RESPONSE LEAD, EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM

Background

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military operation in Ukraine, invading the neighboring nation in an attack that has been condemned by world leaders. Missile attacks and explosions have been reported throughout Ukraine, with military troops invading from three sides of the country. In less than one week, the invasion has affected millions of people.

Despite hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing, many civilians remain trapped. The situation throughout Ukraine is deteriorating rapidly as the conflict intensifies, prompting a sharp increase in humanitarian needs as access to essential services and supplies are disrupted and more and more people flee their homes. The number of civilian deaths and injuries is and will continue to rise as population centers become cut off and increasingly the target of shelling. Already, reports of civilians caught in cities and towns under shelling are increasing. Damage to electrical, sanitation, water, road, and residential infrastructure throughout the country is hampering access to essential services and parts of the country are experiencing cash and food shortages as bank machines and grocery stores are empty. The UN estimates that 12 million people in Ukraine will soon be in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

Outside of Ukraine, more than 670,000 Ukrainians have fled to Hungary, Moldova, Poland and Romania and that number will climb as fighting persists – placing increasing pressure on host governments as they work to shelter and provide essential services to the new arrivals. According to officials, the number of refugees from this crisis could result in anywhere from 1 to 5 million people. Within Ukraine, International Medical Corps is continuously working to help ensure the safety of our staff and to monitor the increasingly desperate situation. Our response activities are focused on the operation of mobile medical teams and the provision of emergency and primary health services, mental health and psychosocial support and gender-based violence services, which are so important to conflict-affected communities. We are also working closely with our network of partners to address the needs of impacted healthcare facilities to ensure that they can continue to provide essential health services. In Poland, Moldova, and Romania, we are rapidly scaling up health and protection activities to support the needs of Ukrainian refugees, as well as our regional logistical capacity to support our expanded presence in Ukraine.

As a global humanitarian nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through healthcare training and relief and development programs, we are prepared to deploy our Emergency Medical Team and mobile health facility in cooperation with the World Health Organization upon request to provide emergency and primary health care wherever it is needed in Ukraine and/or neighboring countries.

This position will support International Medical Corps’ emergency response delivering outpatient clinical care to disaster-affected populations.

Job Description

The primary responsibility of the Response Lead – Emergency Response Team is to support the implementation of services in an emergency setting. The Response Lead provides overall leadership in the field and is responsible for developing, coordinating and managing all emergency response activities. S/he coordinates liaison with the Response Management Team, and Country Director, and works towards developing, monitoring, and strengthening relationships with governmental and intergovernmental institutions, donors, other NGOs, key sub-recipients, and vendors, to implement International Medical Corps’ response strategy. S/he is responsible for the health, well-being and safety of the emergency staff; program design planning and staffing; reporting and documentation; financial management and communication.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function with or without reasonable accommodation:

MAIN TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Leadership
• Lead assessment team and develop response plan.
• Lead, develop and implement a coherent response strategy that contributes to International Medical Corps’ emergency response objectives.
• Create a shared vision and team cohesion.
• Manage the operating principles and guidelines.
• Coordinate closely with Response Management Team, and country program leadership if applicable.
• Provide leadership, management oversight, and technical direction for the response.
• Lead work plan development and coordinate input from program staff, counterparts.
• Design, develop, and implement a strategic long-term programmatic vision that is in accordance with the objectives of International Medical Corps.
• Ensure high-quality performance and integrity standards in compliance with International Medical Corps policies and regulations.
• Report to International Medical Corps senior management project and donors the achievements and results of the response.
• Establish systems for maintaining an overview of all staff activity.
• Co-ordinate prioritizing of requests in consultation with other involved functions.
• Supports the deployed team through multiple staff rotations ensuring consistency in leadership and hand over among short term personnel.
• Responsible for team health and safety.
• Act as Safeguarding focal point until appropriate team member is assigned in coordination with the Safeguarding taskforce.
• Ensure all focal points are assigned and that assignments are handed over appropriately with each transitioning team. Focal points required include – child protection, CMR, mental health, safeguarding, access and disability, health and safety, and team health (PEP, PPE.)

