Economic Recovery Programme Manager

Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a leading protection agency with a mandate to protect, advocate and promote durable solutions for displacement affected populations.

DRC has been operating in Ukraine since 2014, currently DRC employs over 700 staff in Ukraine and will continue significant scale-up in 2024 to implement emergency response in the Protection, Livelihoods, Shelter/NFIs and Humanitarian Disarmament and Peacebuilding (humanitarian mine action) sectors, using direct interventions, support to duty bearers and civil society organizations (CSOs), and partnerships with CSOs. DRC will continue and adapt its durable solutions portfolio to the evolving context.

DRC is currently looking for a highly qualified Economic Recovery Programme Manager for its Economic Recovery activities in Kharkiv Oblast, with occasional travel to Donetsk Oblast (GCA). This position is open for national and international candidates.

Overall purpose of the role:

Under the management of the Area Programme Manager, the Economic Recovery Programme Manager will oversee the implementation of Economic Recovery activities in DRC’s Area East office, including assistance for rural livelihoods, financial assistance and coaching to MSMEs, as well as provision of vocational training and job matching. He/She will be responsible for managing, supervising, and providing technical guidance and support for the Economic Recovery team. He/she will be responsible for the planning and follow-up of Economic Recovery activities, including coordinating with other departments in DRC. He/she will participate in coordination meetings and represent DRC in relevant forums. He/she will be based in DRC’s Kharkiv office, with field activities in Kharkiv and Donetsk (GCA) oblasts. The Economic Recovery Programme Manager is line managed by the Area Programme Manager and technically supervised at country level by the DRC Economic Recovery Coordinator.

Your main responsibilities will be:

Programme management:

• Project management and implementation for all economic recovery activities in Area East, in line with DRC’s project cycle management standards.
• Coordinate, plan, and monitor all economic recovery related project activities ncluding but not limited to assistance for rural livelihoods, financial assistance and coaching to MSMEs, and provision of vocational training and job matching.
• Liaise and coordinate with DRC partner organizations implementing Economic Recovery projects.
• Ensure the highest quality of the sectoral interventions, and the cohesion between projects, ongoing and proposed, according to the overall strategy.
• Take leadership of programming around high quality and timely delivery of progress reporting, in synergy with other DRC interventions in the area.
• Formalize and develop project-related operational tools and training modules as required by the projects.
• Provide overall budget monitoring, financial management and expense control for program activities, including compliance with minimum DRC and donor requirements.

Accountability and reporting

• Oversee knowledge sharing across teams and ensure that MEAL results are understood and used to improve project and programme implementation.
• Provide inputs for monthly, quarterly, and annual donor reports.
• In line with DRC guidelines, monitor and recommend relevant accountability initiatives in projects and strengthen efforts to document the impact of activities.
• Ensure compliance with internal and external reporting requirements including procurement.

Program development and strategy

• Use MEAL insights to recommend and develop evidence-based projects
• Drive the development and growth of economic recovery projects within DRC strategic objectives by contributing to concept notes and proposals.
• Meaningfully contribute to area-level and country-wide strategy development.

People Management.

• Recruit and line manage Economic Recovery staff.
• Provide regular constructive feedback to direct reports and support direct reports in performance management of their team members.
• Assess training and development needs within the Economic Recovery team, develop and implement capacity-building plans.

Coordination and Representation:

• Ensure positive working relations and coordination with relevant economic recovery actors in intervention areas, and UN agencies such as UNDP and FAO.
• Cooperate with donors, Government counterparts, and other stakeholders.
• Represent DRC and actively participate in relevant sectoral and sub sectors and working groups to represent DRC as a leading Economic Recovery actor in operation areas.

As Manager, the post-holder is responsible for the following:

• Accountable for achieving DRC’s strategic goals and objectives within the area of responsibility.
• Accountable for making significant decisions on what the unit does: its purpose, functions, and role, and for making commitments and decisions that require the expenditure of significant unit resources.
• Accountable for people management of direct reports, generally at least 3 employees. This includes hiring & firing, objective setting, probation, performance appraisal, development of staff, managing performance, including poor performance.
• Accountable for making sound decisions based on DRC policies, MOPs, standards, and the advice of technical experts in DRC.
• Accountable for promoting safeguarding, Code of Conduct, and Safety operational compliance in own behavior and that of teams.

About you

To be successful in this role we expect you to have at least 3-5 years of proven experience in implementing Economic Recovery or Livelihoods projects (Previous experience managing cash programming is required) and at least 2 years experience in people management. Moreover, we also expect the following:

• Proven experience in complex emergency and recovery contexts.
• Proficiency in English is compulsory. Fluency in Ukrainian or Russian is an asset.
• Excellent reporting skills
• Experience in carrying out humanitarian interventions through and in coordination with implementing and local partner organizations is an asset.
• Excellent writing and editing skills for external audiences (including governments and donors).
• Experience in producing high-quality technical material (training material, program tools, proposals, strategic documents, etc.).
• Experience in working with Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning.
• Degree in Business, Economics, Agriculture, Social Science, Humanities or other related field.

In this position, you are expected to demonstrate DRC’ five core competencies:

• Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process.
• Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback.
• Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.
• Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly.
• Demonstrating integrity: You uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation to our values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

We offer

• Contract length: One-year contract with a 3-months probation period
• Band: F2 management
• Duty Station: Kharkiv, non-family duty station
• Start date: ASAP (preferably no later than September 2024)

Salary and conditions will be in accordance with Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment.

Application process

All applicants must upload a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages) in English.

Applications sent by email will not be considered.

Closing date for applications: 10 July 2024.

Please note that DRC will screen applications as they are presented, the recruitment process will be done on the rolling basis, and suitable candidates can be interviewed and hired before the vacancy closure.

For further information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult our website drc.ngo.

Founded in 1956, DRC Danish Refugee Council is Denmark’s largest, and a leading international NGO. We have continuously been ranked as one of the best NGOs in the world - and are one of the few with a specific expertise in forced displacement. In over 40 countries, we protect, advocate and build sustainable futures for refugees and other displacement-affected people and communities.

By working in DRC, you will be joining a global workforce of around 8000 employees. We pride ourselves on our:

• Professionalism, impact & expertise
• Humanitarian approach & the work we do
• Purpose, meaningfulness & own contribution
• Culture, values & strong leadership
• Fair compensation & continuous development

DRC’s capacity to ensure the protection of and assistance to refugees, IDP’s and other persons of concern depends on the ability of our staff to uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation DRC’s values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. DRC conducts thorough and comprehensive background checks as part of the recruitment process.

Danish Refugee Council is an equal opportunity employer and we consider all applicants regardless of race, age, ability, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or marital status. We have a strong ambition to further enhance the diversity of our workforce and our goal is to achieve 50% gender balance and at least 50% representation of national staff in management roles. We acknowledge the importance of fostering a diverse and inclusive team to successfully achieve our organizational goals and positively impact the communities we serve.