Country Director for Moldova

Country Programme: Moldova

Contract Length: 2 years

Base: Chisinau

Starting date: March 2025

Line Manager: Regional Director for Eastern Partnership and Balkans

People in Need (PIN) is a Czech-based international non-governmental organization (NGO) that has provided humanitarian and development assistance across more than 20 countries since 1992. Today, PIN stands as one of the largest organizations of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe, supporting vulnerable communities in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. PIN empowers civil society, advocates for human rights, and promotes social inclusion both at home and abroad.

About the Moldovan Programme of People in Need:

People in Need (PIN) has been working in Moldova since 2003, providing development assistance and emergency support to the population in areas of civil society and inclusive governance, emergency response and recovery, social inclusion and protection, rural development & livelihoods, and human rights & media literacy. Since the onset of Ukraine Russia war, PIN has been providing emergency aid in the form of protection and legal assistance, and cash transfers to thousands both from Ukraine and Moldova. Protection assistance focuses on psycho-social support for refugees and hosting population and support through local civil society organizations who are working with refugees. PIN managed to reach every tenth inhabitant in country with assistance, including through collaboration and partnerships with 146 organizations throughout the time. Current country portfolio is funded by European Commission, ECHO, FPI, Czech Development Agency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, UNICEF, and PIN public collections.

About the role:

The Country Director (CD), a main representative of People in Need (PIN) at the country level, is responsible for strategic leadership. The CD ensures compliance with PIN values, policies and the strategy of the Relief and Development Department (RDD). The CD manages risks, ensures compliance with environmental and social standards, and supervises the quality of programmes and all support functions. The CD oversees management of human resources (HR) and staff development.

Reporting Relations & Interdependencies with Other Functions

The CD’s line manager is the Regional Director (RD).

The CD supervises the following staff:

• Head of Programmes

• Head of Systems and Operations
• Head of MEAL
• Communication Manager
• Programme Manager for Support for Refugees in Romania

The CD is the chair of Senior Management Team (SMT), if these functions are established.

Main Duties & Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership

As a strategic leader, the CD:

• gives strategic direction related to PIN’s presence in the country; the CD is responsible for the formulation of a country’s strategy in line with the RDD strategy, as well as its implementation and communication within the team;

• follows country development, politics and trends within the donor environment;

• ensures the relevance of PIN programmes to the local as well as global context, ensures programmes are built on local capacities and considering policy and governance, markets and the private sector, climate change and other global trends;
• in consultation with the RD, the CD initiates new programmes and interventions in new sectors;
• with support from the HQ, ensures that the required human, financial and other necessary resources are available and used for their intended purpose;
• supervises the economy of the country programme and ensures that the CP is covering country-born costs and generating adequate funds to cover HQ-born costs;
• strives for financial stability and the diversification of financial resources;
• strengthens “a local identity” of the country programme and ensures compliance with local rules and regulations;
• is responsible for contingency planning and emergency preparedness; with support from the HQ, manages/supervises new emergency responses;
• reports on the country’s performance to HQ;
• contributes to the organizational development and strategy of PIN, provides HQ with feedback to established procedures, and dedicates time to and participates in the relevant global/regional strategic meetings.

Human Resources & Capacity Development

As a leader of the team, the CD:

• promotes team spirit, a culture of respect, personal responsibility, transparency and openness;
• makes sure there is no place for any form of discrimination within PIN team;
• ensures all staff are aware, understand and comply with relevant PIN policies and rules, the Code of Conduct and key policies, including the PSEA and Safeguarding Policy;
• makes sure any reported suspicions of breaches of PIN policies are properly investigated and reported to donors;
• ensures that HR related roles and responsibilities are assigned to staff with an adequate level of seniority and that their performance and capacity needed is regularly evaluated;
• together with HoP and RD, ensures that current and future human resource needs are identified and correspondingly budgeted reflecting the current and forecasted scope of the country programme;
• together with HR, ensures main HR procedures are in place, followed, and well-documented including: transparent recruitment based on clear job descriptions, new staff induction and onboarding, regular performance evaluation, mapping of training needs against core competencies, planning of capacity development, employment termination, duty of care, HR administration and regular revision of salary scale and national staff handbook;
• is responsible for the recruitment of key positions at the national level and contributes to the recruitment done at the HQ level (international staff); makes sure that key programme staff have relevant technical capacities and experience;
• ensures that the capacity development of national staff is properly managed and financed and that PIN internal resources (e-learning, webinars) are utilized;
• plans and supports exchange and exposure visits of national staff;
• provides the senior staff under her/his direct supervision with regular feedback and support;
• together with HR, monitors employee retention and turnover;
• strives for balanced and diverse teams in terms of gender, ethnicity, age, etc.;
• allocates time for the annual staff retreat and other team building activities;

Representation & External Relations

As a representative of PIN, the CD:

• Is the legal representative of the organization in the country;
• builds strategic relationships and formally represents PIN towards local authorities, partners, the Czech embassy and donors;
• is formally as well as informally networking and developing partnerships with all relevant stakeholders in the country;
• maintains a good partnership within Alliance 2015 (if PIN is a leading agency of the Alliance 2015, ensures Alliance coordination mechanisms are in place);
• is responsible for the PIN brand at the country level, visibility and external communication;
• represents PIN towards media;
• takes initiatives in joint programming or advocacy efforts;
• ensures a strategic approach in advocacy and personally advocates for the interests of our beneficiaries.

