Location: Lahore with travel to project sites across Pakistan
Reporting to: Chair of the Board (and through funding agreement functional reporting to the Head of Programme Development, Islamic Aid UK)
Salary: Commensurate with experience
Since 2000 Islamic Aid has been supporting some of the poorest people in the world and our work is growing.
Nobody wants to live on handouts. So Islamic Aid works to ensure that people can make a decent living, access fair markets and meet their own and their families’ needs in the long term. In particular we focus on:
Food and Water
Education
Healthcare
Livelihoods
Disaster and emergency response
Islamic Aid recognises that emergency situations continue after the cameras leave, and that rebuilding and safeguarding communities is an ongoing process. Islamic Aid works with vulnerable communities before, during and after emergencies happen to:
Ensure they have the resources to minimise, survive and recover from emergencies
Ensure they can cope with the effects of environmental threats
Reduce the risk of violence, forced displacement or armed conflict by working for peace and security in the communities we support
Lobby the governments to prevent, resolve and respond to conflicts and emergencies
Our work in Pakistan is growing at an astronomical pace and we are in the process of hiring a new team. We are now looking for an outstanding individual to create a new organisation and lead our efforts in Pakistan.
Technical Skill
Leadership and development
Together with the Board leading the organisation - having responsibility for executive leadership, shaping organisational culture, and delivering to agreed targets.
Positioning Islamic Aid as a key member and contributor to key partner organisations
Leading in strategic direction and implementation
Representing Islamic Aid
Context analysis: Ensure Islamic Aid has an up-to-date understanding of the country’s socio-economic situation, (donor) trends, needs and gaps, and who does what and where (3W)
Strategy development and roll out: developing and reviewing programme strategies and identifying strategic opportunities for expanding and implementing Islamic Aid’s work
Identify new opportunities and new sectors of intervention;
Effectively manage existing interventions;
Be knowledgeable of the geographic footprint;
Ensure activities are relevant and meeting country/beneficiary needs;
Identify Islamic Aid added-value;
Ensure humanitarian principles are adhered to;
Maintain strong relationships with other NGOs, think tanks, academia, etc. to work with based on complementarity and added value;
Formalise a country strategy in alignment with priorities of donors and Board of Trustees
Networking, positioning and general representation:
Establish, maintain and improve active relationships with key stakeholders
Establish, maintain, and improve active and regular working relationships with the government authorities and where necessary non-state actors
Ensure Islamic Aid is represented in key clusters, working groups, and (I)NGO coordination bodies
Advocacy: (Co-)produce issue papers, advocacy notes, press releases on relevant humanitarian and development issues
Communications: Oversee and ensure timely emission of external communication tools/pieces on pertinent programming, approaches, critical issues etc.
Maintain strong relationship with partner organisations and actively participate in their review and capacity building efforts
Staff Management
To lead the team and model behaviour
Promote team building, productivity and staff welfare
Mentor and support the team to build capacities, and improve efficiency and performance
Facilitate interdepartmental communication and information sharing for a positive working environment
Programme Implementation and Quality Control
Projects implementation tracking
Ensure timely organization of project kick-off and close-out meetings
Provide ad-hoc support to project implementation through troubleshooting and eliminating blocking points
Monitor output achievement and ensure a time completion of projects in coordination with Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) team
Grant Management: Ensure that contractual obligations are met in terms of deliverables as well as narrative and financial reporting requirements
Oversee the development and application of a practical field based MEL system/plan for each project
Conduct field visits to project sites for monitoring, quality control and program staff mentoring and coaching
Oversee internal and external program/project evaluations as necessary and ensure the execution of baseline, periodic, and final evaluations as necessary
Ensure beneficiary feedback mechanisms are in place
Support learning by the country program from relevant best practice internally and externally and make learning available for all in Islamic Aid
Partner Relationship Management
Ensure that every partnership is formed based on an assessment of complementarity and added value and is designed and managed so that the partnership furthers achievement of Islamic Aid’s overall strategy
Analyse potential partners and ensure that all partners comply with Islamic Aid’s donor requirements and regulations
Capacity building of partners
Financial and Systems Development/Management
Ensure appropriate systems to facilitate and monitor the work of Islamic Aid are in place
Create and oversee country budget
Control project budgets to avoid under/over spending
Ensure accurate and timely financial reporting
Ensure accurate budget forecasting and efficient cash flow management
Logistics & IT Management
Administration and HR Management
Ensure transparent and timely recruitment of national staff
Proactively adapt the staffing structure to needs and funding
Ensure a competitive national salary grid in line with available funding
Ensure across the organisation regular performance appraisal and career management follow up systems are in place and implemented
External Audits
Ensure recommendations from external audits are followed-up
Oversee the preparation of external audits in close collaboration with funding organisations
Transparency/Compliance Management
Minimize risk of fraud and corruption by ensuring adherence to Islamic Aid’s moral principles
Security Management
Analyse the security context and define, analyse and evaluate risks
Support managing serious security incidents and crises
Address security and safety risks by developing proper standard operating procedures
Ensure the office conforms to recommended security, health and safety standards
Ensure all staff adhere to security, health and safety procedures
Governance and Compliance
Clear reporting to the Board of Trustees
Ensure compliance with country rules and regulations
Professional Skills and qualifications
A Masters degree in the relevant subject or equivalent
At least 10 years of working experience in a similar role
Demonstrable leadership experience
Demonstrated communication and organisational skillsHigh level ability to train, mobilise, and manage staffAble to establish and maintain a fully digital office from inception therefore well conversed with cloud based software and latest IT trends
Interested candidates please send a CV including 3 referees to Islamic Aid with a cover letter outlining your experience and why you would be a perfect fit for this position.
Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.
Islamic Aid is an international relief and development agency working to make immediate and lasting improvements to the lives of people affected by poverty, war and disaster. Currently our Pakistan program is focused in Mianchannun (District Khanewal) area and consists of three primary schools, skills training center, 10 bedded Mother & Child Health Center and a well-established livelihoods/livestock development project. We have plans to aggressively grow our projects in quality, size, scale and geographic reach within an aim to establish cluster of projects in various areas of Pakistan.