HDCC Unit Assistant

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, the Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and the Americas.  The IFRC also has country cluster delegations and country delegations throughout the world. Together, the Geneva Headquarters and the field structure (regional, cluster and country) comprise the IFRC Secretariat.

The MENA regional office based in Beirut; Lebanon supports 17 national societies in the region. The MENA Health, Disasters, Climate & Crises (HDCC) unit within the MENA regional office and works with one regional plan as well as provides technical support & quality assurance to country cluster delegations and country delegations.

The MENA HDCC unit has articulated its alignment with the IFRC global 5 Strategies Priorities and the relevant Enablers.

The post-holder will support – on top of day-to-day business–specific regional projects as required and will be expected to maintain up-to-date relevant records and adherence to relevant internal processes in line with the IFRC guidelines and procedures. S/He will support the planning and budgeting of annual exercises while ensuring proper and timely follow-ups to meet the internal and external information-sharing requirements and deadlines.

Job Purpose

Under the direct supervision and technical management of the Regional Head of HDCC – MENA region, the Health, Disasters, Climate & Crises (HDCC) Assistant will work toward the provision of practical, effective, and efficient administrative and programmatic support across all teams/portfolios within the unit. S/he supports the unit members to ensure high-quality, coherent and well-coordinated services and activities in line with the regional strategic direction and the approved plan and budget. 

The post holder will be also serving as an outreach surge capacity (up to 4 weeks per mission) to be deployed on short technical missions to country cluster offices and country offices to deliver specific agreed clear ToRs.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Provide the administrative, logistical and technical preparations support related to the annually planned activities including events and trainings in coordination with the regional administration team as required and in line with IFRC systems and procedures..

Work closely with IFRC MENA regional office admin and finance units for timely delivery of services in line with the unit’s programme and plans.

Collect, clean and consolidate information and relevant data from different team members for reporting and monitoring purposes including minutes taking during meetings/teleconferences

Support any mapping and survey exercises related to the thematic areas in close collaboration with other units as required.

Develop the regional digitized training database in close collaboration with the regional thematic networks as required.

Keeping the internal and inter-unit communication smooth, with the support of unit members.

Liaise with other units and teams in the regional office on specific tasks ensuring effective working relationships with other personnel, including all other RC/RC Movement staff as necessary.

Support the team’s day-to-day tasks including HDCC members’ travel support and finance-related aspects.

coordinate the processing of translation and proofreading tasks of technical materials within the unit and with the admin unit.

Coordinate the admin. and IT procurement requests with relevant units; including business cards, printings, visibility items, IT equipment, shipping & courier requests,…etc.

Develop and maintain an inventory of HDCC technical capacity building menu in support of national societies.

Maintain an inventory of the assets and equipment related to the unit including the rapid response mechanism equipment.

Support in preparing specific thematic research/discussion papers.

Lead on specific projects and related coordination as required such as the joint initiatives with the UNs and other partners in the region.

Monitor and report on the schedules of thematic implementation to ensure they are done in line with the approved plan and timeline.

To facilitate and develop updated promotional material packages related to HDCC thematic files.

To support the head of the unit on the “One HDCC team approach” development and rollout.

Perform any other work-related duties and responsibilities that may be assigned by the line manager.

Education

University Degree in one of the following: Social Science, development studies, public health, business administration, Humanitarian Affairs or any other related field (degree level or equivalent)  - Required

Experience

At least 2 years of experience in administration and support functions to a middle-sized team - Required

Relevant professional experience in relation of project management - Required

Experience on general financial administration, budget preparation and events’ management - Required

Experiencing of compiling programme documents; including proposals, logrames and reports - Required

Experience in project planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting - Required

Experience in RC/RC Movement - Preferred

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Strong communication skills, including ability to prepare and present concise verbal and written operational reports, briefings, updates and other relevant documentation - Required

Strong report-writing skills - Required

Basic level professional knowledge about budgets and financial reporting - Required

Analytical skills and capacity to translate analysis into strategy planning - Preferred

Pro- active and highly organized manner - Required

Good time management skills and ability to establish priorities, and to plan, coordinate and monitor work plans - Required

Strong personal initiative and willingness to accept responsibilities and new tasks - Required

Excellent relationship building skills and willingness to be a team player - Required

Sufficient IT skills at least use of Microsoft office applications (word, excel, powerpoints, Teams, Forms) - Required

Fluently spoken and written English, French and Arabic - Required

Competencies, Values and Comments

Professionalism 
Teamwork 
Communications
Diversity 
Integrity 

IFRC Ensures Equal Employment Opportunities!