Coordinator, Operations

Job Purpose

“This is a national staff position open to nationals and others who are legally eligible to work in countries where IFRC has legal presence: Buenos Aires (Argentina), San José (Costa Rica), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Guatemala City (Guatemala), Tegucigalpa (Honduras), Kingston (Jamaica), Managua (Nicaragua), Panama City (Panama), Lima (Peru), or Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago). Candidates must be able to provide proof of their eligibility to work in those countries during application phase”

Based in Panama, the Operations Coordinator will report to the ARO Operations, Evolving Crisis and Disasters Manager. The Operations Coordinator will support the coordination of emergency at Regional level and other strategic tasks related to the function.

The position will serve as a Surge Delegate per request and coordination with the clusters. The Coordinator could be deployed worldwide to support other operations. This model of response personnel management is being used by multiple Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies that frequently respond to international disasters and by the IFRC to try to fill identified needs for leadership in response operations. However, many times these programs or positions are focused on larger and more high-profile disasters. It has been part of the ARC response strategy to support operational leadership development over the past few years and with this grant we are looking to increase the pool of leadership available to support low visibility and underfunded disasters.

Key to the position is to ensure the quality of operations based on timely response, effectiveness, efficiency and relevance according to adequate SoP. He/she will coordinate and monitor regional and international operations until the operation is handed over to country cluster office or when an Ops Manager is hired to run an operation. The Operations Coordinator will support DM colleagues in other regions.

The Operations Coordinator will be expected to deploy in the following capacities: Assist the national society with:

• Development of Emergency Appeals, plans of action, assessment and other gaps as identified by RC/RC leadership in-country
• In some cases, the surge delegate with deploy in a specific requested position within the RC/RC structure such as:
• Emergency Response Unit (ERU) Team Leader
• Operations Manager
• Interim Country Representative

Inherent in the role is the need for flexibility, the ability to travel, and willingness to work in multiple contexts with different stakeholders. The Coordinator must be able to deploy at a short notice for significant periods of time and up to 50% of the year traveling to remote and potentially unstable areas.

70% of his/her time will be dedicate to support and coordinate emergencies operations with the IFRC, while 30% of the time will be dedicated to support global operations and disaster management activities

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Disaster Management:

• Maintaining strong relationships and cooperation with other ARO units and with CCST in America, providing leadership to National Society’s timely response to disasters.
• Support CCD and National Societies in managing emergency operations (floods, earthquakes, Hurricanes, population movements, epidemics and other disasters). Ensure disaster response operations outcomes/deliverables are achieved in a timely fashion, within budgets and maintaining the minimum ratios of relief, early recovery and longer term development goals.
• Support CCD and National Societies in the managing of DREF and Emergency Appeals; writing, implementation, reporting, evaluation and resource mobilization. Define timeframes, deliverables/outcomes and costs. Ensure that the plan and budget are carried out in a timely and professional manner in accordance with Secretariat requirements, formats and standards. This must be done in coordination with relevant ARO technical units and Country offices
• Coordinate and monitor regional and international operations until the operation is handed over to country cluster office or when an Ops Manager is hired to run an operation
• Ensure that EA, Operational Strategies and budgets presented to Geneva meet the quality criteria and required guidance. Ensure disaster and crisis response operations are appropriate and aligned with International Federation guidelines and policies (SPHERE, Code of Conduct, Principles and Rules for Humanitarian Assistance, Seville agreement, etc.) and quality standards as defined by Regional DM review process
• Pre-deploy to crisis sites in coordination with the affected NSs when levels of threat are high, accompanied by the adequate IFRC specialized delegates if needed.
• Ensure comprehensive high quality assessments are carried out taking into consideration accountability to beneficiaries and in accordance with the affected population’s needs.
• Recommend the deployment of relevant International Federation disaster response tool (RIT, RRU, HEOps, Ops Manager, ERU), in support of National Society disaster management structures when requested by the National Society and when the disaster exceeds their capacity.
• Coordinate in the field Federation activities on disaster response with Red Cross partners, UN and other agencies to ensure adequate preparedness and appropriate, efficient and timely emergency response and early recovery.
• To serve as surge capacity any time in any operation.
• Support continental efforts to develop and implement regional contingency plans according to the most disaster-prone scenarios, such as those provided by hurricane season and El Niño/La Niña.
• Ensure that all relevant Red Cross actors (SMT, DCPRR in Geneva, PNS, NS, donors) are well informed about ongoing emergency operations
• Develop, support or manage projects at potentially any stage of the project cycle, including support or management of teams to assess, identify, design and implement appropriate response operation activities.
• Manage and lead a team of delegates, staff and volunteers, as appropriate during an emergency operation
• Trough IFRC Partnerships and Resource Development Department (PRD) identify potential financial resources from US government resources (OFDA, FFP, BPRM) to support RC/RC Movement disaster response; write concept papers and proposals as appropriate.
• Participate, and where appropriate lead, in relevant internal and external coordination, ensuring strong sharing of information and development of consistent and/or complementary Program approaches that seek to maximize value for money and impact.
• Provide capacity-building support as required to national and, where appropriate, expatriate staff.
• Ensure effective communication and reporting of program activities to relevant stakeholders
• During periods of non-deployment, the position would contribute to organizational capacity by supporting institutional learning opportunities, reviews and evaluations of Emergency Operations and support the effective dissemination and follow-up of findings and recommendations.
• Undertake ad hoc projects to develop operational tools and procedures to support program
• Facilitate or run Federation training courses, or act as mentor to roster members, and staff.

