Country: India
Closing date: 31 Mar 2018
1. GENERAL BACKGROUND
• Job Title: Country Representative
• Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Line Manager: Asia Area Manager (based in Paris)
• Line Report(s): Project-Partnerships Managers, Admin and finance officer, Consultants
• Status: 2-year French contract
Asmae is a French international solidarity NGO specialized in child development. Independent, non-religious and non-political, it is open to everyone.
Created in 1980 by Sister Emmanuelle following her experience with scavengers in Egypt’s slums, Asmae keeps on respecting its founder’s values and methods: listening and proximity, pragmatism, respect of the differences, professionalism and reciprocity.
Asmae’s action aims to support vulnerable children and their families through providing tailor-made and long lasting support to local stakeholders working on child education and protection.
Its vision, “A fair world which guarantees that children can live and grow with dignity within their environment, to become free women and men who contribute to society”, is broken down into four missions:
o Stimulate child development through a global approach. To do this, Asmae also works on family support by taking their environment into account;
o Build the capacity of local stakeholders involved in child development, boost cooperation amongst them and maximize their social impact;
o Stand up for children by raising awareness and advocating;
o Experiment, disseminate and share practices.
Nowadays Asmae supports education and protection projects through 59 local organizations in Burkina-Faso, Egypt, France, India, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mali and Philippines. Furthermore, in France, Asmae also directly manages a mother and childcare center.
2. Asmae in India Background
Asmae has been working in India since 1996. Since 2015, Asmae is represented by a Country Representative, Admin/Finance Officer and two Project-Partnership Managers who are respectively in charge of the monitoring and development of programs in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Asmae works with 8 local partners, mostly on prevention of school drop-out and underperformance, early childhood care and protection and prevention and care of children at risk.
3. MISSION
Under the supervision of HQ Asia Manager, the Country Representative represents Asmae in-country (towards relevant authorities, in different networks, etc.) and contributes to the development and implementation of the intervention strategy that s/he leads in coordination with the operational team under her/his supervision. S/he helps developing and implementing public and private fundraising strategies in relation with the strategy of the Headquarters. The Country Representative leads the team / organizes the work and supervises all activities related to Asmae operations in-country, as per established regulations. S/he ensures the compliance with Asmae security regulations protecting people and property. The Country Representative oversees Asmae external visibility and advocacy activities
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4. RESPONSIBILITIES
4.1. Helps establish country operational strategy and oversees implementation:
• Ensures monitoring of development issues and geopolitical challenges in countries where Asmae operates
• Works with teams to identify and propose geographic focus and operational areas in order to develop Asmae operations within the country
• Ensures compliance with strategic orientation developed in collaboration with Program Managers and approved by Headquarters
• Oversees preparation of strategic and operational plans (analysis of national context, strategy to support partners within operational areas, budget forecasts, annual action plans), consistent with orientations established by Headquarters
• Supervises monitoring and evaluation of the operational strategy within the country
• Ensures the relevance, quality, and consistency of projects within the country, and proposes strategic reorientations when necessary
• Ensures that Asmae fulfills the contractual commitments it has made to donors – when applicable
4.2 Implements public and private fundraising strategy within the country:
• Helps establish fundraising strategy for the country, as per the in-country legal framework
• Monitors and analyzes donor strategies for the country
• Ensures institutional or private fundraising activities in relation with HQ, as per the in-country legal framework
• Coordinates the development of proposals for institutional donors in relation with Headquarters
• Supervises all activities of proposal development as well as monitoring-reporting-evaluation (internal and external) related to projects funded by institutional or private donors. Ensures that these activities are consistent with Asmae’s operational framework and methodology and that they comply with donor requirements.
4.3. Human resource management:
• Helps establish and/or implement HR policies within the country, consistent with the national regulatory framework and ensuring compliance with national regulations
• Ensures the inclusion of collaborators and develops team cohesion
• Recruits collaborators within countries and integrates them into operations
4.4 Oversight of safety and security measures:
• Ensures monitoring and analysis of the security context, and ensures that field teams fully understand this context
• Ensures that all new staff members receive a security briefing and that all international staff members are debriefed before leaving
• Ensures the implementation of security procedures and regulations and their compliance by field teams
• Responds to security incidents, following the Security Plan
4.5. Budget, financial, and administrative management:
• Prepares the Country Budget and supervises financial project monitoring, consistent with the operational strategy and internal procedures
• Supervises the preparation and proper conduct of financial audits involving Asmae and/or its partners, in coordination with HQ Administrative and Financial Department
• Supervises the financial monitoring of partners
• Supervises the enforcement of internal administrative and accounting regulations established by donors, Asmae teams, and local partners, consistent with the national regulatory, fiscal, and social framework
• Oversees the implementation of administrative and legal procedures required by national authorities
4.6. Facilitating internal and external relations
• Serves as the Asmae representative for registration with the local authorities and registration renewal
• Develops relationships and communications with institutional stakeholders (ministries, agencies, international organizations) and organizations (national and international NGOs) as well as potential donors. Develops relationships and communications with key stakeholders involved in education and child protection.
• Ensures the implementation and/or supervision of actions to facilitate external communications
• Supervises preparation for field visits by collaborators from Headquarters, donors, Asmae partners, and institutional stakeholders
• Helps implement the intra-organizational activities of HQ Program department
5. PROFILE
Education / Experience
• Master Degree in International Relations, Cooperation, Development, Humanitarian Aid or equivalent
• 7-10 years of experience overall
• 3-5 years of experience in project management
• Team Management in a multidisciplinary, multicultural context as well as remotely (part of the team being based on a different site)
• Experience in Education or Child Protection
• Experience of Security Management
• Experience collaborating with / building the capacities of local partners
• Knowledge of the Indian context is an asset
Professional skills required
• Capacity to elaborate a country intervention strategy
• Donor Rules and Regulations working knowledge (French Development Agency, EU, USAID, UN Agencies, bilateral cooperations)
• Pack office Management
• Fluent in English (Minimum level of B2 according to the Common European Framework Reference for Languages or a minimum TOEIC score of 785)
• Excellent writing and synthesis skills
Personal skills
• Excellent in building relationship and representation
• Sense of analysis and a creative force
• Adaptability and flexibility
• Strong autonomy and team work oriented
• Stress resistant
6. GENERAL INFORMATION
Place of work: Chennai, India with regular field visits to districts within Chennai and Maharashtra and possibly to Delhi
Status: French Expatriate fixed term contract
Contract duration: 2 years
Salary: 20 000 – 21 600 € net/year, according to experience, paid in 12 installments.
Benefits: Per diem : basis of 50 € - 100 net/day (varies upon family situation), health insurance, death and disability insurance, annual leave flight (including for dependents)
Others: flight at the beginning and end of mission, professional expenses reimbursed (transportation, communication, visa…)
Starting date: January 2018
How to apply:
Candidates should send a detailed resume outlining their academic and professional background relevant to the proposed position, as well as a cover letter, showing the persons motivation and expertise, via our web site: http://www.asmae.fr/fr/jobs/