NHQ:ISD-OPS-IDR: International Relief Roster Candidate

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Purpose:
This position supports the National Headquarters (NHQ) International Services Response & Recovery department.
This application will be open until January 27, 2023

As part of the world's largest humanitarian network, the American Red Cross maintains a pool of trained disaster responders in the areas of relief supplies, cash and vouchers assistance, IT & Telecommunications, Information Management, Mapping/GIS, Operations Management and interagency coordination. The International Disaster Response Roster consists of experts in these areas, ready to deploy to an international disaster response operation on short notice.

The American Red Cross' role in international crises is different from its role in domestic disasters. Our support is triggered by a request from the local Red Cross or Red Crescent team in the country affected and coordinated through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Since the local Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations have their own staff and volunteers who are trained to respond to large-scale disaster operations, we only send designated types of qualified specialists abroad upon the request of the affected Red Cross or Red Crescent team.

For more additional information regarding International Disaster Response Roster, please click/input this link in your browser : https://www.redcross.org/volunteer/volunteer-opportunities/volunteer-internationally/international-disaster-responders.html

Operational Management & Leadership: Highly-trained American Red Cross disaster response managers provide strategic and operational leadership within relief operations on behalf of the affected country or zone, ensuring appropriate coordination with relevant actors on the ground (including International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the local Red Cross or Red Crescent society, and other relevant actors.) These specialists also build the capacity of our sister national societies through intensive, hands-on trainings around the world.


Responsibilities:
The main responsibilities of the Operations Manager (OM) are related to strategy and priorities definition, management of the overall operation, external coordination, Movement coordination, security management, and ensuring the evolution of Red Cross services to meet the evolving needs of communities, including in its transition to recovery.

Operational/Management Support:

• Provide strategic and day-to-day management and oversight of the IFRC operations team.

• Negotiate, plan and mobilize IFRC resources in support of the NS in the assessment, planning, and implementation of the emergency response and recovery.

• Manage senior delegates and technical team leaders and coordinate with senior management in the country, the Country Cluster Delegation (CCD) and Geneva.

• Motivate staff, manage performance and develop team members in order to support a continuous improvement culture.

• Ensure that adequate Security frameworks are in place as required by the operation

  National Society (NS) Development:

• Support the NS in developing/implementing operational standards, tools and procedures that ensure quality, consistency/sustainability of response interventions

• Support the NS in establishing an effective information management system for the response, including statistics.

• Work with PMER leads in IFRC and the NS to ensure that

  planning & reporting requirements are met in a timely and

  efficient manner.

• Advise on the need of additional human resources and support

  deployments in coordination with the Country/Regional IFRC

  offices, HR departments and/or surge desk.

• Ensure sound financial management is applied to all

  Federation-assisted programs within the NS, that budgets are monitored and any problems identified and solutions are implemented in a timely/effective manner.

  Cooperation and Coordination:

• Lead the Operational relationship with various strategic partners and humanitarian actors & ensure the smooth coordination and cooperation.

• Monitor and analyze political, economic, social trends in the country for planning purposes and for keeping the Federation Secretariat and partners informed and using the information for the revision of annual plans together with the NS.

• Facilitate and encourage innovative approaches towards needs assessment, program implementation and learning.

• Represent the IFRC in relevant national and international engagements and meetings as required.

Time Commitment:

• Engagement opportunities for candidates (ex. training/skills development) will vary by individual.
• If moved forward to the roster, candidates will commit to being available, on short notice, for assignments lasting a minimum of four weeks, as well as ongoing availability for annual training and refresher courses.

Qualifications:
At a minimum, international disaster response roster members are required to meet the following:

• • disaster management leadership, (international or domestic) including field experience and managing staff

  • management over a budget, HR decisions, logistics

  • Experience and knowledge of Project Management
  • Experience in program cycle management including proposal development, budgeting, and reporting, monitoring and evaluation.Significant technical expertise and demonstrated experience in at least one of the American Red Cross's priority response domains; for OM, a combined experience of 7+ years in the following:

  • Comfortable with ambiguity

  • Fluency in written & spoken English

  • Motivation and strong commitment to the Red Cross Red

    Crescent’s Fundamental Principles.

  • Diplomacy, teamwork and problem-solving skills, cultural

    sensitivity, tolerance, flexibility, and the ability to function

    effectively in a demanding and often rugged environment.

  • Ability to work effectively in high stress, insecure and volatile

    environments for extended periods.

  • Ability to live in basic and sometimes harsh living conditions

    (i.e. - no access to temperature control/electricity; sleeping in a tent/cot/shared residence; working long hours in the sun; limited access to specific diet/food, limited or medical care, limited access to communications with family back home,

    etc.).

  • Fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and submission of vaccine

    status and supporting documentation in Volunteer Connection.

  • Willingness to carry vaccination card to work assignments.

  • Current and valid passport required

  • Resume required

  
  
  Preferred:
  
  - Fluency (ability to fully function in business environment) in another foreign language (especially Spanish or French)
  
  - Field experience with Red Cross/Red Crescent
  - Leadership experience in a disaster
  - Experience with Internal/external coordination, specifically working with government entities and non-governmental organizations
  - Experience with the Red Cross and a leadership role in a minimum of one relief or recovery operation

Application process steps include:


- Multiple interviews (one on one & panel)
- Formal application
- Foreign language check (portion of one interview will be conducted in non-English language in which candidate states professional fluency)

-Due to the highly sought-after nature of this volunteer position, please be patient as the department works through the candidate list.

Candidates will be notified of the status of their application as the process moves along. Your application will be reviewed on a rolling basis against set criteria and requirements. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and interviewed.

After the application closes, the last day a successful candidate may hear back from us for an interview is February 14, 2023.