General Coordinator - Head of Mission

The General Coordinator (country director) supervises the proper implementation of MdM strategy and operations in the country.

The General Coordinator co-designs MdM’s operational strategy in Pakistan and provides leadership for the country's mission. She/he is responsible for ensuring the implementation of quality projects in line with MdM’s mandate and values, external representation, fundraising and budget management, security and operations management, and management of a motivated and professional team.

The General Coordinator will be specifically in charge of:

• Representing MdM in Pakistan
• Leading the country strategy development
• Being responsible for the security and safety of MdM staff, programs and assets
• Ensuring the financial coverage of the mission by leading fundraising initiatives and financial management
• Developing strategic partnerships and consortia
• Managing a site/base and/or a range of sites
• Ensuring that the programs meet operational, administrative, financial, human, material, and organizational objectives by coordinating and leading a team
• Ensuring the deployment of the MdM framework, policies, and procedures and ensuring overall compliance
• Representing MdM towards all stakeholders, including authorities, donors, security service providers, INGOs, UN and IOs, etc.
• Developing and leading advocacy work. 

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:

Reports directly to the Desk officer based at HQ.

She/he works in close contact with the VBDs (Voluntary Board Delegates).

As General Coordinator you are the head of the Country Coordination Team, composed of 9 coordinators and managers.

ROLES:

1.      STRATEGY DEFINITION, PLANNING, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIVITIES

• Work closely with the Desk officer, Coordinators, and Managers, to develop and ensure the implementation of a strong country strategy.
• Responsible for the continuous analysis and update of the socio-political and humanitarian context to adjust the MdM intervention
• Ensure the timely submission of internal reporting including the monthly situation report (Sitrep)
• Responsible for ensuring synergies between program and support departments
• Provide guidance and support to the different departments as needed
• Ensure good collaboration with partners through regular meetings, exchange of information, joint strategies, etc.
• Work closely with Coordinators Managers and desk officers, to support the design of projects’ strategies in accordance with MdM mission and project framework.
• Design and roll out sustainability plans that ensure that project achievements will be maintained.
• Monitor emergencies in the country and conduct rapid assessments after consulting the Desk officer.
• Assess the functioning of the programs with the relevant Coordinator, Managers as well with Desk Officer
• Proposes and defines the general organization of the Pakistan mission
• Design, together with Administrative Coordinator and Desk, MdM annual provisional budgets (Sept-Oct) and revised budgets (May-June).
• Ensure MDM and donor financial and administrative compliance in the budgetary follow-up.
• Responsible for submitting the monthly fund request to HQ and for Donor fund requests where necessary. 

2.      SECURITY, SAFETY & ACCESS

• Be responsible for the security and safety of MdM’s personnel, programs and assets in Pakistan
• Monitor the security situation, in collaboration with the Security Liaison Officer and/or Security Advisor
• Ensure that the security Pack is regularly updated and implemented
• Define and implement security and safety rules and guarantee their application by the team
• Analyze and anticipate security developments and regularly update the security guidelines
• Manage security incidents in collaboration with HQ desk and HQ security advisor
• Ensure reporting to the Desk manager and the rest of the team on any security concern
• Ensure all staff are briefed on security and safety protocols and documents upon arrival
• Validate staff movements
• Supervise and build the capacities of the Security Liaison officer, Security Advisor and Logistics Coordinator in managing security and safety
• Develop a solid network among security stakeholders in order to get timely information and be able to analyze and verify it
• Develop an incident database and mapping tools to follow the trends and adapt accordingly. 

3.      MANAGEMENT

• Define collective and individual objectives and action plans for the coordination team (Medical coordinator, Finance Coordinator, Logistic coordinator, Field coordinator, HR coordinator, Security and Access Officer, Monitoring officer, Grants officer, and one Project manager)
• Propose adjustments to the organization chart considering the constraints and needs of projects
• Ensure briefings of any newcomer joining the mission about the mission’s general organization, the mission and its objectives, the context, security/safety and access
• Support to resolve cases of conflict, participation in disciplinary processes when relevant
• Supervise the allocation of responsibilities, leads the RACI
• Define HR strategy of recruitment for Coordinators positions in accordance with MdM policy (National/ International Recruitment) and in collaboration with Project teams and HQ
• Advise, together with the Administrative Coordinator, adjustments whenever necessary
• Directly supervise the country coordinators and the field coordinators (participation to the recruitment, evaluation, sanction, and dismissal if necessary)

4.      REPRESENTATION

• Ensure regular interaction, information sharing, and collaboration with other humanitarian actors in Pakistan (UN agencies, INGOs, local NGOs, etc.), in particular with the medical organizations
• Ensure that MdM is part of the coordination bodies and humanitarian forums in the country
• Represent MdM with the authorities and ensure regular communication with stakeholders at the central level
• Develop and maintain good relationships with authorities at central and provincial levels, to facilitate the implementation of activities
• Undertake proactive donor prospection and engagement to be able to propose additional sources of funding.

5.      PROGRAM DESIGN & COORDINATION

• Monitor the humanitarian situation in Pakistan in collaboration with the Coordination team and define MdM’s strategy in the country, in close collaboration with HQ
• Propose and implement relevant logics of intervention and projects/programs
• Lead the deployment of MdM teams across various regions of the country according to the strategy
• In case of substantial changes of context or challenges, propose and discuss new orientations with the team, and the Desk officer
• Ensure the country strategy for Pakistan is in line with MdM’s mandate, strategic plan and orientations and provide guidance to the team
• Supervise the preparation of project proposals, reports and other donor requirements, and ensure the quality and accuracy of documents submitted
• Lead the weekly/monthly coordination meetings including sharing minutes and action plan follow-up
• Ensure good information flow and maintain proper communication between the different departments

The list of responsibilities is not exhaustive and may be changed to reflect developments and specific needs. 

CONDITIONS OF THE JOB:

The head office of MDM Pakistan is based in Islamabad, with frequent travels to field locations. The team of the KPK project main office is in Peshawar and a sub-office in Lower Dir, with team members working between KPK and Islamabad. The teams are composed of more than 90 national staffs. 

CONTEXT:

MdM France has operated in Pakistan since 1996, mainly in Punjab and KPK provinces:

In Punjab, for more than 25 years (1996-2021) MdM has been implementing SRH/Family Planning and GBV projects. In KPK, we have been present since 2009, working with the Afghan refugees and internally displaced persons to provide essential primary healthcare services including MHPSS. Across the course of the years, we have covered a large number of districts in these provinces and have built strong acceptance among the local communities and authorities. We have also responded to emergencies including the 2022 floods. 

Currently the mission has a portfolio of around 2M€/year, with more than 90 staffs. A variety of institutional donor used to support the mission (ECHO, GFFO, GAC, CDCS, UN…) but the funding environment is currently shrinking and though we have secured funding until end of 2025, one of the main stake of the assignement will be to secure new institutional funding and ensure the sustainability of MdM’s presence in country.