Pakistan: Deputy Country Director
ACTED is an independent international, private, non-partisan and non-profit organization that operates according to principles of strict neutrality, political and religious impartiality, and non-discrimination.
ACTED was created in 1993 to support populations affected by the conflict in Afghanistan. Based in Paris, France, ACTED now operates in 33 countries worldwide, with over 300 international and 3000 national staff. In 2013, ACTED implemented more than 250 projects for a total budget of 130 million €, spanning 8 sectors of intervention including emergency relief, food security, health promotion, economic development, education & training, microfinance, local governance & institutional support and cultural promotion.
For more information, please visit our website at www.acted.org
II. Country Profile
Projects: 34 (2011)
National staff: 827 (2011)
International Staff: 16 (2011)
Capital Office: Islamabad
Total number of direct beneficiaries: 5,369,006 (2011)
Budget: 29, 6 M Euros (2011)
ACTED has been present in Pakistan since 1993, when it registered its first office in Peshawar. Since, we have developed extensive experience in programmes focusing on emergency response, local governance and community mobilisation, on and off-farm livelihoods support, education and vocational training, community-based rehabilitation and construction, shelter, water and sanitation and health and hygiene. In addition, ACTED has been providing monitoring, evaluation, information management to a wide range of stakeholders in Pakistan to promote humanitarian coordination and effectiveness.
In recent years, ACTED has provided extensive emergency and early recovery assistance to disaster-affected families in Pakistan. This assistance has included shelter construction, food distributions, the provision of clean water and sanitation facilities, hygiene campaigns and support for the resumption of livelihoods activities through the distribution of seeds, livestock and farming tools, the promotion of home-based micro-businesses for women and cash for work schemes including the rehabilitation of community productive infrastructure.
In 2001-2002, the organisation provided assistance over 20,000 displaced Afghan refugee families in Pakistan. ACTED was a leading actor in responding to the massive 2005 earthquake, which took 75,000 lives and affected over 100,000 others in eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
In 2009, following the displacement of over three million people in KPK, ACTED provided support to IDP populations throughout Swat, Nowshera, Buner, Lower Dir and Upper Dir districts. ACTED’s mission in Pakistan expanded into Punjab and Northern Sindh provinces following the unprecedented monsoon floods that swept across Pakistan in July 2010, claiming 1,700 lives, destroying close to 1.8 million homes and affecting a total of over 20 million people across the country. In 2011, as floods in lower Sindh affected a further 9.2 million people, destroying over 315,000 homes and leaving 43% of local populations severely food insecure, ACTED was able to immediately provide emergency relief to flood-affected families drawing upon its strong presence and experience of the local context.
Today, ACTED’s experienced team of 700 national staff and 11 international staff continues to support the relief, recovery and development needs of conflict- and flood-affected communities in four districts of KPK (Swat, Upper Dir, Lower Dir and Kohat), six districts of Sindh (Kashmore, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Mirpur Khas, Sanghar and Umerkot), one district of Punjab (D.G. Khan) and two agencies of FATA (Orakzai and Bajaur), ensuring access to remote or complex areas and the relevance and effectiveness of our programmes.
III. Position Profile
All functions listed below are shared with the Country Director. It is therefore essential that the DCD coordinates his/her functions with the Country Director on a regular basis
In his/her Programmatic Functions, the Deputy Country Director ensures that the mission’s ongoing and planned projects are relevant to the context and in line with contractual obligations with our donors.
Direct supervision of Project management follow up and project implementationEnsure that the project cycle is followed for each project, including kick-off meetings, drafting of PMF, appraisals, implementation of activities, mid and end-term evaluations;Review all PMFs once a month and make sure that they are reported to CD, RD and HQ;Ensure that ACTED’s contractual obligations on project targets & deliverables are met by the programme teamsOverall responsibility for program relevance and beneficiary accountability for all implemented projectsMake regular programme reviews and provides feedback to the program team.Conduct regular visits to ongoing project sitesContribute to drafting TORs and conduct regular appraisalsBe in regular contact and receive/review regular reportsEnsure that relevant technical specifications / standards are being respectedProvide support from all departments to the field/area offices.Internal Coordination, reporting and communicationPrepare and (in absence of the CD) chair country-level weekly & monthly coordination meetings;Ensure that weekly area meetings are organised in each area and review minutesFollow-up needs/requests from area office to the heads of departments in the country office and solve blocking points.Receive and (with CD) review Monthly Area ReportsReceive and review monthly reports form all Program Managers and Technical AdvisersReceive and review the PMF on a monthly basisCoordinate with PD internal reporting and communication on project implementationInteraction with AME DepartmentEnsure that AME plans are made for each project and included in the PMF;Defines with AME the baseline, monitoring and endline assessments for each projects;Organise regular meetings with the AMEU coordinator to review project progress, performance and impact;Review all AME project monitoring & assessment reports and ensure that each report is followed up by concrete actions for the assessed project/area team;Ensure that the country has a functioning MIS/database system and that regular project data entry is taking placeLink regularly with AME team for capitalisation of lessons learnt and best practicesEnsure with AME that standard BoQ, technical designs and methodologies are developed for each sector of work (e.g. WASH, shelter, NFI, cash transfer etc.)Ensure that all AME project related reports are provided to the Regional Coordination Office and HQ for filingExternal relations, reporting and communicationLiaise with national & regional authorities (with the ACs) for the project implementationEnsure that the necessary clearances have been requested and