World Vision International (WVI) began emergency relief operations in Afghanistan in 2001 by addressing the urgent needs of children and families affected by natural disasters and decades of conflict. More than a decade later, World Vision Afghanistan’s (WVA) programs have expanded to development sectors such as health, nutrition, WASH, child protection, and education, empowering women to engage in civil and social change through interfaith partnership.

WVA targets the most vulnerable in its interventions; including children, women, Internally Displace Persons (IDPs), and returnee refugees, as well as the most impoverished and marginalized families. These priorities have been chosen to contribute to our Goal of: “Improved survival and well-being of Afghan girls and boys, building the foundations for a better future for Afghan children and their communities.” 

Our work is well established in Herat, Badghis, Ghor, and Faryab provinces in the western region of Afghanistan. We work closely with all levels of society including children, parents, teachers, village councils, religious leaders, ministries, provincial departments, and other national and international agencies.

Job Porpuse:
The position will be responsible for managing and overseeing WV Afghanistan’s operations in __________ and other areas of WV Afghanistan’s future expansion in line with the Country Strategy. The Zonal Manager (ZM) will provide strategic direction to the Zonal teams for effective implementation of projects in line with WVA strategy and WVI policies. The ZM will also represent WV at all provincial external meetings and work closely with WVA leadership to ensure WV participates in coordination and negotiations for access and safe passage for operations and project implementation in all zonal operational areas. The Zonal Manager plays a key role in building capacity at zonal level, and in the effective scale up and management of WVA programmes to increase impact and enable positive change for children and vulnerable communities.

Major Responsibilities :

Operations Management:

• Provide thought leadership to the zonal team and ensure that project implementation is in line with WVA strategy and with donor’s agreement.

• Ensure that all projects are implemented with good quality, on time, on scope and on budget.
• Ensure that all project managers submit timely accurate and professional reports that meet donor and WV requirements.
• Facilitate learning of best practices on zonal areas projects implementation
• Ensure monthly review meetings are held on monthly basis with the participation of all departments and the appropriate actions are taken and addressed.

• Ensure that grants/projects budget within approved spending levels and support providing accurate and timely financial reports to donors and SO staff.
• Make sure project manager are well aware and understand how to manage their projects budget properly, through monitoring and evaluation of their projects burn rates, financial reports
• Ensure that, PMs are well understood on how and when to make acceleration plans, cash follow revision of their projects to meet the project goals as per the design
• Ensure that response projects budget are exhausted timely
• Ensure grant/project expenses are reasonable, allocated as per assigned budget, prudent and spent in accordance with donor rules and regulations to ensure low risk audits.
• Conduct & update regular risk management plan at field office level in consultation with supportive department and project Managers. Ensure the risk mitigation measures are in place & regularly monitored with special focus on safeguarding, security & safety, harassment, aid diversion, fraud and corruption. 
• Communicate regularly with Operations Director to provide updates on projects progress and identify areas for improvement.
• Support new funding opportunities and development of funding proposals for the Badghis areas.

People Management

• Directly supervise Project managers and field offices staff of national and international staff members
• Coordinate closely with P&C department and other support departments on the hiring of fulltime, stipend and daily staff for the zonal office in order to ensure quality and efficiency of program implementation.
• Ensure proper support and technical capacity of staff to manage complex donor-funded projects and develop a capacity plan and identify learning and training opportunities for Zonal team staff and work as a mentor and role model for less experienced staff.
• Conduct performance appraisals with assistance from P&C, create job descriptions, support hiring process, and ensure performance standards for all employees

Access

• Together with the Security and Access Manager, establish and maintain informal relations and a network of contacts with all relevant stakeholders throughout the Zone to facilitate the collection and synthesis of information related to humanitarian access in the zone.
• In collaboration with the Operations Director and Security and Access Manager, identify barriers to humanitarian access and support field management to develop strategies to address identified barriers
• Support management to develop and implement community engagement strategies that promote acceptance and humanitarian access, particularly in areas influenced by armed actors
• Report immediately to senior leadership and other internal stakeholders any sudden changes, particularly in regards to armed actors, that affect humanitarian access in the Zone.
• As a member of the senior management team, abide to the office’s confidentially guidelines, ensuring that information is only shared with approved recipients.
• Provide access information to the Operations Director and Security and Access manager that will feed into Western Region Humanitarian Access Group (HAG)
• Closely coordinate with the Security Department to ensure that WV security policies are being adhered to.
• In close collaboration with the Security Department, the Zone Manager will act as general liaison to the local military and police, and attend security coordination meetings with other organizations.

