Country: Switzerland
Closing date: 14 Jan 2016
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC or “the Federation”) is the world’s largest volunteer-based humanitarian network. The Federation is a membership organisation established by and comprised of its member National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Along with National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Federation is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. 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.” It works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.
The Federation is served by a Secretariat based in Geneva, with regional and country offices throughout the world. The Secretariat is led by the IFRC Secretary General and provides the central capacity of the International Federation to serve, connect, and represent National Societies. The Secretariat’s focus includes providing support to the IFRC governance mechanisms; setting norms and standards; providing guidance; ensuring consistency, coordination, and accountability for performance; knowledge sharing; promoting collaboration within and respect for the RCRC Movement; and expanding engagement with partners. The Secretariat’s headquarters is organized in three main business groups: (i) Partnerships, including Movement and Membership; (ii) Programmes and Operations; and (iii) Management Services.
The Programme Services Division is in turn organised in three Departments, each of them led by a Director: Disaster and Crisis Prevention, Response and Recovery (DCPRR); Health and Logistics.
Background:
Information Management (IM) continues to be a dynamic, fast- evolving and increasingly important function in humanitarian response, with new processes, technologies, and tools emerging on a near-constant basis. Based on the “Operations Information Management Network” plan submitted by the Disaster Management Planning Team in June 2015, and under the mandate of the Secretary General, IFRC is seeking to establish an IT-equipped Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and networked facility to support the IFRC Secretariat and membership with real-time disaster and crisis information for operational decision making and communications.
To achieve this, IFRC Senior Management has agreed to the following two-track approach to meet short-term and long-term objectives:
Track one – rapid Emergency Operations Centre prototype to be established in the new IFRC office in the IKEA building by end of January 2016. Results and findings of this track will be input to the next track.
Track two – a broader needs analysis and consultation to clarify the specific purpose, business processes and options for establishing an EOC and related Emergency Operations network servicing National Societies and the Secretariat locally, regionally and globally. A second stage of track two would be the technical design of the EOC room or virtual space and IT platform. The future EOC will directly and/or indirectly impact upon the work of a wide range of stakeholders within the Secretariat and supporting organisational strategic priorities beyond programmes and operations. This track is expected to be completed by March 2016.
Objective of Track One: While the longer-term Track Two analysis and study proceeds, work will commence immediately on Track One to build a prototype of the Emergency Operations Centre. The primary objective is to show IFRC senior management the capabilities (e.g. IT platforms, visual displays) that may be possible with the EOC for decision making and communications at Geneva level. Given the short timeframe, focus will be on existing IFRC data sources or “feeds”, available external data, and readily available equipment.
Task Description & Deliverables:
The IFRC is looking for a technical resource that will: 1) Work with IFRC subject matter experts to take existing IFRC information and external secondary information then identify how to integrate them to an EOC solution.
- Need to consult with experts from Programmes & Operations Division, Information Services Department, Finance, Human Resources, and system owner of the Federation-wide Data Reporting System (FDRS).
- Examples of existing IFRC information include: Emergency appeals, Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF), surge capacity data, National Society data.
- Examples of external data include: hazard maps, early warning indicators, social media/news reports. 2) Develop a rapid prototype to showcase potential capabilities of the EOC given existing IFRC and external data sources (Deliverable #1).
- For example, interactive maps integrated with statistics or data from various feeds displayed in large screens with flexible, visually compelling, and user-friendly interface.
- Need to include the following four areas: 1. hazard mapping, monitoring and early warning; 2. DREF and Emergency Appeals (situation analysis, coverage mapping); 3. global disaster response tools (surge capacity database / mapping, regional & country-level capacities): 4. information management and communications (GIS, info-graphics).
3) As some processes may not be automated yet, some manual data mining and data entry may need to be done for the purposes of the prototype.
4) Document key considerations and learnings that will be input to Track two of the EOC development (Deliverable #2).
The technical resource will report to the Disaster and Crisis Prevention, Response and Recovery department in Geneva.
Knowledge / Skills Required:
The technical resource should have:
- Experience with online mapping tools, data visualization & dashboards (e.g. cartodb, mapbox, esri, Tableau, integrated dashboard)
- Experience with HTML and webpage development, interactive design, and integration of dynamic data (e.g. social media, feeds)
- Demonstrated technical experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection
- Experience with processing information and presenting them in a user friendly and intuitive manner using technology tools
- Experience, knowledge and understanding of disaster information management issues
- Knowledge of IFRC information management tools and IFRC data sources, preferred
- Experience with Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, preferred
Location: IFRC Geneva office
Timeframe (indicative): Commencing asap to end February / March 2016.
How to apply:
Application procedures
Interested candidates should submit their application material by July 2015 (date tbc) to the following email: samira.najih@ifrc.org. Application material is non-returnable, and we thank you in advance for understanding that only short-listed candidates will be contacted for the next step in the application process.
Application materials should include:
- Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- Cover letter clearly summarizing your experience as it pertains to this EOC, your daily rate, and three professional references.