Democratic Republic of the Congo: Regional Operations Director

Duty Station: Kinshasa DR Congo (position could be based in Bangui, CAR at the request of applicants) with extensive travel to Bangui, CAR, field offices in Eastern CAR and North-Eastern DRC, and Uganda.

Reports to: Invisible Children Chief Operations Officer

Direct Report(s): DRC Operations Manager, CAR Operations Manager

Key Collaborators: CRCA Chief of Party and Deputy Chief of Party, procurement contractor, Security Officers

Position Summary:

Invisible Children is an international NGO founded in 2004 to bring a permanent end to the violence of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and support the lasting recovery of communities in central Africa targeted by armed group violence. The organization’s comprehensive approach to the LRA crisis has integrated every level of intervention, from direct partnerships with local communities to engagement with senior national and international policymakers. To date, the organization has maintained a longer programmatic presence in LRA-affected areas of central Africa than any other currently-active international NGO. Invisible Children’s longstanding commitment to marginalized communities has allowed the organization to continuously refine and adapt its programs to address a variety of armed groups and other destabilizing forces threatening the central Africa region, while also making significant progress toward ending the LRA crisis. Invisible Children’s current work focuses on finding innovative, sustainable solutions to regional insecurity that mitigate the direct threats of violence and address their roots causes. In recent years, this has included community-based initiatives and conflict analysis focused on the intersection of human security and illicit wildlife trafficking in the central Africa region.

Invisible Children is currently seeking an experienced and dynamic leader to serve as its field-based Regional Operations Director as it begins implementation on two U.S. Federally funded awards. The first award is Community Resilience in Central Africa (CRCA), a 5-year U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded project implemented in DRC (in parts of Bas- and Haut-Uele) and CAR (in parts of Mbomou, Haut-Mbomou and Haute Kotto). The project will run until October 2022. The second award is Community Protection through Community Connection (CPCC), an 18-month U.S. State Department-funded project implemented in CAR (primarily in Haute Kotto). The project will run until March 31, 2019.

Key Responsibilities

The Regional Operations Director is ultimately responsible for organizational compliance and operational management at Invisible Children field offices in the DR Congo and Central African Republic. Because of the remote nature of the locations where Invisible Children implements programming and has offices, it is a position that is centered around advanced planning and foresight for sound operational support to program delivery.

Management

• Manage the DRC Operations Manager and the CAR Operations Manager as direct reports;

• Ensure the continued capacity development of all Invisible Children Operational staff. Specific responsibilities include:

• Challenge and empower managers to develop competence in leadership and to make decisions within Invisible Children policies and procedures;

• Ensure that direct reports, and the entire operational teams, have timely capacity building plans, performance plans, and performance reviews;

• Plan and facilitate staff capacity building trainings, including leading trainings and securing external training provision on relevant operational topics;

• Contribute to the capacity-development of local partners in the field of operational management; and

• Ensure Invisible Children operational policies and procedures – including relevant donors’ policies and procedures – are fully adopted and adhered to among all Invisible Children staff and partners. Identify and communicate to the CRCA CoP, DCoP and the COO improvements that must be made in Invisible Children’s operating procedures and ensure that all policies and procedures suit the local, legal, and operating context of each respective country;

Security

• Oversee the operational implementation (procurements, storage, tracking, etc.) of Invisible Children compliance with its security policies, procedures, and manuals in close collaboration with CRCA’s CoP and DCOP and the country Security Officers;

• Take a particular lead on planning, organizing, and ensuring maintenance and functionality of Invisible Children’s security-related communications systems;

• Oversee the roll-out and management, including crisis response (upon design of the crisis response system, the role of the Operations Director in the implementation of crisis response will be further defined), of a regional staff and vehicle tracking and emergency communications system (such as InReach devices or similar);

• Oversee the Health, Safety, and Security Committee and process in each country;

• Keep aware of safety and security dynamics to inform staff travel, program implementation support, and mission planning. Security Officers are responsible for collecting, monitoring, analyzing, and circulating information on security and safety situation and trends, but the Operations Director is responsible for keeping up to date with that information; and

• Develop and monitor readiness of Invisible Children regional and country business continuity plans in case any given field or country office must be closed for any reason.

