Emergency Response Coordinator, Americares Philippines

TITLE: Emergency Response Coordinator, Americares Philippines
DEPARTMENT: Global Programs (Emergency Programs)
LOCATION: Manila, Philippines (with frequent travel)
REPORTS TO: Country Director, Philippines
ASSIGNMENT TYPE: Contractual – May 2022 to June 2023 with the potential for renewal

ABOUT AMERICARES
Americares is a health-focused relief and development organization that saves lives and improves health for people affected by poverty or disaster. Each year, Americares reaches 85 countries on average, including the United States, with life-changing health programs, medicine, medical supplies, and emergency aid. Americares is one of the world’s leading nonprofit providers of donated medicine and medical supplies. For more information, visit americares.org.

POSITION SUMMARY
Americares is undertaking a high-priority initiative to increase the emergency response capacity of our field offices. Americares responds to several disasters each year in the Philippines using full time staff, rostered medical professionals, and technical consultants. Americares is engaged in an effort to formalize and expand these operations to increase the scope and quality of disaster response.

This position will serve as the focal point for readiness and response activities in the Philippines, under the direction of the Philippines Country Director. The Response Coordinator will be responsible for developing plans and tools, and leading responses to disasters, under the overall direction of the Americares Philippines Country Director. The Emergency Response Coordinator will also work closely with members of the Headquarters Global Readiness and Technical Unit teams, as well as other departments in HQ.

The ideal candidate will bring exceptional emergency response coordination, emergency planning and communication skills along with the ability to be flexible and thrive in an evolving environment.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Emergency Readiness:
-Contribute to Americares response strategy for the Philippines, including identification of current and projected hazards, current or potential partners, and proposed ideas for prepositioning supplies or rapid procurement
-Ensure adequate stocks of supplies through regular monitoring of inventory and timely replenishment of supplies utilized in previous operations
-Prepare training design, collaborate with HQ and Technical Unit on content and organize training activities for ER Roster Members including the Basic ER Training and Specialized Training on MHPSS in Emergencies, Infection Control and Others
-Conduct planning, training, external representation and/or implementation of approved activities
-Develop emergency response plans, contingency plans and templates for emergency programs use
-Keep abreast of evolving situations in the region by communicating with partners, reviewing situational reports, and coordinating with working groups and coordinating bodies as needed
-Provide ongoing updates to Country Director and HQ stakeholders as it relates to potential response activity within the Philippines Area of Responsibility
-Monitor disasters in the region and make recommendations on when and how Americares responds
-Identify potential areas for emergency responses and establish contacts with potential partners and service providers in the Philippines Area of Responsibility
-Determine yearly response prepositioning needs and perform routine audit
-Prepare emergency relief items for pre-positioning and procurement requests meeting established standards
-Follow up status of pre-positioning goods and procurement of those before the disaster season comes
-Facilitate distribution of prepositioned supplies for ERT that are in place prior to deployment
Identify vendors and warehouse locations within key strategic locations for local procurement options
-Recommend and report on internal readiness measures to the Country Director and implement those approved activities before the disaster season begins
-Draft and recommend guidelines and procedures to support emergency response operations like ERT deployment guidelines, post-disaster needs assessment guidelines and emergency reporting guidelines, etc.
-Collaborate with HQ Emergency Response, Readiness team and Technical Unit to ensure alignment for technical and emergency response best practices and standards, while also actively representing local vision and needs as identified by this role and the Country Director

Emergency Response:
-Identify existing and emerging needs, and recommend interventions to address the needs
-Follow the Country Director and Philippines office policies and procedures for new initiatives and if initiatives are approved in country, work with HQ to support internal processes (e.g. CAPE)
-Conduct briefing on emerging situations to the Country Office team and ERTs before deployment
-Develop and implement needs assessments and submit a report accordingly highlighting gaps and proposed responses including supplies and medicines.
-Identify, vet, and register partners
-Prepare requisitions of supplies and equipment for withdrawal from the warehouse along with allocation plans for approval of the Country Director
-Coordinate the provision of medicines, medical supplies and relief items through donated or purchased product with ERT Team Leads
-Prepare requests for procurement of items not available in the warehouse with complete specifications for approval of the Country Director
-Track and monitor shipment status through delivery
-Execute grants to partners to implement response activities
-Design or co-design projects that meet emergency needs, focusing on health
-Monitor and/or manage response projects and distribution of gift-in-kind
-Manage teams and coordinate deployments of Americares response professionals
-Coordinate the delivery of Americares technical assistance to partners
-Coordinate activities at the national level and report those to cluster leads/members and UN-OCHA
-Support the Country Director when applicable to represent Americares and promote its interests with municipal, provincial, regional and local technical audiences, as well as local governments, donors, partners and media.

Reporting and Documentation:
-Provide weekly reports on past week’s activities, planned activities and issues
-Prepare regular update reports and a final report on completed response projects
-Complete and submit time sheet and expense reporting as required
-Participate in internal and external calls and meetings
-In coordination with the Country Director, develop concept papers, budgets and other proposals for new funding as well as donor reports as needed
-Collect communications content such as photos, photo releases, content for web
-Ensure that all reporting and documentation is shared on a timely basis with the Country Director
-Prepare and complete updated information for TA records, donor reports, and other documentation needed to support the success and quality improvement of the program
-Perform other related duties not specified in this job description at the direction of the Country Director

QUALIFICATIONS:
-A bachelor’s degree in the health sciences, or equivalent, required
-3-5+ years emergency response management and emergency planning required; NGO experience preferred
-English and Tagalog language skills; other regional language skills a plus
-Exceptional interpersonal skills
-Excellent oral and written communication skills and can effectively communicate with personnel from across the globe and possesses strong cultural awareness and sensitivity
-Experience managing multiple emergency responders including volunteers
-Experience with partnership building including networking and inter-agency coordination
-Strong appreciation of supply chain, logistics and resource management in an emergency response capacity
-Ability to work overtime and weekends when required, in response to emergencies
-Proficiency with Windows environment, particularly MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint
-Willingness to travel internationally, if required
-A strong mission orientation and a desire to work within the emergency response and global health sector
-Unrestricted authorization to work in Philippines and with residency or ability to relocate to Manila

As a global health organization, we are committed to ensuring a safe environment for our staff, partners, and visitors. All Americares staff and visitors who are on-site at any of our locations or will be traveling for work are required to be fully vaccinated (which includes a booster, when eligible) against COVID-19 unless an exemption required by law is applicable.

Americares is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

To request a disability accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact us at [email protected].