Country: Benin
Closing date: 22 Nov 2015
Working in 50 low- or middle-income countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas, Plan aims to reach as many children as possible, particularly those who are excluded or marginalised with high quality programs that deliver long lasting benefits by increasing its income, working in partnership with others and operating effectively. Our 21 donor organisations around the world raise awareness and provide funding and expertise for our programmes.
The current Country Strategic Plan (CSP) for PLAN International Benin is ongoing for approval for the period of 2016 – 2020. It has a country annual budget turnover of near 10 million Euros, a team of 139, a caseload of 24,395 sponsored children and a large grants portfolio from bilateral and multilateral donors including Global Funds, World Bank, European Union, etc.
The Deputy CD-OP is responsible for leading, managing and developing a team of functional experts, including finance, Human Resources, administration & logistics, ICT, legal and risk management, to support the delivery of quality and integrated programming in line with the organizational standards, frameworks and procedures.
The Deputy CD-OP is managed directly by the Country Director and will at times be required to take on the responsibilities of the Country Director position in their absence
Dimensions of the Role · The Deputy CD-OP is a member of the Core Country Management Team along with other country managers and is expected to contribute to Plan’s understanding and strategic direction in the country. He or she deputises for CD as required and if needed in relation to external stakeholders; · The Deputy CD-OP line manages four support managers in the areas of finance, human resource, administration & logistics, ICT. Finance, HR, Admin and ICT function heads have secondary reporting line to Regional Managers of these functions. · The Deputy CD-OP reports regularly to the CD on the management of all risks associated with programme delivery including budget, people management, legal compliance and security. · The Deputy CD-OP provides technical oversight and support to Programme Units (PU) in managing risks and remaining compliant in the delivery of cost-effective programmes. · The Deputy CD-OP coordinates the preparation, consolidation and analysis of collated country and PUs budgets for submission to the regional office. · The Deputy CD-OP manages the operation support budget of FCFA 1 689 184 745 annually · Upon delegation of the Country Director, the Deputy CD-OP may approve all commitments, contracts, grants, leases, disbursements and transfers to third parties up to €200,000.
Typical Responsibilities - Key End Results of Position
Team development and people management · Staffing: hire, develop and retain qualified people in all positions of the operation support unit and other units as required to support the delivery of effective, efficient and high quality programmes; · Workforce planning: process for strategic analysis of Plan International ambition and attempts to estimate the competencies and skills needed to deliver the Country Programme. Identify areas for action based on this analysis to deal with any imbalances, eg through redundancy, recruitment, training and development, etc. · Team building and maintenance: establish, agree, communicate and monitor standard of performance and behaviours for the operations support unit. Team ToR, objectives, and key performance indicators (KPI’s) are agreed annually, and monitored and updated quarterly · Individual development and performance management: manage and develop the performance of the operations support teams across the country to ensure delivery of quality support and services. This includes agree, monitor and evaluate individual accountability and personal development plans as per Plan’s performance management policy and process.
Strategic planning, reporting and support to programmes delivery · Strategic planning: Contribute to the strategic development and management of the country in line with the Country Strategic Plan (CSP), ensure that operations are an engaged and effective business partner for Programme departments to carry out quality programmes with excellent operational support. · Support to programmes: Oversee the planning and delivery of all general services and logistical requirements of program work in line with established procedures e.g.: procurements, storage, transportation and distribution; · Budgeting: coordinate the preparation, consolidation, analysis and submission of country and PUs budgets to the regional office (RO) as per field budget instructions and guidelines; · Reporting: coordinate the reporting process, in particular quarterly and annual reports, to the RO including timely submission of all required reports and implementation of follow-up actions and recommendations.
Financial resources management · Ensure full project costings, and maximising cost recovery from donors to ensure fully funded interventions; · Review of financial reporting prepared for submission to donors to ensure it is accurate and on time · Support the Country Director in preparation of funding requests and communicating other business plans to the regional office; · Ensure appropriate financial controls processes, procedures and systems are in place; · Ensure finance related audit actions are implemented and alternative actions taken as required to address weaknesses in financial controls and procedures identified in finance and other forms of audit reports · Oversight and development of an excellent and high performing finance team within the country;
Compliance and management of risks · Policies and procedures: ensure that systems and processes are in place to comply with Plan global policies, standards and procedures and legal requirements in the areas of finance, HR, administration & logistics, ICT. · Child Protection: ensure the compliance and coherence of Plan’s Child Protection Policy at all times to safeguard and protect children from all forms of abuse; · Audit and investigation: facilitate internal and external audit missions and ensure audit follow up and action lists are addressed in a timely manner, ensure that the Organisation learns from audits and reviews so as to continuously improve its operations. · Risk Management: Ensure systems and processes are in place to identify and manage risks including developing, updating and submitting countrywide risk register to the RO in line with the Global Risk Management policy, and ensuring that risks are adequately identified, assessed, mitigated and reported on through risk registers at all levels in the country. · Health and Safety: develop and implement health and safety standards in compliance with the host country laws and Plan’s global health and safety policy; · Loss and Incident reporting: report timely and consistently all losses and incidents, including updates, to the International Headquarters (IH) and the RO; · Legal and regulatory: oversees the review of agreements and contracts and ensure compliance with the host country laws and regulation, ensure the interface with the legal advisors, timely report all potential legal cases to legal advisors and to the RO and to IH as relevant;
Procedures, process and applications support · Applications and systems support: oversee the in-country rollout of corporate systems and applications including finance systems (SAP), HR Information System (HRIS) and other corporate applications; · Global and regional policies and procedures: oversee the rollout, including staff training, of global policies and procedures in the country; · In-country policies and procedures: develop and maintain up-to-date financial and administrative systems, policies, procedures and guidelines to support in-country operations and ensure compliance of Plan’s global standards and donor requirements.