Quality & Risk Management

As a responsible manager, the CD:

• Ensures that procedures described in PIN policies, including the Safeguarding Policy, are in place and functional;
• ensures that all support departments and functions are in place;
• sets up effective internal coordination and communication;
• ensures the high quality of submitted proposals; according to the size and structure of the country programme;
• approves project proposals, contracts and payments according to given thresholds;
• manages the most important risks and coordinates risk mitigation measure;
• ensures PIN works in line with international Social and Environmental standards;
• ensures compliance with PIN Data Protection Policy;
• protects PIN from any reputational risks.

Safety & Security

The CD is ultimately responsible for:

• adhering to the PIN Safety and Security Policy and country-relevant procedures;

• strives for the maximum safety and security of PIN’s staff and assets and ensures an awareness of risks and mitigation strategies;
• ensures a balance between the accepted level of risk and the urgency of programmes (as per the Risk Management Policy);
• executes crisis management; leads the Incident Management Team (IMT).
• ensures that the Do-no-harm approach and maximum protection of PIN’s beneficiaries is applied.

Main requirements:

• At least five years of progressive relevant experience in senior management roles, in team management, project development and management with a record of managing large, diverse teams and contributing to the capacity building to national and international staff
• Experience in early recovery and development programming, preferably in the region
• University degree in relevant field
• Understanding of the nexus and experience in its implementation
• Proven track in leading the organization through change/ transition
• Excellent networking, partnership building and representation skills
• Experience in management, fundraising, project development, donor liaison
• Knowledge of institutional donor environment and experience with donor relations, proposal development, strategic programme planning and external communications
• Experience with strategic program planning, project cycle management, knowledge of the institutional donor environment, including the EC, ECHO, DFID, USAID, UNICEF etc.
• Familiarity with the conflicts’ settings
• Technical expertise within one of the strategic sectors will be an advantage (locally-led development, civil society strengthening, social protection and inclusion).
• Excellent communication skills, excellent spoken and written English
• Dynamic and result-oriented with ability to organize and plan effectively, responsible and systematic
• Reliable and self-reliant personality with responsible and systematic approach to work
• Critical analysis and problem-solving skills
• Ability to work in difficult conditions and under pressure
• Cultural sensitivity
• Strong ability and willingness to transfer knowledge
• Willing to travel within the country
• Reliable and self-reliant
• Knowledge of Russian/Romanian is an advantage
• We are looking for nationals that have an entry-visa free regime with Moldova or nationals that already hold a valid a multientry Schengen visa (for more information see the link here).

We offer:

• Working environment in a well-established humanitarian organization in a challenging context;
• Salary & Benefits: Salary based on PIN’s salary scale and HR policies; expected salary range between 3250-4200 EUR super gross (based on experience).
• Additional allowances include:
• Monthly Subsistence Allowance of 1350 EUR;
• Accommodation provided by PIN/Monthly Housing Allowance 
• Time off and Rest:
• 25 days of holiday annually;
• 10 sick days;
• Travel benefits:
• Reimbursement of travel expenses with travel to the country of residence once every 6 months of work;
• Reimbursement of costs of visas and vaccinations; assistance with the visa application procedure;
• Reimbursement for the medical check-up before and after the deployment;
• Travel health insurance covering medical care, incl. the repatriation;
• Health and Well-being:
• 24/7 Medical Support available online;
• Free psychological consultations available online;
• Professional Development: Free access to e-learning platforms and PIN Learning Hub; PIN’s global Induction Training, and tailored capacity-building opportunities;
• This position is unaccompanied.

How to Apply:

If you are interested in this position, send us your CV and short cover letter via our application form.

Please note only the shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Interviews will be conducted on rolling basis and the vacancy will be closed when filled.

People in Need staff are expected to perform job duties and responsibilities in accordance with People in Need Code of conduct and key policies (available at: https://www.peopleinneed.net/key-policies-4142gp). 

People in Need is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct and is committed to promoting the welfare of children and adults with whom People in Need involved. People in Need expects all staff to perform job duties and responsibilities in accordance with People in Need code of conduct and key policies (available at: https://www.peopleinneed.net/key-policies-4142gp). People in Need Staff will undertake the appropriate level of training.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks.

We are committed to ensuring diversity and gender equality within our organization and encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds to apply.