Technical Field Manager, Azerbaijan (Subject to Funding)
The starting salary package for this position is £63,656 GBP per annum / approx. $80,489 USD including all allowances.
About MAG
MAG (Mines Advisory Group) is an international humanitarian organisation based in Manchester, UK, and working in 32 countries. We remove landmines and unexploded ordnance to release safe and productive land for communities, and work to reduce the threat of armed violence by supporting governments to safely manage weapons and ammunition. In 1997, MAG was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for our work campaigning for the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.
About the Azerbaijan programme
In December 2021, MAG established a programme in Azerbaijan funded by the US State Department’s Office for Weapons Removal and Abatement (WRA) and the Canadian government’s Peace and Stabilisation Operations Program. The widespread use of landmines and UXO during conflicts between Azerbaijan and Armenia has created a renewed and urgent need to improve the country’s humanitarian mine action response.
Now funded by the US Dept of State and the EU, the current projects involve MAG working to improve our national partner NGO’s ability to deliver high-quality humanitarian mine action activities to address new and legacy contamination, and in turn make affected regions safer for vulnerable communities and internally displaced people.
MAG Azerbaijan has an office in Baku and an operations base in Tartar, in the Karabakh region.
About the role
Our Technical Field Managers are the core of our work and actively manage and lead our teams of locally recruited staff to safely implement our life saving mine clearance and EOD projects. You must be willing to lead from the front, be responsible for the day-to-day management of our technical teams and be involved in all aspects of MAG’s lifesaving work, including administration, team cashbooks, procurement of equipment, representation of MAG to local communities and government, operational planning and reporting. Capacity building and people management is a core area of this role. You will work in challenging contexts away from home comforts, but the lifesaving impacts the work has on local communities is very real and rewarding. This is a fantastic opportunity to be involved in MAG’s life-saving work on a day-to-day basis.
In Azerbaijan, MAG collaborates with a National Partner Organization (PO) to focus on capacity building, standards development, and training. MAG supports and oversees the daily operations of the PO Multi Task Teams and daily operational activities consist of an integrated clearance approach, including Non-technical survey (NTS), Technical survey (TS), Battle area clearance (BAC), manual mine clearance (MMC), mine clearance utilizing Animal detection systems ADS (Mine detection rats -MDR and mine detection dogs MDD and TSD), supported by mechanical ground preparation, whilst also incorporating Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE).
Please see the Terms of Reference included in the Application Pack for further details on the role.
About you
You must have a recognised and relevant EOD/demining qualification and have extensive experience of managing efficient minefield clearance/EOD operations, ideally in an integrated clearance (manual and mechanical) setting. You will need to have excellent diplomacy and liaison skills to effectively build relationships with our national partners and authorities. You must have excellent people management skills with a proven track record of leading, motivating, and managing a diverse team of people. The successful candidate will also have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to contribute technical knowledge and clearance targets in proposals and reports.
You will also have a proven track record of delivering training and capacity building of locally recruited staff. It is also crucial that you are self-reliant and hold a high level of initiative as you will need to work independently and travel within the country. Fluent written and spoken English language skills are essential. Finally, you must be willing to take on the challenges of working in the developing world and working as part of a flexible and committed team, to save lives in communities that need it most.
Further information and how to apply
For the further information on the role, the application pack and details of how to apply, please visit the MAG website at www.maginternational.org/vacancies-at-MAG by the closing date of 25th August 2024.
MAG will support the successful applicant with any visa or work permit required, including application, administration and costs, however applicants will need to be able to obtain these within a reasonable time period to be considered for the role, due to programme needs.
Please note that as part of MAG’s commitment to safeguarding, this post is subject to background checks before an offer of employment is confirmed. For more information on MAG’s approach to safeguarding here and background checks here. You can also find more information in the candidate information pack, available on our website.
MAG is committed to the principles of diversity, equality and inclusion. If you think you would be suited to one of our roles we would welcome your application regardless of your background. We strive to provide an inclusive and supportive working environment where all employees feel respected and supported in fulfilling their potential. Women are encouraged to apply.