Colombia: Country Director

War Child has been active in Colombia since 2006 with activities in different departments of the country. Currently it has a presence in Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Chocó, La Guajira and Bógota. These departments have been historically affected by the internal conflict, and some of them more recently by migration flows. With the support from different donors, such as the European Commission and the UN Peacebuilding Fund, War Child provides much needed psychosocial support and education to children in rural, urban, and hard to reach areas, and have promoted the capacity-building in child protection for parents, caregivers and teachers. Different initiatives have been implemented with indigenous, afro-Colombian, and migrant communities that have strengthened their child protection systems. Moreover, in Colombia War Child has created partnerships with governmental institutions to transfer successful experiences and activate assistance mechanisms to address violations of children's rights.

A participative, youth centred, strengths-based, and gender transformative youth program is currently being implemented in Colombia with a strong focus on co-creation and establishing a dialogue between the humanitarian sector with relevant topics to the localization agenda such as decolonization, feminisms, anti-racism and power & resources sharing. This program is implemented in partnership with 4 local CSO´s and 6 youth collectives.

The Country Director (CD) is based in the office in Bógota and bears the overall responsibility for the country programme in Colombia, which consists of research, joint implementation with partners and (national and international) partner-led programming . The CD directly manages 3 senior staff with a total team size of 35 staff. The CD currently reports to the director of international programs based at headquarters in Amsterdam, noting this will be revisited in 2024.

Your Challenge: 

War Child Holland is seeking to recruit a Country Director to steer the Country Programme over the next years, in line with the global strategy and local context, with the following as the key areas of attention:

• To redesign the country strategy with clarity on the organisation’s value-add in the country.
• War Child commits to exchange knowledge and to establish a mutual learning approach with partners and communities as this speaks to receding direct implementation by WCH and a stronger partnership approach with both national and international agencies.
• Resource mobilization; networking, building strong partnerships (including private sector) and exploring new donors are key in this.

Key Roles: 

The incumbent will deliver on the following key standard responsibilities of the Country Director:

• Lead the participatory development, scaling and updating of the country strategy and annual plans, and oversee the implementation, reviewing, and monitoring of the strategy and plan in line with the War Child Global Strategy and local context.
• Strengthen existing and build new strategic partnerships and effective relationships with government agencies, local and international non-governmental organizations, and donors to ensure holistic, integrated, quality, and sustainable programs and the scaling of Evidence Based Interventions.
• Represent WCH in coordination platforms, meetings and events.
• Overall responsible for security management, ensuring continuous context monitoring, risk analysis, regular updating of security plans, security decision making and incident management as needed.
• Oversee and ensure that HR, Logistics, Supply and Finance management is carried out in accordance with local laws, WCH policies and procedures and applicable donor guidelines
• Foster and develop effective leadership within the country office, and a work culture that promotes staff well-being and creates space for staff participation in decision making
• Promote and uphold the War Child Integrity Framework and "Do No Harm" principles, aiming at strong awareness and respect by War Child staff and partners of all relevant policies and principles in this regard

Your Profile: 

• An experienced and inspiring leader;
• At least 15 years relevant experience in an humanitarian context of which 8 years in a senior management position (e.g. as Representative or Country director or a directorship in a country ministry, etc.);
• Experience in security management and context analyses;
• Experience in Latin America and preferably Colombia;
• Relevant academic background e.g. psychology, pedagogy, community development, social sciences, international relations;
• Experience in working with local partners and preferably in our field of expertise;
• Experience in financial management (including management of multiple grants);
• Knowledge of humanitarian innovation and scaling initiatives and stakeholders is a plus
• Strong strategic and analytical skills coupled with problem solving and a can-do attitude.
• Bilingual in Spanish and English;
• Proven affinity with War Child’s mandate.
• Preference for Colombian or regional candidates

Our Offer: 

A challenging job, within an inspiring and motivated team of people and the backup of a strong and professional organisation in The Netherlands

A fair salary and comprehensive secondary benefits and opportunities to develop and learn professionally.

Job Location: Bogota, Colombia

Contract: War Child Holland is looking for someone committed to invest at least 2 years in this position, starting with a 1 year contract with the intention to prolong

Starting date: as soon as possible

The Organisation: 

War Child is a dynamic organization. We try to keep an informal ambiance within our office, with a lot of room for creativity, inspiration and self-initiative from employees. We practice what we preach: dynamic, innovative, integrity focused, and a drive to reach the highest possible results against the lowest possible costs.

How to Apply: 

Interested and qualified candidates are invited to apply before May 7th 2023. Make sure to upload your English CV (maximum of two pages) and cover letter by using the COUNTRY DIRECTOR COLOMBIA (warchild.nl) link.