Country director

Background

Working in 50 developing 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

Each Country Program is led by a Country Director (CD) who must develop strategies at country level that align with Plan’s global vision and purpose within the prevailing context of that country as it impacts on children. The CD is the sole representative and leader of Plan in this country and carries the responsibility for Plan’s reputation there as a legally compliant, effective and responsible organization, unafraid to challenge injustice and discrimination against the poorest and most vulnerable children

Plan Pakistan’s Country Strategic Plan has five key focus areas:

- health
- learning
- livelihood
- child and gender rights
- disaster risk reduction and response

The key challenges for the Pakistan Country Office are to develop and run effective programmes in an increasingly volatile and insecure environment.

Dimensions of Role

- Managing the Country Office Budget. Presently about 80% of total budget spent comes from grants and in the coming FY, grant sponsorship budget ratio will be 70:30.
- Managing Plan’s programmes. Plan currently works with approximately 24,000 sponsored children across Pakistan.
- Managing the grant portfolio and relationships with the key donors Currently, 15 million USD grants are being made available from various donors which includes UNICEF, DFID, EU, framework agreements with NLNO, SNO, UKNO.
- Leadership, management and development of Pakistan team comprising of over 180 staff, direct. Staff reporting directly to the CD are the country management team (5), and other key positions such as internal controller, Flood Relief Unit Manager, etc.
- The post is responsible for all work that takes place for Plan in Pakistan including responsibility for the delivery of work and its representation to government. Key Government offices that oversee Plan’s work in Pakistan include Economic Affairs Division, and the Ministry of Finance. In addition, Plan has MOUs with Provincial Education departments and District Governments. The Country Director is also responsible for managing relationships with the donors and beneficiaries.
- As a member of the Regional Leadership Team, the Country Director of Pakistan is expected to contribute to the overall learning and strategic direction within the Asia region. This includes sharing experience of disaster response and working in a volatile environment.

Typical Responsibilities - Key End Results of Position

The post holder will be responsible for ensuring that:

- Plan’s work will be relevant to the needs of the most vulnerable children in Pakistan
- Country Strategic Planning analysis is ongoing and very well informed using locally and internationally available sources of information.
- Emergency preparedness analysis ensures Plan is ready to respond to predictable emergency conditions.
- The location of programme work is regularly reviewed to ensure new communities are reached when appropriate.
- The programme is registered with the relevant authorities and compliant with local law and MoUs exist with concerned ministries giving due recognition to Plan and its work in Pakistan.
- Country leadership and staff are well aware of the country security situation and programmes are developed and implemented giving due consideration to security sensitivities.
- Plan’s work in Pakistan will be delivered by a cost-effective and efficient team, skilled in their area of expertise and compliant with the expectation Plan has of all staff:
- Creation and management of high performance teams delivering excellent technical work, using child-centred and gender-sensitive approaches in line with Global and Country Strategic Plans.
- Management of individuals across the team to ensure full development of potential through induction, performance management and compliance in all core policy areas.
- Staff numbers and structures will be designed and kept at a level that is cost effective.
- Work environments will be managed to reduce risk from health and safety and security hazards.
- Creation of budgets and disbursement of all resources will be efficient and compliant.
- Plan’s work will be well funded and growing
- Identification and exploitation of funding opportunities in partnership with NOs and in line with agreed strategy.
- Delivery of grant and sponsorship work on time with clear measurable impact on children and in full compliance with donor requirements.
- Plan’s work in Pakistan will be recognised locally and internationally as effective and relevant to the needs of highly vulnerable children
- Representation of the work to all key stakeholders (advisory group, local leaders, workshops, cluster groups, INGOs locally and internationally etc) regularly promotes the issues being addressed and the work addressing them.
- Timely communications work keeps Plan at the forefront of the issues affecting children in Pakistan.
- Contributions to journals debating key elements of Plan’s work.
- Sharing Pakistan’s experience with other countries of the region regarding programming in volatile environments and emergency response in the areas of Child Protection in Emergencies (CPiE) and Education in Emergencies (EiE).
Dealing with Problems
- Complexity of Plan – organisational structures and decision-making.
- Dealing with security/emergency conditions – the Country Director has to be actively involved in having security information and providing clear guidance for the safety and security of staff, assets and programmes.
- Flexibility to support other Country Offices.
- In addition to the Programme Units, Plan Pakistan has national programs which are implemented through the country office and require the Country Director’s guidance for disbursement of funds and delivery of results in accordance with the commitments made.
- Sponsorship requests – this includes finding out new ways of managing sponsorship, retention of sponsors and children.
Communications and Working Relationships

Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviours Required to Achieve Role’s Objectives

Knowledge

- Demonstrable knowledge as a result of study, training or practical experience on the key debates in development and emergency response methods and effectiveness
- Knowledge of Pakistan; the geopolitical factors affecting child-poverty in the country and the political, social and environmental opportunities for change is an advantage
- Knowledge of the requirements of donor compliance and financial management
- Knowledge of programming in volatile environments with good understanding and appreciation of the historical, security context, political environment, economic, social/religious and humanitarian context in Pakistan or a comparable environment

Skills

- Proven skills in the development and management of effective and motivated teams, including distance management
- Effective working with and through partners
- Communications, comfortable with the media, presenting and arguing a case
- Proven analytical skills in isolating priorities and tackling them
- Excellent written skills in English for the development of proposals and the review of reports. Urdu (or Hindi) language skills are an advantage.

Behaviours

- Self motivated leader with the passion for social justice
- Person of strong integrity that is an example to others
- Even tempered and with a sense of humour is highly desirable
- Creativity and innovation
- Motivating and influencing others
- Problem analysis, judgement, handling ambiguity and decision making based on fact and figures
- Commitment to continuous improvement with the overall aim of optimising the quality and impact of Plan’s programmes in Pakistan.

Qualifications and Experience

- Preferably the holder of a post graduate degree in relevant field
- Proven senior management experience in leading the development of and ensuring successful delivery of programme strategy within a humanitarian and/or development context
- Demonstrate experience in areas outlined in Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours as above
- Ability to live and work in a hardship country
- Ability to travel to remote areas

Languages

- Excellent written and spoken English required