ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
The American Red Cross has had a presence in the American Region since 2002. With funds from the United States Government, it began working in Colombia, hand in hand with the Colombian Red Cross, developing humanitarian actions in different departments of the country, through the Humanitarian Assistance Project, within a context of continuous humanitarian aid needs as a result of the armed conflict and natural disasters.
In Peru, the American Red Cross (AmCross) initiated actions after the earthquake of August 15, 2007, in the territory of the Department of Ica, 8.0° on the Richter Scale and with an epicenter 65 km from the southern coast of Peru. Due to the magnitude of the damage caused, both in terms of material and human losses, the CRA responded to this event with emergency humanitarian aid, and later expanded its intervention within the recovery and development phase. The lines of action were Community Health and Risk Reduction in 28 communities in the Province of Chincha, Department of Ica.
Likewise, in Chile, due to the earthquake and tsunami of February 2010, the American Red Cross was developing activities in Disaster Risk Reduction in the Bío Bío, Maule and O'Higgins Regions. Throughout these years, the interest of the American Red Cross in the region has been directed towards strengthening its partner National Societies and vulnerable communities, taking into account gender equity, and orienting activities towards the development of capacities and resources in the areas of risk reduction, disaster response and community health.
For the American Red Cross Department of International Services, a resilient community is one that has the physical, psychological, social and economic capacity to resist, adapt quickly and recover successfully from a disaster. AmCross partners, as well as National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, seek to help vulnerable communities that are at high risk from disasters, for example hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and other adverse situations such as epidemics, disease outbreaks, HIV, etc., to be better prepared to respond to and recover from the crisis.
Over the past two years, the American Red Cross Delegation for the Americas and the Caribbean, with a regional office in Panama, has been working on building strong and resilient communities, moving from a sectoral approach to risk reduction to a comprehensive risk management approach, which is the vision of the American Red Cross Strategic Plan 2020-2023 for the region. Through lessons learned and feedback work with stakeholders, AmCross recognizes that building resilient communities is a process and not just an outcome. In that sense, we seek to focus community work on designing integrated interventions that will enable changes in the attitudes and practices of our partners, who are all the communities and people for whom the Red Cross Movement channels its efforts, in the interest of providing better service and collectively building safer and more resilient environments.
The Country Representative will be hired under the legal umbrella of the IFRC Americas Regional Office based in Panama but will work under the direction of the American Red Cross Regional Office in Panama. This position will report to the Regional Director of the American Red Cross and will be based in Colombia.
JOB PURPOSE
The Country Representative in Colombia has the authority and responsibility to develop, plan, organize, and lead the support strategy for the projects implemented by the National Society with funds channelled through the American Red Cross in this country, being under the leadership and orientation of the Regional Director for the Americas of the Regional Delegation of the American Red Cross.
JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Plan, organize, lead, and control the execution of the programs.
- Support the implementation of strategies to allocate resources with the National Society.
- Carry out meetings with the country’s humanitarian team.
- Participate in the meetings of the movement. PN's, CICR y IFRC
- Revision of financial reports and annual, trimestral, and monthly projects/programs.
- Carry out monitoring visits to the zones where the project is executed.
- Control compliance of the Strategic Partnership Plan, the Country Response Plan, and/or other commitments.
- Provide technical and/or financial support, humanitarian assistance, relief, and information management.
- Lead the preparation and elaboration of programmatic reports.
- Strengthen disaster response to assist Response Lead.
- Lead the actualization of FOM every six months.
- Lead the creation and design of documents or tools depending on project needs.
- Represent the Regional Director when needed.
- Actively participate in all areas where American Red Cross participation is pertinent, preferred.
EDUCATION
- University degree and specialized studies in programs, humanitarian response, and development
EXPERIENCE
- 5 years of experience in the analysis, planning, and management of programs and resources, and mobilization and financing or resources.
- Minimum of 5-8 years of work experience in humanitarian operations for a humanitarian aid organization and a development cooperation organization, 5 of which should be at the senior management level.
- Proven experience in working with programs and projects related to at least one of the priorities of ISD (1. Crisis Management: Preparation, Response, and Recovery; and 2. Eradication of Measles).
- Demonstrated initiative and creativity, as well as substantial experience regarding strategic thinking, including identification, analysis, problem solving, and response to opportunities, challenges, and the capacity to translate them in practical action plans.
- 5 years of work experience, including management in a National Red. Cross/Red Crescent Society, the International Federation or the ICRC, or a relevant international organization, preferred.
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
- Good interpersonal relations in the work environment
- Ability to work under pressure in emergency environments
- Oral and written communication skills
- Internal and external customer service orientation
- Vehicle driving licence
- Handling of computer packages in Windows environment, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Internet.
- Availability of hours and possibility of working at night.
- Ability to travel within and out of the country
- Knowledge in administration, preferred.
LANGUAGES
- Fluent spoken and written English
How to apply:
Please submit your application up to December 31, 2020. It is necessary to indicate 3 job references, a coverage page and CV.
The information must be send to the following e-mail: hr.americas@ifrc.org indicating as subject: Country Representative – American Red Cross – Colombia Office