Other responsibilities · Liaison with stakeholders: liaise with and communicate with government bodies, donors, United Nations and local and international agencies stakeholders – as required and directed by the Country Director.
Dealing with Problems · Ability to quickly understand and assimilate the complexity of Plan’s business model, systems and procedures, organisational structures and decision-making processes; · Capable to work in a matrix management setup and to work collaboratively with functional leads in the RO i.e. finance, ICT and human resource; · Good understanding of financial and admin systems and standards and be able to propose appropriate solutions to achieve efficiency and effectiveness; · Good understanding of Security/emergency management to ensure staff safety, minimize risks and maintain business continuity; · Ability to provide support to program units and the country office staff to address internal child protection issues and other incidents; · Ability to identify critical and systemic risks and take timely and appropriate actions.
Communications and Working Relationships Internal External · Country Management Team members · Other Deputy CD-OP in the Region · Deputy RD-Operations Support · Functional departments Heads in the RO (ICT, Human Resource, Finance, and Administration) · Global Assurance Manager and Team · Legal Counsel in the International Headquarters. · National and Local authorities especially relevant ministers in the country e.g. labour department, Ministry of Finance etc. · Partners organisations · Other INGO deputies and functional managers principally in the areas of: security, human resources and finance · Legal Advisors in country; · Security Associations and Networks
Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviours required to achieve role’s objectives
Knowledge · Demonstrable knowledge as a result of education, training or practical experience on the key debates in development, particularly around child rights; · Practical knowledge of operations support for development; · Demonstrable knowledge of financial, administrative and business management; · Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), e-mail and the internet; · Strong knowledge of the requirements of donors’ compliance and grants management; · Fluency in English and strong working knowledge of French, spoken and written; · Knowledge of the host country, the geopolitical factors affecting child-poverty in the country as well as the political, social and economic opportunities for development are an advantage.
Leadership Skills and Behaviours demonstrated from experience Striving for high performance: · Achieves clarity and accountability among whole team of their individual and collective objectives; · Organises work clearly and effectively within the team; · Deals with poor performers by either improving their contribution or managing their exit, if appropriate.
Strategic thinking and innovation: · Creates strong strategic direction for own part of organisation in wider Plan context; · Major contributor to direction in the management team of which they are a member; · Flexible in responding to new demands presented in emergency situations.
Decision making and risk management: · Can address complex problems in a balanced way; · Good judgment in decision-making, making best use of available information; · Willing to make difficult or unpopular decisions and stand by them.
Influence and communication: · Uses the potential of varied cultures to reach solutions; · Excellent listener who understands and shows sensitivity to the views of others; · Forms good relationships quickly with wide range of people, including those in positions of power and who have different views/ interests; · Represents Plan effectively with senior people in external stakeholder organisations; · Understands external and internal politics and able to navigate these; · Communicates with clarity and passion both 1-1 and with large groups; · Effective negotiator in complex situations; · Assertive without being aggressive.
Building effective teams and partnerships: · Creates a highly motivated team with a unified purpose; · Modifies own view to get best outcome for organisation; · Contributes effectively to work of other functions/ units and to management team as a whole · Able to build partnerships and improve relationships; · Resolves conflict effectively in own team or across boundaries.
Developing people: · Continuously uses both 1-1 and team situations to develop others; · Organises work to give others development opportunities; · Adapts style to suit the needs of a wide variety of people; · Deals effectively with mistakes and re-motivates those involved.
Self-awareness and resilience: · Aware of own strengths, weaknesses and pro-active in using feedback and self-development · Aware of impact on others and uses impact to create positive climate at work · Aware of own emotional reactions and able to manage them · Manages own workload effectively and manages stress without harm to self or others · Positive about change and able to cope well with ambiguity and support others in doing so
Physical Environment · Based in the country office located in Cotonou with extensive and regular local travel as well as some international travel, · Ability to travel to remote areas, · Current security level for Benin is low
Level of Contact with Children: Low contact: No contact or very low frequency of interaction with children.
Applications will be considered up to 22 November, 2015
PLAN International Benin believes that staff diversity promotes excellence in its operations, and encourages applications from women and developing country professionals.
PLAN International Benin thanks all applicants but only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
To learn more about PLAN International please visit our website at : www.plan-international.org
How to apply:
You can find the job and apply here:
https://career012.successfactors.eu/sfcareer/jobreqcareer?jobId=8321&company=PlanInt&username=
If you have any questions, or difficulties in applying, please contact the recruitment team at Benin.Recrutement@plan-international.org