Humanitarian Desk Officer (Humanitarian Action Program)

Role: Humanitarian Desk Officer (Humanitarian Action Program)

The post reports to: Humanitarian Program Lead

Duty station:

Florence, Italy. Presence in Oxfam Italy’s office in Florence to be agreed with the line manager (remote work is possible, within the terms of OIT internal policy and practice). Missions abroad are foreseen, mainly in the Middle East, Horn of Africa and Southern Africa, according to the needs.

Starting date: Immediate availability requested. Start date asap, no later than September 2022.

Duration of the contract: Until 31 March 2023 – renewable (depending on funding available)

Deadline for submission: 29 July 2022

Typology of contract: Fixed term contract (Co.Co.Co.)

Salary: Gross amount from 24.00 to 26.500 euro/year. To be parametered according to the exact contract duration.

Oxfam is a global movement of people working together to end the injustice of poverty.

We tackle the inequality that keeps people poor. Together we save, protect and rebuild lives. When disaster strikes, we help people build better lives for themselves, and for others. We take on issues like land rights, climate change and discrimination against women. And we won’t stop until every person on the planet can enjoy life free from poverty.

We are an international confederation of 20 organizations (affiliates) working together with partners and local communities in the areas of humanitarian, development and campaigning, in more than 90 countries.

All our work is led by our six values: Equality, Empowerment, Accountability, Inclusiveness, Courage, Solidarity.

Oxfam is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and promoting the welfare of anyone. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

Note: All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and may be subject to appropriate screening checks, which can include a misconduct disclosure scheme, criminal records and terrorism finance checks.

Description

Oxfam Italia is an independent NGO established in Italy (Arezzo) at the beginning of the ‘70s and now working in several countries. Oxfam Italia was born from the experience of UCODEP, an Italian NGO committed for over 30 years in the struggle against poverty and injustice. Oxfam Italia is the Italian member within the International Confederation of Oxfam, the fourth international coalition in the world, specialized in humanitarian aid and development programmes.

Main Responsibilities:

Within the Program Department, under the Humanitarian Action Program, Oxfam Italy is recruiting a Humanitarian Desk Officer to contribute to the implementation of Oxfam Humanitarian programs in Middle East, Horn of Africa and Southern Africa. Under the line management of the Program Lead, his/her responsibilities will be to support the Humanitarian Action Program in the proposal development and supervision of the implementation of humanitarian projects, ensuring coordination with Countries, compliance, quality and timeliness of the implementation, adequate reporting according to donor’s requirements and donor’s relations, in coordination with other offices in Oxfam Italy (Grant Management Office and Institutional Funding Office). Specific focus on specific countries will be agreed at initial stage of the contracting period.

Job description

The Humanitarian Desk Officer will be the final responsible for the following tasks:

• Support Oxfam Country Programs in order to ensure quality standards are respected in the implementation and overall management of humanitarian programs within all phases of the Oxfam humanitarian responses in assigned geographical countries;
• Contribute to further develop the Oxfam Italy engagement in current and new countries of operations.
• In coordination with the Institutional Funding Office in Italy and funding managers in countries, contribute to the engagement with humanitarian donors, DG ECHO (ECHO) and Italian Agency for Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid (AICS) in particular.
• In coordination with the Institutional Funding Office in Italy and Country teams, elaborate and/or develop concept notes and/or project proposals to be submitted to institutional donors, in line with Oxfam Italia procedures and priorities (mainly AICS and ECHO);
• Ensure coordination with other department’s offices at HQ for the finalization of contracts with different humanitarian donors (mainly AICS and ECHO) and proper start-up of activities in the countries of operation;
• Support in the preparation of reporting for different institutional donors;
• Ensure monitoring and follow-up to emergency and recovery interventions in which Oxfam Italia is involved (including monitoring/evaluation missions in countries);
• Act as the lead and ensure timeliness and accuracy of internal reporting and regularly update on the progress achieved;
• Support the recruitment of humanitarian personnel as needed;
• Support in the management of small grants / subgranting scheme to partner organisations.
• Support the Humanitarian Programme Lead in conducting capacity building of local staff in-country and in collecting and documenting lessons learnt;
• Participate to Oxfam international groups as per the needs
• Provide guidance and support to interns, as per the needs

This job description is not incorporated in the employment contract. It is intended as a guide and could vary in the light of strategic developments and needs, following discussion with the post holder.

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS REQUIRED

Essential requirements:

• Advanced university degree or equivalent working experience
• Previous experience in managing Humanitarian Aid projects in the field (at least 5 years, and at least 6 months continuously in the same operation)
• Previous work experience in project management and/or at Head Quarters is mandatory
• Proven experience in writing project proposals for Humanitarian Aid donors
• Previous experience of working with local NGOs as partners
• Knowledge of humanitarian principles and standards
• Knowledge of the main humanitarian donors, with particular reference to DG ECHO and the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid (AICS)
• Proficient level of written and spoken Italian (C2)
• Excellent written and spoken English. French and/or Spanish are an asset.
• Strong computer literacy with a full knowledge of MS Office
• Culturally sensitive and able to understand and work in a very complex context
• Problem solving
• Good team player with strong initiative
• Good inter-personal and communication skills
• Ability to adapt and work in complex situations
• Knowledge of WaSH, Emergency Livelihoods and Food Security (including cash) and Protection will be considered an asset.