Central African Republic: SECC (Secure, Empowered, Connected Communities) Team Leader
Country: Central African Republic
Closing date: 06 Feb 2014
The Organisation
Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is an international non-profit organization that promotes peaceful resolution of conflict. With headquarters in Washington, DC and a European office in Brussels, Belgium, SFCG’s mission is to transform how individuals, organizations, and governments deal with conflict - away from adversarial approaches and toward cooperative solutions. SFCG seeks to help conflicting parties understand their differences and act on their commonalities. With a total of approximately 500 staff worldwide, SFCG implements projects from 39 offices in 26 countries, including in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. The organization is an exciting and rewarding place to work, with dedicated and enthusiastic staffs who love their work. You will be joining a highly motivated staff with a good team spirit and there will be opportunities to grow in the role.
Within Sub-Saharan Africa, SFCG works in sixteen countries: Angola, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Niger, Chad and Zimbabwe. Since 1997, SFCG has developed regional strategies to guide and strengthen national programmes to support achievement of SFCG’s mission. Since the end of 2012 SFCG has been implementing a program in the Central African Republic. In close partnership with Catholic Relief Services, SFCG is executing a large-scale three-year, three-country program to make communities more resilient with respect to the threat of the Lord’s Resistance Army. The program is called “Secure, Empowered, Connected Communities (SECC) Program in Central African Republic and is financed by the American Government. Zemio is in a stable part of the Central African Republic, and security is ensured by Ugandan soldiers.
Summary of Position
The SECC Team Leader will be responsible for managing a consortia project led by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in three countries of the Central African Region (CAR, DRC and South Sudan).
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Search for Common Ground (SFCG), in partnership with Caritas Bangassou, the “SECC team”, will empower target communities to improve their security and alleviate their isolation. The SECC team will deliver custom tailored capacity strengthening and conflict-sensitive program activities to improve intra- and inter-communal social cohesion and enable target communities to develop and implement more effective community led, owned and managed security plans.
SFCG’s role in the consortium is to stimulate communities to participate in reintegration of trauma survivors, including LRA victims and abductees. Also, SFCG will use community radio programming as a channel for community expression, information-sharing and improving social cohesion. Drawing on its experience in Chad, RoSS and DRC, SFCG and its local partner, ARC, is supporting the establishment of community-led FM radio stations in Zemio and Rafai.
Responsibilities
The main responsibilities of the SECC Team Leader will be to ensure that SFCG undertakes its obligations within the project in time and within budget.
Organizational Development and Implementation
• Help establish an office in Zémio and an antenna in Bangui to serve for the operational base of the project
• Build partnerships with key partners in the project consortium and staff members, and manage the various partnerships which are central to the project
• Ensure the work-planning with the action team, implementation and reporting of the activities in respect of the project to support the project strategic objectives
• Build an appropriate strategy for the rollout of the project
• Establish good working relations with relevant stakeholders for the effective implementation of the project including government and non-governmental level
• Develop and maintain proactive, positive, and professional relationships with partner organizations, other NGOs, donors, clients, politicians, key government officials, civil society groups, working on similar or complementary issues in the region
• Keep an overview on the administrative and financial systems for the execution of the project with effective supervision of the focal Points
• Maintain regular written and oral reporting to the Country Director of CAR on key program, security and staff issues
Administration
• Establishing and managing an operational office in Zemio from which the project is implemented ensuring compliance with local laws and organizational policies and procedures, including the management and evaluation of staffs under his/her supervision
• Ensure the implementation of SECC project on-time and within budget
• Ensure compliance with SFCG Operations Manual policies and procedures
• Oversee the management of the project funds, timely reporting and compliance with contract and donor guidelines
• Establishing and monitoring a system of checks and balances to ensure the program is meeting its targets and delivering the requirements as well as capturing the learning locally at each stage
As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key duties.
Minimum Qualifications
• Post graduate degree in social sciences or related field
• At least three (3) to five (5) years of experience in peace-building, development and/or related fields, including democracy and governance issues such as civil society strengthening
• Proven ability to negotiate multiple relationships with various partners
• Demonstrated people and process management skills
• Dynamic leader with creative problem-solving skills, particularly in challenging situations
• Knowledge of major donor rules and regulation
• Excellent interpersonal and networking skills, as well as the ability to build and conduct effective professional working relationships at all levels, both internally and externally
• Spoken and written fluency in English and French
• Strong oral and written communications skills
• Cultural sensitivity and adaptability
• Entrepreneurial spirit
• Experience with creative conflict resolution practice
Salary: Commensurate with experience and education, with excellent benefits
How to apply:
Please send a cover letter and resume to employment@sfcg.org or fax to +1 (202) 232-6718 with the subject heading: SECC Team Leader. Please be sure to include minimum salary requirements (in currency figures) or current salary, projected start date (starting ASAP), and to mention where you found this posting. No phone calls please. Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. Please see our web site www.sfcg.org for full details of our work.
