Job Purpose

To lead and coordinate the Federation’s support to National Societies on Health and Care in the Africa Region. To ensure that the public health and clincal components of disaster preparedness, response and recovery programmes, as well as preparedness and response programmes to disease outbreaks and/or epidemics and WASH activities, adhere to Federation policies and strategies, meet established public health/humanitarian standards and technical guidelines, and reach the most vulnerable. These components may include (and/or be closely integrated with), but not limited to, scale up of Community Health Workers, first aid, control of communicable and emerging diseases, immunization, malaria mental health psychosocial support, nutrition, water and sanitation/hygiene promotion.

As manager, the role will build and strengthen National Society / IFRC / supporting National Societies technical networks for peer-to-peer support, and provide a clear framework for outcome setting and progress monitoring. The position is actively involved in multi-country resource mobilisation and proposal development and coordination of quality assurance and accountability for multi-country programme implementation.

An integral part of the Federation’s Africa Region health and wash team, IFRC’s global emergency team, the Manager works in close collaboration with other Managers as part of the Health, Disaster, Climate and Crisis team for Africa Region as well as cluster and country delegations, other RCRC Movement components, and relevant external partners. The position will ensure that relevant emergency health preparedness and response components are integrated and/or mainstreamed with relevant health, disaster management and development programmes.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

In close cooperation with IFRC’s Senior Management in Africa Region ensure compliance with IFRC policies and strategies to support to Pan-African initiatives and partnerships, including the IFRC-Africa CDC REACH Initiative that aims to scale up Community Health Workers, the regional Strategc Lead for health will focus on:

Health security – Emergency Health, Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Control, Community Health.

• Support, in collaboration with Federation country, cluster and/or regional offices, National Society capacity strengthening in emergency health preparedness and response, particularly in the development of strategies, programmes and plans, but also training and management of staff and volunteers in emergencies.
• Promote, and where possible facilitate, the integration of National Society emergency health programmes/activities with organizational development, disaster management, disater preparedness, disaster response and emergency response programmes/activities, as well as the co-ordination/co-operation between NS emergency health programmes/activities and those supported by bilateral or /supporting NS, ICRC, UN agencies, governments and non-government actors, to maximise synergies and impact, and to avoid service gaps and unnecessary overlaps. Where feasible, promote the development of cross-country RCRC co-operation in emergency health preparedness and response.
• Develop, Emergency Health and Epidemic Control (EHEC) capacities and resources in the African NSs and support NSs in developing and implementing their capacity building plans for EHEC.

Tools and strategy development.

• Roll out and adapt standardised IFRC tools for use in preparedness and response by African NSs.
• Ensure available EHEC tools are prepositioned and distributed as needed.
• Familiarise NSs with the availability and use of international disaster management and EHEC tools within and outside the movement (Emergency Response Units, Field Assessment and Coordination Team, Regional Disaster Response Teams,, Integrated Emergency Health Kit,, GOARN, etc)
• Develop and adapt the use of early warning systems in coordination with the Secretariat.
• Enforce and disseminate international emergency response standards (SPHERE, etc)

Knowledge management, early warning, and institutional capacity

• Monitor regional and national epidemiological data, standard health indicators and disaster patterns for analysis and early detection of trends, disease outbreaks and/or epidemics. Facilitate the identification of necessary actions and corrective measures to be taken, where necessary.
• Ensure high-level emergency health preparedness and response capacity in Africa Region through the effective use of Disaster Management Information System (DMIS), Emergency Appeals, Field Assessment and Co-ordination Teams.

Coordination of programme implementation, quality assurance and proposal development in community health

• Health in emergencies.
• Preparedness and response to pandemics / Risk communication and community engagement
• Support to the Reslilient and Empowered African Community Health Initiative (REACH)
• One WASH expansion and cholera global flagship

Requirements

Education

• Advanced university degree (master’s or equivalent) in the area of medicine or public health or other relevant areas of study (Required)

Experience

• At least 10 years of relevant experience in public health.
• At least 5 years of experience working in a voluntary membership-based organization at senior management levels
• Experience in managing resources (people and budget) in large scale operations.
• Demonstrated success in planning, project management and reporting
• Experience in annual planning and strategy implementation in a global organization.
• Red Cross/Red Crescent knowledge and experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

• In-depth knowledge of global health. (Required)
• Drive for change and improvement and ability to deliver strategies in a challenging environment. (Required)
• Strong budget and financial management skills. (Required)
• Ability to work in a cross-cultural and cross-functional environment. (Required)
• Strong interpersonal skills and good understanding of the global organization. (Required)
• Ability to work to tight deadlines and handle multiple tasks. (Required)
• Excellent negotiation and diplomacy skills. (Required)
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to provide authoritative advice. (Required)
• Ability to work toward tight deadlines and handle multiple tasks. (Required)
• Fluently spoken and written English. (Required)
• Fluently spoken and written French (Required)
• Good command of another IFRC official language (Spanish or Arabic) (Preferred)

Competencies, Values and Comments

• Core Competencies: Communication; Collaboration and Teamwork; Judgement and Decision Making; National Society and Customer Relations; Creativity and Innovation; Building Trust;
• Values: Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; Accountability
• Managerial Competencies: Managing Staff Performance; Managing Staff Development
• Functional Competencies: Strategic Orientation; Building Alliances; Leadership; Empowering Others