Program Director - Syria Food Security
Program Director - Syria Food Security
Blumont
Iraq
The Program Director will ensure the high-quality implementation of a USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA) food security project to provide emergency food assistance to vulnerable communities in North-East Syria in adherence to Blumont and donor programmatic, financial, administrative, and security procedures. The Program Director will work closely with the Senior Program Director (SPD) and the Syria Emergency Food Security Project (SEFSP) team to oversee all operations of the project, including daily transport and appropriate storage of flour; timely and complete delivery of food supplies to several locations; the collection and analysis of data to continually monitor markets and food security; and determining and re-evaluating vulnerability criteria for assistance to recipients based on rapidly changing conditions. The Program Director will work closely with the Monitoring and Evaluation team to develop weekly and quarterly reports, track progress toward project deliverables, identify implementation challenges, and recommend project adjustments based on changing needs. The Program Director will be responsible for coordinating communication between the program team, the SPD, the Country Director, all key HQ stakeholders, and all administrative and support functions based in Erbil, including finance, procurement, supply chain logistics, and HR.
Essential Job Functions:
The SEFSP PD is the strategic lead for the project, and as such s/he plans, oversees, and coordinates all aspects of program implementation with field teams to ensure the objectives of the project are accomplished within the prescribed timeframe and funding parameters. This includes, but is not limited to, monitoring progress toward deliverables, providing necessary reporting and documentation, quality assurance of activities, careful financial and administrative management, and adherence to Blumont policies and procedures and USAID/BHA rules and regulations.
Activity Management:
- Work closely with commodities transporters and other program staff to verify timely and complete delivery of food supplies to target locations.
- Work with field teams and transporters to troubleshoot logistic challenges such as road closures blocking access to areas of implementation, border bottlenecks, and a dynamic security situation;
- Lead in the development of all project deliverables, including the annual workplan, quarterly and annual reports, the M&E plan, etc., in close coordination with relevant internal teams and the PQL division at HQ.
- Assist in the annual proposal development, close-out, and start-up cycle of this annually renewable project.
- Establish Food Emergency Preparedness Plan and serve as emergency team lead when an emergency arises. Support the establishment of a Country Emergency Team capable of responding, assessing and fundraising for emergency response.
Project Personnel Management:
- Establish an emotionally safe work environment where staff feel confident raising mistakes to promote learning.
- Approach staff with humility to build effective relationships that lead to trust and openness.
- Mentor direct-report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting performance objectives, establishing a supportive environment while emphasizing accountability, providing regular and timely constructive performance feedback, and leading documented semi-annual performance reviews
- Collaboratively define the roles and responsibilities of M&E field teams with the M&E manager in Erbil and Director at HQ.
Project Earned-Value Management:
- Develop a project work plan, and use the work plan to identify programmatic bottlenecks, risks, and issues and formulate innovative solutions through coordination with the appropriate field and HQ teams.
- Work with the SPD to ensure effective financial management of programs, close monitoring of the monthly burn rate, and minimize over- and under-spend in the execution of programs.
- Conduct regular analyses of project spend versus project achievement, to ensure the budget stays aligned with project targets.
- In close coordination with the M&E and programs team, collect data to inform program decision making leading to regular adjustments in implementation to continue to achieve project targets in the ever-changing context of NES.
Administrative Management and Compliance:
- Work in close coordination with the Finance staff in Erbil to ensure effective financial management of the project, including accurate accounting of all expenses, close tracking of project expenses against the budget, tracking of budgetary commitments to avoid unexpected invoice submissions, and regular tracking of accounts payable and accounts receivable.
- Work in close coordination with the supply chain team in Erbil to ensure all procurement and logistics management is conducted in coordination with donor rules and regulations and Blumont standard operating procedures. This includes developing systems for the receipt of goods in Syria to confirm compliance with procurement documents.
- Work in close coordination with the HR team in Erbil to support human resource management for all project staff.
Coordination with Stakeholders:
- Work closely with the Food Security Cluster, relevant Working Groups, NES Forum actors and other USAID funded food security programs to ensure coordination and avoid duplication of activities.
- Actively engage with local authorities and key stakeholders in Syria, including regarding staff protection and community acceptance.
- Interface with USG donor representatives and represent Blumont in a professional manner before the donor.
- Effectively coordinate communication between the project team and the SPD, Country Director, Iraq-based administrative and finance teams (including procurement, HR, and finance).
- Closely coordinate all aspect of program implementation with the Program Quality and Learning team at HQ, including both project managers, technical support, and support from administrative and financial divisions.
Required Qualities, Skills & Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in international affairs, economics, agriculture, or relevant field; Master’s degree preferred;
- At least 8-10 years of demonstrated management skills, preferably within international non-governmental organizations;
- At least 8-10 years of prior experience with NGO work; emergency food programming preferred;
- Demonstrated success interfacing with donor agencies;
- Experience with USAID/FFP (now BHA) emergency food security guidelines preferred;
- Prior experience in Middle East is required, Syria experience desirable;
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office Word, Excel and Outlook; and
- Fluency in English required; proficiency in Arabic preferred.
Success Factors:
- Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills;
- Flexibility and ability to work in fluid, ambiguous, and rapidly changing circumstances;
- Ability to work under pressure, independently and with minimal supervision;
- Ability to recognize problems and bottleneck and provide innovative solutions; and
- Excellent organizational skills;
Travel Requirements:
- Northeast Syria or Erbil-based position, with frequent field (50-60%) visits to Syria-based offices.
Physical Requirements:
Personnel who travel for Blumont must be physically able: (i) to function for extended periods of time wearing personal protective body armor weighing approximately 35 pounds and a helmet weighing approximately 5 pounds; (ii) to walk comfortably over rough terrain; and (iii) to ascend up to six flights of stairs on a daily basis. Candidates will be required to provide medical certification to Blumont’s satisfaction of the absence of any conditions that might impair a candidate's ability to meet these requirements.
