Officer, Country Support

International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a network of 192-member National Societies. The overall aim of the IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by National Societies with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world.” The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises. IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

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. And 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, the world’s largest independent humanitarian network and are committed to, and bound by, its fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality.

The British Red Cross (BRC) has an office in Dakar which is the main cooperation platform in the region, and it aims to increase the resilience of the Sahel’s vulnerable population, support the development of strong and well-prepared National Societies and improve Movement coordination and regional approaches to achieve greater impact. The office coordinates all programmes of the Sahel+ network of 10 countries. BRC Programmes focus on five countries in the Sahel (Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad), supporting these five countries through four main sectoral programs: migration programming, cash assistance, FSL programming and forecast based action and preparedness.

The post of the Country Support Officer is responsible for providing programmatic and administrative support to BRC programmes in Sahel based on the PM or SM request. The role of Country Support Officer (CSO) is to provide comprehensive, professional, proactive, partners, Managers and Delegates focused business support services to BRC Sahel Office on financial, logistical, administrative and programmatic aspects. This multi-task role supports/contributes to the effective implementation of BRC programmes and the sound management of the office (main aspect of the position).

Detailed duties:

A: Office management: under the supervision and with the support of the Sahel cluster manager, the Country officer performs several key tasks in the finance, logistics and administrative areas

Finance

  • Accounting: in charge of the cashflow management including day to day cashbox management and weekly reconciliation; elaboration and monitoring of monthly cashbook (using Excel) in compliance with small office handbook guidelines and in coordination with Finance team in UK office; monitoring of BRC bank account in Senegal and day to day relationship with Ecobank counterparts.
  • Cash request: in charge of the coordination and elaboration of the quarterly cash request for office and programmes and the monitoring of cash transfers. CSO will send all the required documents to UKO finance for funds transfer.
  • Payment of invoices:
    • In Country: the CSO is in charge of payment under the supervision of SM.
    • From UKO: complementary to procurement role and liaising with finance (and logistics teams if needed) UK office, CSO is in charge of the preparation of payment documentation and monthly monitoring of payments such as IFRC Integration Agreement monthly invoice.
  • Budget management: Assist in the monitoring and maintenance of budgets for the programmes in support to the programme managers in their quarterly budget review; Prepares basic financial reports such as journals to track department, programme costs, balance sheet etc; reviews budgets expenditure reports and brings major variances to the attention of Head of office; Support Sahel manager in the quarterly reforecast of the Sahel office budget and the Sahel management costs.
  • Ensure regular update of the Small office handbook and procedure sheets;

Logistics and Security

  • Procurement: in coordination with the driver-logistician in charge of the elaboration of procurement files according to small office handbook guidelines; in charge of compiling and storing procurement documentation
  • Organisation of events: In coordination with the driver-logistician and BRC’s team in the UK office, in charge of managing the logistics and admin aspects of BRC’s events in the region, including the organization of programme workshops and schedules and coordinates meetings, ; assist the Sahel Manager and regional delegates in the facilitation of, workshops and presentations as required.
  • Keep inventory of BRC properties, supplies, furniture and equipment.
  • Office and equipment maintenance: in collaboration with the driver-logistician, in charge of providing a good office service to the team through functioning facilities and good office supply; in coordination with driver-logistician supervision of BRC’s vehicle management (monthly fuel allowance, maintenance…)
  • Support to delegates: provide effective support and guidance to delegate in managing their daily logistics needs.
  • Security: assist the Sahel Manager in ensuring that the minimum-security requirements (MSRs) for the country are in place and complied to.

Administration and HR

  • Integration Agreement: monitor BRC’s integration and service agreements in Senegal to ensure provision of relevant and contractual services from IFRC (rent contracts, visa, diplomatic cards, admin, logs and HR support); in charge of managing BRC Integration Agreement in collaboration with the IFRC Administration Officer (launch and follow the revision process every two years)
  • Visits and deployments: Support with the organisation and facilitation of country visits and deployments as well as visits in the Sahel region and in the UKO.
  • Coordinates the weekly Sahel Team meeting and takes, prepares and distributes minutes; support the SM when he has to lead the West & Central Africa monthly meeting; shares and asks delegates to update the fields visits & leave planning; organise weekly schedules for the driver; Support in travel arrangements for staff when needed;
  • Support onboarding of new members of the team and facilitate the daily management of BRC staff and delegates in the office
  • Liaise with IFRC on new recruitments and administrative issues

B: Programme and partnership: in close collaboration with Sahel and programme managers, the Country officer support the development of effective partnerships with RCM and external actors in the region

  • Support Sahel manager and Programme delegates in the development of cooperation framework and partnership agreements in the region and on review of narrative and financial reports from partners
  • Assist the regional delegates, if required, in their partnership with the NSs and the IFRC (organization of joint field missions, PMEAL visits, partnership reviews…)
  • Storing and archiving data to ensure that records are up to date accurate and reliable with the information required.

C: Information and communication: in coordination with the Sahel team, the team assistant and regional office as well as relevant UK teams, the Country officer provides effective support in terms of information management and internal & external communication.

  • Ensure effective management of information for the programme team, ensuring information on the BRC’s Programme Information Management System (PIMS) is kept up-to-date, together with Regional Officer and Team assistant.
  • Drafting and sending correspondence with partners under the supervision of the Sahel Manger
  • Focal point for BRC Newsletter and BRC contribution to the IFRC regional Newsletter
  • Support Programme delegates with the development of communications materials
  • Communicate effectively with BRC UKO/field representatives and teams where appropriate.
  • Coordinate with the Regional Officer to provide progress reports and other information to BRC fundraising teams on externally funded projects.
  • Respond to internal enquiries relating to the activities of the RCM in the countries as required.
  • Represent the Sahel team at internal and external meetings as required.
  • Organize RC coordination meeting when hosted by BRC and do the reporting.

Education and Experience Requirements

  • Higher level academic qualification (degree level or equivalent) required
  • Experience of general financial administration and budget preparation. Required
  • Experience of compiling programme documents including proposals, log frames, donor proposals and reports. Required
  • Experience of working in international development. Preferred
  • Previous experience of working with the Red Cross Movement. Preferred

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

  • Understanding of the regional context. Required
  • Understanding of the international humanitarian system. Required
  • Knowledge of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Required
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Required
  • Presentation and report writing skills. Required
  • Competent with spreadsheets and financial administration. Required
  • Excellent IT skills, including all basic MS office packages. Preferred
  • Fluent French. Required
  • Fluency in English is desirable.

How to apply

This is a national staff position based in Dakar, Senegal. Qualified candidates with legal requirements to work in Senegal are advised to use the link below to apply on or before 15 August 2022:

https://www.ifrc.org/jobs/details.html?jobId=103166&jobTitle=Officer%2C%20Country%20Support


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