Organization: Danish Demining Group
Country: Colombia
Closing date: 20 Sep 2017
The Danish Demining Group (DDG), the specialized unit within the Danish Refugee Council, one of the world’s leading humanitarian NGOs, is currently looking for a highly qualified Mine Action Operations Manager (OM) to support DDG’s mine action programming in Colombia. The OM will be responsible for a dynamic operations team and will be involved in the setup, launch, and implementation of survey and mine clearance activities.
About the job
DDG has recently received administrative accreditation to work in Colombia, to conduct humanitarian mine action activities including area clearance, mine risk education (MRE) and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD). DDG’s operations will be conducted in Meta and Caquetá departments of Colombia.
DDG Colombia’s main goal is to assist the Government of Colombia, the Directorate of Mine Action in Colombia (DAICMA), and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in achieving compliance with the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention and to support national priorities for mine action services in light of the implementation of the recent Peace Accords.
Your main duties and responsibilities will be:
- Planning, delivery and quality management of all DDG Colombia’s survey and clearance operations inclusive of: non-technical survey (NTS), technical survey and clearance methodologies.
- Launching the setup, operational accreditation process, and initial implementation of NTS and clearance operations in Colombia (including oversight of recruitment, training, and monitoring of operations staff).
- Daily management and supervision of the operational activity, including:
- Planning and tasking of operational assets
- Ensuring the correct and appropriate deployment of operational assets
- Monitoring the procedures and quality assurance of operations, including internal quality assurance of EOD and NTS, teams and providing corrective action where necessary.
- Ensure that priorities set by the DDG programme and the DAICMA are met and the requirements of the donors and beneficiaries are taken into consideration.
- Conduct operations in accordance with DDG Mine Action Framework, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) and National Mine Action Standards (NMAS).
- Mentor, manage, monitor and supervise the national staff ensuring that they carry out their duties in a responsible manner in accordance with SOPs, international/national standards, and their job descriptions.
- Monitor and analyse productivity and ensure recommendations for improvement are subsequently met, including keeping relevant DDG HQ staff informed
- Deliver and monitor, where applicable, training to build capacity within the national staff in consultation with the DDG Head of Operations and Head of Program.
- Implement security measures in accordance with the security plan, coordinate with the DRC/DDG Safety Team, and keep relevant HQ personnel informed of the local security situation
- Liaison with relevant donors, partners, and government authorities.
- Advising and ensuring that appropriate support services (Logistics, HR, Finance, and Administration) are in place and serving the mine action teams adequately.
About you
To be successful in this role we expect you to have a strong background in project management and technical mine action operations, including working in contexts with improvised devices. The Operations Manager has the primary function of providing technical advice to the national staff under his/her responsibility. The purpose of providing this technical advice is to develop the capacity and technical knowledge of the national staff within DDG. The objective of building technical knowledge and capacity within the national staff is to ensure that the correct and safe Mine Action practices are followed and sustainable supervision and management capacity is developed within the organisation.
It is important that the OM does not take over tasks and responsibilities of the national staff under his/her supervision, but rather monitors and ensures that these tasks and responsibilities are carried out correctly, efficiently and effectively. The OM is to develop staff capacity, in particular from a strategic point of view focusing on planning, operational statistics, information management, and innovative approaches.
All employees should master DRC's core competencies: Communicating, Taking the lead, Collaborating, Striving for excellence and Demonstrating integrity.
Moreover, we also expect the following:
Required
- Excellent command of project management activities, with proven record of achievements
- A minimum of 8 – 10 years substantial documented professional technical experience in managing mine action operations
- Experience in program startup and proven ability to take the initiative
- A minimum of EOD Level 3, with strong proven practice of using conventional alternative destruction methods.
- Good computer skills including Excel, Word, Access, GoogleEarth, and ArcGIS
- Experience – or interest in – humanitarian/development work.
- Strong administration and organizational ability.
- Excellent management and personnel skills – a calm and diplomatic disposition will be preferred
- Ability and flexibility to understand the cultural and political environment and to work well with the local authorities.
- Ability to work independently and still be a good team player
- Willingness to live and work in remote and isolated area under basic conditions
- Fluency in spoken and written English, working ability in Spanish (spoken and written)
- A background in training
Desirable
- Working experience in Colombia, or in a similar challenging work environment
- Project Management or Leadership Qualification
We offer
Contract length: 2 years with a possibility of extension (position length is subject to funding).
Level: B2 (base salary, plus Per Diem, Location Allowance, Explosives Allowance, regular Rest & Recuperation benefits (contingent on duty station), comprehensive insurance, and Annual Home Leave)
Designation of Duty Station: Unaccompanied, non-family duty station (potential to change in future as operational setup is completed)
Start Date: As soon as possible
Salary and conditions will be in accordance with Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for Expatriates; please refer to drc.ngo under Vacancies. For questions regarding the vacancy please contact Clare O’Reilly (clare.oreilly@drc.dk).
How to apply:
Interested? Please apply by clicking here.
All applicants must send a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages) in English, through the DRC HR Manager system. Please note that applications sent by email to DRC/DDG staff will not be considered.
Closing date for applications: 20th September 2017.
If you have questions or are facing problems with the online application process, please contact job@drc.dk
For further information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult our website drc.ngo.
Danish Demining Group (DDG) is widely recognised asprovider of efficient and community-oriented solutions to human security problems caused by landmines and other explosive remnants of war as well as small arms and light weapons.
DDG is part of the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), which is a humanitarian, non-governmental, non-profit organisation founded in 1956 that works in more than 35 countries throughout the world. We are the largest humanitarian NGO in Denmark and consistently ranked as one of the world’s best NGOs according to Global_Geneva.
We fulfil our mandate by providing direct assistance to conflict-affected populations – refugees, internally displaced people and host communities in the conflict areas of the world. We also advocate on behalf of conflict-affected populations globally on the basis of humanitarian principles and the Human Rights Declaration. Our work and long-term strategies are guided by our five core values: Humanitarian approach – Respect – Independence & neutrality – Inclusion – Honesty & transparency.
You can read more about our vision and work on drc.ngo.