Coordination, Representation and visibility

• Conduct regular coordination meetings with the heads of departments to remove barriers that may be affecting implementation of projects within the zone.
• Act as the point of contact for all liaisons to the relevant local governmental offices, Coordination bodies (UN, interagency of Govt), NGOs and provincial officials and ensure their agreement and cooperation in the completion of our program goals. Notes of each meeting will be maintained.
• Maintain monthly operational reports to the Operations Director. These reports will include a detailed updated activity tracking sheet for every project in the zone

Zonal Finance and Administration

• Responsible for zonal support budget.
• Ensure that financial policies and procedures handed down from the main office are implemented and followed.
• Liaising with the finance department to create budgets and spending projections for the Zonal offices.
• Signing authority for purchase requisitions as per WV Afghanistan LoA.
• Closely supervise the administration assistants paying special attention to:
• The coordination of flights for zonal staff
• Perform space and needs assessments on a regular basis, and requisition or construct new office space as necessary.
• Oversee the day-today functions of offices of national and international staff members
• Oversee the running of the national and international team houses

Logistics

• Work closely with support departments to ensure that the zonal operations has the following:
• Works closely with the head of Supply chain to ensure that the zonal team is aware of and follows WV’s procurement policies.
• Managing the record keeping of the zonal documents including field documents of all existing and closed projects, ensuring that WV has these documents as required by the donor guidelines.
• Communicate the zonal logistics requirements including warehousing, transportation and other logistics related requirements and ensure that they are in place for smooth implementation of projects.
• Coordinate the distribution of WV assets for project implementation including the management of vehicles and their allocation to field teams.

Other

• Adhere to WV Child and Adult Safeguarding policy and standards.

Required Professional Experience:

At least 5 years work Experience working in an operations leadership position

Required Education, training, license, registration, and certification:

Holding a bachelor management, business, social studies or any other equivalent major

Preferred Knowledg and Qualifications:

1. master’s degree in management, business, social studies or any other equivalent major
2. Demonstrated leadership ability.
3. Cross-cultural sensitivity, flexible worldview, emotional maturity, physical stamina and ability to adjust to harsh living condition.
4. Strong negotiation skills with donors, government authorities, local contactors and suppliers.
5. Excellent English communication skills (oral and written).
6. Computer competency including MS Word and Excel. Experience with Lotus Notes a plus.
7. Good understanding of World Vision Sphere and core humanitarian standards relief standards.
8. Knowledge of and adherence to the Red Cross and NGO Code of Conduct
9. Ability to maintain performance expectations in diverse cultural contexts, psychologically stressful environments and physical hardship conditions with limited resources.
10. Experience working in an operations leadership position
11. Experience in engaging multiple stakeholders in a fragile environment
12. Experience in emergency response
13. Knowledge if development and humanitarian work
14. Demonstrated team management as well as abilities in report management
15. Staff on the job coaching and mentoring abilities, including identification and nurturing of talent
16. Exceptional analytical and report writing capabilities which enable effective representation of the status of the zonal office
17. Effective communication which enable project managers to know their roles and responsibilities and what the expectations are.
18. Networking skills which ensure good representation of WV in the targeted locations.
19. Strategic thinking capabilities which enable the office to maintain effective presence in the zone including staffing and financial management).
20. Experience in engaging multiple stakeholders in a fragile environment
21. Experience in emergency response
22. Knowledge if development and humanitarian work

Travel and/or Work Environment Requirement

• The role will include travel to multiple provinces as required by the context
• The role will be based Badghis with travel to Herat (20%)

Physical Requirements

• Being fit and healthy.

Language Requirements:

1. Professional Dari language skills
2. Advanced English language skills. (Ability to express ideas clearly and effectively, both in spoken and written English).

The application closing date is 24-Oct-2025. Qualified applicants can apply for the position by filling in the online application form in WV Career portal. applicants can also attach their CV and cover letter in the online system. Please note that only the applications received through the online portal will be considered for this position.

Applicants can login to WV online application system by copying and pasting the following link into their browsers:

https://worldvision.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WorldVisionInternational/job/Zonal-Manager_JR45818