Sint Maarten (The Netherlands): Project Manager Home Repair Project St. Maarten

We help to strengthen resilience of vulnerable people exposed to hazards and crisis situations and we respond to disasters and conflicts to save lives and alleviate suffering. In the Netherlands with more than thirty thousand volunteers and internationally through technical assistance, supplies and money. Together we act before, during and after disasters to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people.

We do this without regards to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinion. Our seven principles guide our humanitarian work: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality.

The International Assistance department is responsible for all Netherlands Red Cross (NLRC) international support for victims of disasters and conflicts and for vulnerable people exposed to hazards. The International Assistance department has opened a vacancy for a Home Repair Project Manager to strengthen the Sint Maarten team and to head the home repair project.

Position title: Project Manager Home Repair Project

Duty station: Sint Maarten

Time period: Until 31 October 2019, longer term extension possible pending availability of donor funding

Starting Date: 29 July 2019

Status: Unaccompanied posting

Purpose of the position

The Project Manager is responsible for the implementation of the home repair project currently being implemented on Sint Maarten. The Project Manager will manage a team consisting of Junior Delegates, Project Support Officers, a Construction Coordinator and Construction Teams.

Background

On September 6th, 2017 hurricane Irma, category 5, struck the island of Sint Maarten. Irma had a devastating impact on the island. Many buildings suffered extensive damage, leaving large parts of the populations without a safe roof to live under. As recommended in the shelter strategy report, the different levels of destruction and security of tenure within the affected population require a project approach that is practical, and addresses the sensitivities around, and the variety of, the tenure status of the affected population.

Following the devastating impacts hurricane IRMA, NLRC started to organize relief efforts, focusing on food and water distribution, as well as other distribution of non-food items. A team of approx. 70 people (volunteers and paid staff) has coordinated Red Cross efforts in the areas of WASH, restoring family links, health, shelter, food, mapping of the most vulnerable area’s and conducting assessments. Early recovery focused on cash based assistance, home repair and school meal projects. NLRC is currently in transition to long term recovery programmes, with a main focus on three pillars in 1) Safe & healthy living, 2) Economic security, 3) Disaster management. According to the NLRC strategy the recovery program will focus on increasing the resilience of beneficiaries and focus on building back better to avoid or reduce future disaster impacts. This approach takes into account the adaptation to climate change and climate variability. Increased resilience focuses on the building blocks of increased capacity of people to anticipate, adapt, respond and transform. The Red Cross branch on the island of St. Maarten is part of NLRC and has an established role in the St. Maarten emergency support framework. In order to facilitate the roll-out of the longer term projects, the strengthening of the St. Maarten branch, including an expansion of the numbers of volunteers, is important.

As part of the recovery efforts, the Netherlands Red Cross, in close cooperation with the authorities of Sint Maarten, developed a "Home Repair Project". The overall goal of the Home Repair Project is to support the most vulnerable households with the repair of the damages on roofs, windows and doors. The implementation modality is the owner driven approach, giving the control of the repair activities to the beneficiaries. With this owner driven approach, we aim to enhance the capacities and resilience of the families and communities. Informed by a damage assessment, the Red Cross will provide the required materials whilst the beneficiaries organize the repair activities, mobilizing the required craftsmen. For families that have no means of organizing the repairs themselves, NLRC will provide for free a by NLRC trained construction team. The project aims to assist 1000 households and is fully funded from funds received during the Irma fundraising campaign by NLRC. The current project is ending on 31 October 2019, but pending the availability of donor funding there is a possibility of a phase 2 project. The focus of the position will be to continue the implementation of the project, to wrap-up the current project and to prepare for a possible phase 2 of the project based on lessons learned of the current project. Pending availability of funding for a phase 2 project, a longer term extension of the position is possible.

