Job Description

Job title / Global Surge Delegate – Shelter
Job band / Ref
Department / Programmes & Partnerships /
Division
/ International
Reporting to / Global Surge Manager / Location / Home-based (with extensive travel)
Duration / 12 months /
Last updated
/ October 2015

Scale and Scope

Direct / Indirect/overall
Budgetary / N/A / Dependent on deployment
Staffing / N/A / Dependent on deployment
Assets / Any surge equipment (laptops, phones, etc.) issued for deployment / Any kit or equipment issued whilst in the field
Accountability & Decision Making / Accountable for the delivery of quality technical and advisory services in Shelter & Settlements to support effectiveness and best practice in BRC supported Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (RCM) activities.
Accountable for ensuring that all advice and actions/decisions in Shelter & Settlements is compliant with legislation, regulations, internal and external policies, standards and best practice.
Reach & Impact / Support to BRC and Movement work globally. Providing high quality and appropriate levels of additional support as required in times of most need.

Context

The British Red Cross (BRC) helps people in crisis, whoever and wherever they are. We are part of a global voluntary network, responding to conflicts, natural disasters and individual emergencies.

We enable vulnerable people in the UK and abroad to prepare for and withstand emergencies in their own communities. When the crisis is over, we help them to recover and move on with their lives.

We are part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (RCM), the world’s largest independent humanitarian network and are committed to, and bound by, its principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality.

The Global Surge team is part of the wider Emergencies team in the International Division of the BRC.

The post of the Global Surge Shelter Delegate will be responsible for contributing to the BRC International Division’s capacity to surge to support the Movement’s response.

The incumbent will work under the management (solid line) of the Global Surge Manager and in close cooperation with colleagues from across the Division, in regions as well as with Technical & Advisory staff.

The purpose of the Global Surge Initiative can be described as one of the ways of improving the BRC’s ability to be flexible, agile and its capacity to provide internal and external human resources to fill needs at short notice in response to a crisis.

As a result of this, BRC is seeking to recruit appropriately skilled and experienced technical specialists to enable the organisation to provide immediate technical capacity both to BRC and the Movement field operations at short notice and as required.

Inherent in the roles is the need for flexibility, the ability to travel and to be willing and able to work in multiple contexts with different stakeholders over the course of the employment. The post holder must be able to deploy at short notice for periods of up to 3 months and to spend up to 75% of their time (maximum 9 months in any 12-month period) overseas. The post holder will also be required to travel and work in remote and potentially unstable areas.

Overall Purpose of the Post

  To provide surge capacity in the technical area of Shelter & Settlements and co-ordination for RCM activities.

  To fill emergency co-ordination and management positions in the field of Shelter & Settlements with the BRC, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), or International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), or to undertake specific projects or tasks, as defined by the Global Surge Manager (and specified within deployment ToRs).

  The post will be responsible for developing, supporting or managing Shelter & Settlements projects at potentially any stage of the project cycle, including supporting or managing teams to assess, identify, design and implement appropriate support to communities in emergency and/or recovery programmes in response to conflict or natural disaster.

  During periods of non-deployment the position would contribute to learning by contributing to research or tool development, synthesising and collating analysis and case studies in different contexts. Furthermore, post holder will contribute to the broader organisational learning through the relevant community of practice (in close cooperation with the London based Shelter & Settlements Adviser) and by facilitating and delivering a variety of trainings (both for BRC and the wider Movement).

Main Duties and Responsibilities

The below forms a description of the core activities of this role. Exact duties and responsibilities will vary depending upon the nature of individual deployments or tasks/activities being undertaken – and will be specified in supplementary mission-specific ToRs.

