Head Of Mission Venezuela

Head of Mission – Venezuela

Location: Caracas, Venezuela

Contract type: Full time

Contract duration: 6-12 months, with possible extension

SUMMARY

IsraAID is seeking a Head of Mission to establish and lead IsraAID humanitarian mission in Venezuela, working primarily through local partners and national and international stakeholders. The mission will combine strategic leadership, high-level technical support, and proportionate operational oversight to ensure quality humanitarian programming that responds to immediate needs while strengthening community resilience and the local ecosystem.

The Head of Mission will lead mission strategy and management; build equitable partnerships and ensure quality program delivery; represent IsraAID externally; and work closely with IsraAID HQ to strengthen emergency response capabilities across Latin America and the Caribbean. The role will prioritize locally led solutions, accountable partnerships, and sustainable local capacities, supported by a small mission team and access to HQ and specialist expertise.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Strategic Management of Mission

· Establish and lead a lean, partner-led mission in Venezuela, defining strategic priorities, a fit-for-purpose team structure, and clear roles, decision-making arrangements, and accountability with IsraAID HQ.

· Translate ongoing context analysis, needs assessments, and community priorities into an adaptive mission strategy and operational plans, linking immediate response to community resilience and recovery.

· Lead and support the mission team, including recruitment, onboarding, supervision, staff wellbeing, duty of care, and effective rotation and handover arrangements.

· Maintain oversight of budgets, financial controls, administration, procurement, logistics, and mission setup, ensuring responsible use of resources and compliance with applicable requirements and IsraAID policies.

· Lead security and risk management, including regular risk reviews, access analysis, staff safety protocols, contingency and evacuation planning, and timely escalation to HQ.

· Set mission funding priorities and resource requirements in coordination with HQ, aligning fundraising efforts with mission strategy, partner capacities, and community needs; oversee donor compliance and timely narrative and financial reporting.

· Regularly review mission progress, risks, and resourcing with HQ, adapting priorities and planning for continuity, transition, or responsible closure as appropriate.

2. Partnerships building and quality programming delivery

· Identify, assess, and build equitable partnerships with local organizations and community actors, prioritizing complementary expertise, local leadership, and sustained capacity within the local ecosystem.

· Lead partner due diligence and establish clear agreements covering shared objectives, roles, budgets, reporting, risk management, safeguarding, and accountability; monitor delivery through regular joint reviews.

· Co-design programs with partners and affected communities, ensuring that assistance responds to immediate needs while strengthening local systems, community resilience, preparedness, and recovery capacities.

· Ensure high-quality technical design and implementation, drawing on IsraAID HQ and specialist expertise in relevant sectors, including Education, WASH, Health, protection, and mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), as identified through assessments.

· Maintain proportionate quality assurance and monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning systems with partners, using field visits, community feedback, and evidence to review results and adapt programming.

· Embed safeguarding, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, protection mainstreaming, inclusion, conflict sensitivity, and do-no-harm principles across mission and partner activities, with accessible feedback, complaints, and safe reporting mechanisms.

· Agree partner capacity-strengthening priorities and facilitate technical accompaniment, mentoring, and peer learning, avoiding parallel structures and unnecessary reporting burdens.

· Address implementation bottlenecks and compliance concerns with partners and HQ, ensuring timely corrective action, responsible resource management, and sustainable handover arrangements.

3. Representation and Fundraising

· Represent IsraAID with national and local authorities, donors, UN agencies, humanitarian coordination mechanisms, civil society, and community representatives.

· Build and maintain relationships that support humanitarian access, coordinated assessments, complementary programming, and appropriate positioning of the mission within the wider response.

· Communicate mission priorities, results, gaps, and risks clearly and responsibly, ensuring external commitments and public messaging are coordinated with HQ and reflect agreed mission priorities and capacities.

· Promote locally led response and community priorities in coordination and donor discussions, ensuring partners receive appropriate visibility and recognition.

· Proactively identify and cultivate prospective donors, foundations, institutional funders, and other funding partners, working closely with HQ to build a diversified funding pipeline for the Venezuela mission.

· Lead country-level donor engagement and funding discussions, positioning the mission’s partner-led approach, technical expertise, and contribution to community resilience through clear, evidence-based funding propositions.

· Coordinate the development of concept notes, proposals, and budgets with HQ, technical specialists, and local partners, ensuring realistic commitments, appropriate resourcing for partners, and alignment with donor requirements.

· Maintain an active overview of funding opportunities, submission deadlines, and follow-up actions with HQ; nurture existing donor relationships through regular updates on results, challenges, and emerging needs to support renewed and longer-term funding.

· Facilitate donor visits and joint assessments, and support ethical communications that protect the dignity, safety, and consent of affected communities.

4. Support Emergency Response & Readiness in Latin America

· Contribute to mapping and maintaining relationships with potential response partners, technical specialists, coordination networks, and relevant regional actors to support readiness.

· Capture and share lessons on partner-led delivery, technical accompaniment, mission setup, community resilience, and risk management through structured reviews and practical guidance.

· Support HQ-led preparedness initiatives, including partner capacity strengthening, training, scenario planning, and response-readiness exercises where agreed.

· Provide contextual insights and support regional assessments or response planning as requested by HQ, within agreed priorities and capacity, without compromising delivery and accountability in Venezuela.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, AND COMPETENCIES

Required skills & experience:

· Master degree in international development, emergency/disaster management, social sciences, or another relevant field.

· At least five years of experience in humanitarian or development settings, including leadership of emergency responses or complex field operations, with demonstrated experience translating needs assessments and context analysis into mission strategies, operational plans, and fit-for-purpose team structures.

· Fluency in Spanish and English is essential.

· Experience in Venezuela and/or Latin America and the Caribbean, and a strong understanding of the regional context, are an advantage.

· Experience leading partner-based humanitarian programming, including partner assessment, equitable partnership management, capacity strengthening, and technical quality assurance.

· Strong practical experience in needs assessment, program design, program-cycle management, monitoring and evaluation, accountability to affected communities, safeguarding, and ethical programming.

· Demonstrated experience in budget management, financial oversight, donor compliance, and operational risk management.

· Strong team leadership, organizational, and adaptive management skills, with the ability to prioritize and deliver in a lean, rapidly changing mission environment.

· Ability to identify technical support needs and mobilize and coordinate specialist expertise to assure program quality. Understanding of integrated emergency programming across relevant sectors, including Education, WASH, Health, protection, and MHPSS, and of approaches that strengthen community resilience and locally led response.

· Experience managing staff safety, security, duty of care, and contingency planning in complex operational environments.

· Demonstrated experience cultivating donor relationships, identifying funding opportunities, and developing concept notes, proposals, and budgets in collaboration with partners and headquarters. Experience representing an organization with donors, authorities, and humanitarian coordination mechanisms, and sustaining donor engagement to support renewed funding.

ETHICAL STANDARDS

IsraAID has a zero-tolerance policy towards any acts of misconduct and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. The recruitment process will include all candidates’ declaration and reference checks focused on misconduct and SEA.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

IsraAID is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or disability status