JOB DETAILS

LOCATION: Erbil, Iraq

CONTRACT TYPE: Global, Fixed Term – 12 months, contract renewable

JOB FAMILY: Programme

ONE OXFAM GRADE:   C1     

DEPARTMENT:

TEAM: Oxfam in Iraq, Country Management Team

SALARY:  As per Oxfam Salary Scale

HOURS: Full-time role, 40 hours per week

FLEXIBLE WORKING

‘We believe flexible working is key to building the Oxfam of the future, so we’re open to talking through the type of flexible arrangements which might work for you. The working base and country of employment would be restricted to locations where Oxfam GB is a registered and legal entity.

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

We are committed to ensuring diversity and gender equality within our organization.

DEPARTMENT PURPOSE:

The Programme Team is overall responsible, and accountable for the development, design, management, and monitoring of country programmes for Oxfam in Iraq. The Programme Team is responsible for ensuring that the Oxfam country programmes align with the Oxfam Country Strategy (OCS) and address priority needs and contextual trends.

The team is tasked with designing programmes that are relevant and responsive to the country’s needs, considering the political, economic, social, and cultural context. This requires a thorough understanding of the local context, including the needs of vulnerable communities and the challenges they face. Additionally, the Programme Team is responsible for effectively managing and monitoring the implementation of these programmes to ensure they are delivered efficiently and effectively. They must ensure that the programmes are in line with the Oxfam in Iraq’s overall objectives and outcomes and that they contribute to the organization’s mission of ending poverty and inequality.

The Programme Team works closely with other teams within Oxfam in Iraq to ensure coherence and alignment with the overall strategy. They must also engage with external stakeholders, including partners, donors, and government agencies, to build relationships and secure support for the programmes. Furthermore, the Programme Team must ensure that the programmes are sustainable and have a lasting impact on the communities they serve. This requires a focus on building the capacity of local partners and communities to ensure they can continue to benefit from the programmes long after Oxfam’s intervention has ended.

The Programme Team plays a crucial role in ensuring the success of Oxfam in Iraq’s programmes. Their responsibilities range from design and development to management and monitoring, ensuring alignment with the Oxfam Country Strategy and addressing priority needs and contextual trends. Their work is critical to advancing Oxfam’s mission of ending poverty and inequality, and it requires close collaboration with other teams and external stakeholders to achieve lasting impact.

TEAM PURPOSE:

Oxfam has been working in Iraq since the 1990’s responding to both humanitarian crises as well as to development needs. In 2025 Oxfam implements work through 2 offices in Anbar and Erbil. Our humanitarian and development priorities in country are Climate Justice, Economic Justice and Gender. The role ensures cross-cutting technical leadership and integrated program delivery.

Across these themes, our programmatic approach is:

·       Continually looks to improve quality and lead through innovation.

·       Mainstreams gender and ensures women’s rights are at the heart of everything Oxfam does.

·       Establishes and maintains transformative partnerships to facilitate local leadership

·       Promotes complementary advocacy, where possible, to influence systemic change

The Head of Programmes will play a pivotal role in ensuring efficient, effective, and sustainable program delivery. This includes leading program design, development, and implementation while working closely with the Funding Coordinator (BD and Grants) to secure program funding and drive new program development.

JOB PURPOSE: Head of Programmes will play a pivotal role in ensuring efficient, effective, and sustainable program delivery. This includes leading program design, development, and implementation while working closely with the Funding Coordinator (BD and Grants) to secure program funding and drive new program development.

As such, the Head of Programmes has a crucial role in strategy development and adherence, and is responsible for ensuring that policies, systems, and people are continuously and accurately working in a coordinated manner to ensure that a coherent and comprehensive program is designed and implemented.

The position is also responsible for cross-cutting programmatic information management, sound design of and overseeing assessments, monitoring, and evaluation, and ensuring that information collected is reflected upon, used to improve ongoing projects, and is incorporated into consistently high-quality grant proposals and reports. S/he also plays a key role in fundraising activities and external representation, alongside the Country Director, and acts as the primary focal point for Oxfam’s programming portfolio in Iraq.

In order to ensure successful program implementation, the Head of Programmes needs to have an in-depth understanding of the country context and be able to identify and analyse key issues in order to develop appropriate strategies and ensure effective implementation. S/he should have strong interpersonal and communication skills and be able to work collaboratively with both internal and external stakeholders, including the government, NGOs, UN agencies and other key actors. Furthermore, it is important that the Head of Programmes is able to work in a dynamic and challenging environment and is able to work both independently and as part of a team.

The Head of Programmes is a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT) and is expected to be committed Oxfam’s vision and values and lead with integrity. The position holder has to demonstrate strong leadership skills and be able to manage, motivate and inspire their team. They must also be able to analyse complex information and make sound decisions and be able to develop and maintain effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

We are looking for an experienced professional with a passion for delivering quality programming to ensure our success in Iraq

JOB REPORTS TO

Country Director

JOBS REPORTING TO THIS JOB

4-5 Programme and Technical roles will report to this position including the Programme Manager and the Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer.

