PUI recruits 01 Head of Mission

PUI recruits 01 Head of Mission

Première Urgence Internationale (PUI) is a non-governmental, non-profit, non-political and non-religious international aid organization. Our teams are committed to supporting civilian victims of marginalization and exclusion, or those hit by natural disasters, wars and economic collapse by answering their fundamental needs. Our aim is to provide emergency relief to uprooted people in order to help them recover their dignity and regain self-sufficiency. The association leads on average 200 projects a year in the following sectors of intervention: Food Security, Health, Nutrition, Construction and Rehabilitation of infrastructures, Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Economic Recovery. PUI is providing assistance to around 6 million people in 22 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and France.

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Humanitarian situation and needs:

Venezuela faces a major political, economic and social crisis, with hyperinflation, acute scarcity of food, medicine and other basic goods and one of the world’s highest murder rates. During widespread protests against Maduro’s government, dozens of opposition demonstrators have been killed. The July 2017 election of an all-powerful Constituent Assembly closed down almost all remaining democratic spaces, sparking widespread condemnation in the region and around the world. In recent years, almost 2.3 million people left Venezuela to live, mostly, in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, and Chile. In the short term, migration places significant pressures on the provision of services, institutions, labor markets and the social dynamics of the receiving areas, affecting most the vulnerable populations in both the migrant and local communities.

Colombia hosts the largest number of Venezuelan migrants (1.2 million), 750 000 on the first nine month of 2018. Amongst them, 24% are nationals who are returning to their home country. Between 70,000 and 80,000 Venezuelan citizens cross the border with Colombia every day. While most return to their country the same day, others stay in Colombia. On 2 August, 442,000 Venezuelans were granted a Special Stay Permit (PEP) providing them legal status for two years.

In absolute terms, Bogotá is the city with the largest number of migrants. However, in relative terms, the border areas (Norte de Santander, Arauca and Guajira) are the most affected, with the migrants representing between 2.5% and 5% of the population. These regions have development lags, which limits their ability to absorb migrants.

In early February, the Colombian government tightened entry restrictions and security along the border with Venezuela, deploying an additional 3,000 security personnel, and temporarily halted the processing of new border mobility cards. Increased traffic along illegal border crossing routes has been reported since entry restrictions changed. Armed groups control many illegal crossing points, which leads to protection concerns for people using these crossings.

New policies implemented by other Latin American countries will likely worsen the situation in Colombia. Since 18 August, Ecuadorian authorities demand that all Venezuelans must hold a valid passport to enter the country. The same measure was to be implemented from 25 August in Peru. Other countries, such as Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador, had already started to implement a special visa policy for Venezuelans. Colombian authorities are concerned that these new policies will lead to an increase in human trafficking, tensions with host communities, and general insecurity.

As part of our activities in the Venezuelan Crisis, we are looking for a Head of Mission.

Under the direct supervision of the Emergency Officer, the Exploratory Head of Mission main objectives are the following:

To launch the activities

To set-up the operational team at country level

To reinforce PUI as a credible humanitarian actor in country

To develop further projects to follow the existing ones.

Tasks and activities: 

Perform all necessary local recruitments

Set-up everything needed for a proper operationnal deployment

Set-up the security plan

Finalise registration of PUI as a humanitarian actor in the area

Represent PUI towards donors and crucial stakeholders

Supervise the redaction of concept notes and proposals

Ensure signature of MoU with the key local actors

Respect and (when relevant) enforce, the security protocoles defined, the logistics frames and the financial procedures of PUI.

Do not hesitate to look at the job description below for all the details you need.

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Health training or at minimum strong experience in health projects coordination.

Experience: 5 years of humanitarian experience in project coordination.

Previous experience as Head of Mission in an NGO, including with PUI

Previous experience in assessment / exploratory missions

Successful experience in expatriate team management and multi-sector programmes.

Security management

Knowledge and skills: Excellent negotiation skills

Excellent writing skills

Excellent safety and security management and analysis skills

Languages: Spanish and English are mandatory. French in an asset.

Starting date: As Soon As Possible

Monthly Gross Income: from 2 915 to 2 950 Euros depending on the experience in International Solidarity + 50 Euros per semester seniority with PUI

Cost covered:  Round-trip transportation to and from home / mission, visas, vaccines…

Insurance including medical coverage and complementary healthcare, 24/24 assistance and repatriation

Housing: in individual hotel rooms.

Daily living Expenses (« Per diem »)

Break Policy  : 5 working days at 3 and 9 months + break allowance

Paid Leaves Policy  : 5 weeks of paid leaves per year + return ticket every 6 months