Country Director - Occupied Palestinian Territory

**About The Role**

The Country Director (CD) will provide strong leadership of the OPT country office and ensure the delivery of Oxfam’s programme and influencing work within OPT, in line with the Oxfam OPT Country Strategy, Regional Strategy and Global Strategic Framework. The CD is expected to follow feminist principles in their leadership. The CD is expected to contribute and implement Oxfam’s Global Strategy, by providing vision and strategic direction to all of Oxfam’s work in the Country. This includes Oxfam’s humanitarian responses, long term development programme design and implementation, policy, advocacy and influencing. S/he will be directly responsible for the overall strategic planning, program development, and risk management, ensuring high level of program quality and grant management, overseeing program support operations (Finance, HR, Operations) to maintain organizational, donor and legal compliance, and represent Oxfam for country-level external relations and interagency coordination. S/he will also manage both the growth and contraction of the country programme based on changes to the country programme’s portfolio, ensuring a strategic, and principled, approach to change management.

It will be essential for the CD to work simultaneously at both strategic and operational levels and is expected to be present and active within the broader sector at country level, contributing to and providing leadership within the INGO and UN community in OPT. Representation will be a key part of the successful delivery of the CD role. The CD must also ensure that all Oxfam policies and procedures with respect to HR, safety and security, code of conduct, safeguarding, and other relevant policies and procedures are in place, implemented and adhered to. The CD will continually assess, identify and address gaps and weaknesses so as to improve overall country programme performance, efficiency, and effectiveness.

The Country Director will be responsible, with support from the Oxfam International SWANA regional platform, to implement the Oxfam 2030 Vision. This vision aims to create a stronger Oxfam that is globally coordinated network organization while staying relevant in every country in which we work. The Country Director has overall responsibility for the Oxfam program and reports to the OI Regional Director in the SWANA region, or her delegate.

**Country Context and Oxfam Program in OPT**

The occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) remains one of the most complex and protracted humanitarian, protection and political crises globally. Decades of Israeli unlawful occupation, restrictions on movement and access, recurrent cycles of conflict, and the siege in Gaza have severely constrained Palestinians' rights, livelihoods, economic opportunities, and access to essential services. These conditions have contributed to deepening poverty, aid dependency, forced displacement, and protection risks across Gaza, the West Bank including East Jerusalem. Israel’s genocide in Gaza with unprecedented levels of killing, destruction, forced displacement and deprivation continues to unfold. Across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Palestinians are facing escalating settler violence, forced displacement, movement restrictions, settlement expansion, and growing threats to their rights and security. The humanitarian, political and protection environment remains highly volatile, with significant operational constraints and rapidly evolving risks. Leading Oxfam's work in this context requires strategic leadership, sound political judgement, and the ability to navigate a highly sensitive and fast-changing environment.

**Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities**

**Accountability**

- Accountable to the Oxfam International Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) Regional Director or as delegated for the delivery, effective management and oversight of all aspects of the country programme monitoring and evaluation, and learning from, the OPT country program and for leading the OPT Country Program to deliver quality programming at scale and in line with Oxfam’s policies and procedures

**Strategic Management & Leadership**

- Responsible for leading the design and delivery of the Oxfam Country Strategy (OCS) for OPT in line with Oxfam’s Regional and Global strategies, and Oxfam’s global approaches
- Responsible for leading the delivery of the Gaza Emergency response and the West Bank emergency response programmes, ensuring that ongoing programmes and the responses are well integrated into the country strategy
- Provide strategic leadership and management of Oxfam’s program in country including ensuring integration between all development, advocacy, and humanitarian programming to maximise our influence and impact.
- Provide oversight and strategic leadership to the business development strategy for Oxfam in OPT, ensuring pro-active business development, well managed growth of the programme in financial size and scope, and innovation. Specifically, in collaboration with relevant regional and country staff, lead and ensure funding proposals are of the highest quality and closely aligned with donor requirements
- External representation and effective, pro-active influencing, communications and networking with donors, U.N. agencies, other NGOs (international and national) and government actors that produces actionable and timely business intelligence to ensure Oxfam’s coherence with and leadership within the wider sector
- Ensure that gender justice, climate justice women’s rights, International Human Right and Humanitarian law and civilian protection with strong attention to influencing are reflected in all aspects of Oxfam’s work.
- Be a driving force in ensuring the development and implementation of Oxfam’s Local Humanitarian Leadership agenda with a particular focus on working with partners with clear growth of partnership portfolio to meet and/or surpass Oxfam’s global commitments.
- Be an active participant in the SWANA regional leadership team and the SWANA regional strategic advisory groups and in regional planning and analysis; understand relevant regional and global objectives. Ensures that gender equity (or women’s rights), and civilian protection with strong attention to influencing are reflected in all aspects of Oxfam’s work.
- Ensure a comprehensive risk management approach is followed to manage strategic and operational risks, including compliance, financial, security, brand risks and prioritising a do no harm approach in all of Oxfam’s interventions, including programme and influencing work. Seek opportunities to introduce efficiencies and eliminate redundancies in existing business processes.

**People Management and Culture**

- Directly line manages the Country Management Team and their operations which will include: staff, budgets, funding and program, ensuring that managers in country are following Oxfam’s policies and procedures, including but not limited to the code of conduct, safeguarding, Aid diversion, performance management, security, health and safety, risk management and local legislation.
- Creates a supportive and collaborative environment that enables strong and effective coordination, partnerships, influence, knowledge sharing, learning, staff development and innovation.
- Ensures effective engagement in and roll out of all key policies related to Code of Conduct, safeguarding, Aid diversion, security, and ensures staff, partners and beneficiaries are oriented on reporting misconduct mechanisms and necessary systems are in place.
- Ensure enabling and conducive organizational culture is nurtured in line with Oxfam’s values and feminist principles and leadership model.
- Maintains a strong focus on supporting the well-being of all staff through a multi-faceted approach.
- Responsible for talent management and development of Oxfam staff, and the creation of a learning and nurturing working environment.
- Ensure right capacity exists in c