Head of Operations for Ethiopia

Contract Length: 1 year with the desirable extension

Base: Hawassa with regular trips to Addis Ababa and field offices

Line Manager: Country Director; technically the HoO is supervised by the Regional Head of Systems and Operations based at HQ

Starting date: March/April 2025

About the Ethiopia Programme of People in Need:

People in Need (PIN) is an international, non-profit organization providing humanitarian and development assistance around the world. Present in Ethiopia since 2003, PIN has directly implemented numerous humanitarian and development projects across five regions of the country, mainly focusing on emergency and development WaSH, Shelter, Food Security, Agriculture, Education and Job creation interventions (funded by BHA (USAID); DG ECHO; FCDO; UN OCHA; Czech government etc.). The overall annual budget of Ethiopia country programme is about 6.5 mil EUR, it has more than 120 local staff and minimum of expatriates.

About the role:

The Head of Operation (HoO) is a member of the country programme senior management (together with the Country Director (CD), Deputy Country Director (DCD) and Head of Finance (HoF)) and shares responsibility for the effective and efficient delivery of People in Need’s (PIN) country programme. Specifically, the role of the HoO is to manage and improve the support systems and operations required to achieve this objective comprising of Logistic, Procurement and HR agendas. In performing this role, the HoO also ensures an enabling environment for the implementation of the country programme, while maintaining operations and systems that meet with the accountability requirements of PIN and its donors. HoO also directly leads the process of the development and staff capacity building across the departments.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership

•     The HoO assists the CD in the management of the country programme, participates in the senior management meetings, and pro-actively takes part in the decision-making processes;
•     Ensures that systems and operations support the implementation of the country programme strategy and that procedures and regulations are implemented in full transparency and in accordance with donor and PIN rules;
•     represents PIN towards local authorities, donors, partners, and other stakeholders;
•     is responsible for adequate staffing of all supervised departments in order to achieve efficient delivery of People in Need’s (PIN) country programme;
•     promotes team spirit, a culture of respect, personal responsibility, transparency, and openness.

Logistics

•     Manage the Logistic team while ensuring they have sufficient capacity both in number and qualification and securing their continuous capacity building based on personal development plans;
•     Implement and/or strengthen systems of oversight and prevention of corruption;
•     Oversee Logistics budgets and contribute to planning needs for new projects with regards to security and logistics;
•     On basis of logistics budgets, ensure effective and efficient use of funds, and provide commentary to the Country Management Team;
•     Supervise functioning of asset registry and inventory control;
•     Supervise and organizes yearly inventories;
•     Ensure efficient tools for fleet planning and costs monitoring are in place and efficiently used

Procurement

•     Manage the Procurement team while ensuring they have sufficient capacity both in number and qualification and securing their continuous capacity building based on personal development plans
•    Ensure the CP Procurement Guidelines are updated and respected
•     Oversee and implement the procurement system, following all relevant donor and PIN guidelines and procedures, and considering relevant corruption risks;
•     On a regular basis audit the procurement process in order to highlight flaws and pressures associated with operating in the Country Programme context;
•     Provide detailed training and guidance to senior Programme staff (including Project Managers), and other appropriate staff in the procurement rules and regulations;
•     Ensure that the Annual Procurement Plans are in place and regularly updated;
•     Together with the Project Managers ensure the timely procurement of goods and services in a safe, timely and cost-effective manner, facilitated by good planning.

Human Resources and Capacity Development

•     Manage the HR team while ensuring they have sufficient capacity both in number and qualification and securing their continuous capacity building based on personal development plans
•     The HoO is familiar with PIN HR procedures and ensures that all country programme staff follows them;
•     makes sure that relevant country programme HR procedures are in place and respected, and updates them on regular basis;
•     supervises the process of internal and external recruitment of national staff;
•     establishes system of in-country induction for both international and national staff;
•     conducts induction training to new staff in operational procedures, as well as “DOs and DON’Ts” of the country programme;
•     ensures that regular staff evaluation is in place and that bonuses and capacity development tools are being used according to HR guidelines;
•     ensures that the contract termination procedures are followed properly;
•     in coordination with FM, ensure that all HR administration systems for country programme are operating properly, in particular overseeing the proper implementation of administrative issues related to HR;
•     together with the country programme senior management and national HR personnel, cooperate with HQ HR department on HR audits, setting and improving of HR procedures, and supporting their implementation;
•     together with the national HR personnel, inform HQ HR about current HR related needs and requests from country programmes, at minimum within Quarterly report;
•     Proactive identification and response to staff concerns, working with the ETH HR team in identifying and understanding satisfaction/interpersonal issues and how to effectively address them
•     Responsible for consulting and providing guidance on the revision of staff salaries and the ETH salary scale
•     Responsible for establishing succession plans for key roles, helping to identify high potential staff members, and establishing development plans for key individuals and the ETH HR team

External and Internal Compliance

•     The HoO ensures that all taxes are paid in line with national regulatory framework;
•     ensures that tax exemption (when possible) will be applied by NGO;
•     In coordination with the CD, ensures that all agenda related to permits, licences, and registrations are dealt with as and when required.
•     ensures the current contract templates on the country programme are up to date and properly used;
•     conducts regular checks on proper archiving of procurement and HR documents;
•     is familiar with donors’ conditions in logistics and procurement and requirements and makes sure they are respected;
•     acts as a communication channel between donors in case of any requests related to the compliance in HR or procurement field

Finance

•     Together with HoF prepares and monitor CP´s operational budget
•     Provide inputs for logistic and capacity building costs during the new budgets´ designs
•     Provide finance with supporting data for operations shared costs allocation (especially

Main requirements:

•       Education (university or secondary level) in business, procurement, logistics or similar study programmes;
•       Communicative level of English (minimum of active B2);
•       Experience in managing support functions (logistics, procurement, HR) within a complex country programme, ideally in humanitarian or development sectors;
•       Ability to participate in senior management teams, contributing to strategic planning and decision-making for programme implementation;
•       Experience in building and developing the capacity of local and international staff;
•       Knowledge of logistics and procurement systems, ensuring compliance with donor regulations and PIN guidelines while mitigating corruption risks;
•       Understanding of HR processes (including recruitment, performance evaluation, capacity development, and salary scale management);
•       Competence in budget planning, monitoring operational expenses, and supporting finance teams in ensuring cost-effective allocation of funds for operations and capacity building;
•       Experience in addressing operational challenges in complex and rapidly changing environments, including conflict and emergency contexts;
•       Ability to promote team cohesion, respect, transparency, and a collaborative work environment among staff from diverse backgrounds.
•       Understanding of the local context is an advantage.

PIN Offers:

•       Working environment in a well-established middle-sized and continuously growing humanitarian organization in a challenging context;
•       Salary and benefits according to PIN salary scale and HR policies;
•       Accommodation/housing allowance;
• 25 days of holiday per year;
•       Travel health insurance (covers health care incl. the repatriation);
•       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 of the medical check-up before and after the deployment;
•       Free 24/7 medical helpdesk and psychological consultation available online;
•       Free access to e-learning sites, global PIN’s Induction Training, Knowledge and Learning department onboarding, and individually tailored capacity-building opportunities; incl. HEAT training.

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 is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behavior 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 involves. 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.