Head of Programme
Danish Refugee Council / Dansk Flygtningehjælp
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Job summary
The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in Gaziantep, Türkiye, seeks a Head of Programme to lead the country programme strategy, oversee design and quality, and drive donor fundraising and engagement.
You will manage a programme team, ensure robust MEAL, coordinate with partners and authorities, and uphold protection and livelihoods programming in a demanding context.
Qualifications
- Minimum 7 years of progressively responsible experience in programme management.
- Minimum 4 years of people management experience.
- Proven leadership and management skills for senior roles.
- Strong knowledge of protection and livelihoods programming.
- Proven experience coordinating with governments, international and national NGOs and donors.
- Experience in Türkiye or comparable contexts.
- Strong representation and communication skills.
- Fluency in written and spoken English; Turkish and/or Arabic a plus.
Responsibilities
- Lead the conceptualisation and development of the country strategy and sub-strategies.
- Ensure programming quality, protection and MEAL integration across the programme portfolio.
- Oversee fundraising, donor engagement, and timely submission of high-quality proposals and reports.
- Provide strategic oversight of partnerships and grant management with implementing partners.
- Manage programme staff at CO level and support capacity building.
- Represent DRC Türkiye to donors, authorities and partners; advocate for localisation and safeguarding commitments.
Skills
Education
Job description
The Danish Refugee Council (DRC), one of the world’s leading humanitarian NGOs, is currently looking for a highly qualified Head of Programme (HoP) for Türkiye. The position is based in Gaziantep.
The Danish Refugee Council (DRC), one of the world’s leading humanitarian NGOs, is currently looking for a highly qualified Head of Programme (HoP) for Türkiye. The position is based in Gaziantep. DRC assists refugees and internally displaced persons across the globe. We work in conflict-affected areas, along the displacement routes, and in the countries where refugees settle. In cooperation with local communities, we strive for responsible and sustainable solutions.
DRC has been present in Türkiye since 2013. At present DRC Türkiye mainly works in two sectors: Economic Recovery (in the Southeast) and Protection, the latter through close collaboration with a number of Turkish NGOs which is part of giving DRC national reach. DRC has recently developed a new strategy to take its presence in Türkiye into 2028 so a very exciting time lies ahead for DRC in 2027 in transitioning its programming into a new funding reality where DRC together with its partners can look towards new ways of supporting and fundraising for the livelihoods needs of Syrian refugees and host communities, as well as of ensuring that key protection concerns continue to be met.
DRC Türkiye employs approx. 55 staff, its country office is based in Gaziantep and there are project offices in Antakya, Kahramanmaras, Kilis and Sanliurfa. The main donors for DRC are ECHO, KfW and other bilateral donors.
Overall purpose of the role: As a member of the Senior Management Team, the Head of Programme (HoP) drives the strategic processes around the Country Programme Plan in line with DRC’s global strategy, as well as evolving needs and contextual developments on the ground. The HoP oversees the conceptualisation and development of programmes, leads fundraising and donor engagement, and is responsible for ensuring programmatic quality, while providing oversight of grants to monitor implementation progress, budget utilisation, risks, and compliance through regular follow-up with implementing teams, as well as engagement with and oversight of partners’ work. The HoP is also responsible for leading the Programme Department’s implementation of DRC Turkiye’s protection portfolio.
The position manages a team of programme staff at the CO level and is responsible for ensuring programmatic quality standards are met across the board, including through robust MEAL processes, capitalisation of learning and cross-cutting issues. The HoP actively engages with partners, civil society and the donor community to ensure DRC’s views and priorities are represented and that DRC’s localisation endeavors keep momentum. In general, the HoP plays a key role in ensuring adherence to policies and systems. The HoP is also responsible for the planning of advocacy engagement.
Country (Türkiye). The role is based in the DRC Türkiye Country Office in Gaziantep.
- Identify and keep abreast of key developments and trends in the country and position DRC to address these with quality and efficiency.
- Drive the conceptualisation and development process of the country strategy and derived sub-strategies collaboratively and with the participation and inputs from the whole of the country operation. This includes ensuring the strategy is evidence-based, includes internal/external accountability and is informed by DRC’s expertise and stakeholder consultations.
- Ensure that the key global frameworks are contextualised and applied across programmes and ensure that staff are aware of and understand these.
- Foster synergies between programme areas.
- Ensure the emergency preparedness plan for Türkiye (EPP) is updated and facilitate assessments and responses for new emergencies as relevant and as agreed with the SMT and the Global Emergency Unit.
