Regional Administrative Officer - Danish Red Cross

The Danish Red Cross has been present in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region since 2002, aiming to reach highly vulnerable people in partnership with the RCRC Host National Societies (HNS) of the countries where we work. Currently this is in Iraq, Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT), Syria, and Yemen. Each of these counties is directly or indirectly affected by civil war or international conflict, and DRC supports the HNS interventions in the fields of emergency relief, health, Psychosocial Support (PS), WASH, and Organisational Development (OD) We emphasize strengthening of our partner NS, both through organisational development and operational capacity building, and we see integrity, transparency, autonomy and sustainable volunteer structures as necessary conditions for them to build long term effectiveness and efficiency.

The DRC MENA Regional Office (RO) supports the five Country Teams in the region. Each country programme consists of a set of projects, currently 15 in the countries plus 2 regional projects. The average duration of projects is 1.8 years, and the annual expenditure on DRC MENA programmes in 2019, excluding administration fees, is approximately USD 23 million. There is a significant administrative role in supporting the Danish Red Cross in the MENA Region, and it is essential that this is carried out as efficiently and effectively as possible, and delegates and staff can spend their time and energy concentrating on their specialist technical or managerial functions.

Job purpose

The purpose of the Regional Administrative Officer (RAO) is to ensure the efficient and timely execution of all administrative processes needed to support both the DRC RO staff and the wider MENA team in the five countries of operation, and to support the finance and HR functions that are conducted at regional level, so that DRC programmes are implemented as effectively as possible.  

The RAO currently reports directly to the DRC Head of Region (HoR). As an integral member of the DRC MENA RO Team they are expected to provide support both to the RO and to the five DRC Country Teams in compliance with proper procedures, but also in a responsive and flexible fashion. The duty station is Beirut, but occasional travel will be required to DRC Headquarters (HQ) in Copenhagen or to countries in the region. The line manager will conduct regular meetings with the RAO in order to monitor their work and support them as required and will require a simple report on recent activities and results and the work for the coming week. Some of the more important elements of the RAO’s work are as follows:

• Manage the limited petty cash function at the RO, and help Finance to settle delegate advances and expense claims;
• Manage liaison with IFRC staff re. delegates’ apartments and all aspects of the DRC guesthouse in Beirut;
• Maintain the inventory of property owned by DRC in the region;
• Make all the administrative arrangements for regional meetings, visits and other events hosted by the Regional Office;
• Administer the framework contracts for necessary services at regional level such as translation, car hire, and taxis;
• Support the provision of IT equipment from DRC HQ to new delegates, and of mobile phones and sat-phones, etc.;
• Support recruitment processes for delegates and officers, new staff induction and departing staff exit procedures;
• Support staff travel, including visas and hotel accommodation in the region;
• Keep track of staff training, mission travel and their rest and recuperation (R&R) and leave breaks;
• Help to develop an efficient way to register and report the time DRC staff spend working on chargeable projects.

Job duties and responsibilities

Financial (responsibility i)

• Cashier for the DRC MENA RO petty cash fund including custody of the safe and ensuring sufficient funds are available for cash payments to delegates / vendors / contractors.
• Prepare and process funds transfer requests from DRC HQ.
• Process DRC RO and country team payments and, if applicable, work flow (internal) invoices.
• Advance funds for delegate travel and other expenses, and process clearance of advances or claims for reimbursement (per diem, accommodation, other expenses, etc.).
• Maintain a cashbook for all cash payments and movements.
• Liaise with the RO bank and support transactions such as wire transfers, withdrawals, and currency exchange.
• Prepare and submit monthly expense forecasts of RO / delegate payments to IFRC
• Maintain financial records / documentation of his / her work in an appropriate and efficient financial filling system.

Asset management (responsibility ii):

• Maintain an up-to-date asset register of all the DRC equipment in the RO and each country including make, model, serial numbers for computing equipment, satellite and mobile phones, location, current custodian, etc., and periodically check that this corresponds with the data held by the DRC Security Adviser and IT Department at HQ.
• Support the emergency communications network of DRC in the MENA Region, based on functioning and regularly tested satellite phones held in the RO and each of the Country Teams.
• Ensure that the few DRC-owned in MENA are properly maintained, in good working order and safe.
• Ensure insurance coverage of DRC physical assets / equipment in the region, through appropriate means.
• Initiate procurement of any new equipment needed by the RO, with the support of the DRC MENA Logistics Team.

