Government Liaison Coordinator Iran Tehran – Nationals Only

                                                                         Rights Respected, People Protected

About NRC:

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a non-governmental humanitarian organization with 75 years of experience in helping to create a safer and more dignified life for refugees and internally displaced people. NRC advocates for the rights of displaced populations and offers assistance within the shelter, education, food security, livelihoods, legal Assistance, and water, sanitation, and hygiene sectors. The Norwegian Refugee Council has approximately 6000 committed and competent employees involved in projects across four continents. NRC runs the world’s largest standby roster, NORCAP, with 650 professionals ready to be deployed on 72 hours notice when a crisis occurs.  

NRC in the Islamic Republic of Iran:

NRC started operations in Iran in 2012. We currently deliver humanitarian assistance in 10 provinces in Education, Food Security and livelihoods, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Shelter construction, as well as Information, Counseling, and Legal Assistance (ICLA). We co-lead several technical inter-agency working groups and provide capacity building to humanitarian partners in the country. Next to our programs, NRC Iran also built an advocacy unit to develop joint messages and initiatives among INGOs to improve the rights of the displaced.   Following several recent breakthroughs, NRC Iran is scaling up substantially its activities in support of the Government of Iran’s efforts towards an estimated 3,6 million Afghans residing in the country and is expanding its programme unit.

Role and responsibilities

The purpose of a Logistic Team Leader is to implement delegated areas of logistic responsibility and deliver a variety of procurement and other logistics-related activities, including management of warehouse, fleet, distribution, and assets.

Generic responsibilities

1. Ensure adherence with NRC policies, tools, handbooks and guidelines 
2. Liaison and follow up with relevant Government officials and authorities for activity-related approvals, government reporting as well as administrative requests (visa, vettings, missions) 
3. Ensure the development and implementation of internal systems and procedures. In particular, develop a Government liaison SOP and regularly update to maintain relevance 
4. Plan and facilitate meetings with relevant government officials as per mission requirements 
5. Supervise NRC’s Government Liaison consultant, organise his workload and tasks 
6. Monitor legal and policy developments relevant to NRC, internally share summaries and brief the Country Management Group upon request 
7. Prepare and develop status reports as required by the Country Director 
8. Promote and share ideas for improvement of the Government Liaison function in NRC 
9. Ensure capacity building of staff in skills related to Government Liaison purposes 
10. Promote the rights of displacement affected populations in line with the advocacy strategy 

Specific responsibilities

1. Develop and update stakeholder analysis related to Iranian Government structures 
2. Draft, submit, centralize follow up and record physical and electronic archives of all communications with national level government authorities, including but not limited to: programme inquiries and authorization requests, mission requests, validations, reporting, visas, permits (office, work, residence, exit-re-entry), staff vetting, meeting request, etc. 
3. Ensure proper archiving and filing of all incoming and outgoing documents and statistics 
4. Ensure timely submission of Government required reporting, in particular quarterly and annual report to CAFIA 

1. Ensure that communications and translations across NRC are harmonized, factually and grammatically correct. If necessary, develop a network of translators that are approved by NRC in terms of quality 
2. Support and accompany NRC management for meetings with Government authorities and facilitate translation 
3. Maintain a Government Liaison calendar for senior management to be able to plan meetings as much as possible 
4. Capture lessons learned with regards to collaboration with different levels of the Goal
5. Other duties as assigned by his/ her supervisor 

Competencies

Professional competencies

Generic professional competencies:

• Minimum 3 year of work experience relevant for the position  or similar position.
• Working experience with Iranian government specially Ministry of Interior and experience on Afghan refugee matters. 
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities           Minimum Bachelor Degree. 
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including capacity to negotiate with government and non-government stakeholders 
• Excellent English and Farsi language skills, both written and verbal 
• Ability to operate and work independently 
• Detail oriented and strong organizational skills 

Context related skills, knowledge and experience:

• Experience of liaison and/or representation with senior Iranian authorities is an asset 
• Knowledge of Government structures within the Islamic Republic of Iran 
• Knowledge of Iranian legislation and policies related to INGO work in the country 
• Understanding of and respect for humanitarian work, particularly relating to refugee and displacement issues. 
• Ability to develop a network of interlocutors in Iran 
• Flexibility to work outside standard working hours 

Behavioural competencies

• Planning and delivering results 
• Communicating with impact and respect 
• Empowering and building trust 
• Analysing 
• Strategic thinking 
• Influencing 

NRC in the Islamic Republic of Iran