Job description
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) operates in Cameroon's Far North region, delivering humanitarian assistance through multi-purpose emergency response, including RRM, and resilience programmes through its core competencies in Information, Counselling and Legal Assistance (ICLA), Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Shelter, Food Security and Livelihoods. The Area Office (AO) in Kousseri oversees emergency operations implemented directly and through four local partners across Makary, Blangoua and Hile Alifa, with additional programming supporting durable solutions in Logone-Birni. The operational environment presents moderate living conditions but requires strong operational oversight due to logistical constraints and periodic security volatility linked to the broader Lake Chad Basin context. The Area Operations Manager will play a key role in supporting programme implementation and operational management for a team of approximately 25 staff, while ensuring effective coordination with regional, divisional and sub-divisional authorities, local councils and humanitarian actors. The role also involves representing NRC in the Area-Based Coordination (ABC) mechanisms established as part of the humanitarian reset and transition currently underway in Cameroon. What you will do: - Organise grants opening and closure meetings for the area office in coordination with the country office programme and support relevant staff. - Represent the organisation externally at the local level and build professional networks to promote NRC, as delegated by the Country Director. - Contribute to assessments for new areas of operation, outline possible areas of intervention and develop programme strategies for implementation in the relevant area. - With the support of the Country Office management teams, contextualize, adapt and implement SOPs and procedures to ensure the effective provision of assistance within the designated area. - Ensure work and development plans are completed by all staff members in the field office area of operations and that performance feedback sessions are conducted regularly as per NRC global standards. - Ensure NRC's data collection systems for the designated area are in place and information is properly stored and shared. - Coordinate the area-specific periodic reporting to the Country Management Group; provide analysis and escalate high-risk areas as needed. - Carry out any other tasks relevant to the area office as delegated by the line manager.
Requirements
- Minimum 3 years of experience in office or operations management, preferably within a humanitarian or recovery context. - Demonstrated experience in team leadership and project management, including planning, coordination and oversight of operational activities. - Proven ability to manage multiple priorities and support programme implementation in complex operational environments. - Fluency in English and French, both written and spoken. - Experience supporting the implementation of cash-based interventions and market-based programming. - Strong knowledge of the humanitarian and socio-political context in Far North Cameroon, including displacement dynamics in the Lake Chad Basin region. - Experience with durable solutions programming, H-D-P Nexus and transitional approaches linking humanitarian and recovery interventions. - Experience coordinating with local authorities, partners and humanitarian actors at regional or field level. - Knowledge of local languages is considered an asset. - Behavioural competencies: handling insecure environments, coping with change, planning and delivering results, working with people, analysing, communicating with impact and respect, acting with integrity, empowering people.