Country Director

About Sarey

Job Summary

Who we are

Oxfam Great Britain (Oxfam GB) established its presence in Afghanistan in 1991. Oxfam GB has gained extensive humanitarian and development experience across the country. It has implemented programmes of emergency relief in the region of Hazarajat since 1992 and has provided relief in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Badakhshan in 1998. Currently Oxfam is working in Badakhshan and Dai Kundi implementing sustainable livelihoods programmes and in Badakhshan, Dai Kundi and Kandahar facilitating an emergency response programme working through partner organisations. In Daikundi Oxfam is a facilitating partner for National Solidarity Programme (NSP). Oxfam is also involved in a number of projects for example: winter schools, micro hydro power and community peacebuilding.

Oxfam has about 130 staff members in Afghanistan, with sub offices in 5 districts of Daikundi, two districts of Badakhshan and three main field offices across the country, and a support office in Kabul.

Oxfam’s approach in Afghanistan, as across the globe in over 60 countries, is to reach out to the most vulnerable and least accessible- both geographically and socially and to work with others to reduce suffering and poverty. Oxfam’s rights-based and community based approach is expressed in its humanitarian and development work across the world through its commitment to 5 major Strategic Change Objectives: right to livelihoods, right to life and security, right to basic social services, right to gender equity and right to be heard.

Oxfam’s National Change Strategy (NCS): This strategy (2008 to 2011) requires a transformation from direct service delivery and operations (providing food, food security, and maintenance of health, education, water and sanitation services and livelihoods) to building and supporting partnerships with a range of development stakeholders. Some of these partnerships will involve Oxfam funding and technical support for organisations who will provide services (including livelihoods, food security, education, water and sanitation etc); others will involve Oxfam advising, influencing, lobbying or campaigning (or supporting others to do so), based on joint learning gained in the course of the development programming. Partners include Afghan and international NGOs, government agencies at national, province and district levels, international donors and the private sector.

The programme focus is on 3 pillars:

▪ Policy and Advocacy: To give a voice to Afghan people – especially women; Advocate for policy change to reduce poverty, suffering and insecurity; and Promote women’s status and capabilities and reduce violence against women.
â–ª Livelihoods: To provide an enabling environment for partners and communities to manage their livelihood strategies (with an initial mapping phase to focus the area of work).
â–ª Humanitarian: To work with others to ensure right of life and security for people affected by disaster (man-made and natural) in Afghanistan (scaling up with a new team).

There are two major campaigns running in Afghanistan, Rights in Crisis and We Can
Rights in Crisis: In 2005 Oxfam affiliates jointly established an Oxfam International (OI) policy and advocacy programme in Afghanistan. We have sought to achieve policy change in a range of areas in order to reduce poverty, promote rural development, reconstruction and stability. OI has produced comprehensive briefing papers advocating for: stronger arms controls; greater resources for and reform of the education system; trade policies which support poverty reduction; greater support for community peace building; action on key priorities, including sub-national governance reform and agriculture; and increased and more effective international assistance to the country. OI has also pressed for greater protection for civilians in the course of military operations, improved civil-military coordination, and for greater support for the poor and vulnerable, including refugees, displaced people and those suffering from humanitarian disaster. The framework for current work is the two year OI advocacy campaign, Rights in Crisis (RiC), through which we will draw international attention to the right to protection and the right to assistance of people in need, build on past advocacy work, as well as calling for policy change and action on the longer-term issues of peace and development. Media and communications is an important dimension of the campaign.
We Can: We Can End All violence against Women or more popularly known as We Can has been running in Afghanistan since 2006. The campaign aims to reduce social acceptance of violence against women by challenging and changing attitudes and beliefs that maintain and promote it.


The Job purpose
To lead and manage staff and Oxfam programmes in Afghanistan and ensure that it is relevant to the changing country context and contributing effectively to regional priorities.