Liaison with IFRC re. contracts (responsibility iii):

• Support delegates through liaison with IFRC staff managing the lease contracts for delegates’ accommodation.
• Ensure that the DRC guesthouse is maintained with adequate furniture, appliances, utilities, wifi service and cleaning.
• Ensure the smooth supply of IFRC services to the RO, booking of meeting rooms, ensuring that offices and shared facilities remain clean and functional, and that DRC duly pays its Shared Office and Services Costs (SOSC) for Lebanon.
• Ensure that DRC staff and visitors receive appropriate security briefing and communications links for their security.
• Act as focal point for DRC MENA for obtaining all necessary visas and permits required for Lebanon, through IFRC.
• Ensure adequate IT software and hardware support to the RO, through both IFRC and DRC HQ as appropriate.
• Ensure DRC staff have the necessary mobile phone equipment and network access, and monitor official phone bills.

Administrative (responsibility iv):

• Make all the administrative / logistical arrangements for regional meetings, visits and other events hosted by the RO.
• Administer the contracts with companies providing translation services, rental vehicles and taxis to DRC.
• Track the mileage on the DRC-owned and rented vehicles and ensure proper accounting for official and personal use, including cost recovery if instructed by DRC management to implement it.
• Support delegates by filing documents at the DRC MENA RO as required, with due regards to GDPR, securely retaining hard copies of key (i.e. the signed original) documents, and electronic filing of documents in accordance with DRC policy on its new filing system (Atlas), ensuring that staff regularly preform back-up of their C-Drives.
• Support delegates with accommodation in Beirut, whether in IFRC-contracted apartments or through hotel bookings.

Support to DRC MENA Human Resources (HR) management (responsibility v)

• Maintain updated lists of delegates and staff details as needed, in conjunction with IFRC and DRC HR departments.
• Address any shortcomings in the insurance cover of DRC staff in the region, including for travel and driving, etc.
• Support DRC MENA in all delegate recruitment processes, including the onboarding and off-boarding of delegates.
• Ensure that the HQ-based Lessor Portal is set up with the correct approving officers for leave authorization.
• Log / track staff and delegates’ leave, R&R, public holidays and other absences for official travel from duty stations.
• Log time registration hours on AX finance system for the HoR and other MENA staff to whom this system applies.

Other general tasks (responsibility vi)

• Provide backup for any DRC MENA RO staff if requested, particularly in the support areas of finance and logistics.
• Ensure compliance with DRC procedures (SOPs) including financial and procurement / administration guidelines.
• Perform any other task assigned by the DRC MENA HoR, or the Regional Finance & Admin Manager, if appointed.

Duties applicable to all staff

1.

Actively work towards the achievement of the Federation Secretariat’s goals.

2.

Abide by and work in accordance with the Red Cross and Red Crescent principles.

3.

Perform any other work-related duties and responsibilities that may be assigned by the line manager.

Position Requirements

Education

University Degree in Business Administration or equivalent – Required

Experience

• 5 years of relevant professional experience in administration in a company or NGO - Required
• Experience of supporting various human resource management functions - Required
• Knowledge and experience in financial management - Required
• Experience in working for a humanitarian organization, especially the RC/RC Movement Preferred

Knowledge and Skills

• Highly proficient computer skills.
• Demonstrated ability to understand and apply organizational policies and plans - Required
• Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills - Required
• Teamwork: Commitment to the RC/RC Movement; integrity & personal conduct; sensitivity to diversity; flexibility & adaptability; interpersonal skills; resilience; friendly - Required
• A positive attitude, proactive, resourceful, hardworking, trustworthy, mature and able to maintain confidentiality at all times - Required
• Strong sense of ownership and able to see through the completion of task assigned – Required

Languages

• Fluency in English with good spoken and written command of the language - Required
• Fluency in Arabic with good spoken and written command of the language – Required

Competencies

Able to work independently as well as part of changing teams.

Resourceful and capable to research and source information.

Flexible and adaptable to changing working conditions.

Self-motivated, proactive, with good judgement and initiative.

Able to prioritize tasks, work under pressure, and meet deadlines.

Communication, coordination, networking and facilitation skills.

Conversant with and willing to work occasionally in volatile (security) environments e.g. Iraq, Yemen or Syria.Able to cope with a working environment that could be stressful due to workload, unplanned tasks, and personal insecurity.