Executive Guide: Head of Programme (HoP) at Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Nigeria

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is seeking an exceptional humanitarian leader for the role of Head of Programme (HoP) in Nigeria. This is an Executive-level position, reporting directly to the Country Director and serving as an integral member of the Senior Management Team (SMT).

This guide focuses on the unique strategic and operational demands of this role, helping you articulate your value as a leader capable of driving DRC’s programmatic vision across complex humanitarian and durable solutions programming.

Location: Lagos
Technical supervisor: Programme Principal, HQ
Line manager: Country Director, Nigeria

1. The Strategic Mandate: Vision, Growth, and External Leadership

The HoP is the chief programmatic architect for DRC Nigeria, responsible for setting the overall strategy and securing the resources needed to scale impact.

• SMT & Strategy Leadership: You will oversee the implementation of DRC’s strategy in Nigeria, taking a proactive role in ensuring programmatic relevance, technical quality, and compliance across all sectors.

• Fundraising Driver: You will be a key leader in fundraising activities, providing contextual analysis, advising on partnerships, and consolidating DRC’s operations. Your experience must demonstrate a strong understanding of key donor requirements and success in securing major grants.

• High-Level Representation: You are expected to ensure effective coordination and representation of DRC in relevant humanitarian fora, Cluster meetings, and working groups, strengthening donor relations alongside the Country Director.

2. Programmatic Excellence, Quality Assurance, and MEAL

This role holds ultimate responsibility for technical quality assurance across DRC’s multi-sectoral interventions (Protection, Food Security & Livelihoods, Peacebuilding, Emergency Response).

• Technical Oversight: You must provide technical input to implementing actors, develop and disseminate key sectoral strategies (especially Protection), and ensure all projects actively mainstream protection, gender, and climate considerations.

• Learning Culture & Accountability: Lead the development and implementation of robust Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) systems. This includes streamlining grant management, ensuring monthly qualitative and quantitative reporting, and promoting cross-project capitalization and learning.

• Capacity Building: Drive continuous improvement by assessing the capacity of national partners and implementing organizational and technical capacity-building plans.

3. The Executive Profile

This role demands a highly accomplished professional with both strategic vision and hands-on operational experience at the senior management level.

• Required Experience:

  • Minimum 7 years experience in the humanitarian sector, demonstrating expertise in both humanitarian response and durable solutions programming.

  • At least 4 years of proven experience in people management and staff development within a country senior management context.

  • Prior experience in developing programme strategies and producing technical guidance related to core sectors (Protection, Economic Recovery, Emergency Response, Peacebuilding).

• Education: Master’s degree in Political Science, International Development, Economics, or another relevant field.

• Coordination & Regional Asset: Strong track record of effective coordination with national partners, government authorities, UN agencies, and other stakeholders. Previous professional experience in West and Central Africa is a significant asset.

Guiding Your Application for SMT Review

Your CV and motivation letter must be written at a strategic, results-focused level, demonstrating your capacity for executive leadership:

1. Quantify Impact: Use metrics to describe the scale of the programs you have managed (e.g., portfolio value, number of beneficiaries, multi-year strategic plans developed).

2. Confirm Compliance: Explicitly confirm your familiarity with and commitment to the DRC Accountability and Quality Management system, Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS), and relevant donor compliance requirements.

3. Strategic Framing: Frame your sectoral experience as strategic leadership (e.g., “Led the strategic development of the country’s multi-year Protection strategy” rather than “Supported Protection activities”).

Application Closing Date: 29th December, 2025, 11:59pm (GMT-time).

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