Wars and armed conflicts come to an end; however, the remnants of war continue to impact millions of people for decades to follow. Mine Action and Disarmament’s vision is a world where people and communities are safe, resilient and protected before, during and after armed conflict. Together with national authorities and other stakeholders, we are working to resolve problems faced by local communities caused by Explosive Ordnance (EO). Currently, NPA has more than 20 Mine Action Programmes ongoing in Africa, Asia, Latin America, South East Europe and the Middle East.

Are you ready for new challenges and want to develop your leadership skills further? Our Lao programme has almost doubled it’s capacity in 2023 and together with the expansion of operations, we are looking for an expatriate with strong leadership skills who wants to develop the professional support to our programmes activities!

Location: This is an international position based in Pakse, with travel to Vientiane when needed and requires extensive travels between southern regional field bases and other locations in the area of operations.

We offer:

• An opportunity to be part of Norwegian People’s Aid’s well-established country programme and a dynamic and well-trained team.
• A role where you will have the ability to make changes for the improvement of the programme and its overall impact on the local communities who suffer the life changing challenges in the aftermath of historic conflicts.
• Competitive salary and good working conditions. role where you will have the ability to make changes for the improvement of the programme and its overall impact on the local communities who suffer the life changing challenges in the aftermath of historic conflicts.

Please note that we offer a two-year contract* with the possibility of renewal. The salary and allowances are subject to income tax according to NPA’s Tax Policy. The working conditions, including annual leave, follow the Norwegian Working Environment Act.

Requirements:

• Minimum 5 years of experience within the humanitarian mine action sector at a senior programme management level.
• Proven experience in daily management of large survey (CMRS) and clearance of cluster munitions, and other UXO or explosive weapons projects. You have a good knowledge of Humanitarian Mine Action and Disarmament policy and principles.
• Experience with Financial management and logistics experience.
• Experience in drafting and reviewing donor reports as well as donor proposals.
• Experience in leading and chairing external meetings with a large number of audience.
• Knowledge of and experience of working under, designing and implementing quality management systems.
• Good knowledge of Humanitarian Mine Action and Disarmament policy and principles.
• Excellent skills in written and spoken English.
• A good technological understanding and a curiosity to learn more.

One of your key strengths is your ability to communicate, network and collaborate efficiently with different people and groups. You are self-driven, highly organized and you have strong analytical skills. This is a role that will require extensive travel between NPA’s field bases and operations throughout the country. It is therefore especially important that you enjoy being present at different locations related to the programme.

What you will do:

• Assist the Country Director-Programme Manager (CD-PM) on all aspects of programme planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation according to the strategy, annual plans and budgets; in accordance with the overall NPA guidelines and NPA Mine Action and Disarmament strategy and policies.
• Assist the CD-PM in developing and maintaining a proper document hierarchy (Programme strategy, Impact Assessment, reporting and annual plans for internal management, implementation and monitoring).
• Deputise for the CD-PM when needed.
• Liaise with the CD-PM and Finance Manager (FM) to design and prepare suitable budgets and be responsible for the effective daily management of the southern clearance and survey project budget as a budget holder.
• Coordinate closely with all relevant stakeholders, and the local and national authorities.
• Represent NPA in large stakeholder coordination groups as delegated by the CD-PM.
• Manage the activities of the international Information Management Advisor (IMA) as well as national positions of Communications Officer, Gender, Diversity and Safeguarding Programme Officer, Environmental Awareness and Protection Coordinator to ensure that NPA, national authorities and donor requirements are met.
• Act as main in-country focal point for gender, diversity and safeguarding and environmental awareness and protection.
• Administer and manage the Pakse offices as well as its satellite offices located in our four operational southern Lao PDR provinces, as well as the southern clearance and survey project budget.
• Draft proposals, concept notes and donor reports that are relevant at the programme level; Review proposals, concept notes, as well as donor reports;
• Assist with preparing Programme or Projects’ periodic/final reports for submission to the HO, following CD-PM review for quality assurance.