OPS Manager at The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

Vacancy No: IFRC01595
Location: Nigeria
Duration: 07 Months
Category of Staff: Delegate
Grade: To be determined

Job Purpose
Reporting to the Head of Nigeria Complex Operation, the OPS Manager will :

• Provide coordination and support to the National Society in the management of IFRC disaster assistance and also ensures close coordination with Movement actors in country;
• Contribute to build capacity and coordination of response preparedness to strengthen the National Society’s capacity to respond and effectively reduce and mitigate the impact of the outbreak;
• Take a lead on communications for the operation in consultation with the Head of Nigeria Complex Operations and the Regional disaster management team at the regional office. This entails liaising with the communicators in the National Society, the ICRC (as Movement partner actively involved in the operation) to ensure timely and quality production of updates and other possible outputs.

Job Duties and Responsibilities
The OPS Manager is responsible for:

• Ensure the application of the strategic direction of operations and focusing on achievement of the planned objectives
• Assess the prevailing / frequent disaster risks, in order to identify appropriate early warning and early action systems and contingency planning to respond to the disaster
• Manage the Emergency Appeal processes and make final recommendations as to scope and content of appeals / plans of action in line with standard operating procedures
• Supervise the implementation and monitoring of quality activities as laid out in the plan of action, with particular attention to context monitoring and monitoring of achievement of results
• Maintain a constant evaluation of the evolution of the security situation in the country, in close collaboration with the security Delegate, the NS and the ICRC.
• Ensure constant monitoring and analysis of the operating environment, timely readjustment of the operations, advice on legal considerations and risk assessment.
• Advise on the need and deployment of international disaster response tools and other human resources in coordination with the Head of Nigeria complex operation.
• Assure technical guidance for operations in food and nutrition, shelter, livelihoods, health, water, sanitation, protection and education for children
• Manage the effective and proper use of assets, financial resources and facilities according to Red Cross Red Crescent and IFRC standard procedures in order to comply with auditing requirements.
• Assure full compliance of operations with Red Cross Red Crescent principles, IFRC rules, regulations and policies and operational strategies of the Host National Society and relevant reference documents and policies.
• Ensure that NS response is appropriate and aligned with the SPHERE guidelines, the Better Programming Initiative (BPI) and other Federation polices and strategies (e.g. Strategy 2020, Code of Conduct, Principles and Rules for Disaster Relief, Seville agreement etc.).
• Participate in coordination activities with ICRC and also the others Movement partners in country PNS.
• Attend coordination meetings with the NS representatives and encourage / support their ongoing participation in such meetings and promotion of NS lead role and activities
• Liaise with and encourage the NS to engage effectively with Government bodies at all levels and in particular with NEMA (the National Emergency Management Authority).
• Ensure that timely and accurate financial and narrative reports are prepared and are in line with requirements specified in the project agreement or standard Federation reporting guidelines.
• Train NS counterpart in project management and ensure the competency and responsibility transfer.
• Provide regular management/operational reporting to Head of Nigeria complex operation and to the disaster management team at the regional office and the reporting team as required.
• Monitor the implementation of country-level activities, including training, technical guidelines and other relevant initiatives.
• Ensure that rigorous monitoring and evaluation criteria are being applied to measure the progress against set objectives.
• Work closely with the Abuja Cluster PMER, RM and Partners relationship delegate to raise operational funds in support of the emergency appeals and activities.
• Ensure that operations updates and DREF /appeal revisions are undertaken as per the IFRC guidelines.
• Support capacity building initiatives and ensure these provide the level of long-term preparedness capability required for other similar disaster response needs.
• Ensure that lessons learnt and good practice from disaster management in the Country are com-piled and used to improve future planning, programming and implementation, that they are shared within the region DMU for wider dissemination. Education

Requirements

• Relevant university Degree or extensive professional experience in related field or professional qualification in operations management - Required
• Relevant Degree in project management or DM - Required
• IMPACT, Basic Delegates Training Course - Required Experience
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in leading and managing operations programs in a humanitarian organization in developing countries and in complex emergencies or similar contexts - Required
• Good understanding of the humanitarian environment, strong analytical skills and capacity to translate analysis into strategy and planning - Required
• A very good track record of managing people, networking, influencing and negotiating and building relationships effectively - Required
• Experience in proposal development, report writing, and developing budgets - Required
• Experience of field based implementation is essential - Required
• Experience of setting up, managing and coordinating disaster response, including leading multi-national response teams , managing staff - Required
• Experience of financial management to ensure compliance - Required
• Experience of report writing (narrative and financial) - Required
• Experience of working for the Red Cross/Red Crescent in particular working with National Societies - Required Knowledge, skills and languages
• Self-supporting in computers - Required
• Coordination and partner relationship building/ Excellent skills in networking with other agencies and organizations - Required
• Demonstrated technical expertise in strategic management, project planning and budgeting, resource management, implementation ability as well as program monitoring and evaluation - Required
• Excellent communication and inter-personal skills with the ability to represent the International Federation and to coach, mentor and influence people - Required
• Knowledge of Red Cross Red Crescent Movement financial and project management tools - Required
• Skills in training and developing staff capacity - Required
• Good Knowledge of the region and the Country targeted - Preferred
• Fluent in written and spoken English - Required Competencies and values
• National Society relations
• Strategic orientation - Communication - Teamwork
• Professionalism - Integrity - Diversity
• Judgement-Decision-making
• Results focus and accountability
• Managing performance.