Program Officer (British Red Cross) at The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

Vacancy No: IFRC04676
Location: Abuja
Duration: 12 Months
Category of Staff: National Staff
Grade: Not applicable

Organizational Context

• The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a network of 192-member National Societies.
• The overall aim of the IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by National Societies with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world.” The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.
• The IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work of the IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.
• The IFRC is led by its Secretary General, and has its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Headquarters are organized into three main Divisions: (i) National Society Development and Operations Coordination; (ii) Global Relations, Humanitarian Diplomacy and Digitalization; and (iii) Management Policy, Strategy and Corporate Services. The IFRC has five regional offices in Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
• The IFRC also has country cluster delegation and country delegations throughout the world. Together, the Geneva Headquarters and the field structure (regional, cluster and country) comprise the IFRC Secretariat.
• The British Red Cross (BRC) opened an office in Abuja in January 2019. Focus of BRC activities are around strengthening the Nigeria Red Cross Society (NRCS) through capacity building and the development of a business plan for the commercial activities of the NRCS. Programmatically, the focus of BRC work in Nigeria is the implementation of a disaster management programme in the states of FCT, Imo and Lagos (others to be added as the programme progresses).

Job Purpose

• Under the direct supervision and the guidance of the Head of Country Cluster, the Programme Officer will ensure implementation of the BRC/ NRCS Disaster Management programme (and possibly additional programmes in future) in a timely, effective and efficient manner.
• He / she will be working closely with the National Society to build preparedness and response capacity in order to enable the NS improve their disaster management programming.
• He/she assures ongoing collaboration with all relevant partners in the region in the field of disaster risk management and will also work on further developing these relationships.
• The job will require travel to the project locations in Lagos and Imo of about 50% of the total work hours. In addition, another 25% of time is likely to be spent with community-based work within FCT. Work locations might change as the programme will be expanded over the coming years.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

• Build capacity and competencies in The Nigerian Red Cross Society on Disaster Management and support NRCS in becoming a relevant partner of SEMA in the states where the programme will be implemented.
• Ensure effective working relationships with the relevant departments of NRCS as well as technical advisors and other counterparts of the British Red Cross headquarters.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with the relevant NRCS branches and divisions
• Provision of technical guidance and support implementation of activities related to all phases of the Disaster Management Cycle.
• Provision of technical guidance and support implementation of activities related to other technical areas of the project, mainly related to logistics and information management
• Conduct monitoring and supervisory visits to the DM programme activity sites in the field.
• Organize and facilitate training sessions for National Society technical staff and volunteers in various areas of disaster risk management.
• Participate in relevant meetings with Red Cross Movement partners, Governments, donors, NGOs and UN Agencies co-financing and implementing initiatives for disaster risk management where needed.
• Perform other duties in addition to the above responsibilities, commensurate with background and experience as deemed necessary by Supervisor; especially contributing to development and management of additional programmes in future
• Actively work towards the achievement of the Federation Secretariat’s goals
• Abide by and work in accordance with the Red Cross and Red Crescent principles
• Perform any other work-related duties and responsibilities that may be assigned by the line manager

Requirements
Education:

• University degree in Development Studies, International Studies or relevant field
• Certificate in Project Management or Programme Management.

Experience:

• Experience of working for the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
• At least 2 years of working for a humanitarian aid organisation
• Involvement in response and/ or recovery operation.

Knowledge, Skills and Languages:

• Knowledge of the Disaster Management Cycle
• Proven literacy in software relevant for Programme Management purposes: MS Project or similar project management software, Excel, PowerPoint, Word X
• Analytical skills Operational management and reporting skills
• Fluently spoken and written English is required.

Competencies and Values:

• Accountability
• National Society Relations
• Teamwork-interpersonal skills
• Integrity and personal conduct
• Professionalism
• Initiative and direction.