Country Representative

Country Representative

CRS - Catholic Relief Services

Erbil, Iraq

Primary Job Responsibilities:

Responsible for overall leadership of CRS Iraq, including management of personnel, programs, financial and material resources, as well as relationships with NGO partners, government and donors. Duties also include guiding the development of new programs, building staff and partner capacity, and representing CRS to a wide variety of stakeholders. You will strategically advance CRS' reputation and impact while proactively manage security and mitigate security risks and liabilities.

Specific Duties:

Strategic and Program Management

• Champion and lead the vision, mission and strategy. Lead the design of medium and long-term goals. Ensure program and operations leads coordinate their objectives in alignment with the strategy;
• Lead CRS/Iraq country program team, holding ultimate accountability for the success and reputation of CRS Iraq;
• Provide vision and guidance for annual programming, staff development, resource acquisition, and advocacy plans;
• Oversee the implementation of ongoing programs and guide the development and design of new programs in the areas of humanitarian relief, return and resettlement, social cohesion and partner capacity building, in line with CRS’ Regional and Agency strategies;
• Ensure coherence of country program activities and investments with strategy through regular communication and close collaboration with the Regional Director, regional staff, and colleagues in other country programs in the EMECA region;
• Ensure program quality through consistent implementation of project review systems, comprehensive M&E systems, and staff/partner development;
• Remain well-informed about national and regional issues affecting CRS’ presence and operations, programs and partners;
• Ensure active country program involvement in pursuing and contributing to the objectives of CRS’ strategy for Europe, Middle East, and Central Asia region;
• Lead the development of strategic partnerships with national and international organizations that leverages resources, reputation, and expertise in line with CRS partnership principles. Ensure strong representation to key stakeholders, including Church partners, local and national government, US government and international donors.

Personnel Management

• Lead and directly supervise the senior management team, including the Head of Programs, Head of Operations, Head of Risk Management, and Heads of CRS offices in Iraq;
• Ensure full implementation of CRS performance management system for direct reports and their subordinates, including annual performance planning, regular coaching, annual performance assessment, and timely recognition of unique achievements and interventions for struggling staff;
• Promote a culture of continuous learning and professional development, including utilization of CRS professional development plans, emphasis on CRS’s education policy, and frequent in-country learning and dissemination events;
• Recruit, develop, coach, and retain a diverse team of national and international staff to build cadre of skilled and committed personnel;
• Demonstrate, maintain and encourage the principles of a just workplace.

Financial/Administrative Management

• Work closely with the Head of Operations, Head of Programs, and Finance Manager to develop and monitor annual and multi-year program budgets;
• Ensure compliance with all CRS and donor regulations and requirements, as well as local laws;
• Identify areas of risk and take steps to reduce vulnerabilities.

Representation and Growth

• Represent CRS and share information regularly with local authorities, the Church, Caritas institutional and private donors, and other humanitarian actors;
• Pursue collaboration with Caritas Internationalis and CI member organizations for the effective support of Caritas Iraq;
• Identify and negotiate funding opportunities from institutional and non-traditional donors for on-going and new programs.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Head of Programs, Head of Operations, Head of Risk Management, Heads of Office of Kirkuk and Dohuk/Mosul.

Key Working Relationships:

• Internal: Regional Director and regional staff; other EMECA country representatives; EVP Overseas Operations; Chief Financial Officer; colleagues in Overseas Support Department, US Operations, Program Quality & Support Department, Charitable Giving, and Global People Resources;
• External: Caritas Iraq, Catholic Church, host country government agencies, donor agencies, international and national non-governmental organizations, UN agencies.

Qualifications:

Basic Qualifications

• Master’s degree in International Development, International Relations or a related field;
• 10 or more years’ experience managing complex programs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Eight years of relevant, progressively responsible management experience in a politically sensitive operating environment, including personnel, program and financial management;
• Demonstrated record of effective leadership at the CR level;
• Demonstrated ability to represent effectively the Catholic, American identity of CRS;
• Effective interpersonal and communications skills in an inter-cultural setting;
• Demonstrated accomplishments in strategic visioning and new programming development;
• Proven success in resource acquisition, including cultivation of new donors and partnerships;
• Experience in and affinity for institutional strengthening and partnership building;
• Familiarity with the Middle East is a plus.

Required languages

• Fluency in English; Arabic is a plus.

Physical Requirements/Environment

• Normal conditions for an office environment;
• Willingness and ability to travel extensively within Iraq and occasionally to attend other regional or global events.

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