Country: Bangladesh
Closing date: 15 Dec 2016
Posted on: 24/10/2016
Desired start date: 15/01/2017
Duration of the mission: 12 months
Location: Dhaka with field visits
About the mission
SOLIDARITES INTERNATIONAL (SI) opened its mission in Bangladesh at the end of 2007, following cyclone SIDR.
SI’s intervention and strategy in Bangladesh is to address primary needs of crisis affected people in terms of food security, livelihood, disaster risk reduction (DRR), water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH) and shelter, by making use of an integrated disaster risk reduction approach and by taking into account the effects of climate change, whilst working in parallel on mid-long term resilience strategies.
The frequency and impact of natural disasters, as well as the exposure of the country to climate change justifies the involvement of SI in Bangladesh, from a humanitarian point of view. The organization provides emergency response in the wake of natural disasters (cyclones, storms, floods, landslides) and slow onset disaster (waterlogging) in the South-West (Sathkira district) and humanitarian assistance to the communities in the South-East (Cox’s Bazar district) where a significant number of ethnic and religious minorities (especially Rohingya people) also residing amongst local communities, pressuring the natural resources as a result of the rapid population growth.
SI supports displaced people and affected communities immediately after a disaster through the distribution of various kits, cash for work, emergency access to safe drinking water) and in the early recovery phase by livelihood activities, reconstruction of dwellings, etc. The programs of SI teaches the communities how to become more resilient towards future hazard events this includes how to evacuate people and possessions as soon as possible, how to protect villages and fields by building small-scale infrastructures (dykes, causeways), and how to incorporate adaptive coping strategies for farmers by establishing agricultural practices and livelihoods that are less vulnerable to natural disasters.
Organization of the mission
SI in 2016 is currently implementing three projects in different areas of intervention:
- In Satkhira District: a resilience livelihood and DRR program (ECHO funding) and a WASH pilot project (AUD funding) and a WASH program (ECHO and BPRM funding)
- In Cox's Bazaar District: WASH and DRR programs (ECHO and BPRM funding).
The projects amount is 2, 2 million euros and implemented by a team of 88 national employees and 4 expatriate employees.
About the job
The administrative coordinator will direct and coordinate all administrative, accounting and financial services associated with the mission.
He/she will take part in defining Solidarités International’s human resources policy, and ensure that it is followed.
As coordinator, he is responsible for the mission’s financial balance.
He/she will monitor adherence to Solidarités administrative procedures and donor procedures as well as to the laws of the country in which intervention is taking place.
He/she is the point of reference for the mission, and the link between headquarters and the mission for all administrative matters.
The main challenges for this position are the following ones:
- Despite the limited financial and HR volume of the mission, the requirement from the GoB makes the cash, budget and accountancy management challenging -> Process of FD6 capitalized but some tools remains to be developed, a strong monitoring of reporting to NGOAB is required and the strategic approach regularly updated as per their updated ToRs.
- The Administrative team is quite well sized with the late increase of the set up, but still some skills needs to be developed at manager level (quite junior with more than 1 year at this position) and the Deputy Administrative Coordinator is expected to go for expatriation -> Support for Administrative Managers and back up Deputy Administrative Manager / Balance management between training and delegation
- The position of Administrative Coordinator being merged to Logistics Coordinator for a long time, a lot of process have not been capitalized and or reviewed for a long time ->Revision of HR policies and capitalization - to adapt the policies to the context and capitalization of the ongoing process / Strong prioritization of activities
- The HR set up has known a deep nationalization of managers positions and their renew (important expatriation volume) has led to a certain management crisis -> Capacity building on Management and training policy to build up the role of national managers / denationalization
Specific context of the area in which the expatriate will be working:
Humanitarian context:
There is no constant humanitarian crisis (except in the Southeast with the Rohingya issue) within the country however the frequent natural disasters prevent the development of Bangladesh and increase the vulnerabilities of its population both in urban and rural areas.
Bangladesh has indeed been rated as the country the most vulnerable to natural disaster by the Natural Disaster Risk Index taking into account the human and material impact of natural disasters and their frequency. Bangladesh being the most densely populated country in the world, it increases the impact any crisis might have.
More than 80% of the population lives with less than 2 USD per day, thus the humanitarian situation is still extremely worrying. In addition, corruption is an endemic problem in the country and prevents any efficient governmental policy to be implemented. Situation is therefore not improving and the current government does not seem to put it as a high priority.
Situation of the minorities have improved in the Chittagong Hill Tracks with the pull-out of troops and the further implementation of the peace accord. However the situation of the 200,000 to 500,000 Rohingyas refugees living in the country remains uncertain and the space for humanitarian access seems to decrease as the Government is reluctant to provide or let NGO provide any kind of humanitarian support to this population.
Living condition:
Dhaka is comparable to any big city with a comfortable guest house (intimacy, AC, electricity, water, wifi...) and all services (restaurants, shops, cinema, culture…). The size of the city and the high density with is 18 million inhabitants lead to a challenging environment and a massive traffic jam.
The living conditions in Dhaka have been affected by the last security events in July-16, restricting some movements in the city and the allowed places, challenging the private life.
The 2 SI bases in the field offer as well all the comfort.
Your profile
Qualification:
- Post graduate level Finance (desirable but can be balanced by strong experience specifically in Finance)
Experience:
- At least 3 years of NGO experience with minimum 1 year in strong admin position
- Strong experience in budget management is mandatory
- Strong Human Resource management experience is mandatory
- Extensive experience of administration
- Experience of donor reporting requirements
- Experience of trainings and capacity buildings
- Experience in emergency intervention is an asset
Technical skill and competence:
- Confident and proficient in the use of MS Office, Excel ; HOMERE & SAGA
- Extensive financial report writing skills in English
- Capacity to deal with many different issues, to self- update and learn very quickly from a highly and constantly evolving environment
- A flexible approach to managing and prioritizing a high workload and multiple tasks with tight deadlines is essential
- An ability to analyze information quickly and accurately
- Good problem solving skills in day to day and crisis situations
- Knowledge about project cycle management and monitoring tools
Personal quality:
- Ability to take decisions and work in autonomy is essential;
- As functional manager, the candidate must display diplomatic and smooth leadership skills;
- An understanding of and commitment to SI’s mission and values;
Language:
- Good communication skills, with good written and spoken English
Other:
- Previous experience with SI (highly recommended)
- Previous experience in South Asia (recommended)
We offer
Salaried post: According to experience from 2000 euros gross per month, plus 10% annual leave allowance paid monthly, and a monthly Per Diem of 450 USD.
Social and medical cover: Expatriates benefit from an insurance package which reimburses all healthcare expenses (including medical and surgical expenses, dental care and ophthalmological expenses, repatriation) and a welfare system including war risks. Essential vaccination and antimalarial treatment costs are refunded.
Vacation: During the assignment, a system of alternation between work and time off is implemented at the rate of one break every three months. For a one-year assignment, the expatriate will have a 7-day break during the 3rd and the 9th month (with 500 euros allocated by Solidarités). He or she will also be entitled to go back to his or her home country for a 14-day period after six months spent on the mission (Solidarités will cover travel costs).
During the assignment, the expatriate is entitled to R&R every three months: one week at three and nine months (with a 500 euro allowance) and two weeks at six months (with a plane ticket back home covered by Solidarités).
CONTACT: Anna FRANGI, Recruitment & Follow Up Officer
How to apply:
Application process
Does this description fit you? Please send us your CV and Cover letter in English. CV only applications will not be considered.
NB : The vacancy may close before the deadline. Thank you for your comprehension