Regional Programme Operations Advisor – Middle East, North Africa & Eastern Europe (MEENAEE)

Regional Programme Operations Advisor – Middle East, North Africa & Eastern Europe (MEENAEE)

The Opportunity

In the MENAEE Region, Save the Children currently operates a significant portfolio of development and humanitarian programmes across the region. It has a workforce of over 2,000 staff and annual expenditure for 2022 is expected to be in excess of $330 million. A large portion of these programmes consist of responses to large humanitarian emergencies (Yemen, Ukraine and Syria). We also work in countries with both longer-term development programmes and chronic humanitarian situations (Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq) as well as regular, smaller emergencies (Bosnia Herzegovina, Greece, and the refugee and migration influx into Turkey and Europe).

The Regional Programme Operations Team includes the Regional Humanitarian Team, Regional Supply Chain Team, Regional Awards Team and Regional Civil Society and Partnerships team and exists to support Country Offices (COs) and humanitarian responses in the Middle East and Eastern Europe (MENAEE) region; working with CO Senior Management Teams and the MENAEE Regional Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to ensure our work for children is delivered on time, on budget with compliance and to a high level of quality. The broader team under the leadership of the Regional Programme Operations Director oversee a variety of processes and procedures (many mandatory within Save the Children) including in relation to humanitarian response, effective supply chain planning and support, awards management and donor compliance, on time programme delivery and risk management, and, civil society strengthening, partnerships and localization.

The MENEAEE Regional Programme Operations Advisor exists to serve the full spectrum of MENAEE COs. Their role is to ensure COs have robust operational platforms and ways of working in place that enable quality and compliant programme delivery that is adaptive and fit for their given context. This will be achieved through a combination of applying expertise to give hands-on and tailored support to COs, alongside overseeing the adoption and roll out of a new suite of global Project Management tools. In addition, this role will also serve as the primary RO focal point for core business processes including risk management/escalation, financial sustainability and structure reviews and engagement with the Centre Legal Team. The role will be expected to coordinate closely with the two Humanitarian Operations Advisors in the team.

Across all of this, the purpose of the wider team is to enable the MENAEE RO to actively capture learning and best-practice between countries and in the MENAEE region and beyond and to share this with country offices and other regions as required. This requires engagement in regional and global fora, as well as external representation with UN agencies and other INGOs.

In order to be successful you will bring/have:

• A postgraduate degree in an appropriate technical field or relevant practical experience.
• A professional qualification or training in Project Management is desirable
• Substantial field experience in the humanitarian aid and development sector, working in a senior project management, operations or compliance role, preferably in at least 2 different contexts;
• Strong understanding of humanitarian context and application of humanitarian principles;
• Practical experience of implementing risk management processes and effective mitigation measures;
• Practical experience of leading and/or supporting organisational change processes
• Strong interpersonal skills to develop and maintain collaborative relations at all levels of management / leadership, must be capable of summarising and communicating complex information and data
• Effective leadership skills to support the Country and Regional senior management teams.
• In depth understanding of how to operate safely and securely in humanitarian response
• Skills to manage and operate in a pressured and changing environment
• Excellent English language skills, and Arabic language preferred (but not essential)
• Ability to be flexible and to travel around the region, as and when necessary (up to 50% travel)

We offer a competitive package in the context of the sector. This role is offered on the basis of national terms and conditions only.

A copy of the full role profile can be found at Regional Programme Operations Advisor – MEENAEE

The Organisation

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realise the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

Application Information:

Interested candidates are requested to apply through the following link: Regional Programme Operations Advisor – MEENAEE

Save the Children is a global humanitarian organization committed to diversity and inclusion, working towards empowering and protecting children worldwide and in the countries where it operates. Save the Children highly encourages and welcomes receiving applications from qualified candidates regardless of their diverse gender, orientation, disability, marital status, race, colour, ethnic origins, religion and beliefs. Save the Children has a global policy on anti-harassment as well as zero tolerance for discrimination, bullying, sexual exploitation and abuse. All applications will be looked at and treated with the strictest confidentiality and transparency regardless of the diversity of candidates.

Please note that only applications received through the above link will be accepted and applications received by emails will not be considered.

Save the Children does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process.

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

All employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our global anti-harassment policy.