Iraq: Head of Mission

Apr 5, 2021 | Cooperazione Internazionale
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COOPI Cooperazione Internazionale is a humanitarian, non-confessional and independent organization founded in 1965 in Milan, Italy. For more than 50 years we have been dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty and to supporting populations affected by wars, socio-economic crises or natural disasters in their path to recovery and sustainable development, by making use of the professionalism of local and international operators, and through our partnerships with public and private bodies and civil society organizations.

COOPI has been intervening in Iraq since 2016, targeting areas out of camps in Ninewa and Salah Al Din. In 2020, COOPI was active in Mosul district with an Education and Child Protection intervention and in Al-Hadar, Shirqat and Baiji with WaSH projects.


In 2021, COOPI has expanded its area of intervention to the south of Salah Al Din (Balad) and to Anbar (Falluja) and introduced a livelihoods component, while also strengthening the integration between programmatic sectors following an area based approach. COOPI is part of all major coordination platforms in Iraq, including relevant national and sub-national clusters, the INGO coordination mechanism, and the Durable Solutions Area Based Coordination.

Purpose of the role

Head of Mission provides leadership and strategic direction of COOPI’s operations in Iraq and is responsible for the implementation and development of the country programme in line with COOPI’s organisational and country strategy, policies and procedures. HoM is responsible for the management and capacity building of the staff, securing donor funding and to represent the organisation to the government, donors, and other appropriate bodies – including clusters, UN agencies and the media.

We encourage international staff already in the country to apply.

Main responsibilities

Institutional Relations

  • Manages relations with the main institutional donors and with the potential ones ;
  • Represents COOPI in the country/area by engaging in relations with institutions, NGOs, local and international organizations and partners ;
  • Is responsible of the organization’s reputation in the country.

Strategy and Planning

  • Verifies and proposes to the Regional Coordinator the intervention priorities to consolidate the organization’s opportunity to be more involved in the country ;
  • Leads the definition of the Country Strategy and proposes the country strategy implementation plan (projects and coordination).

Programme development

  • Maintains a clear understanding of donor priorities, funding trends, and strategic initiatives in the country, which are reflected in a proactive donor engagement strategy ;
  • Supervises planning for needs assessments ;
  • Coordinates the elaboration, writing and documents’ preparation for presenting new projects, referring to the Regional Coordinator and the headquarters support offices. 

Programme quality

  • 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 ;
  • Guarantees the integration of the highest standards of accountability to affected population, as well as gender and protection mainstreaming into all COOPI’s programs ;
  • Reviews projects reports and all the monitoring documents requested by the central headquarters ;
  • Ensures the transmission of all official and administrative project documents to the central headquarters.

Country office management

  • 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 ;
  • Guarantees the respect of the country’s legislation and administrative regulation.

Staff management

  • Is responsible for the local staff management ;
  • Participates and supports the Regional Coordinator and the Human Resources office in the selection of the expatriate staff ;
  • Coordinates and monitors the country’s expatriate staff management.

Economic and Financial management

  • Is responsible for the country’s economic result ; 
  • Supervises the financial management in collaboration with the Country Administrator and ensures – through the administrative function – that all financial reporting deadlines and donor/COOPI’s procedures are respected ;
  • Participates to the projects/coordination budget preparation ;
  • Has the signature for all COOPI’s bank accounts in the country.

Other

  • Safety: is responsible for the expatriate staff security, for the correct implementation and respect of the general security rules ;
  • Country registration: in cooperation with the Country Administrator, maintains up to date registrations and compliance with administrative requirements in KRI and Federal Iraq ;
  • Visibility: cooperates with the Communication and Fund-Raising office for all communication, awareness and fund raising activities implemented in and for the country.

Requirements

Education / Experiences

  • Advanced degree or a related field or equivalent work ;
  • Minimum 3 years experience in the humanitarian field and in a similar position, with a track record of success and results achieved ;
  • Proficiency in written and spoken English ;
  • Experience of working on more among the following donors AICS, EU, ECHO, BPRM, USAID/OFDA and UN agencies ;
  • Experience of working within an insecure environment with responsibility for security planning, monitoring and management ;
  • Computer literacy, with high proficiency in the use of standard office software applications (e.g. Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint) ;
  • Valid driving license.

Soft skills

  • Strong analytical and practical problem-solving skills ;
  • Ability to organize work efficiently and deliver assignments in a timely manner often under time constraints ;
  • Strong supervisory abilities, and demonstrated capacity of teamwork and of coordination with the relevant actors ;
  • Very good inter-personal and writing communication skills;

Plus

  • Knowledge of Arabic and/or Kurdish will be an asset;
  • Previous experience with an international humanitarian NGO in a similar context will be an asset.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the application closing date, once a sufficient number of applications have been received.