Head of Support Services

at Danish Refugee Council (DRC)
Location Kampala, Uganda
Date Posted July 25, 2023
Category Management
Job Type FULL_TIME
Currency UGX

Description

Closing date2 Aug 2023
Danish Refugee Council is a leading protection agency pursuing our mandate to protect and promote durable solutions to displacement-affected populations based on humanitarian principles. In the East Africa and the Great Lakes, DRC applies a regional approach with operational presence in Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. DRC Uganda’s strategic vision for 2025 is to be a leading innovator and collaborator with displacement affected communities in Uganda in their attainment of meaningful and sustainable solutions to displacement and the associated challenges they face – specifically, threats to their rights and exclusion from the resource and systems individuals and communities require to build self-reliance and resilience. DRC Uganda has operational presence in Northern and South-Western Uganda with an annual portfolio of USD 10 million that covers flagship programming under the Refugee Investment Fund, Uganda Cash Consortium and Northern Uganda Resilience Initiative.

DRC Uganda focuses on collaboration with civil society, refugee communities and local duty-bearers in the attainment of the country operation’s vision to contribute towards the achievement of meaningful with a target of increasing the number of projects implemented in equitable local partnership to 75% or more by 2025.

Overall purpose of the role and geographical scope:

The HoSS will ensure the existence of effective and efficient support services in the areas of Finance, Administration, Human Resources, IT and Supply Chain.
The HoSS will play a key role in developing and implementing country specific strategies as well as improving operational systems, processes, and policies in support of DRC’s mission in Uganda.
She/he will be a member of the Senior Management Team, with overall responsibility of program support and timely completion of annual performance indicators under support functions.
She/he will play a significant part in qualifying and implementing initiatives coming from the global and regional DRC organizational development and financial accountability initiatives.
Furthermore, the HoSS will ensure timely and appropriate communication with Area Managers, Base Managers, Sector Managers and Project Managers concerning all issues related to finance, administration, supply chain and human resources and work proactively to resolve differences and prioritize time-sensitive tasks.

This role has a country focus and ensures compliance to DRC procedures and guidelines within the country. The role - is a focal point for DRC Dynamics. The role provides support and/or technical guidance to country operations while overseeing country activities.

Responsibilities:

The Head of Support services works under the direct supervision of the Country Director based in Kampala and liaises with all program and operations across Uganda. S/he has the following specific responsibilities.

Management

Lead and manage the Support service teams Managers and technically manage area support Managers (including people planning, performance, well-being and development);
Manage, deliver and report on current operations programme support in geographic scope;
Establish high performing support teams ensuring high-quality approaches are maintained;
Develop and improve operational approaches, compliance, and systems, and support the Country Director to build and deliver effective and sustainable interventions;
Responsible for the strategic development, management and implementation of the support operations;
Ensure appropriate technical support is available to programs, in line with organizational priorities;
Ensure support for annual planning and review processes;
Direct responsibility for ensuring that the DRC Programme operates in accordance with DRC’s support function guidelines.
Operational management

Support the Country Director and the Senior Management Team in liaising with donors and authorities, especially as relates to issues of compliance, registration, and audit.
Oversee the operational support units for the country by providing strategic leadership and technical support to the areas under his/her supervision.
Supervision, audits and controlling and implementation of corrective actions related to DRC’s operational standards within support areas.
Ensure that DRC retains and continually develops its operational capacity to provide rapid emergency response in particular within its procurement and transport systems.
Actively contribute to the risk management plan and mitigations for the country that identifies the major financial and operational risks.