To provide Shelter & Settlements technical support to response and recovery operations undertaken by the RCM (IFRC, ICRC, and BRC):

  1. Take a sector lead within assessment teams, and/or provide technical advice and analysis within the relevant role undertaken to develop and design assessment frameworks, utilizing tools to identify Shelter emergency or on-going programmatic needs.
  2. Guide and develop an approach to short, medium or long term Shelter support and develop disaster response options for affected communities.
  3. Support the host National Society to develop Strategy, Policy, Standard Operating Procedures, Technical Guidelines and Plans of Action.
  4. Support RCM to identify appropriate response options and implementation modalities for shelter programmes, including cash transfer programming, direct reconstruction, repairs programme and technical support trainings.
  5. Lead or support RCM partners to develop shelter implementation plans, including a full suite of reconstruction project management documentation as required and appropriate for shelter repair programmes or full reconstruction programmes as per identified needs.
  6. Keep abreast of current and developing Shelter approaches, including, Urban, Environmental, DRR, Land Use and Tenure issues at national and global levels in line with RCM approaches and practice.
  7. Support the development of Shelter and Geographical mapping and Information Management activities after disasters; identification of physical damage, land issues, vulnerability, capacity assessments, hazards and risk analysis, shelter caseloads and settlement typologies after disaster or conflict situations.
  8. Wherever possible, support the development of community owned and driven approaches at local levels for Emergency, Recovery or Preparedness programmes, supporting and promoting the use of RCM tools (e.g. PASSA).
  9. Co-ordinate and support integrated approaches to programme including FS&L, WASH, Health, DRR approaches and cross cutting themes.
  10. Coordinate and participate in Technical Working Groups (TWiGs) established in support of development of technical specifications, shelter response approaches, or other technical issues. Promote utilization of participatory and community based approaches in the planning and implementation of projects in order to ensure that humanitarian responses build on local capacities.
  11. Promote and adopt standardized approaches, tools and formats for common use in shelter programming within the framework of an agreed common shelter strategy. These methods, tools and formats will, when possible, be in line with those promoted by the Global Shelter Cluster.
To provide project management support to response and recovery operations undertaken by the RCM (IFRC, ICRC, and BRC)
  1. Develop clear monitoring information (qualitative and quantitative) to track progress and impact of subsequent programme activities. Ensure regular monitoring of activities, identifying and addressing delays in implementation where necessary.
  2. Prepare comprehensive project concepts, proposals, budgets, log frames, stakeholder analyses, risk analysis and PM&E frameworks for Shelter programmes.
  3. Identify the most appropriate delivery mechanisms to implement Shelter programmes.
  4. Develop Shelter interventions, co-ordinating programmes with Movement-wide technical and management functions and/or the relevant IASC clusters.
  5. Develop clear, costed, time-bound and resourced implementation plans, based on assessment findings considering the NS’s local and national institutional capacity, and project manage the implementation of such activities (for the duration of the deployment).
  6. Support and develop clear programme monitoring information (qualitative and quantitative) to track progress and impact of subsequent programme activities within assigned role and implementation modality.
  7. Support the implementation organisation to ensure that, where possible, activities are carried out in a participatory, consultative and inclusive way that reflects community needs, cultural sensitivities, gender, age, disability inclusive of environmental, local risks and hazards and vulnerabilities.
  8. Identify human and material resource requirements in support of RCM assigned role and assist in the recruitment process for national and international staff where needed.
  9. Represent BRC (or IFRC or ICRC) at community, local or national official level, and participate and coordinate with Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and governmental co-ordination mechanisms (e.g. Emergency Shelter Cluster, CCCM) as required.
  10. Potentially to function as the budget holder for specific projects whereby the budget holder is responsible for ensuring expenditures charged to their cost-centre or project are appropriately authorised, allocated and correctly stated. Authorisation of expenditures will be exercised through approval of transactions, monitoring and forecasting actual and future expenditure requisitions against the approved budget line, clarifying funds are available and ensuring donor earmarking requirements are met.
  11. Write or take part in communications (public and media), including press interviews and reports.
  12. Provide timely, regular and accurate narrative and statistical Shelter programme reports to stakeholders.

