Back Area Support Manager Iraq

About NRC in Iraq:

Since the Government of Iraq declared that combat operations against the Islamic State Group (IS) had ended in 2017, Iraq has been recovering from the significant damage and destruction caused by the armed conflict. Of the more than six million Iraqis who fled their homes since 2014, 4.78 million Iraqis have returned to their area of origin and 1.28 million remain internally displaced. Many Iraqis have returned to areas that lack basic infrastructure, services and livelihood opportunities, or where explosive devices have not been cleared. Other challenges returnees and secondarily displaced people face include the lack of security, community acceptance, housing, property and civil documentation issues as well as critical educational and health service gaps. Throughout this, Iraq continues to host over a quarter of a million Syrian refugees.

The Humanitarian Community calculates that more than 4.1 million Iraqis require assistance in 2021, 2.4 million of them in acute need. With military operations against IS group having ended, the Iraqi government faces new challenges to ensure an inclusive reconstruction and reconciliation that will sustain peace. Since 2010, NRC Iraq has been assisting internally displaced Iraqis, Syrian refugees, returnees, and host communities in Ninewa, Dohuk, Erbil, Kirkuk, Basra, Salahdeen and Anbar Governorates. We focus on assisting the newly displaced, those experiencing protracted displacement in camps, people moving to new areas of Iraq and resettling, and people returning to and living in hard-to-reach places by improving their chance of obtaining a durable solution. NRC runs integrated programmes across Iraq to respond to people in need through our shelter and settlements, education, camp management, legal assistance, livelihoods, cash activities, and partnerships.

All NRC employees are expected to work in accordance with the organisation’s core values: dedication, innovation, inclusivity and accountability. These attitudes and believes shall guide our actions and relationships.

Duties and responsibilities

The purpose of the Support Manager is to coordinate the support functions at the Area Office and off-load the Area Manager on support functions.

Generic responsibilities:

• Line management for support staff such as Finance, HR & Admin and Logistics
• Member of the Area Management Group
• Compliance with and adherence to NRC policies, guidance and handbooks and donor/auditor requirements
• Provide input on operational support to the Area Plan of Action, and to coordinate and align operational support with programme plans at Area level
• Responsible for ensuring quality support to project implementation
• Facilitate Area Support Budget, area level budgets, including support cost
• Responsible for developing regular reports on Area level to Country Office and to Area Manager
• Responsible for implementation of new country specific technical SOPs, guidelines and tools in Area (HR/Admin, Logistics and Finance)
• Facilitate trainings for programme staff on finance, logistics and HR procedures
• Responsible for technical capacity building of support staff (HR, Logistic/ICT and Finance)

Specific responsibilities:

• Lead on the recruitment of support staff as and when needed
• Prioritize mentoring and capacity building of national staff as part of NRC’s Nationalization strategy.
• Make sure all staff have work and development plans in place, and receive regular feedback on performance
• Follow up disciplinary measures/meetings; process investigations & action points
• Make sure that salary mapping, spending plan, project procurement plan and vehicle mapping plan is available and updated regularly
• Responsible for month end closure in line with deadlines
• Update master budget on a monthly basis (in collaboration with Area Manager)
• Organize grants opening, review and closure meetings at field level
• Arrange/facilitate area level coordination bi-monthly meeting meetings and all staff meeting, and take the minutes of the meetings and circulate accordingly.
• Liaise and collaborate with relevant local authorities and other key stakeholders.
• Ensure correct completion and upload of paperwork to the filing tree as required by securing support documents (SSD) and reconciliation of deliverables (RoD) policy
• Submit weekly/ monthly reports pertaining to support functions, progress and challenges
• Act as a focal point for the Ramadi support function issues and coordinate with the Country office as required
• Conduct any other activities as requested by the Area Manager.

Critical interfaces:

By interfaces, NRC means processes and projects that are interlinked with other departments/units or persons. Relevant interfaces for this position are:

• Area Programme Manager, Area Office Programme Managers and/or Coordinators and Grants Coordinator.
• Country Office Finance, Logistics, HR & Compliance Managers.
• Country Office Head of Support, Head of Programme, CC Specialists and Grants Manager

Scale and scope of position:

Staff: 4 finance, 5 logistics and 3 HR staff

Stakeholders: Key external stakeholders the post has relationships with (e.g. UN agencies, INGOs, local NGOs, civil society, governmental bodies)

Budgets: IQFM2012, IQFM2101 , IQFM2111, IQFM2117 with around 7M USD

Information: Office365, Agresso, Unit4, NRC People, asset management software

Legal or compliance: Terms of employment, donor regulations, NRC compliance policies

Competencies

Competencies are important in order for the employee and the organisation to deliver desired results. They are relevant for all staff and are divided into the following two categories:

Required Professional Competencies:

• Experience from working as a Finance and or Logistic manager in a humanitarian/recovery context
• Previous experience from working in complex and volatile contexts
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities
• Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal

Required Behavioural Competencies:

These are personal qualities that influence how successful people are in their job. NRC’s Competency Framework states 12 behavioural competencies and the following are essential for this position:

• Managing resources to optimize results
• Managing performance and development
• Analyzing
• Handling insecure environments
• Empowering and building trust

Preferred context/specific skills, knowledge and experience:

• Knowledge of the context in Syria and Middle East.
• Experience in implementation of humanitarian projects/programmes
• Solid knowledge of HR, finance and logistics routines in a humanitarian context
• Experience in managing audits and perform compliance checks.
• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to process large amounts of data.

Performance Management

The employee will be accountable for the responsibilities and the competencies, in accordance with the NRC Performance Management Manual. The following documents will be used for performance reviews:

• The Job Description
• The Work and Development Plan
• The NRC Competency Framework

We Can Offer

• Contract period: 12 months
• Salary/benefits: According to NRC’s salary scale and terms and conditions
• Duty station: Ramadi, Iraq

We will review applications on an ongoing basis, interested candidates are encouraged to apply early.