Code of Conduct, Performance Management, Security, Health and Safety and local legislation.
• Creates and supports an environment which results in strong partnerships, influence, knowledge sharing and innovation.
• Responsible for Talent management and development of Oxfam staff.

Public Engagement:

• Takes the lead in representing Oxfam and the country programmenationally and globally. Builds influential relationships and develops networks for effective change, both internally and externally, and is committed to maximising our influencing capability.
• Accountable for ensuring that appropriate tools and technology are in place to allow a strong flow of positive and consistent programme content to influence and communicate with internal audiences and external stakeholders including but not limited to government, media, donors, nongovernmental sector and supporters.

Programme and Delivery:

• Work closely with partners in country to develop and deliver high quality programmes.
• Play an active role in drawing on learning from across Oxfam and external sources and sharing evidenced based learning with others.
• Ensures overall leadership of disaster preparedness, mitigation and management including humanitarian response activities for Category 1 / 2 / 3 emergencies consulting the Global Humanitarian Team for advice and support.
• Access and use shared services for advice and support.
• Contribute to and maximise use of the Knowledge networks to share strategic thinking and learning more widely as well as within the Country Team to ensure that programming builds on learning and is evidence based, innovative and agile to respond to opportunities for change.
• Develop appropriate strategies to seek out and maintain funding sources.
• Accountable for all donor relations and contract management in country.
• Oversee the Nigeria Complaints and Response Mechanism, ensuring that timely feedback is provided to those using the system and that proper investigations are carried out for serious complaints.

Technical Skills, Experience & Knowledge
Management and Leadership:

• Proven track record of leading and motivating multi-disciplinary, geographically remote teams and operations across a number of locations
• Significant senior leadership and management experience in the development and delivery of high quality program,influencing and humanitarian strategy, with and through partners or directly, in one or more challenging locations.
• Experience of managing complex change processes and relationships involving a wide range of both internal and external multi-cultural stakeholders across a variety of disciplines and geographical areas.
• A high degree of self-awarenessand an understanding of how to drive and support excellent team performance and individual development in line with Oxfam’s values and policies.

Representation and Communication:

• Proven track record of success in representing an organization with partners, government agencies, private sector organizations, media and donors at senior level: nationally and globally.
• Proven track record of success in advocacy and influencing.
• Demonstrable experience of working with the media and an ability to represent the organisation in the media if required.
• Demonstrable ability to convey complex messages in an appropriate manner to broad and diverse audiences.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to motivate, influence and negotiate.

Finance and Funding:

• Ability to maximise fundraising from diverse institutions, both local and international.
• High level financial and asset management skills to steer and efficiently manage budget of over €20 million across a number of locations.
• Coordinate overall country budgetfunded by major bilateral donors; manage budget within approved spending levels and establish an annual cash flow plan to ensure a steady and adequate supply of funds for programme activities.
• Ensure programme implementation is on time, target and budget by leading the monthly budget monitoring process, ensuring that staff receive training on the budget management process and holding staff accountable for accurate forecasting.
• Build and maintain operational structures that ensure proper segregation of duties between finance, administration and logistics.
• Build and maintain an environment of collaboration among programme, finance, operations and human resource team members resulting in optimal support for programme activities.

Risk Management and Duty of Care:

• Experience of managing security, risk and legal compliance within an INGO context.
• Review and update the Country Risk Register on a quarterly basis. All risks should be owned and managed in the programme and the CD should ensure they are addressed.Responding robustly to any suspicions or reports of fraud, code of conduct abuses or other misdemeanours, and adhering to Oxfam’s policy and procedures on investigations.
• Proven track record of making sound judgements in uncertain and pressurised situations.Able to fulfil agreed standards in disaster preparedness, mitigation and management including humanitarian response activities for Category 1 emergencies.
• Able to anticipate and manage risks that could threaten the organisations reputation, operational viability and security.
• Experience of crisis management and security management, preferable in complex and fragile socio-economic environments.

Strategic Analytics:

• Ability to manage the development of, and contribute to, the high-level analysis of factors driving poverty, marginalization and vulnerability in developing country contexts. The ability to ‘think politically’ understanding motivations, pressures, power dynamics and challenges faced by colleagues, partners, decision makers and other actors; and the ability to generate effective strategies to influence them.
• Proven analytical skills, with the ability to:
  • Take and manage calculated risks based on evidence based assumptions.
  • Think strategically, to maximise adaptability and agility
  • Encourage forward thinking, new ideas and learning from experience beyond the country program context while acting within a global framework
• Good level of IT literacy and an understanding of how new developments in technology can positively contribute to the aims of an INGO.

