Job Title:                              Country Director – Surge Team

Reports to:                         Head of Emergency Operations

Terms:                                 Two-year, full-time, unaccompanied, fixed-term contract; all Surge Team members must be available to travel                                                          overseas within 24 hours of being requested to deploy

Location:                             See ‘Requirements’

Salary:                                  €80,184 to €89,094

Requirements:                  Members of Concern’s Surge Team will be deployed to various Concern country programmes for varying time periods typically ranging from six weeks up to six months. When not deployed, team members will work from home.

About Concern:                Established in 1968, Concern Worldwide is an international, humanitarian, non-governmental organisation dedicated to the elimination of extreme poverty and the reduction of human suffering, primarily in fragile countries.

Our Vision is a world where all people live in peace and prosperity and are treated equally, with dignity and respect. Informed by the priorities of affected communities, we go where the needs are greatest, and work to save lives, protect and develop livelihoods, support recovery and build long-term resilience.

To advance our mission and ensure high‑quality, impactful work, we are guided by our core values and a culture committed to inclusion, compassion, and humanity. Inspired by our founders and our long history of effective programming, these values reflect both who we are and how we address extreme poverty in the world’s most fragile contexts.

We are dedicated to fostering a workplace where everyone feels valued and supported to succeed and contribute to our mission. 

Role Purpose:

You will be responsible for the development and effective management and oversight of Concern Worldwide country programmes in line with Concern’s organisational and country specific strategies, policies and procedures. This could be in a new country of operation where emergency assessments will be part of the role, or in an established country programme. You will represent Concern to the government, donors, and other appropriate bodies – including clusters and the HCT, agencies and the media.

You will fill appropriate staffing gaps in non-emergency programmes and existing chronic emergencies. This may require deployments in a specialist advisory as well as managerial capacity, both CD roles and in roles that could report to CD level – Emergency Director, Programme Director, Systems Director, Area Coordinator, Emergency Programme Coordinator etc.

Responsibilities:

Emergency Response

• Lead in undertaking emergency assessments.
• Lead in the design, delivery and management and oversight of emergency response programmes.

Programmes

• Manage country programmes in line with organisational policies and procedures, and with external standards such as the Red Cross/Red Crescent Code of Conduct, Sphere, and the CHS standard.
• Overall responsibility for strategic management of the programme, in particular preparing for and effectively responding to humanitarian situations. In some instances, leading a team to be deployed to a new emergency.
• On-going development and management of the funding strategy for the country programme.
• Maintaining an awareness of the current and potential future economic, political and social situation within the country and region.

Security and Representation

• Overall responsibility for security management: ensuring that the security situation is reviewed constantly, a Security Management Plan (SMP) is developed and updated as necessary, and that staff are aware of security procedures and comply with them.
• Representation of Concern nationally, maintaining coordination and networking relationships with the government, donors and other actors in the country, especially the clusters and the HCT.

Staff Management, Administration, Finance, Logistics

• Staff management and development, including in areas such as project design, proposal and report writing, monitoring and evaluation and other key areas. Provide general management support to direct reports.
• Ensuring that support systems (IT, Finance, HR/Administration, Logistics and Transport) are in place and functioning in accordance with good practice and organisational policy and procedures.
• Overseeing the finance function within the country programme with overall responsibility for budgeting, reporting and monitoring of all income and expenditure.
• Overseeing the HR function within the country programme and ensuring that policies and procedures reflect global policies.
• Ensuring all internal and external reports are sent to Regional Desk at HQ in a timely fashion and adhering to high standards of quality.

Communication

• Maintaining good, regular and open communication with the Regional Director and Desk Officer for the region.
• Contributing to organisational learning through liaison with other organisations and Concern fields and sharing lessons to be learned.
• Engaging with the media as required.
• Performing any other related duties as assigned by the Regional Director.

All managers are responsible for upholding and promoting Concern’s values, demonstrating leadership on workplace equality, diversity and inclusion, and role modelling a positive safeguarding ethos.

All managers are required to actively participate in any emergency response as and when required.

Role Holder Requirements:

Essential:

• Third level degree in a relevant discipline.
• 5 years’ experience working in a senior manager position within an international NGO.
• Proven experience of managing diverse and multi-sectoral programmes such as WASH, shelter, food aid, camp management, NFI distributions, cash transfers and early recovery, etc.
• Emergency assessment and response experience.
• Experience of security management in insecure contexts.
• Experience in management of financial resources and overseeing human resources, administration and logistics functions.
• Experience in building relations with donors and securing external donor funding.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, including fluency in written and spoken English and a working command of French
• Willingness to work in and travel frequently to rural field locations

Competencies:                

For GB7 – 10 Roles:

As this is a key leadership position, potential candidates are expected to demonstrate significant ability in the following areas:

We encourage all eligible candidates, irrespective of gender, ethnicity or origin, disability, political beliefs, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status to apply to become a part of the organisation. Concern is against all forms of discrimination and unequal power relations and is committed to promoting equality. 

If this role sounds right for you, please apply with your CV and cover letter. We will respond to every applicant. Please be aware we may offer positions before the closing date.

If you have any concerns about our recruitment process and need particular assistance - for example if you have a disability e.g. a hearing impairment - please let us know and we will do our best to respond to your needs.  

Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be shortlisted on a regular basis, and we may offer posts before the closing date.

Important information:

Concern has an organisational Code of Conduct supported by three Associated Policies: The Programme Participant Protection Policy, the Child Safeguarding Policy, and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Policy accessible here. These have been designed to ensure the highest level of protection for everyone the organization engages through its work.  
The policies set out the behaviours and responsibilities that Concern staff, and all its representatives (including consultants, contractors, sub-contractors, suppliers, partners, visitors, ambassadors and Board members) are expected to uphold. They also articulate Concern’s commitment to safeguarding and protecting adults and children from harm in all aspects of our work. We will therefore do everything possible to ensure that only those who are suitable to work or volunteer with adults and children are recruited by us for such roles. Consequently, working or volunteering with Concern may be subject to a range of vetting checks, including criminal background checking.  

In this context, all staff and representatives of Concern have a responsibility to uphold the highest standards in their work, in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and Associated Policies as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Concern Code of Conduct, candidates acknowledge that they have understood the content of both the Concern Code of Conduct and the Associated Policies and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these policies.  

Your Personal Data: 

During this job application, you will provide Concern with your personal data. Concern takes its responsibilities towards this personal data very seriously and is committed to complying with all relevant data protection legislation.  

For additional information please consult our web site or contact the Human Resource Division in our Head Office.  

You have certain rights under data protection legislation. For more information on how to exercise those rights please visit www.concern.net/about/privacy