Director (Support Services) - CARE India (Apply by: November 27, 2017)

1. POSITION VACANT: Director– Support Services, CARE India, Patna, Bihar

2. BACKGROUND:

CARE India is a part of the CARE International Confederation working in 84 countries for a world where all people live in dignity and security.

CARE has been working in India for over 60 years, focusing on ending poverty and social injustice through comprehensive programmes in health, education, livelihoods and disaster preparedness and response.

In India, CARE focuses on the empowerment of women and girls, because they are disproportionately affected by poverty and discrimination and suffer abuse and violations in the realisation of their rights, entitlements and access and control over resources.

For more information about CARE India please visit http://www.careindia.org/

PROJECT BACKGROUND:

A Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) was signed between Government of Bihar (GoB) and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) in 2010, based on which BMGF agreed to provide technical support to GoB to improve Health and Nutrition outcomes across the State. As part of this MoC, a Technical Support Unit (TSU) was established in 2013 with CARE India as the lead development partner. The Bihar TSU aims to support the Health and Social Welfare (ICDS) Departments of the GoB in their endeavour to achieve rapid and sustainable change in health and nutrition outcomes.

As a part of the MoC agreement, Bihar TSU has established a State Resource Unit (SRU) and District Resource Units (DRUs) in 38 districts to provide technical support. The SRU and DRUs are designed to provide high quality technical assistance to the Health and ICDS Departments in the areas of reproductive, maternal and child health and nutrition and visceral leishmaniasis. The DRUs provide structured support to district and block level teams of the Health and ICDS Departments for program operations in the above technical domains.

Program implementation operations of the SRU and DRUs are to support the government programs and are almost always with involvement of government officials. CARE’s state-based program support team functions to enable the SRU and DRUs to undertake planned operations and to meet to any pressing demands of state and district administration. SRU and DRUs often require goods and services made available for specific technical components and in multiple locations. The state-based Strategic Program Management Team(SPMT) provides overall management support to SRU and DRUs and facilitates timely availability of appropriate administrative support from the program support units.

For more information about Care India’s Bihar Technical Support Programme, please visit http://bit.ly/2zUw6ro

3. JOB DESCRIPTION/ RESPONSIBILITIES:

Reporting to Chief of Party- BTSP, The Director – Support Services (DSS) will be a key member of the Bihar TSU leadership team and shall be responsible for the effective functioning of all program support functions to meet the requirements of program operations. S/he will coordinate with SPMT members, supervise different Program Support (PS) functions and ensure smooth program operations relating to administration, logistics, procurement, finance and HR matters at the state and district levels.

As a part of the leadership team, s/he will ensure coordination among different support units of the program. S/he will head the Administration and Procurement, Finance, HR, and Chief of Party (CoP) Cell.

The DSS will work closely with CoP, core team members of the TMS & MNCH projects, Finance, Procurement, Administration, Internal Audit and HR &OD Departments of CIHQ.

This is an exciting opportunity for a senior, operations professional, to play a leadership role with one of India’s best respected non-profits and support a high-profile and generously funded health and nutrition initiative, impacting the lives of millions of young mothers, children and other beneficiaries in Bihar.

Key Job Responsibilities:
Primary duties and responsibilities of the DSS shall include but not be restricted to the following:
(1) Enhance the effectiveness of program operations at the state and district levels;
(2) Lead all program support teams, covering the administration, procurement, finance and HR functions;
(3) Co-develop, establish and run systems for coordinated functioning among different program support verticals and between program support and SRU, DRU, SPMT and CML teams;
(4) Lead processes for developing operational details and guidelines for PS functions, ensuring adaptation of procedures so that they are appropriate to the Bihar program;
(5) Oversee and coordinate systems ensuring clear communication between multiple stakeholders for all operational processes;
(6) Build the capacity of support team members, ensuring sustained motivation towards work;
(7) Ensure availability and understanding of CARE’s policies by all program and support team staff;
(8) Keep a close watch on fund utilization under various grants at the state and district levels;
(9) Ensure that support departments are performing up to required standards;
(10) Maintain good relationships with external stakeholders, including vendors of different goods and services and government regulators, with a view to ensuring the smooth functioning of processes;
(11) Provide timely, accurate and comprehensive reports on operating conditions to the CoP;
(12) Oversee daily operations and administration, ensuring that the organization complies with all legal and regulatory requirements;
(13) Coordinate with CIHQ PSU teams and other key stakeholders, in consultation with the CoP.

(Note: Roles and responsibilities outlined above are indicative and not exhaustive).

4. QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES:

Qualification:
Applicants must possess an MBA, PGDM or other relevant advanced degree, from a reputed academic or professional institute.

Experience:
(1) Minimum 15-18 years of overall work experience, of which at least five years must be at the senior management level;
(2) Minimum 10 years of experience in operations management at various levels, relevant to the job role, with focus on Finance, Compliance and Risk Mitigation;
(3) Demonstrated experience of providing operational leadership to PS functions in a complex program environment, including leading a large and diverse team.

Skills and Competencies:
(1) Deep understanding of operational processes with emphasis on process adherence;
(2) Eye for detail with ability to objectively analyze and interpret information with a view to ensuring continuous improvement;
(3) Result orientation;
(4) Strong, decision-making skills;
(5) Ability to identify strengths and weaknesses in individuals and to develop, test and adopt innovative capacity-building approaches, for their ongoing capacity development
(6) Demonstrated ability to mentor team members;
(7) Demonstrated ability to direct teams in handling critical situations, dealing with ambiguity and conflict management;
(8) Demonstrated ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team environment;
(9) Demonstrated creative abilities to think out of the box and find solutions in challenging contexts;
(10) Self-awareness;
(11) Ability to manage stress;
(12) Effective communication skills in Hindi and English;
(13) Commitment to high integrity, ethics and professionalism.

5. COMPENSATION OFFERED:

Gross compensation budgeted for the position is attractive. Compensation shall be commensurate with the qualifications, experience and salary history of the selected candidate, as per industry norms.

6. LOCATION: Patna, Bihar

7. REFERENCE: DSS-CARE

8. CONTACT INFORMATION:

Senior Consultant
Strategic Alliance Management Services P Ltd.
1/1B, Choudhary Hetram House, Bharat Nagar
New Friends Colony, New Delhi 110 025 
Phones: 011-2684-2162; 011-4165-3612; 011-4101-1564 and 011-4101-1565
Email: dss-care@sams.co.in

9. LAST DATE FOR APPLICATIONS:

Eligible candidates interested in this position are requested apply to dss-care@sams.co.in with a cover letter, discussing their interest in and suitability for the position, along with an updated resume, giving details of three references, current cost to organization and expected compensation November 27, 2017. For further details please visit www.sams.co.in.

Applicants are urged to apply immediately, as interviews with promising candidates shall commence right away.