COOPI - Cooperazione Internazionale Vacancy: Head of Mission, Sierra Leone

COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale is a secular and independent Italian nongovernmental organization (NGO) that was founded in 1965. It is currently present in 23 countries across Africa, Latin America and Middle East, where it carries out 200 emergency and development projects and 28 child sponsorship projects. COOPI devotes 94% of the funds it raises to the fight against poverty and the promotion of human rights. Its major donors are and have been the European Commission (of which it is one of the main European partners), the World Food Program, UNICEF, the World Bank, USAID, UKAID, Irish AID, the Norwegian Embassy, DFID, ECHO, The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNHCR, UNHABITAT, WHO and FAO. COOPI also receives support from public bodies, foundations, enterprises, private citizens (over 20,000) and volunteers. Thanks to the professionalism and the commitment of 129 humanitarian collaborators and more than 4,500 local collaborators, in 2015 COOPI reaches 5 million beneficiaries.

COOPI — Cooperazione Internazionale has been working in Sierra Leone since 1971. COOPI is currently implementing several projects in Sierra Leone mainly in the areas of Food security and value chain, Energy facilities and Child protection.

Summary of Position
The Head of Mission manages the overall program in Sierra Leone from a programmatic and operational perspective, as well as leading on fundraising and donor relations. He/she leads the Leadership and Management Team (comprised of key senior staff) and leads the team in ongoing improvements. This position reports to the Area Manager at the HQ. The position is located in Freetown, with substantial travel to field operational areas (Bombali, Port Loko and Kambia).

Responsibilities

• Institutional relations: He/she manages relations with the main institutional donors and with potential ones. He/she represents COOPI in the country/area by engaging in relations with institutions, NGOs, local and international organizations and partners. He/she also is responsible of the organization’s reputation in the country. 
• Strategy and planning: He/she verifies and proposes to the Area Manager the intervention priorities to consolidate the organization’s opportunity to be more involved in the country. He/she contributes to the definition of the Country Strategy and proposes the country planning (projects and coordination).
• Projects’ management and writing: He/she coordinates and directly monitors projects, guaranteeing the correct implementation in conformity with the contractual obligations and donors’ procedures, and in line with COOPI’s procedures and management standards. He/she coordinates the elaboration, writing and documents’ preparation for presenting new projects, referring to the Area Manager and the headquarters support offices. He/she is responsible for the preparation of projects reports and all the monitoring documents requested by the central headquarters. He/she ensures the transmission of all official and administrative project documents to the central headquarters. 
• Country office management: He/she is responsible for all different aspects related to the country office management: economic and financial situation, local regulations, office organization charts, logistics, local and expatriate personnel management, in conformity with the organization’s guidelines. He/she guarantees the respect of the country’s legislation and administrative regulation.
• Staff management: He/she is responsible for the local staff management. He/she participates and supports the Area Manager and the Human Resources office in the selection of the expatriate staff. He/she coordinates and monitors the country’s expatriate staff management. 
• Safety: He/she is responsible for the expatriate staff security, for the correct implementation and respect of the general security rules. 
• Economic and financial management: He/she is responsible for the country’s economic result. He/she supervises the financial management and ensures – through the administrative function – that all financial reporting deadlines and donor/COOPI’s procedures are respected. He/she participates to the projects/coordination budget preparation. He/she has the signature for all COOPI’s bank accounts in the country. 
• Visibility: He/she cooperates with the Communication and Fund-Raising office for all communication, awareness and fund raising activities implemented in and for the country.

Profile:

• Advanced degree in International Education, International Development or a related field or equivalent work. 
• Previous minimum 3-year experience in a similar position, with a track record of success and results achieved; 
• Previous experience with an international humanitarian NGO is an advantage; 
• Desirable experience of working on EU and UN (UNDP, WFP, UNICEF) funded projects; — Strong and demonstrated experience in project design, monitoring and evaluation, and data collection and analysis is required. 
• Desirable experience of working in both development and emergency situations;
• Strong analytical and practical problem-solving skills; 
• Strong supervisory abilities, and demonstrated capacity of teamwork and of coordination with the relevant actors;
• Very good inter-personal and writing communication skills; 
• Ability to organize work efficiently and deliver assignments in a timely manner often under time constraints;
• Proficiency in written and spoken English; 
• Computer literacy, with high proficiency in the use of standard office software applications (e.g. Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint); 
• Valid driving license.

Starting date: May 2016
Duty station: Freetown

Area of intervention: Western Area, Kambia, Port Loko, Bombali and Kono Districts
Qualified applicants are requested to submit their curriculum vitae, motivation letter and 2 references.

APPLY ONLINE HERE

Closing Date: 30 Apr 2016

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