Bangladesh: Logistics Delegate

Since January 2017, IFRC has been supporting BDRCS in responding to the needs of people fleeing from Myanmar’s Rakhine State into Bangladesh. The initial response started after an upsurge of violence in the northern areas of Rakhine during October 2016 prompted local Muslim populations to cross the border into Bangladesh in large numbers. As the initial Population Movement Emergency Appeal operation took shape, on 25 August 2017, a new influx started as thousands fled a new wave violence in northern areas of Rakhine. Since 25 August, more than 604,000 persons have arrived, most of them women and children. According to the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG), the latest influx has resulted in an increase of Persons from Rakhine (PfR) to a total of 816,000. There are four categories of PfR: 1) registered individuals with refugee status living in camps managed by UNHCR since 1992; 2) older undocumented PfR since 1993; 3) new undocumented PfR since October 2016; and 4) newer PfR who started crossing into Bangladesh on 25 August 2017. Most of them are concentrated in Cox’s Bazar District, spread across a variety of settlements: registered refugee camps, makeshift settlements, spontaneous settlements and with the host community. Thousands continue to cross every day, making the crisis one of the largest and most complex in the region in decades. In response to the massive upsurge in humanitarian needs, IFRC issued a Revised Emergency Appeal for CHF 12.76 million on 14 September and deployed various components of its Global Response Tools1, with specialists and units covering a wide range of sectors. The scale of needs has since increased exponentially and on 10 October IFRC categorized the situation as ‘Red’ level crisis according to the IFRC Emergency Response Framework, making it an organization-wide priority for the IFRC Secretariat at all levels. Linked to this, a further scale-up of the IFRC response was done on 23 October with issuance of another Emergency Appeal Revision which increased the ask to CHF 33.5 million. The operation aims to meet the humanitarian needs of 200,000 persons through timely and effective emergency relief alongside medium and longer-term interventions to support the safety, dignity and resilience of PfR and host communities.

The logistics function within the IFRC provides an extensive range of services to other functional sectors and groups within the organisation, as well as support to its constituent Federation National Societies. In the Bangladesh Population Movement Operation, these services include international and domestic supply chain management, transportation, warehousing, and fleet management as well as procurement.Job Purpose

The main purpose of the Logistics Delegate mission is to work alongside IFRC Country office and operation team, as well as work with staff and volunteers of BDRCS to implement the logistics activities under the Population Movement Operation.

The Logistics Delegate will be deployed to Cox Bazaar and he/she will report to the Support Service Coordinator and to co-ordinate and manage PMO logistics operations in co-operation with National Societies (NS) and Operational Logistics, Procurement and Supply Chain Management (OLPSCM) department in Kuala Lumpur in-line with IFRC Logistics management strategy to ensure the efficient and effective delivery of goods and equipment, to optimize service quality and cost effectiveness and to meet the needs of the Federation and partners.

The Logistics Delegate will work alongside IFRC delegates/staff and BDRCS staff/volunteers in assessments, coordination, planning and implementation of an effective humanitarian operation.

JobDuties and Responsibilities

1. To co-ordinate and manage PMO logistics support for IFRC activities in-line with IFRC standards, practices and procedures in conjunction with NS Logistics teams.
2. To implement the logistics strategy for the operation from the support and guidance of Support Service Coordinator in order to provide efficient logistics services to all programs, including co-ordination and managing the supply and logistics support for the operation including requisitioning, receiving, storing and issuing goods in-line with IFRC standards, practices and procedures in conjunction with NS Logistics.
3. To maintain good relationships with NS Logistics teams in order to share learning and build capabilities to enable the transference of logistics activities from IFRC to NS responsibility
4. To provide logistics technical advice, support and training to IFRC staff/delegates and NS from the support and guidance of support service coordinator to ensure the necessary capability and understanding exists to ensure that there is full adherence to best practice principles, and compliance with necessary regulation, legislation and IFRC procedures.
5. To identify bottlenecks affecting the logistics operations and analyse the nature of the constraints and make concrete recommendations to rectification.
6. To lead co-ordination with other humanitarian/government agencies in Cox Bazar to ensure the delivery of a right quality logistics service that meets the needs of partners and services users, avoids duplication and focuses upon the provision of aid to the vulnerable
7. To be responsible for the effective management and maintenance of IFRC fixed logistics assets ensuring adherence to country and IFRC regulations, practices and other requirements.
8. To provide logistics technical expertise and advice to promote collaboration between functions and enable the delivery of a more holistic overall IFRC service in PMO.
9. To support BDRCS and IFRC Logistics staff/volunteers in order to help improve capability in the team and the service that the team provides.
10. To prepare timely monthly reports detailing specifics according to the needs and distributing them to the OLPSCM Unit in Kuala Lumpur.
11. To support the mapping of country and NS needs, providing insight and accurate information such that country level logistics support is able to meet identified and contingency needs
12. To manage operation resources effectively so that deliverables are achieved within set budgets, timelines and standards Education

Position Requirements

1. University degree in logistics, procurement, administration, finance or equivalent field experience
2. Basic Delegates Training Course or equivalent knowledge (preferred) Experience
3. Extensive experience of working in logistics in an international response, recovery and development context
4. Substantial experience of supporting multiple programmes relevant in a developing country context
5. Experience in building organisational partnerships and organisational capacity
6. Representing an organisation within external fora Knowledge/ technical skills
7. Experience in managing and training staff/volunteers
8. Red Cross/Red Crescent knowledge and experience (preferred) Knowledge, skills and languages
9. Considerable technical/professional knowledge within logistics

For more detail on position requirements and to apply, please visit the IFRC vacancies portal:

http://www.ifrc.org/en/who-we-are/working-with-us/current-vacancies/job-description/?id=5110

Please note this position closes on Friday 2 February 2018.