BUDGET RESPONSIBILITY

GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE

Iraq

DIMENSIONS OF THE ROLE

Head of Programmes is responsible for developing a long-term vision and strategic planning to achieve significant impact through high-quality programming and leadership. The role involves supporting the fundraising team and the policy and advocacy team, and lead where appropriate, strategic engagement with partners. The successful candidate coordinates and oversees delivery of agreed plans and programmes, integrating humanitarian response and development programmes with policy and advocacy based on the One Oxfam programme approach.

The Head of Programmes must be able to deal with complex, non-routine, and unexpected management tasks and problems. They represent Oxfam in coordination meetings and critical external relationships with municipalities and governance structures, humanitarian stakeholders, and interagency coordination. The successful candidate shows an ability to analyze and communicate complex information to a wide audience. The individual must also demonstrate decision-making that is strategic and operational, requiring significant levels of judgment based on technical and management experience, and a range of external and internal factors.

The Head of Programmes must demonstrate well-developed abilities to motivate and persuade at many levels and recognizes the support required to manage change. They are a role model for their team in this process. The role impacts and influences within the country programme and influences the diverse internal/external target audiences both at country and above country level, requiring proven communication, facilitation, and representation skills.

The individual will manage staff and have budgetary responsibility for multiple programmes, involving strong operational management experience and capability. They will provide specialist advice to country and regional management on humanitarian and development issues and possibly interface with media/public on humanitarian and development issues. In-depth knowledge of the principles underlying the key purpose and role of programme leadership, coordination and management is required to make decisions affecting the team and which may impact more widely in the division/programme.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES (Technical, Leadership, People and Resource management)

Strategic Direction and Leadership

·       Develop Oxfam’s long-term vision and provide a clear strategic direction for the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of Oxfam’s programme under its three strategic goals of the humanitarian-development nexus and ensure strong linkages to influencing work in Iraq.

·       Work with the CD to develop Oxfam’s Country Operating Plans and Budget and support the CD in monitoring overall performance against and delivery of the Country Strategy in Iraq.

·       Support and maintain strategic alliances and partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders including national and local authorities, donors, multilateral agencies, partners, as well as within Oxfam confederation (partner affiliates, knowledge hubs, Global Humanitarian Team, etc.)

·       Maintain an analysis of the evolving country context and use this to inform interventions.

·       Provide leadership and management on Oxfam’s programming in Iraq, including fundraising, appropriate allocation and management of resources, programming quality, accountability, and performance management.

·       Remain up-to-date, and aware of ongoing contextual and funding trends in the region and provide regular updates on these trends and analysis of how they may affect Oxfam programming.

·       Ensure systematic documentation of learning from Oxfam’s programs in Iraq, contributing to Oxfam’s internal learning and external influencing efforts.

Programme design, implementation, and quality

·       In coordination with programme team and under the guidance of the Country Director, to lead on developing country programme strategies, objectives, and activity plans.

·       Lead on programme design and proposal development, ensuring full participation of influencing department and support departments.

·       Maintains the overview of the programme funding pipeline and needs, clearly communicating Programme funding needs and priorities, maintaining, and developing new and existing donor relationships.

·       Ensure programme quality implementation of programmes in a consultative, participative, and transparent and gender sensitive way.

·       Ensures that budgets/projections are drawn up for all activities, and that costs are kept within budgets and programmes are cost-efficient, providing a monthly financial projection.

·       Responsible for ensuring that Oxfam meets all contractual obligations and achieves high quality proposal and donor reporting on time.

·       Take measures to limit risks to the programme, including security, safeguarding, reputational, financial and harm to beneficiaries.

·       Ensure that learning is incorporated into on-going and new programmes.

·       Ensure adherence to Oxfam’s policies and programme standards including humanitarian standards as well as compliance with Oxfam’s Common Approach to MEL and Social Accountability (CAMSA) and partnership principles.

·       Ensure ongoing constructive relationships with partners and allies, and work with diverse teams to strengthen partner capacity, adopting a strategic, proactive perspective on how to achieve partner led approaches to achieve sustainable change.

·       Embed Oxfam’s partnership principles into every step of program implementation.

·       Ensure systematic partner assessments are conducted in collaboration with partners, with development plans created and implemented. Allocate appropriate resources to support partner development within workflows under their management.

• Support the Oxfam in Iraq in relevant programme research and knowledge generation ensuring the integration of cross cutting, regional and global issues.

·       Provide guidance to the programme team regarding tools and strategies to ensure that programming is based on input from communities, a thorough understanding of the context, and technical best practices.

·       Work with colleagues in country program, region and HQ to identify funding opportunities and develop competitive, responsive proposals that meet internal standards, apply Oxfam’s strategy/ies and are donor compliant; meet with donors to discuss current and potential funding opportunities.

·       As a senior budget holder for the country programme, ensure timely spending, compliance, and procedural controls are rolled out across the country programme.

·       Through the provision of leadership support to the in-country grants team, and in close collaboration with the Finance Team, develop evidenced based and cost-effective funding applications.