PANDA Operations Manager

ABOUT ACTED

ACTED is a French humanitarian NGO, founded in 1993, which supports vulnerable populations, affected by humanitarian crises worldwide. ACTED provides continued support to vulnerable communities by ensuring the sustainability of post-crisis interventions and engaging long-term challenges facing our target populations, in order to break the poverty cycle, foster development and reduce vulnerability to disasters. Their interventions seek to cover the multiple aspects of humanitarian and development crises through a multidisciplinary approach that is both global and local and adapted to each context.

Under the line management of the  Ethiopia Country Representative, the Operations Manager is responsible for managing the PANDA field team and all its activities in Ethiopia, and for ensuring effective operational support to all stages of the PANDA research cycles. This includes oversight of finance, administration, logistics, and field team HR functions within the PANDA unit, in close coordination with the PANDA Research Manager.

The Operations Manager will lead the implementation of all field activities, strengthen internal procedures, and improve the quality of internal controls within the PANDA unit in line with best practices and donor requirements. The role involves proactively identifying operational risks and communicating them to the Research Manager and Country Representative.

The position directly supervises the PANDA Field officer and leads engagement with government authorities, including guiding the team on securing necessary research permissions. The Operations Manager will ensure that all operational systems enable effective programme delivery, uphold accountability and impact, and comply with both IMPACT and ACTED’s operational standards.The Operation Manager coordinate with government authorities and implementing partners to secure timely permissions and access for data collection and promote coordination and synergies with other projects to maximize operational efficiency and shared resources.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

HR AND ADMIN

• Oversee recruitment processes, contract renewals, and HR processes for field staff, in coordination with the Research Manager, Country Coordination, and ACTED HR departments.
• Ensure field teams have adequate training regarding data collection of high quality and accuracy.
• Ensure implementation and communication of HR policies, and support compliance across teams through effective dissemination and tracking.
• Ensure that field staff receive fair, engaged and thorough feedback on their work in a timely manner, as stipulated by the HR manual.
• Make recommendations for professional development opportunities amongst national staff.
• Oversee accurate and timely completion of HR documentation including attendance, leave forms, and staff appraisals.

FIELD TEAM

• Directly line manage PANDA Field Officer in Ethiopia, providing them with support to oversee field teams and ensure effective coordination and performance
• Maintain an efficient field team structure by identifying capacity, maintaining adequate staffing, delegating data collection tasks appropriately, and strengthening internal systems.
• Support field team capacity building, including in FLATS-related functions (finance, logistics, HR) to ensure smooth operational delivery.
• Ensure the welfare of field teams by coordinating with ACTED Security to implement and uphold safety and security protocols, with particular attention to the protection of enumerators during field activities.
• Ensure that team members are kept up-to-date on key activities, plans, and achievements.
• Support the planning and execution of field data collection by coordinating with relevant support departments (Finance, Logistics, HR, Security).
• Oversee the planning, coordination, and quality control of field data collection activities across all PANDA research cycles, ensuring operational preparedness, adherence to methodologies, and effective team deployment.
• Manage data collection partnerships and the development of government MOUs and relationships.

FINANCE

• Review Budget Follow-Ups and Allocation Tables monthly in collaboration with the Research Manager and ACTED Finance, and monitor over- or under-spending projections to support financial planning and timely budget adjustments.
• Support accurate financial forecasting and cost planning for field operations and logistics, ensuring appropriate cost coverage and that expenditures are approved in line with internal policies and donor requirements.
• Contribute to internal reporting cycles and provide accurate, timely financial inputs for donor reports.
• Make timely and accurate cash requests as needed and ensure safe cash handling.
• Support in developing budgets for new PANDA proposals and projects, in coordination with the Research Manager, Country Coordination, and ACTED finance.

LOGISTICS

• Plan, budget, and organize equipment and logistic needs of PANDA field teams.
• Coordinate with ACTED logistics department to ensure alignment on procedures and processes and timely notice of changed logistics plans.
• Oversee procurement processes across PANDA field teams, ensuring adherence to internal policies, donor guidelines, and procurement timelines.
• Asset and stock management
• • Ensure appropriate processes for asset and stock management are implemented and maintained;
  • Oversee the tracking and use of key assets including IT equipment, vehicles, and specialized technical tools.

SECURITY

• In close collaboration with the ACTED Security Manager, analyse the security context at the area level, maintaining up-to-date risk assessments, preparedness plans, and mitigation measures.
• Engage with relevant stakeholders to keep updated on security and access in the field, and relay possible impacts to the Research Manager.
• Address security and safety risks by implementing standard operating procedures defined for the area
• Ensure all relevant security protocols are followed by all field staff.
• Ensure all field staff are adequately trained on security in the field and feel comfortable and confident undertaking fieldwork.
• Ensure security incidents at area level are promptly reported to the ACTED Security Manager

STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT

• Representing the organization internally and externally, particularly in areas related to operations.
• Maintain effective relationships with government authorities, implementing partners, and other key stakeholders.
• Maintaining positive working relationships with internal teams, project field sites, and external stakeholders.
• Coordinating with external agencies and partners.

OPERATIONAL COORDINATION

• Identify opportunities for coordination and resource sharing with other IMPACT/ACTED projects to improve operational efficiency, reduce duplication, and maximize the use of available resources.
• Coordinate with other project Operations Managers and relevant teams to identify shared logistics, recruitment, procurement, transportation, administrative, and field support arrangements where feasible.

TRANSPARENCY, COMPLIANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT

• Ensure compliance with organizational policies, donor requirements, and relevant regulations.
• Implement and monitor quality control measures.
• Identify and mitigate potential risks to operations.
• Ensure a reporting mechanism is in place and functioning for all PANDA research.

ACCOUNTABILITY TOWARDS AFFECTED POPULATIONS

The Operations Manager is responsible for ensuring that all interactions of the staff under his/her supervision with target communities are conducted in a respectful and consultative manner. Due attention must be paid to ensuring that communities are adequately consulted and informed about IMPACT’s programme objectives, activities, beneficiary selection criteria, and methodologies. This is the responsibility of every IMPACT staff member.