To support BRC institutional learning and development

  1. Participate in technical learning reviews and evaluations of BRC implemented, or supported, Shelter programmes and activities, and support the effective dissemination and follow-up of findings and recommendations.
  2. Support BRC accountability obligations through undertaking monitoring missions to BRC-supported activities and contributing to donor reporting and management responsibilities.
  3. Input into, or undertake, ad hoc projects to develop operational tools, procedures, guidelines and training modules to support Shelter programming.
  4. Facilitate or run BRC or IFRC technical Shelter training courses, or act as mentor to other BRC delegates and staff.

28.  Support the recruitment and selection of appropriately skilled staff for the BRC Shelter register.

Other

  1. Undertake any other duties as requested by the post holder’s line manager.
  2. Uphold the Fundamental Principles of the RCM: to work in pursuit of the BRC’s vision, mission and objectives, to work within its Diversity policy and to support and promote its values.
  3. Adhere to the IFRC/ICRC/BRC (as appropriate) security policy, taking responsibility at all times for own and team security through appropriate actions, behaviours and conduct.

Person Specification

Job Title: Global Surge Delegate - Shelter Ref: Band:

Education/ training

/   Professional qualification (or equivalent) in engineering/construction, architecture or relevant qualification**
  RCM Basic Training Course / IMPACT Training Course – or equivalent delegate training
  Red Cross or NGO specific Security Management course

Experience

/   Strong international experience, especially within an emergency response context to natural disasters or complex emergencies, as well as within a recovery operation **
  Considerable international experience of humanitarian and recovery operations in the Shelter sector **
  Engineering/construction experience gained as part of a Shelter reconstruction project**
  Experience in conducting rapid emergency assessments and in-depth analysis and effectively communicating findings and recommendations**
  Demonstrable Programme Management experience gained as part of an emergency or reconstruction project
  Engineering/construction experience in an urban context
  Experience in implementing Shelter solutions, including: technical design, costing, preparing BoQs and time estimates **
  Experience in working through a community participation approach, assessing needs and behaviours/customs, and designing appropriate solutions ** (e.g. PASSA)
  Experience of designing, planning, delivering and monitoring projects
  Experience in managing, developing and supporting staff and RCM volunteers
  Experience in preparing narrative and financial reports
  Representation and negotiation experience with Government and Non-government agencies and communities
  Experience in team working within RCM and working with volunteers
  Experience of being part of Global Tools, FACT or on the Shelter register

Knowledge/ technical skills

/   Staff management**
  Analysis and synthesis of data**
  Knowledge of issues and complexities of disaster response programming, recovery and resilience**
  Good understanding of emergency and development issues and associated good practice, including minimum standards for disaster response (e.g. Sphere, SEEP)
  Monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment
  Understanding of dynamics related to sudden onset, chronic and conflict response and recovery programmes.
  An appreciation of the IFRC’s global disaster response tools, regional response mechanisms and means of managing these**
  High level communication, influencing and negotiation skills
  A working knowledge of French, Arabic or Spanish is desirable

Competencies

/   Working in Partnership**
  Reliable and resilient in difficult circumstances. Able to stay calm and confident, and respond logically and decisively in difficult situations**
  Embracing and leading constructive change
  Communicating and influencing**
  Information seeking
  Personal impact and self-management**
  Problem solving**
  Leading and engaging**
  Developing yourself and others**
  Cultural awareness and sensitivity**

Special Circumstances

/   Willing and able to deploy at short notice (a minimum of 48 hours) to work/travel in remote and unstable areas**
  Able to travel regularly and operate in a physically demanding working environment**
  Willingness to work out of office hours when necessary**

**Minimum short-listing criteria. N.B. All disabled candidates who meet these criteria must be short-listed for interview in line with our commitment under the two- tick symbol scheme.

BRC Job Description
Global Surge Delegate - Shelter / Oct 2015
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