Procurement

• Improve Invisible Children’s procurement processes from a perspective of timeliness, financial efficiency, and quality by ensuring the full adoption of the procurement policies and procedures, serving as the main point of contact for all key (large, program-critical, security-related) procurements;

• Lead on large, complex, bulk, project start-up procurements;

• Plan the transitioning of Invisible Children away from using a procurement contractor based in Uganda;

• Create a culture of advanced planning in the program and operations teams, recognizing that in most locations where Invisible Children operates, many items must be procured regionally or nationally, requiring long lead-times; and

• Ensure Invisible Children remains compliant with all donor requirements regarding procurement.

Other Logistics

• Develop, update, and adapt to each specific field location Invisible Children’s standard logistics procedures, manuals, and forms for compound management, storage, transportation (surface, flights, etc.), communications, etc.; and

• Control compliance of Invisible Children’s offices with those procedures through regular office audits and a reporting system;

HR and Administration

• With the support of external counsel, ensure that Invisible Children remains in compliance with all relevant laws, rules, and regulations related to being a registered entity and employer in each country;

• Develop and maintain country-specific HR and administration manuals that institutionalize and organize that compliance;

• Ensure Invisible Children remains an attractive and competitive place of employment in both CAR and DRC. Specific responsibilities include:

• Maintain Invisible Children’s salary scales by conducting regular market analysis;

• Develop a long-term strategy alongside the COO to ensure that Invisible Children employees are competitively compensated;

• Monitor staff morale and energy, advocate for the health and happiness of all Invisible Children employees, and facilitate team building and morale events as needed;

• Manage employee grievances as well as employee disciplinary issues, relying on the COO, Director of International Programs, and CRCA CoP and DCOP for support as needed; and

• Take a key role, under the leadership of the CEO and President, on handling issues of conflicts of interest and reports submitted to Invisible Children under its Whistleblower Policy and mechanism. Where relevant, lead on investigations related to suspicions of fraud, theft, abuse or other misconduct.

Finance and Budget Management

• Lead on the budget development of field office operational components and conduct monthly analysis of budget versus actual reports for operations budgets; and

• Work with the Field Finance Director to ensure timely, accurate, and complete integration of operational commitments into budget forecasts.

New Projects

• Contribute to new project design/proposal development to ensure that logistics, procurement, and other operational considerations are properly built into design, staffing, calendars, and budgets, including from the perspective of specific donor rules and regulations; and

• Upon award of a new project, lead on the operational roll-out of the project including recruitment, procurements, new office set ups, and other operational requirements.

Other

• Represent IC at relevant coordination mechanisms related to operational topics;

• May replace other senior positions in an acting capacity when a position is exceptionally vacant or a person is unavailable, especially in terms of security management responsibilities; and

• Perform any other duties as assigned by a designated authority.

Qualifications:

Required:

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in field-based operational functions for projects financed by international donors (with NGOs or consulting firms);

• Bachelor’s degree in business management, human resources, program management or a related field;

• Excellent command of French and English;

• Experience in budget development, management, and oversight;

• Experience in team management and team capacity development; and

• Ability to travel regularly to remote project offices and sub-offices.

Desired:

• Advanced degree in business management, human resources, program management, or a related field;

• Control of U.S. Federal rules and regulations, specifically 2 CFR 200;

• Experience in overseeing remote field offices; and

• Experience in project start-up environments.

Disclaimer:

The above job description is meant to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. It is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required for the position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform other job-related duties requested by their supervisor in compliance with applicable laws.

All job requirements are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health and safety of themselves or other employees.

Requirements are representative of minimum levels of knowledge, skills and/or abilities. To perform this job successfully, the employee must possess the ability or aptitude to perform each duty proficiently. Continued employment remains on an “at-will” basis.

Please send electronic submissions of your CV and cover letter to jobs@invisiblechildren.com by January 15th, 2018, however, applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Please include “Regional Operations Director Application” in the subject line. No telephone inquiries. Finalists will be contacted.