Director of Pacific Programmes

Location: Melbourne or Port Moreby is preferred, but flexible for remote working from main centers across Australia

Contract: Permanent

Reporting to: South East Asia and the Pacific Department Director

Salary: $127,488 AUD (exclusive of Superannuation)

Conciliation Resources
Conciliation Resources is an independent international organisation working with people in conflict to prevent violence, resolve conflicts and promote peaceful societies. We believe that building sustainable peace takes time. We provide practical support to help people affected by violent conflict achieve lasting peace. We draw on our shared experiences to improve peacebuilding policies and practice worldwide. We have worked in the South East Asia and the Pacific (SEAP) regions since 1994 and currently work in: the Republic of Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines.

Our work seeks to contribute to building more peaceful societies through enhanced analysis and comparative knowledge and through supporting and implementing targeted and adaptive peacebuilding and mediation support programmes. We seek to contribute to change through long-term partnerships; and enhance context-specific peacebuilding and mediation practice through comparative learning.

Within the Pacific region Conciliation Resources supports community led peacebuilding initiatives, working with numerous civil society partners, including in Fiji, Solomon Islands and PNG Highlands and Bougainville, PNG. The programme also supports processes of political dialogue and mediation. Conflict challenges the programme is currently working on include: dealing with past legacies of conflict; the intersection between governance and peace; masculinity, youth and violence; and climate change and conflict.

Job Purpose
The Director of Pacific Programmes leads Conciliation Resources’ peacebuilding and mediation support work in the Pacific region. They are responsible for developing and managing multiple peacebuilding and mediation support teams – the PNG team, with programmes in Bougainville and the PNG Highlands; The Fiji and Solomon Islands team, including developing programmes related to climate change and conflict. This position will provide strategic leadership and operational management to the whole Pacific team, with direct line management of Project Managers.

The postholder is responsible for setting and overseeing programme budgets, and for ensuring the integrity and credibility of Conciliation Resources’ reputation in the Pacific region. They lead the team’s efforts in developing new programmes, and working to secure new funding for our work. The Director of Pacific Programmes is also a member of Conciliation Resources’ Senior Leadership Team, working with Conciliation Resources’ senior leaders around the world.

Specific responsibilities and tasks

• Strategic and operational planning
• Programme management and partner support
• Research, learning and policy
• Representation and networking
• Financial management and fundraising
• Personnel management
• additional responsibilities as required

A detailed breakdown of specific responsibilities and tasks can be found in the Job Description attached.

This role may involve travel to SEAP program locations. Prior to and during travel, you should observe the security advice provided by the relevant program team.

Person specification
Essential knowledge, skills and experience

• Significant (min 6-8 years) project management experience, designing and implementing conflict resolution and peacebuilding interventions, including programme design, budget development, programme implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting.
• Practical and conceptual knowledge of peacebuilding and conflict transformation processes, of processes of social and political change and of supporting the development of local capacities for peacebuilding.
• Significant (min 4 years) senior team management experience, including line managing project / programme managers and their teams, and overseeing team performance management and professional development.
• Experience of working with local and national partners in an accompaniment role, including capacity enhancement and due diligence.
• Significant financial management, including experience preparing and managing annual budgets of at least AUD1.5mil, monitoring and forecasting spend, and overseeing internal and external financial reporting.
• Experience of managing research projects.
• Experience of leading government or other donor-funded programmes, including donor relationship management, programme development and reporting.
• Significant experience of securing funding for new work, including concept development, building donor relationships and writing proposals and budgets.
• Understanding of anti-racist and decolonisation approaches to peacebuilding practice, team management and programme management.
• Excellent communication skills, to communicate complex issues effectively and adjustcommunication style to varying circumstances, including ability to listen actively to people from varying backgrounds and with a range of political, cultural, gender and sexual identities and value orientations, combined with an ability to engage with them clearly and sensitively.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Experience implementing projects in difficult social and political situations or conflict contexts, and experience of hostile environment training or willingness to undertake hostile environment training.
• Graduate level study or equivalent by experience in conflict resolution, international relations, development studies, international humanitarian law, gender, peace and security or other related fields.
• Excellent organisational and coordination skills, including the ability to think and plan strategically while also retaining close attention to detail, to manage and prioritise a diverse and demanding workload, to convene and run efficient meetings and meet deadlines.
• Ability to navigate political sensitivities and awareness of the complexity of working in conflict-affected situations, including appreciation of confidentiality and handling sensitive information with due care.
• Willingness and ability to work irregular hours on occasions and to undertake frequent international travel in sometimes uncomfortable or insecure conditions.
• Excellent word processing, spreadsheet, database and email software skills.

Desirable knowledge, skills and experience

• Experience facilitating workshops and dialogue processes.
• Experience developing and managing advocacy strategies and engagement with policymakers.
• Experience of and managing advocacy projects.
• Experience of producing high-quality written work.
• Experience of designing, organising and managing research and advocacy events.
• Extensive knowledge of the social and political landscape in the Pacific and wider region, and its conflicts.
• Experience living and working in the Pacific region.

Added benefits of working at Conciliation Resources Australia

• We provide 25 days of annual leave each year.
• Annual office shut down between 25th December – 1st January with no loss of annual leave.
• Flexible working at home arrangements
• A generous top-up to the Government Parental Leave payments and the opportunity for parents returning to work to request flexible working arrangements.
• Employee Assistance Program, a free and confidential counselling service
• Additional sick leave benefits during longer period of sickness
• 5 paid days of study leave per year
• Salary packaging (tax benefits) of up to A$15,900 and A$2,650 for meals and entertainment
• Up to 10 days of paid Compassionate leave
• Option of paid Sabbatical leave for full time and part time permanent employees after 4 continuous years of service
• Portable long service leave within the SCHADS industry

To Apply
Please do not send your CV or Resume

Please go here and download the Application form and Application Statement for this position. Please submit them before the closing date via the “Apply Now” button.

If you have any further questions on the positions please email Conciliation Resources Australia via *********************.