Deputy Director, Operations - Humanitarian and Stabilisation Operations Team

Project Overview and Role:
Palladium has an unmissable opportunity to be part of the leadership of a truly impactful team. As Deputy Director, Operations for the Humanitarian and Stabilisation Operations Team (HSOT), you will provide the strategic direction and management to the operational support functions needed to support the UK Government's response to disasters.

The Humanitarian and Stabilisation Operations Team (HSOT), contracted by Palladium International Ltd, provides the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) with humanitarian services and the UK Government’s Stabilisation Unit (SU) with stabilisation support.

HSOT works with FCDO to lead the UK Government's response to humanitarian disasters in co-operation with the United Nations, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, non-governmental organisations and governments of disaster-affected countries.
The Team provides 24/7 365 emergency support and response cover and is equipped to support multiple rapid-onset responses simultaneously.

Your primary responsibilities will revolve around operational delivery, being the point of contact for support to all activities and projects across the team to enable more effective and efficient operations, compliance, finance and risk management. As a senior member of the team, you will be expected to manage the first critical hours of an emergency response and support all operational aspects of delivery. As a result this demands someone who is flexible, willing to wake up at odd hours to kick-start a response, work in a 24/7 rotational manner and travel on short notice as needed.

In particular you will be expected to:

Lead the Operations Team:
* Provide strategic direction to the HSOT Operations Team, including Humanitarian Projects, Human Resources, Finance and Corporate Operations teams.
* Provide direct management to the Operations Team to ensure that all projects and activities adhere to client specifications company standard operating procedures;
* Ensure that all activities apply a consistent approach to cost effective, timely and specification-compliant delivery;
* Oversee a portfolio of humanitarian technical advisory projects with specialist consultants supporting FCDO missions across the world, in both emergency response and protracted crises;
* Oversee the financial management of the contract, including forecasting, budget management and utilisation, compliance, payment cycle and contract financial performance, ensuring financial accountability is embedded across all teams;
* Oversee the contract’s human resource requirements, including large-scale recruitment, onboarding, training, deployments and performance management of emergency response personnel to crisis affected locations, and;
* Ensure the integration of the HSOT project team with wider Palladium corporate functions, via management of the Corporate Operations team.

Lead on emergency response:
* Ensure that emergency response is in line with Palladium standards, client expectations and accountable to beneficiaries, emergency response staff and consultants; and
* Provide senior leadership to a response, in particular to effectively plan and manage the operational aspects of a response.

Risk Management and Compliance:
* Lead on commercial engagement and risk management for the contract, working with client counterparts to develop necessary contract amendments and variations;
* Lead on compliance with programme and commercial controls, including KPIs, Value for Money framework and risk registers.
* Oversee the implementation of approved plans and audit programmes to ensure overall efficiency, compliance and conformity with processes and systems;
* Lead efforts in assuring compliance with all relevant company policies and standard operating procedures, as well as client specific rules and regulations;
* Ensure that all systems and processes are up to date and are applied consistently across the programme;
* Ensure in-country compliance of overseas operations, such as statutory entities, legislative requirements, labour laws, payroll etc.;
* Ensure contractual compliance and limit undue risk for any non-employment contracts, including but not limited to team agreements, joint ventures and other commercial agreements;

Required Qualifications:
* Relevant Bachelor’s degree, MBA or Master’s degree (lack of formal education can be compensated by experience);
* Extensive experience managing operations and deliverables for complex programmes;
* Experience in humanitarian, stabilisation or emergency response programmes, including field operations;
* Experience engaging with senior clients and/or programme donors;
* Financial acumen, knowledge of financial processes and the ability to develop budgets and analyse financial reports;
* Proven experience in executing contract mechanisms (e.g. subcontracts, purchase orders, work orders, grants, consultant agreements, etc.); and
* Strong people management skills/experience, including managing for results, mentoring and coaching and creating an environment that encourages agile teamwork across competencies.

Competencies
* Excellent planning, management and coordination skills, with the ability to organise a substantial workload comprised of complex, diverse tasks and responsibilities and work calmly under pressure;
* Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to negotiate successful outcomes in challenging situations;
* Good understanding of risk management and the ability to respond in a dynamic environment;
* A can-do attitude, proactive and solutions focussed, sound problem solving and decision-making skills;
* Commitment to Palladium’s aims values, principles and Code of Conduct;
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills, fluency in a second language an asset;
* Formal Project/Programme Management training and expertise an asset.

Closing date for applications is 07/10/2020.Candidates will be assessed on a rolling basis, so we recommend that you apply early if you are interested

This vacancy is archived.

Recommended for you