Lateral relations and general responsibilities

• Establish and ensure effective working relationships within the department, with country/regional clusters and with other programmatic and service departments/units.
• Ensure an effective working relationship with the Finance and Logistics
• Ensure effective working relationships with National Societies
• Ensure a good working relationship with the ICRC delegations and PNS in the various countries in the Americas in conjunction with the Regional Representations
• Ensure that as part of Americas response system we act under the RC Principles and Rules for Humanitarian Assistance
• Provide support to DM Optimization process as defined in new PRO road map

Education

• University Degree
• IMPACT (International Mobilization and Preparation for Action) Course or also known as BTC (Basic Training Course) or other related training
• Trained as Operations Manager, CAP ERU, RIT/RDRT or RAT
• Relevant University Degree (Disaster Risk Management, Conflict Management, Development Planning, Disaster Risk Reduction, Humanitarian Affairs, etc.), preferred

Experience

• +5-year experience of capacity and vulnerability assessment, management, evaluation and monitoring of programs.
• +5-year experience of working for a humanitarian aid organisation in a developing country.
• +3-year work experience with the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, and/or with a National Society.
• Deployed at least once in the field to lead and manage an emergency operation as a Operations Manager TL, or as an ERU TL, or as a RIT TL, or as a RAT TL or as an IFRC Head of Operation, or as an IFRC Disaster Manager or as an IFRC Head of Delegation or as a PNS Emergency focal point.
• +3-year experience in managing relations with donors and partners. Work experience with other international organisations, large NGOs and/or governmental development agencies.
• Minimum 2-years of supervisory experience, particularly in a team setting with strong relational and strategic leadership competencies
• Strong preference for knowledge in supply chain, relief distributions, information management and reporting, logistics, shelter, cash transfer programming, telecommunications, assessment methodologies, and monitoring, preferred
• Proven ability to work successfully in the humanitarian field for periods of up to 6 months outside one’s home country, preferred.
• 5-year experience in geographic focus area (Asia/Middle East or Latin America/Caribbean), preferred
• Managed at least once an IFRC Emergency Appeal or a DREF from the field (Country or Regional level) or from IFRC HQ (Regional or Gva level), preferred.
• Acquired Early Recovery skills through operations, preferred

Knowledge, Skills and Language

• Ability to work in a diverse cultural context
• Strong knowledge of information sharing tools, and the ability to implement
  them
• Highly organised and able to work independently and proactively, with ability
  to work in team
• Overall understanding of budget and finance management
• Demonstrated skill in analytical and strategic thinking
• Skills in training and developing staff
• Self-supporting in computers (Windows, spreadsheets, word-processing.
• Valid international driving licence (manual gears)
• Proved capability to be self-organized and flexible
• Excellent interpersonal and listening skills
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Familiarity with current standards and guidelines for humanitarian emergency response
• Knowledge of Fundamental Principles and RCRC Movement
• Strong preference for knowledge in supply chain, relief distributions, information management and reporting, logistics, shelter, cash transfer programming, telecommunications, assessment methodologies, and monitoring, preferred

Languages

• Fluently spoken and written Spanish
• Knowledge of spoken and written English
• Good command of another IFRC official language (i.e., French) or any other language relevant in the region. French will be an asset, preferred

Competencies and Values

VALUES: Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; Accountability
CORE COMPETENCIES: Communication; Collaboration and Teamwork; Judgement and Decision Making; National Societies and Customer Relations; Creativity and Innovation; Building Trust
MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES: Managing Staff Performance; Managing Staff Development; Strategic Orientation
FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: Strategic Orientation; Leadership; Empowering Others

How to apply

A letter of motivation must be submitted along with the application no later than the closing date. In order to ensure a proper comparative evaluation of your application for this vacancy and to enable us to consider your profile against other similar current and future vacancies, we ask that you submit your application taking into account the following:

Important Note:

Please note that the selected candidate will be hired through a national contract under the labour law of any of the following countries, where the IFRC have legal status: Buenos Aires (Argentina), San José (Costa Rica), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Guatemala City (Guatemala), Tegucigalpa (Honduras), Kingston (Jamaica), Managua (Nicaragua), Panama City (Panama), Lima (Peru), or Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago); therefore only those citizens, as well as foreign applicants with valid and current residence and work permit in those countries, will be considered for this vacancy.

The incumbent is responsible to abide by Federation policies, procedures, plans and local labour laws

The closing date is midnight Geneva time; Only those candidates shortlisted for interviews will be notified.

Interested candidates should visit the link: https://www.ifrc.org/jobs/details.html?jobId=109774&jobTitle=Coordinator%2C%20Operations to view the full job description and to submit their application.