Overall purpose of the role:

The Shelter & Settlement Manager will be responsible for implementing and evaluating shelter construction and settlement activities for DRC in Upper Nile state. This includes overseeing shelter activities and the construction of other infrastructure in the state, such as settlement infrastructures, community centers, DRC offices, and any other construction projects requiring technical expertise. The manager will coordinate with other DRC departments and partners, in the development and implementation of shelter and settlement infrastructures. Additionally, the Shelter and Settlement Manager will serve as the Upper Nile SNFI cluster state coordinator.

Responsibilities:

Management

• Responsible for planning, implementing, following-up and supervising DRC shelter construction and settlement activities in Upper Nile state
• Ensure that adequate staffing is in place for the activities, including an appropriate gender balance within the staff group. Ensure all staff are trained on the skills and values required and contribute to local and national capacity building.
• Monitor financial commitments and expenditures against the initial shelter and settlement budget and make appropriate measures if necessary, in coordination with the support services team and the area manager.
• Ensure that the organization’s financial, supply chain, security and human resources policies and procedures are fully adhered to and implemented.
• Ensure that DRC’s Code of Conduct is respected and implemented by all stakeholders: national staff, casual labor, suppliers.
• Contribute to the strategic direction of the area and country operations through participation in strategy planning meetings and documents.
• Maintain emergency preparedness and response capacity for DRC in area of operation in case of influx or other risks/hazards.

Administrative, Finance and Procurement Functions

• ​Supervise shelter and settlement team of contracted staff, and casuals, ensuring effective staff deployment, performance planning and appraisals for supervisees.
• Disburse and track expenditure of the shelter budget component, flagging any over- or under-expenditures in a timely manner.
• Prepare project procurement plans and reports and order materials in a timely manner.
• Manage casual staff contracts and service contracts.
• Update the organogram for the department with revised job descriptions according to roles and responsibilities of department staff
• Make sure the project activities and procedures respect and comply with the internal policies & procedures, donor contractual agreements, grant documents and implementation plans.

Program implementation

• Identify gaps in shelter and settlement provision to IDP’s and host community, proactively referring those gaps to relevant forums or advocating with government authorities or humanitarian partners for additional support.
• Develop and/or adapt a work plan for construction activities and ensure progress and quality in line with applicable international standards and agreements.
• Construction activities will include, but not be limited to:
  • Large-scale construction of family shelters for IDP’s and host community (both emergency and semi-permanent shelters);
  • Construction of communal infrastructure (including both traditional structures using local materials and semipermanent).
  • Construction of buildings to support other projects, training centers, youth centers, community centres etc.
  • Settlement maintenance activities including drainage, water retention dams, dykes, access roads and culverts.
  • Site planning
• Involve community and their representatives (leaders) in the different stages of construction activities, from planning to implementation and evaluation.
• Provide technical support to community members who are able to construct own shelter, and organize work teams to construct shelter for vulnerable families.
• Supervision of contractors and suppliers, ensuring that deliveries take place according to the quantity and quality agreed.
• Ensure quality supervision of quality of work of any contractors hired for construction activities at all stages of the construction process.
• Ensure that all documentation related to shelter and settlement activities for works completed, laborers engaged and supplies is completed in a timely manner.
• Adapt construction activities, as applicable, in close coordination with sector Managers and Area Manager, if/as the context changes; In particular, the shelter manager may be required to significantly scale up construction activities in case of displacement and/or redeploy staffing and resources to new sites in case of a major influx.
• Other tasks related to infrastructure/construction supervision may also occur.

​Program development

• Identify gaps with a view to generating ideas for future projects with strong beneficiary impact, both in IDP and in host communities.
• Participate in the development of proposals and budgets in close cooperation with the Area Manager
• Develop an adequate procurement plan for project and the respective tools for its follow up.

​Representation

• Participate in coordination meetings, ensuring that IDP’s and host community are regularly updated on construction progress and constraints.
• Represent DRC shelter department in NGO partners and other UN organization forums.

​Reporting

• Ensure that all data collection and progress monitoring tools are updated and verify data before reporting.
• Report periodically on construction activities to the Area Manager and participate in the donor reporting on monthly, interim and final reporting stages, as well as bi-weekly activity updates.
• Develop and follow up on the program’s MEAL plan and relevant tools.
• Take appropriate decisions based on a continuous monitoring of program’s indicators, with the participation of other relevant internal and external stakeholders.
• Contribute to the internal and external accountability mechanisms by elaborating quality donor reports.
• Contribute to continuous learning by organizing project reviews, and by consolidating success stories and lessons learnt from the field.

State SNFI Coordination

• Hold monthly meetings and send minutes to Coordinators; meetings can cover any topic that interests participants and Communicate national-level messages to state partners
• Hold S/NFI Cluster information sessions/workshop/meetings 2x/year for state partners (informal or formal)
• Keep documents updated: contact sheet and maps of all S/NFI operational partners in state

Technical

• Submit Operational Timeline template to national SNFI cluster every two weeks
• Submit monthly reports by the 7th of each month: stock counts, partners’ distribution reports
• Create “3-month threshold” system for alerting Pipeline when stocks have hit the estimated 3-month mark
• Plan prepositioning, with justification and pipeline requests
• Maintain contingency plans for state

Relationship Building

• Know (or know about) as many local authorities as possible, and build a contact list
• Know your partners, their operations, their resources, strengths, weaknesses, locations
• Maintain regular communication with state partners
• As a double-hatter: stay aware of when to make unbiased SFP decisions and when to make programmatic decisions within your organization
• Regular field visits, spending at least half of time in-state (with a designated Juba-level contact
• S/NFI Activities
• Know S/NFI gaps and push for priority locations to the national Coordinators when necessary
• Make decisions on assessments when needs arise
• Keep Coordinators updated on activities, especially after making decisions
• Advise on partner activities with logistics concerns in mind
• Coordinate convoys (when applicable)
• Advocate among appropriate stakeholders when necessary

Experience and technical competencies:

• Minimum 3 years of professional work experience in managing shelter programs, including at least 2 years at the international level;
• Minimum 3 years of humanitarian work in challenging field locations;
• Excellent project management skills include the design of project management tools;
• Excellent analytical and communication skills;
• Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to establish effective working relations with local staff and other stakeholders;
• Proven ability to work and live in basic living conditions in field locations;
• Ability to work under pressure, with minimal supervision, and in a culturally diverse team;
• Experience with implementation of large-scale shelter programs in IDP camps or displacement situations is an asset;
• Experience with preparing BoQs and technical design drawings for new construction.
• Proficiency in the use of IT Office Tools and AutoCAD drawing software.
• Experience overseeing implementation of construction projects by external contractors, including quality checking

Education:

• Degree in Civil Engineering, Construction, Architecture or related field

Languages:

• English