Duties & Responsibilities

•To steer programme strategy and to deliver Afghanistan country programmes effectively, building on and developing quality programmes in the country in alignment with the regional and corporate priorities
•Ensure that country strategy is developed, implemented, monitored and reviewed; consistent with Oxfam policy, including programme, partnership, people and financial management policies, standards and requirements
•To strategically position Oxfam within the humanitarian and development sectors and debates in country
•Develop and maintain internal and external relationships and networks to build, coordinate and implement long-term advocacy and campaign strategies, delivering changes in policy and practice, and contributing to regional and global campaigns
•Ensure all programme activities meet Oxfam’s programme/ project cycle management standards and high quality documentation of the programme work
•To develop and maintain an effective policy advocacy and communication strategy for the Afghanistan Programme. Ensure that the organisation makes effective contribution to policy and programmatic development and change within Afghanistan
•Ensure harmonization of planning and management with Oxfam International in relation to advocacy and humanitarian response.
•Ensure an effective monitoring and evaluation system in place. Ensure organisational learning for better impact
•Ensure that Oxfam develops a strategic niche in the locations and sectors in which it has chosen to work, through operational work, and increasingly through partner organisations
•As required ensure that Oxfam follows all the statutory requirements of the Government of Afghanistan, and international codes of practice
•To take overall responsibility for management of all the Afghanistan office staff and support development of a cohesive team around a shared vision keeping with Oxfam’s desired organisational culture and ways of working
•To ensure the strategy for capacity building of national staff to achieve programme quality and to build sustainable national leadership within Oxfam Afghanistan
•To ensure change management standards of Oxfam in any changes in programme direction, structural changes within Oxfam Afghanistan and respond to corporate changes that affect the working of the country programme with appropriate internal communication and consultation strategies
•To ensure that Oxfam’s quality standards are adhered to in human resource policies and to ensure that the strategic HR priorities for the country are implemented as appropriate
•Ensure effective financial management and administration including the preparation and monitoring of budgets, timely submission of accounts and reports required to the Regional Centre and donor agencies and maintenance of cost efficient office administration systems.
•To develop and implement a funding strategy for Afghanistan, to develop and manage relationship with institutional donors and ensure that donor reporting requirements are met in timely manner
•To ensure that Afghanistan programme has a sound and updated security management plan for staff and assets and that all precautions are implemented. To closely monitor and analyse the security situation within the country and review the security plan and guidelines on a regular basis
•To ensure the implementation of Oxfam’s gender and diversity policies in all aspects of Oxfam’s work; financial, human resource and project management standards
•Contribute to the regional and corporate strategy development and ensure Oxfam ways of working in all aspects of the job

Job Requirements

•Senior management experience in leading the development, and ensuring
•the delivery, of programme strategy, either through partners or directly, in a challenging environment
•Proven analytical skills and ability to think strategically, including the ability to think beyond the country programme context and to act within a regional and global framework
•Proven people management skills, with good understanding of team development. Strong leadership and people-centred management skills.
•Strong understanding and direct proven experience in developing and managing programmes in livelihoods, gender mainstreaming, humanitarian response and disaster preparedness.
•Ability to remain calm under stress and pressure and demonstrable ability to handle highly stressful situations combined with rapid decision making
•Experience in representing an organisation with partners, government agencies, private sector organisations, and donors at senior level: locally, regionally and globally.
•First degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline (e.g. economics/ politics/ sociology/ humanities etc.) or equivalent substantial experience.
•Understanding of humanitarian issues in Afghanistan and commitment to humanitarian principles and action. Experience of managing humanitarian projects. Ability to respond at short notice to a changing environment and situation.
•Experience and understanding of community development and partnership management.
•Demonstrable knowledge and experience of gender mainstreaming and diversity issues and a commitment to reducing inequalities.
•High-level interpersonal skills, keen awareness of political sensitivities
•Good understanding of the development issues in South Asia and sensitive to the socio cultural context of the country.
•Excellent written and verbal communication skills to motivate, influence, and negotiate
•Good level of IT literacy and an understanding of how new developments in technology can positively contribute to the aims of an INGO
•Commitment to Oxfam values, and to adopting Oxfam culture and ways of working.

Submission Guideline

Please send your CV with a covering letter explaining how you met the required competencies before closing date, Interested Afghan Nationals should submit their applications in writing (clearly indicating on the sealed envelope the title of the position) to: Human Resources Department, House # 1141, Street # 5, District # 10, Near Azmon Public School, Qala-e-Fatehullah, Kabul Afghanistan

Or email their applications (indicating on the subject line the title of the position applied for) to afghanistanjobs@oxfam.org.uk

For more detailed information about Oxfam please visit our website www.oxfam.org.uk

Only short-listed candidates whose applications respond to the above criteria will be contacted for test and interview.

Functional Area

General

Countries

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