follow-up on their issuance by local authoritiesLead due diligence for the selection of IPs and partner NGOsDevelop Partnership agreements, lead budget negotiation, define implementation mechanisms, reporting & compliance requirementsFollow-up on project implementation by IP and target achievementParticipate to and represent ACTED at different external programme working group meetings.Ensure proper coordination with other INGOsRepresent the Country Director in consortium steering committees and coordination mechanisms of projects implemented in consortia.Support the Country Director and PD team in its fund raising responsibilities by being familiar with all major stakeholder country and regional strategies (including all major donors) and identifying synergies with ACTED’s operations;Be familiar with all major stakeholder country and regional strategies (including all major donors) and identify synergies with ACTED’s operations.Feedback Country Director, other DCD and PDM on unaddressed needs and gaps in humanitarian response / development programmes identified by field teamsContributes to the development of the Country Strategy and Partnership strategySigns project contracts with donor by delegation of the country directorRecommends local partners for future projectsEnsure that ACTED applies to all relevant funding opportunities in-country;Support the Country Director in coordinating the workplan for proposal drafting, linking to all relevant departments (FLAT, program, AMEU and Project Development)Ensure that all applications are relevant to contextual needs, donor requirements as well as ACTED’s operational capacity and strategy;Ensure that proposals are drafted in a professional manner.Develop and follow up visibility requirements of donors;Ensure that in addition, ACTED promotes in-country visibility action such as leaflets/brochures, strategy papers, assessment/sectoral reports; newsletter, etc.Link with HQ and RCO regarding regular contributions to ACTED websites and newslettersAttend NGO/UN/government coordination meetings;Link regularly with other humanitarian actors. In particular, follow up any partnerships with other NGOsWhen relevant and following instructions by the Country Director, participate in meetings with donors.Regularly monitor financial reports (BFUs, TITANIC, etc.) to ensure that expenses are conducted on a timely basis;Ensure that costs/budgets are allocated according to actual price and need;In case of multi-are projects, ensure that project budgets are segregated by areas so that each area office has control over its share of the overall project budgetReviews project budget forecast (BFU forecast) with CFM in liaison with the Area Coordinators and the relevant PM.Suggests reallocation of project expenses and support PDD in the preparation of amendments.Monitors IP & NGO partner’s budget consumption and issues early warning to Country Director and CFM as well as to the concerned partner directlyEnsure a regular/efficient interaction between FLAT and program departments (notably through the regular updating of the PMF);Functional interaction with Logistics Department
Follows-up programme related procurement & delivery with country logistics
Participate in the Procurement committee meetings.Signs procurement documents by delegation of the country directorDefine the project needs in terms of assets, transport and stock managementDevelop an asset investment policyEnsuring that mission assets enable efficient implementation of operationsRegularly monitor the state of all assets to ensure that they correspond to the mission’s needs and security/safety guidelines;Participate in budgeting exercises to ensure that we provide for asset addition/replacement (as and when needed)Functional interaction with Human Resources Department
Support the Country Director in developing and regularly updating national HR guidelines that (1) are based on the ACTED global ones and (2) take in consideration and are fully compliant to the relevant national legal framework.
Support the Country Director in ensuring that all national staff is appraised at least twice a year and counter-sign appraisals for all staff above at grid level A, B and CContribute to the development and regular update of a strategy for continuous training and professional development of all staff. In particular: (1) ensure a regular follow up of all confirmed staff in the country; (2) identify and build the capacity of a pool of promising national staff.Provides feedback to CD on performance of all international & national managers in Islamabad and of Area CoordinatorsCarries out direct recruitment of senior programme and area manager positionsProvides guidance on the recruitment of management positions for the country office as well as area offices.Ensure that the Security & Safety staff carry out regular security monitoring and controlCarry out with the Security & Safety staff regular SOP compliance checksGives security clearance for all movementsCo-chairs the crisis management groupLiaise with country security group/UNDSS etc.In coordination with the security manager and CD, regularly update security, safety and evacuation plans;Disseminates the security plan and security regulations approved by Country DirectorEnsure that security SOPs are enforced at all levels by security focal points & logistics.Make sure that all staff are trained on our security/safety procedures upon arrival and every 3 months thereafterDevelop/regularly update a security/safety training package for all staff.Take relevant disciplinary action should staff not abide by security and safety proceduresBe opened to receive suggestions and feedback on security/safety procedures from all staffIV. Qualifications:
At least 4 to 5 years of working experience in insecure environments; preferably in Asia, or the Middle East;Demonstrated communication and organizational skills;Ability to train, mobilize, and manage both international and national staffFlexibility and ability to multi-task under pressure;Ability to work well in unstable and frequently changing security environments;Willingness to work and live in often remote areas under basic conditions;Proven ability to work creatively and independently both in the field and in the office;Advanced proficiency in written and spoken English
V. Conditions:
· Salary defined by the ACTED salary grid; educational level, expertise, hardship, security, and performance are considered for pay bonus
· Additional monthly living allowance
· Free food and lodging provided at the organisation’s guesthouse/or housing allowance (depending on contract length and country of assignment)
· Transportation costs covered, including additional return ticket + luggage allowance
· Provision of medical, life, and repatriation insurance + retirement package