Position in the organization

The Project Manager is a member of the Hurricane Irma Recovery Programme of the Netherlands Red Cross (NLRC). The Project Manager leads the Home Repair Project and reports directly to the Head of Mission. The Project Manager will be responsible for the overall project and team management of the home repair project, in close cooperation with the construction coordinator who is responsible for the day to day coordination of the construction teams (currently 52 construction workers divided in 13 teams)). The construction coordinator, the three junior delegates and the three project support officers report to the Project Manager.

Summary statement and responsibilities

· Overall team structure and team management. Responsible for line management of all team members in the home repair team. Provide guidance and mentoring to all team members in the home repair team) on a day-to-day basis;

· Responsible for ensuring the link between project and local branch in relevant areas;

· Responsible for overall project management, in close collaboration with team members in M&E, HR, Finance and Logistics;

· Ensure goals are set, objectives are met and activities completed within the agreed time frames and resource available;

· Provide regular operational reports on activities, progress and achievements in the designated areas of responsibility;

· Maintain and strengthen relationships with relevant government ministries (mainly VROMI), shelter coordination bodies and other project stakeholders, such as suppliers that provide building materials for the repairs, and ensure agreements are in place and are met, and procedures are followed;

· Monitor budget spending of the project closely and liaise with NLRC to identify risks, needs and requirements related to financial management.

· Liaise with NLRC HQ staff on project progress and get approval on project agreements, contracts, regulations, communication, financial regulations and technical support;

· Evaluate, develop and improve on every possible component of the project when required;

· Prepare for a possible phase 2 of the project based on lessons learned of the current project;

· Support and provide technical guidance to households before and during the house repair, ensure the repairs are compliant with technical guidelines and repairs are of good quality;

· Coordinate the construction teams, conduct construction trainings for these teams and undertake quality control of the construction work if needed (together with the Construction Coordinator);

· Promote humanitarian principles and key cross-cutting issues such as gender equality, environmental awareness and disaster risk reduction.

Requirements/Qualifications

· Bachelor degree or advanced course in architecture, construction engineering, or related field required, Masters’ degree desirable;

· A minimum of 5 years' experience as a Project/ Programme Manager and/or Advisor in a humanitarian/ recovery context;

· Qualification in emergency shelter or reconstruction is an advantage;

· Field experience in shelter or rehousing projects is an advantage;

· Experience working for the Red Cross/Red Crescent is an advantage, especially knowledge or experience in disaster relief, RC operating environment, recovery or development work;

· Experience working in the Caribbean is an advantage;

· Experience in working in community participatory development and mobilization skills is an advantage;

· (International) driving license;

• Willingness to work flexible working hours; occasionally early evenings and/or weekend days.

Key competencies

· Leadership skills;

· Strong written and verbal communication skills;

• A good command of the English language both verbally and in writing;
• Knowledge of Spanish or French or Creole is an asset;

· Computer literate (MS Office, spreadsheets, Outlook);

· Training/ workshop facilitation skills desirable;

· Self-motivated, with good judgment and initiative;

· Ability to prioritize in a demanding environment

· Ability to work with deadlines and handle multiple tasks simultaneously;

· Ability to guide and mentor others;

· Strong interpersonal skills and culturally sensitive, open to learn from others and open to different opinions;

· Team player;

· Displays accountability;

· Strong commitment to the Fundamental Principles of the Movement;

We offer

· A full-time appointment (based on 40-hour work week) until the end of October 2019, with the possibility of an extension up to 1 year pending availability of donor funding;

· An international working environment with a variety of ethnical backgrounds;

· Well-balanced employment conditions with space for initiative and development;

· This is a delegate position in St Maarten.

Please send your resume in English and letter of motivation, with reference to Rob Vugs, before Thursday 27 June 2019 17:00 pm CET using our online application system via: https://werkenbij.rodekruis.nl/nl/Vacancy/Postulate/135204

Due to the short timeframe of the vacancy, selection process will be ongoing throughout this period, and a candidate may be selected before the end-date of the vacancy.

For more information please contact Yvonne Wilmer ywilmer@redcross.nl.

Acquisition for this vacancy will not be appreciated.