Government and Community Affairs Manager

Mselect is looking to hire a Government and Community Affairs Manager for one of its major Oil & Gas clients in Erbil. Major responsibilities will include strategic leadership and day-to-day management of the company’s Government and Community Affairs Department. Excellent business reading, writing, and speaking skills in Sorani Kurdish and English is required.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Managing of company’s Government and Community Affairs group of 11 individuals in 9 positions located in Erbil, Duhok, and on the Atrush Block
• Building and maintaining a strong and positive government relations program and advising senior management on strategic government relations issues.
• Providing leadership in international best practices and application in government affairs, and social performance standards such as IPIECA, and the International Finance Corporation
• Working with local communities and stakeholders to build positive local relationships through a program of stakeholder engagement, minimization of social impacts, oversight of a program of strategic social investment, and timely land acquisition and compensation
• Updating/preparing department plans and processes including:  GCA Charter, Stakeholder Engagement, Land Acquisition and Compensation, Five-Year Corporate Social Responsibility Plan, Local Content Plan, Socioeconomic Baseline, and others
• Represents the highest ethical standards in compliance with anti-corruption requirements of company, the British Anti-Corruption Act, and Iraq law

JOB DIMENSIONS

• Builds and maintains positive relationships with Kurdistan Regional Government Ministries, in particular the Ministry of Natural Resources
• Supervises departmental interactions with Duhok Governorate, District Mayors in Shekhan, Amedi, and Akre, and sub-District managers in Chamanke and Atrush
• Develops and maintains positive interactions with local, regional, and KRG government officials (to facilitate approvals, document processing, and understanding of proposed and pending changes in regulations/other operating strategies)
• Represents company at government functions/social events
• Arranges meetings and events with government as required
• Proactively briefs Company personnel on changes to Kurdish and Iraqi laws that may affect them
• Contributes to risk management system/briefs on relevant/material government relations risks

Stakeholder Engagement

• Responsible for government/community stakeholder engagement strategy and implementation
• Plans/participates in meetings, town halls, roundtable discussions, and consultations as appropriate
• Prepares/implements meeting plans, identification of key issues and company responses
• Prepares/maintains departmental stakeholder engagement plan and updates as required

Land Acquisition

• Provides overall supervision of company’s land acquisition and compensation process
• Promotes timely/fair compensation meeting international norms for land to the extent feasible
• Ensures Land Acquisition and Compensation process/procedure is reviewed/updated yearly

Community Investment

• Provides overall supervision/oversight of company community investment programs including small grants materials/supplies, village based community investments, and other third-party contracts
• Ensures preparation-implementation of company Five Year Corporate Social Responsibility Plan
• Develops budgets, obtains approvals, acts as primary interface with MNR CSR Department

Social Impact and Grievance Management

• Provides overall supervisions/oversight of company’s social performance objectives in the areas of social impact identification/mitigation, grievance management, inputs into socio/economic sections of Environmental Impact Assessments, and other management documents
• Proactively identifies areas of inputs and works with relevant departments to implement
• Ensures relevant plans are implemented, reviewed, and updated as appropriate

Contractor Management and Local Content

• With Supply Chain Management is responsible owner of company Local Content Plan
• Prepares initiatives-strategies to provide local opportunities

Work Location

• Regularly works out of offices in Duhok and in the Atrush Block

Personnel Management

• Responsible for staff of 11 individuals (representing 9 full-time positions) in Erbil, Duhok and on the Atrush Block
• Ensures group deliverables are completed in a timely and effective manner
• Prepares staff performance reviews
• Determines training and development needs
• Prepares job descriptions, recruits individuals, oversees individual performance
• In coordination with each group manager reviews job descriptions from time-to-time to and adjusts as required to meet business needs

Administrative Responsibilities

• Prepares yearly work plan and determines departmental priorities and objectives
• Prepares yearly departmental budget and tracks against plan
• Prepares weekly and monthly reports as required
• Prepares presentations, position papers for management committee, leadership team and other business functions as required
• Additional duties as assigned from time to time by the line manager to meet business needs including personal training and development opportunities
• The Job Description will be reviewed periodically and may be modified to meet business needs
• Additional duties as assigned from time to time by the line manager to meet business needs including personal training and development opportunities

QUALIFICATIONS

• BA/BS or equivalent and 7-10 years’ relevant experience in government affairs, business management, oil and gas industry
• Intermediate level skills in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
• Fluent speaking English and Kurdish
• Excellent business reading-writing skills in Soroni Kurdish and English
• Intermediate level English speaking/reading/writing skills required

EXPERIENCE

• Ability to develop and manage effective relationships with diverse groups including management, Government entities, and Company stakeholders
• Prior experience managing teams of five to 15 individuals
• Excellent communication, project management skills, leadership and interpersonal skills required
• Ability to think strategically and develop, processes, and procedures to meet changing trends
• Ability public presentations in a variety of forums
• Demonstrated ability to work with local communities, relevant stakeholders, proven delivery of projects/programs; and experience in Kurdistan working at the local level
• Technical knowledge of upstream development in oil and gas

ADDITIONAL SKILLS/REQUIREMENTS

• Ability to influence in a persuasive manner that is consistent with building relationships and maintaining relevant working objectives consistent with the operational strategy and overarching guidelines/values of the corporation
• Awareness of/ and sensitive to cultural differences and how this builds long-term relationships and positive community relations required

INTERACTIONS

• As a member of the Atrush Leadership Team works with other senior managers in the areas of government and social performance
• Interface with development and production teams in areas relevant to departmental remit
• Regularly interacts/meets with Ministries and senior KRG officials, Duhok Governor and District mayors as required
• Meets with Ministries, senior government officials as required
• Interface with Non-Governmental organizations, embassies, other entities required for company business conduct in Kurdistan
• Attends meetings with partners and others as requested by Country Manager
• Other interactions/meetings as descried in the company Stakeholder Engagement Plan
• Represents company at major meetings, trade fairs, and industry events as required