Program Director / Northeast Syria (NES)/Erbil

Blumont is a global organization working with communities around the world to help people overcome challenges and create a foundation for progress. Our vision is a world where a community’s future is not determined by its circumstances, but by the aspirations of its people.

Whether delivering lifesaving humanitarian assistance, building the infrastructure that stabilizes communities, or creating economic opportunities for individuals and businesses, Blumont teams are committed to making a positive difference in peoples’ lives.

 POSITION SUMMARY:

The Program Director will ensure smooth implementation of the program and complete each of the objectives in a timely manner. The main project goals include enhancing psycho-social wellbeing, improving camp infrastructure, safety, and living conditions, distribution of non-food items, and facilitating returns to host communities. The Program Director will ensure adherence to Blumont’s financial, reporting, administrative, and security procedures. The Program Director will work closely with the Country Director, other Blumont Projects, support functions, Field Officers, donors and relevant local authorities’ officials to ensure the activities within the objectives are provided and delivered to the populations. The Program Director is responsible for the quality implementation, management, supervision, follow-up, networking, coordination and evaluation of all the program objective and operations. He or she works within the guidelines, policies and mission of the organization and will be accountable and responsible in reporting to the Country Director. The Program Director will be responsible for coordinating communication between the program teams, the Country Director, all key HQ stakeholders, donors, and all administrative and support functions based in Erbil, including finance, procurement, supply chain logistics, and human resources (HR).

 

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

The Program Director is the strategic lead for the project, and as such he or she plans, oversees, and coordinates all aspects of program implementation with field teams to ensure the objectives of the project are accomplished within the prescribed timeframe and funding parameters. This includes, but is not limited to, monitoring progress toward deliverables and implementing timely corrective measures if the progress is not on track, organizing the team to complete necessary reporting and documentation – including doing final reviews, quality assurance of activities, careful financial and administrative management, and adherence to Blumont policies and procedures and GFFO-MOFA rules and regulations. Program Director will lead the integration of community feedback into the program implementation strategy through adaptive management.

 

Activity Management:

 • Work with field teams to troubleshoot logistic challenges such as road closures blocking access to areas of implementation, border bottlenecks, and a dynamic security situation.

 • Lead in the development of all project deliverables, including the annual workplan, quarterly and annual reports, the MEL plan, etc., in close coordination with relevant internal teams and the PQL division at HQ. A large component of this project is social analysis. The PD will be required to work closely with MEL team to ensure the learning component of the program is well designed and implemented.

. • Responsible for ensuring that the project is implementing high quality programming in compliance with relevant operational and technical standards and guidelines.

 • Support in the annual proposal development, close-out, and start-up cycle of this annually renewable project.

 

Project Personnel Management:

 • Establish an emotionally and psychologically safe work environment where staff feel confident raising mistakes to promote learning.

• Approach staff with humility to build effective relationships that lead to trust and openness.

 • Mentor direct-report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting performance objectives, establishing a supportive environment while emphasizing accountability, providing regular and timely constructive performance feedback, and leading documented semi-annual performance reviews.

 • Collaboratively define the roles and responsibilities of MEL and technical field teams with the MEL manager and technical leads in Erbil and Directors at HQ.

• Promote staff capacity building and team building initiatives to support with staff professional and team-based growth.

 

Project Earned-Value Management:

• Develop a project work plan, and use the work plan to identify programmatic bottlenecks, risks, and issues and formulate innovative solutions through coordination with the appropriate field and HQ teams.

 • Work with the DFA to ensure effective financial management of programs, close monitoring of the monthly burn rate, and minimize over- and under-spend in the execution of programs.

 • Conduct regular analyses of project spend versus project achievement, to ensure the budget stays aligned with project targets.

 • In close coordination with the M&E and programs team, collect data to inform program decision making leading to regular adjustments in implementation to continue to achieve project targets in the ever-changing context of NES.

 

Administrative Management and Compliance:

• Work in close coordination with the Finance staff in Erbil to ensure effective financial management of the project, including accurate accounting of all expenses, close tracking of project expenses against the budget, tracking of budgetary commitments to avoid unexpected invoice submissions, and regular tracking of accounts payable and accounts receivable.

 • Work in close coordination with the supply chain team in Erbil to ensure all procurement and logistics management is conducted in coordination with donor rules and regulations and Blumont standard operating procedures. This includes developing systems for the receipt of goods in Syria to confirm compliance with procurement documents.

 • Work in close coordination with the HR team in Erbil to support human resource management for all project staff.

 

Coordination with Stakeholders:
 

• Interface with European donors’ representatives and represent Blumont in a professional manner before the donor.

 • Work closely with the WASH, Protection, Food Security & Livelihoods and Camp Coordination and Camp Management Clusters, relevant Working Groups, NES Forum actors

• Actively engage with local authorities and key stakeholders in Syria, including regarding staff protection and community acceptance

 • Effectively coordinate communication between the project team, Country Director, Iraq-based administrative and finance teams (including procurement, HR, and finance), and PQL support team

• Closely coordinate all aspect of program implementation with the PQL team at HQ, including project managers, technical and M&E support, and support from administrative and financial divisions.

• Closely manage the team and coordinate with other projects in Blumont like BHA, PRM

• Contribute to developing new businesses in NES and Iraq

• Travel to NES up to 60% of the time

EDUCATION:

• Bachelor’s degree in international affairs, humanitarian aid, or relevant field; Masters’s degree preferred;

 

EXPERIENCE and SKILLS

• At least 8-10 years of demonstrated management experience, preferably within international non-governmental organizations;

• At least 8-10 years of prior experience with NGO/INGO in humanitarian aid programming, including 4-5 years in camp coordination and camp management;

• Knowledge of U.S. State Department and other donor policies and procedures preferred;

• Demonstrated success interfacing with donor agencies;

• Prior experience in Middle East is required, Syria experience desirable;

• Fluency in English required; proficiency in Arabic and/or Kurdish preferred.

 

SUCCESS FACTORS:

• Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills;

• Flexibility and ability to work in fluid, ambiguous and rapidly changing circumstances;

• Ability to work under pressure, independently and with minimal supervision;

• Ability to recognize problems and bottleneck and provide innovative solutions; and

• Excellent organizational skills.

 

Commitment:

Every Blumont team member is expected to carry out their duties in accordance with Blumont’s code of business ethics, core values, anti-harassment policy and PSEA policies.

Interested candidates are required to visit Blumont’s career page through www.blumont.org and submit your application no later than 12 November 2024. 

Blumont is an equal-opportunity employer, values diversity in its workforce and continually strives to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates. Due to the large volume of applications we receive, we are unable to respond to all applicants, therefore, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. 

Blumont will review the applications on rolling basis and may close the advertisement before the deadline if the ideal candidate was found. One or more similar/different positions maybe filled in this recruitment activity depending on the applicants’ qualifications.

Blumont’s selection process will include rigorous background checks and all team members will be expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our core values, anti-harassment policy and PSEA policies