Country Director - Palestine

Background/ Anera Summary:

Since 1968, Anera has helped refugees and others hurt by conflicts in Palestine, Lebanon and Palestine live with purpose and hope.

Anera, which has no political or religious affiliation, works on the ground with partners in Palestine (West Bank and Gaza), Lebanon and Palestine. We mobilize resources for immediate emergency relief and for sustainable, long-term health, education, and economic development. Our staff serve in their communities, navigating the politics that constrict progress to get help where it’s needed most.

That’s how Anera received more than $171 million in support of programs in 2023 alone, and it’s how we will keep building better lives until hope finds its way in the Middle East.

Job Overview/Summary:

The Country Director is responsible for overall leadership and supervisory management of Anera staff, programming, operations, and relationships in Palestine, including program quality and accountability, acquisition and stewardship of resources, staff safety and security, performance management, and external representation. The Country Director is Anera’s principal representative for the Palestine program to government officials, non-governmental actors, donors, international organizations, civil society, other NGOs and the media. The Country Director is expected to resource and manage a portfolio of effective humanitarian and development programs implemented both directly and through partner organizations. The Country Director will lead country program staff in pursuing impact goals identified in Anera’s strategy, bringing them together to deliver high-quality, cost-effective programming results with high levels of accountability.

Major Responsibilities:

Leadership and Representation

• Lead the country program by establishing and maintaining open and professional relations with colleagues, promoting a strong team spirit throughout the country program, and providing guidance, oversight and resources to enable staff to perform successfully.
• Develop and carry out strategies that result in strong representation with: government ministries at various levels; UN agencies; donors including PRM, ECHO, Germany, Canada, SIDA, ECHO, USAID, UNICEF and other international organizations; international and local NGOs; and coordination fora.
• Initiate and sustain strong, mutually beneficial and authentic partnerships with local organizations.
• Seek out and pursue opportunities to raise the profile of the work of ANERA and its partners, as well as the lives and the needs of the people ANERA seeks to serve.
• Engage constructively in efforts to improve stakeholder coordination in Palestine.
• Ensure leadership and management processes enable ANERA to effectively adapt to contextual changes and fully leverage opportunities to expand humanitarian access and assistance.

Strategic Direction, Program Quality and Growth

• Ensure the strategic vision and direction of the country program is aligned with ANERA’s strategy to serve people with responsive, high-quality and accountable programming, and secure the resources necessary for realization.
• Ensure program quality through consistent country program use of: rigorous assessment, design, and proposal development and review processes; comprehensive monitoring & evaluation, accountability and learning systems; staff development investments; and partner organization capacity strengthening.
• Remain current on national and regional issues impacting the country program and partners, and develop responsive strategies to changing contexts.
• Actively seek out and pursue opportunities to expand, in line with ANERA’s mission, humanitarian, resilience and development programming in Palestine, in terms of populations and areas served.
• Develop and maintain a high level of understanding of donor priorities and planned funding streams.

Staff Management, Organizational Culture,  Safety, and Development

• Supervise and mentor direct-report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting performance objectives, providing regular and timely performance feedback, and leading documented semi-annual performance reviews.
• Oversee the management, coaching and development of staff to build a team of skilled, committed and motivated staff. Coach, train, supervise and mentor direct-report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting quarterly performance objectives, providing regular and timely positive and constructive performance feedback, and providing documented semi-annual performance reviews.
• Provide a measurable development plan including on-the-job learning with the aim of strengthening technical capacity, exchanging knowledge within the team and providing guidance on career paths.
• As part of succession planning within the country team, identify, train and develop capability and capacity of staff to successfully transition role and responsibilities.
• Create and nurture an environment that supports learning, teamwork and high performance at all levels.
• Promote and monitor staff care and well-being. Model healthy work-life balance practices. Support appropriate interventions in response to identified staff care needs.
• Offer leadership support for successful adherence by all staff to ANERA’s Policies and Procedures.
• Maintain a culture of safety and security throughout the country program. Retain accountability for overall safety and security for the country program, with appropriate delegations.
• Oversee the management of all security issues, including appropriate response to emergency situations as they arise.
• Keep security, evacuation and contingency plans current and accessible to country program staff
• Maintain close coordination and communication with the Global Safety and Security, and relevant in-country staff, on safety and security concerns and evolving issues that could adversely affect ANERA staff or operations.

Financial Stewardship and Operational Management

• Drive operational excellence to achieve optimal efficiency and cost-effectiveness in all functions and operations of the country program.
• Oversee the development, deployment and utilization of financial and operational policies, procedures, and systems to deliver compliance with ANERA and donor requirements.
• Ensure responsiveness and appropriate levels of in-person and remote support to all offices, especially in the areas of HR, finance and supply chain.
• Provide timely and effective management and oversight of the Palestine country program’s financial position.
• Seek opportunities to introduce efficiencies and eliminate redundancies in existing business processes.

Communications

• Maintain a healthy and empowering office environment that encourages open, honest and productive communication among ANERA staff and with partner organizations.
• Maintain open communications with global management staff, global technical advisors, and HQ departmental staff.

Key Working Relationships:

Position reports to: Chief Operating Officer

Position directly supervises: A senior management team spread across West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem that is responsible for programs and operations.

Key Internal Contacts: All staff

Key External Contacts:

- Partner organizations

- Host country government officials

- Public and private donor agencies

- International and national NGOs

- UN agencies

- Foreign governments