Values:

• Committed to rights based approach including an active commitment to putting women’s rights at the heart of all we do as well as the rights of other marginalized people in all aspects of an organization’s work.

Travel:

• Ability to travel away from home, often to remote programmatic sites within the country for <xx> weeks per annum, and periodic travel aboard for global meetings.

Languages:

• Fluent in written and spoken<enter main country language> and English. Ideally the ability to also work in an additional local dialect.

Behavioural competencies (based on Oxfam’s Leadership Model)
Practice Category:

• Self

Leadership Practice:

• Self-Awareness

Description 

• We are able to develop a high degree of self-awareness around our own strengths and weaknesses and our impact on others. Our self-awareness enables us to moderate and self-regulate our behaviours to control and channel our impulses for good purposes.  We self-moderate appropriately to different context thereby optimizing our ability to achieve goals.      

Leadership Practice:

• Humility   

Description

• We put ‘we’ before ‘me’ and place an emphasis on the power of the collective, nurture the team and play to the strengths of each individual. We are not concerned with hierarchical power, and we engage with, trust and value the knowledge and expertise of others across all levels of the organisation. We work to achieve goals together not just individually.

Practice Category:

• Seeing the ‘big Picture’

Leadership Practice:

• Vision Setting

Description

• We have the ability to identify and lead visionary initiatives that are beneficial for our organisation and we set high-level direction through a visioning process that engages the organisation and diverse external stakeholders. Clarity in our communication of vision allows others to focus on delivery and their contribution to the wider changes we seek.

Leadership Practice:

• Systems Thinking.

Description

• We view problems as parts of an overall system and our contributions to change in relation to the whole system, rather than reacting to a specific part, outcome or event in isolation. We focus on cyclical rather than linear cause and effect. By consistently practicing systems thinking we are aware of and manage intended and unintended consequences of organisational decisions and actions.

Leadership Practice:

• Strategic Thinking and Judgment.

Description

• We use judgment, weighing risk against the imperative to act. We make decisions consistent with organisational strategies and values.

Leadership Practice:

• Agility, Complexity, and Ambiguity.

Description

• We scan the environment, anticipate changes, are comfortable with lack of clarity and deal with a large number of elements interacting in diverse and unpredictable ways. We develop strategies to maximise adaptability and agility, encourage forward thinking, new ideas and learning from experience.

Practice Category:

• Relationship Skills

Leadership Practice:

• Listening

Description

• We are good active listeners who can see where deeper levels of thoughts and tacit assumptions differ. Our messages to others are clear, and consider different preferences.

Leadership Practice:

• Influencing

Description

• We have the ability to engage with diverse stakeholders in a way that leads to increased impact for the organisation We spot opportunities to influence effectively and where there are no opportunities we have the ability to create them in a respectful and impactful manner.

Leadership Practice:

• Relationship Building.

Description

• We understand the importance of building relationship, within and outside the organisation. We have the ability to engage with traditional and non-traditional stakeholders in ways that lead to increased impact for the organisation.

Leadership Practice:  

• Enabling

Description

• We all work to effectively empower and enable others to deliver the organisations goals through creating conditions of success. We passionately invest in others by developing their careers, not only their skills for the job. We give more freedom and demonstrate belief and trust, underpinned with appropriate support.

Practice Category:

• Ability to Deliver results.

Leadership Practice:

• Mutual Accountability.

Description

• We can explain our decisions and how we have taken them based on our organisational values. We are ready to be held to account for our actions and how we behave, as we are also holding others to account in a consistent manner.

Practice Category:

• Decisiveness.

Description

• We are comfortable to make transparent decisions and to adapt decision making modes to the context and needs. We recognize that decisions may not always lead to the results we seek but enable us to continually learn and improve.

Deadline:11th July, 2017.

How to Apply

Click here to apply online
Note

• The Role Responsibilities section provides a basic description that Oxfam’s can add to and develop to reflect the country and program contexts, including specific humanitarian and/or advocacy responsibilities.
• Include your motivation letter and CV.
• Please note that only applications received using the link provided can be taken into consideration. Given the number of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Thank you for your understanding.