Switzerland: Adviser, Community-based Surveillance (CBS)

Background

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world's largest humanitarian organization, with 191 member National Societies. As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, our work is guided by seven fundamental principles; humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality.

Organizational Context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) 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 IFRC 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 organised 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. The Department of Health consists of 3 teams, of which Community and Emergency Health (CEH) is one. The CBS Adviser serves as a member of the CEH team reporting to the CEH Team Leader. The CBS Adviser supports the IFRC's programmatic vision for health contexts and its translation into programmatic interventions, in close collaboration with Regional Offices, by providing technical advice, support and coordination to the Federation's programmes in the areas of public health throughout the resilience continuum (in emergency, recovery and development contexts). This position will be filled through staff secondment from a National RC Society. Only applicants with an existing commitment to such secondment are encouraged to apply.

Job Purpose

The Community-based Surveillance (CBS) Adviser is expected to support quality CBS programming and creation of an evidence base for CBS implementation. The CBS Adviser will contribute to the (1) CBS strategic direction including coordination of Red Cross and Red Crescent global meetings, (2) programmatic quality assurance including the development of guidance/tools and follow-up with National Societies implementing CBS, (3) M&E framework and operational research, as well as (4) contribute to the development of knowledge that supports internal and external learning in best practices.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

IFRC seeks staff with expertise in both public health programs and community-based surveillance to help strengthen the quality of CBS programming.
CBS strategic direction:

• Facilitate consensus building amongst Red Cross and Red Crescent programs implementing CBS including the CBS Public Health Emergency Response Unit (PH ERU) configuration, Africa region Emergency Health Shared Leadership Group, Americas region Zika CBS and vector-borne surveillance, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) programs, as well as future programs.
• Support CBS coordination and communication via monthly CBS Technical Working Group (TWG) calls and information dissemination (e.g. blog post, newsletter).
• Plan, invite, and coordinate global Red Cross and Red Crescent meetings and events on CBS, including CBS global meeting (planned March 2019).

Quality assurance and quality improvement program:

• Support standardization of CBS resources for use in training.
• Template and develop support materials for common CBS implementation documentation such as CBS Secondary Data Analysis (and health burden mapping), CBS Advocacy pieces, etc.
• Develop resources supporting National Society Health staff on how to use and integrate CBS data into operational response planning during an outbreak such as via case studies, best practice, Emergency Operations Centre design.
• Technical support to National Societies when incorporating CBS in emergency response plans (e.g. DREF proposals).

M&E and operational research:

• Support the global Red Cross and Red Crescent Monitoring & Evaluation framework for CBS drawing on National Society consensus and accommodating a range of implementation models (e.g. preparedness, outbreak (CBS PH ERU)).
• Develop a backlog of required research and engage with academic partners or consultants to resolve (e.g. CBS costing).
• Secure funding, M&E, and integration of operational research into CBS operational programming.

Sharing of lessons learned:

• Facilitate the dissemination of resources and facilitating conversations on CBS best practices (e.g. post-operation webinars, sharing of lessons learned, dissemination of latest research).
• Contribute to the CBS resource library and curation of CBS resources (e.g. templates, evidence, and best practice).

Contribute to an effective, high-quality IFRC team:

• Be accountable to the team manager by providing progress reports on results against objectives and risk analysis.
• Be flexible in your work definition according to needs and targets and improve team efficiencies and effectiveness within available resources.
• Be a pro-active team member fostering a customer service-oriented culture that values proactivity, continuous improvement, innovation, high performance and cost-effectiveness.
• Foster a co-creative environment with colleagues in the Secretariat, Regions and the National Societies and open and co-operative view to the actors in the relevant external environment.
• Support the Team Leader in strengthening financial standards in the team by contributing to ensure regular reports on the use of funds within the Health Team are provided. Education

Required:

• Advanced university degree in medicine or other related health science
• Postgrad training in Public Health, Epidemiology or Information technology Experience

Required:

• At least five years working experience in the humanitarian or development sector
• Demonstrated professional credibility in the sector and experience working in an international or cross-cultural environment.
• Experience working in an RC/RC National Society and/or Federation/ICRC Knowledge, skills and languages

Required:

• Knowledge of public health and experience in practically applying this knowledge into policy, programmes and positioning, preferably in emergencies
• Programme and project management
• Results oriented and demand driven individual, entrepreneurial, ability to lead in unprecedented and ambiguous situations.
• Experience in implementing Community-based Surveillance in various operational context
• Experience with conducting or evaluating program assessments and real-time evaluations
• Fluently spoken and written English

Preferred:

• Experience with building communities of practice
• Experience in developing and adapting Red Cross training tools for operations
• Experience in operational research, scientific writing and research methodologies
• Good command of another IFRC official language (French, Spanish or Arabic) Competencies and values

Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; Accountability

Communication; Collaboration and teamwork; Judgement and decision making; National society and customer relations; Creativity and innovation; Building trust

Please submit your application to IFRCjobs