Lebanon: Lebanon - Deputy Head of Mission for Programmes

Première Urgence Internationale (PUI) is a non-governmental, non-profit, non-political and non-religious international aid organization. Our teams are committed to supporting civilians’ victims of marginalization and exclusion, or affected by natural disasters, wars and economic collapses, by answering their fundamental needs. Our aim is to provide emergency relief to uprooted people in order to help them recover their dignity and regain self-sufficiency. The association leads in average 190 projects by year in the following sectors of intervention: food security, health, nutrition, construction and rehabilitation of infrastructures, water, sanitation, hygiene and economic recovery. PUI is providing assistance to around 5 million people in 20 countries – in Africa, Asia, Middle East, Eastern Europe and France.

As the Syrian Crisis is in its sixth year, the number of Syrians seeking refuge in other countries has reached an unprecedented scale. Lebanon is the first host country for Syrian refugees with over 1.2 million refugees registered for an overall population of less than 4.5 million. Prior to this crisis, Lebanon was already hosting half a million Palestinian refugees; the pressure on the Lebanese government and local population is very high.

In April 2015, the United Nations Security Council declared that the international community has to help Lebanon in its efforts to host more than 1 million refugees from neighbouring Syria[1]. The Security Council also expressed concern over border violations including the presence of terrorists and violent extremist groups in Lebanese territory[2]. Since the beginning of March 2015, the government of Lebanon, through the General Security Directorate, is enforcing entry regularization among refugees entering from Syria. The Lebanese government has also asked the UNHCR to stop the registration process hence new refugees and new born babies cannot be registered anymore and refugees that arrived after the 5th of January 2015 have been unregistered. This means it is now much harder for Syrians to enter the country, while those residing in Lebanon are also facing difficulties in renewing their residency or having access to humanitarian aid or public facilities. This situation will place an increased economic strain on the families, and in addition to the expected decrease in basic assistance due to low funding levels, an escalation in negative coping mechanisms (such as begging, child labor, child marriages, sexual services for food/accommodation, petty crime, etc.) might be witnessed.

While Palestinian refugees are settled in camps, there are no official camps for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. On a case by case basis, the government may authorize the establishment of formal tented settlements (FTS). However, Syrian refugees are mainly settled in small shelter units (SSU), collective shelters (CS) or informal settlements (IS). The spill over of the Syrian crisis into Lebanon compounded pre-existing vulnerabilities among the Lebanese society. Refugee populations have in many cases settled in areas inhabited by impoverished and vulnerable Lebanese communities further stretching limited or non-existent sources of income and public services at the local level.

As part of our action in Lebanon, we are looking for a Deputy Head of Mission for Programmes.

Under the supervision of the Head of Mission, the Deputy Head of Mission for Programs (DHoMP) is responsible for the implementation of the programs across the different bases ensuring the steering and the development of a pertinent, appropriate and technically sound overall strategy. Working closely with the Technical Coordinators per sector he/she ensures a quality intervention all through the project cycle management. He/She effectively liaises with the support departments to contribute to the financial control for the programs, to the HR program staff management and to the logistic department to guarantee the implementation of the programs. He/She supports the HoM within the technical representation and positioning of PUI in the country.

• Programs: He/She is in charge of the programs implementation, ensuring that programs progress in accordance with PUI charter and complying with internal technical guidelines and contractual procedures. He/ she is responsible for the follow up of programs achievement at mission level. .
• Development/Strategy: He/She leads the needs and gaps analysis, and suggests new operations according to the needs identified in direct coordination with the Field and Technical Coordinators
• Human resources: He/She manages directly the technical coordination team and ensures that the Field Coordinators and Base Programme Coordinators are properly supported by them.
• Representation: By delegation from the Head of Mission, he/she ensures and coordinates PUI’s representation at national level among partners, donors and authorities. He/ she participates in technical forums (Working groups)
• Coordination: He/She ensures the effective interaction between the technical coordination team and the bases. He/She also ensures that the technical coordination department is properly liaising with the support coordinators.
• Logistics, administrative and financial monitoring: He/She is involved in direct collaboration with the technical coordinators in the global oversight of links between programs departments and logistics and administrative departments. He/She guarantees that the implementation of all activities is done while respecting all internal and external logistics and administrative frames.

Training and Experience :

Training :

Project management

Experience :

4 years managing humanitarian projects (among which at least 2 years in coordination position)

Very strong experience in donor project management (formats, guidelines etc.)

Experience in assessing needs

Successful experience in expatriate team management and the management of multisectorial programs

Knowledge of at least two sectors implemented by the mission

Knowledge and aptitudes :

Excellent writing skills

Project management

Team management

Good knowledge of donor’s procedures (BPRM, ECHO, UN agencies etc.)

Qualities of candidate :

Leadership skills and ability to make decisions

Analysis (discernment, pragmatism) and synthesis abilities

Flexibility

Organization, rigor and respect of due dates

Great ability to listen and to negotiate

Good communication skills

Ability to remain calm and level-headed

Able to work in stressful conditions and with many tasks to accomplish at the same moment

Languages :

English required

French and Arabic appreciated

Proposed Terms :

Employed with a Fixed-Term Contract – 6 months

Start date : May 2017

Monthly gross income: from 2 420 up to 2 750 Euros depending on the experience in International Solidarity + 50 Euros per semester seniority with PUI

Cost covered: Round-trip transportation to and from home / mission, visas, vaccines…

Insurance including medical coverage and complementary healthcare, 24/24 assistance and repatriation

Housing in private house compliant with PUI Lebanon mission standard.

Daily living Expenses (« Per diem »)

Break Policy : 5 working days at 3 and 9 months + break allowance

Paid Leaves Policy : 5 weeks of paid leaves per year + return ticket every 6 months

Please look at our job description on our website for further details !

Please send your application (CV and letter of motivation) to Jean-Christophe Ouedraogo, Human Resources Officer for Expatriates at recrutement@premiere-urgence.org with the subject : “DHoM LBN”.