Head of Support Services

Head of Support Services, Lebanon

The starting salary package for this position is £67,432 GBP / approx. $84,553 USD including all allowances.

About MAG

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) is an international humanitarian organisation based in Manchester, UK, and working in 32 countries. We remove landmines and unexploded ordnance to release safe and productive land for communities, and work to reduce the threat of armed violence by supporting governments to safely manage weapons and ammunition. In 1997, MAG was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for our work campaigning for the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to use your skills in project and people management to lead a team of national staff across key support functions. Reporting to the Country Director, you will be responsible for providing leadership and oversight in finance, HR, IT, logistics, mechanical and fleet support functions on a day to day, as well as on a longer term project basis. You will be key in ensuring that all programme support service systems are robust and are working cohesively to enhance efficiency and minimise risk. You are responsible for building capacity, mentoring and providing necessary training to experienced staff under those support services departments. This is an opportunity to use your experience in successfully managing and monitoring support systems and processes in an interesting and diverse programme.

As a key strategic and senior manager in the programme, you will be a member of the programme Senior Management Team. You will also act as the Senior Manager in Country (SMiC) as and when required which will provide a fantastic opportunity to use your skills in leadership and programme management.

About you

Previous experience in the mine action sector is not essential but you will need experience in support services management roles, in an international aid/humanitarian organisation. You will be required to work with internal and external stakeholders and the successful candidate will therefore need to be able to demonstrate tact, diplomacy and tenacity, in addition to being dynamic, motivated and a flexible self-starter. You will also need experience of having developed successful relationships and negotiated with donors, government bodies and other NGOs/local partners.

You will have previous experience managing a wide range of support services functions and systems, ideally supporting large scale projects and managing change. Our ideal candidate will have a flexible and proactive approach to work, able to prioritise a heavy workload, and enjoy working with a multi-cultural team. This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced head of support services to take a leading role in a varied and autonomous programme.

About the Lebanon programme

MAG has been operating in Lebanon since 2000, as an international HMA organization working under the supervision of the Lebanese Mine Action Centre (LMAC) and is accredited to implement manual and mechanical clearance on minefields and cluster munition strike areas countrywide. MAG also undertakes Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) activities in communities. Lebanon has an extensive legacy of conflict, and MAG is addressing the contamination left behind in the South, Mount Lebanon and the West Beqaa. The crisis in neighbouring Syria and movement of populations into Lebanon has made this work only more vital, and MAG continues to support both Lebanese and Syrian communities.

Since 2006, MAG Lebanon has cleared more than 23.1 million square meters of contaminated land and removed more than 70,000 dangerous items, benefitting over 1.9 million people.

In addition to HMA, MAG Lebanon piloted its first ever Weapon and Ammunition Manager project in 2017 to strengthen security and stability in the country by increasing the LAF’s ability to effectively manage and maintain state-held weapons and ammunition. Since then, MAG team have established a solid relationship with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and supported with country wide assessments of LAF facilities. In line with international standards, MAG rehabilitates existing ammunitions depot, constructs new ones and also reinforces the LAF staff capacity with delivery of training.