- Provide oversight, guidance, and leadership on all aspects of programme design, development and quality assurance.
- Ensure programming is principled and in line with DRC’s programme policies and guidelines as well as relevant legal frameworks.
- Ensure there are systems and tools in place for conflict-sensitive including do-no harm approaches to programming.
- Develop close and productive working relationships with project offices in the field to ensure buy-in to quality standards and processes, monitor implementation progress, identify risks and bottlenecks, and ensure programme adaptations and course corrections are evidence-based and informed by learning.
- Maintain strategic oversight of programme and grant performance through regular engagement with implementation teams and implementing partners, monitoring progress against work plans, budget utilisation, risks, compliance, and the timely delivery of programme results.
- Provide strategic oversight of partnership implementation, ensuring effective engagement with implementing partners and that partnership arrangements contribute to high-quality, accountable, and timely programme delivery.
- Ensure the implementation of effective and participatory Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) approaches at all levels of the country programme.
- Facilitate collaboration and the utilisation of global technical support in areas of new programmatic initiatives.
- Ensure Information Management is embedded within DRC programmes and that data management adheres to GDPR and other data protection protocols, including Protection Information Management (PIM).
- Adopt an evidence-based approach that promotes the dissemination of lessons learned and best practices to donors and other stakeholders, ensuring synergies across programmes and cross-country collaboration within Türkiye and the wider region.
- Ensure proposals and reports are in line with the Country Programme Plan and sector sub-strategies, and that they are submitted in a timely manner and with quality.
- Ensure effective and transparent budgeting, planning and follow-up in compliance with DRC policies and priorities as well as donor rules and regulations.
- Ensure grants opening, review, and closure meetings take place systematically.
- Ensure quality control of donor reports and authorise the submissions of these and proposals to HQ/donors.
- Ensure advocacy is well-planned and informed by programmes as well as used for external communications with government authorities, donors, and other humanitarian and development stakeholders.
- Represent DRC Türkiye in relation to current and potential donors (with Country Director).
- Cultivate key relationships that enhance DRC’s visibility, and credibility and position DRC as a key displacement focused organisation in Türkiye (with CD).
- Promote DRC’s localisation agenda within DRC Türkiye (with SMT).
- Identify local NGOs/partners and develop partnerships with relevant and complementary partners.
- Keep abreast of and engage with relevant coordination structures
- Ensure advocacy is well-planned and informed by programmes as well as used for external communications with government authorities, donors, and other humanitarian and development stakeholders (with CD).
- Ensure that staff in the Programme Department have clear and realistic goals.
- Provide on-going support and coaching and ensure that line managed staff have the required capacities to fulfil their responsibilities.
- Plan, draft and/or review scopes of work to hire and manage technical consultants, including review of technical efficacy and contract budget.
- Lead by example when it comes to values and standards.
- Other duties as requested by the Country Director
To be successful in this role we expect you to have university degree in International Development, Humanitarian Assistance, Project Management, or any other related field.
Moreover, we also expect the following:
- Minimum 7 years of progressively responsible experience in programme management, leadership, and design in countries of conflict or post-conflict.
- Minimum 4 years of experience in people management.
- Proven leadership and management skills and a clear management vision, also for engagement in a senior management team.
- Demonstrated experience and skills in conceptualisation, proposal development, budget development, programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation, grants management.
- High level of knowledge of protection and livelihoods programming.
- Proven experience in effectively coordinating with national governments, international and national NGO partners and a variety of working with and coordinating with a variety of institutional donors.
- Proven experience of working in Türkiye or comparable contexts.
- Previous experience in organisations comparable to DRC.
- Proven experience in managing integrated programmes as well as capacity-building.
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
- Strong representation skills.
- High level of professional proficiency in written and spoken English.
- Turkish and/or Arabic proficiency an added value
In this position, you are expected to demonstrate DRC’ five core competencies:
You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process.
You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback.
You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.
You listen and speak effectively and honestly.
You uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation to our values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.
Contract length: until 31.12.2027
Band: E1 – Management
Start date: 01.11.2026 or as soon as possible
Designation of Duty Station: Country Office (Gaziantep)
This is a full-time position based at our office in Gaziantep. The successful candidate will be expected to work full-time from the office, permanent remote work arrangements for this position are not applicable.
Salary and conditions will be in accordance with Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for nationals or expatriates depends on the successful candidate’s profile.
For further information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult our website drc.ngo.
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