Human Resource Management
• Oversee the selection, training, and mentoring of qualified staff, recommend promotions, disciplinary action and termination, as needed.
• Supervise the day-to-day of the Senior team to ensure smooth and effective operations.
• Work with Human Resources to ensure compliance to local labor laws.
• Maintain open lines of communications with all field staff.

Representation
• Able to represent International Medical Corps among local authorities, donors, United Nations, international and national NGOs.
• Develop strong working relationships with actors in the emergency response.
• Participate in media relations, public outreach and awareness initiatives, including coordinating and responding to inquiries, acting as a spokesperson, or identifying and preparing spokespeople for local, national and international media in coordination with the Communications department.

Administration
• Ensure that appropriate logistic, administrative and financial structures and procedures are established and maintained in accordance with International Medical Corps guidelines.
• Ensure appropriate documentation for ease of handover team to team.
• Responsible for the security of all international and national staff when deployed.
• Perform initial Security Risk Assessment.
• Ensure that appropriate security guidelines and procedures are established, maintained / updated regularly and adhered to by the response team.

General
• Deployed personnel are expected to assist with the setup, maintenance and demobilization of the clinical spaces and base camp as required.

Policy Adherence
• Actively promote PSEA (Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse) standards within International Medical Corps and amongst beneficiaries served by International Medical Corps
• Adhere to the Code of Conduct, maintain humanitarian principles and respect international humanitarian law at all times.

Perform other duties as assigned. The duties and responsibilities listed in this document are representative of the nature and level of work assigned and not necessarily all inclusive.

Code of Conduct
As applicable to this position, an individual must promote and encourage a culture of compliance and ethics throughout the organization and maintain a clear understanding of International Medical Corps’ and donor compliance and ethics standards and adheres to those standards.

If this is a supervisory position, one must set an example of ethical behavior through one’s own conduct and oversight of the work of others; ensure that those who report to you have sufficient knowledge and resources to follow the standards outlined in the Code of Conduct & Ethics; monitor compliance of the people you supervise; enforce the Code of Conduct & Ethics and International Medical Corps’ policies, including the Safeguarding Policy and the Protection from Harassment, Bullying and Sexual Misconduct in the Workplace Policy, consistently and fairly; support employees who in good faith raise questions or concerns.

Safeguarding
It is all staff shared responsibility and obligation to safeguard and protect populations with whom we work, including adults who may be particularly vulnerable and children. This includes safeguarding from the following conduct by our staff or partners: sexual exploitation and abuse; exploitation, neglect, or abuse of children, adults at risk, or LGBTI individuals; and any form of trafficking in persons. Staff are also responsible for preventing violations to our Code of Conduct and Ethics, which may involve Conflicts of Interest, Fraud, Corruption or Harassment. If you see, hear or are made aware of any violations to the Code of Conduct and Ethics or Safeguarding Policy, you have an obligation to report.

Equal Opportunities
International Medical Corps is proud to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, age, disability or status as a veteran.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Typically, a Master’s degree in in humanitarian affairs, international affairs, public health, management or other relevant studies. Equivalent combination of relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Experience
• Typically, 10+ years of relevant and progressive experience in development or humanitarian emergency response field, with increasing responsibilities including at least 5 years in a senior management position in an INGO environment, preferably in insecure environments, and minimum of 2 years of project management experience in a developing country or similar context including responsibility for budget control, strategy, human resources and planning
• Significant experience in emergency responses
• Significant experience and understanding of security management and insecure environments
• Experience in the health sector in a developing country or similar low resource environment
• Experience liaising with donors, securing donor funds, reporting and managing large budgets
• Competencies:
• Ability to travel at short notice for periods of up to three months at a time
• Fluent in use of the Microsoft Office suite and web-based files
• Experienced in the use of radio handsets, satellite phones, and other communications
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to represent IMC to a broad range of people and organizations
• Knowledge, practical understanding of and ability to work within both relief and development NGO contexts
• Understanding of health issues in developing countries
• Team working, flexibility and relationship building skills, ability to develop positive working relations across functions and cultures, quite often at a distance
• Problem solving skills in day to day and crisis situations
• Resilience and stress management skills for self and team
• Ability to identify and analyze opportunities that contribute to strategic aims, translate them into practical plans and implement them
• Fluency in written and spoken English

Additional Technical or Language Requirements

Eligibility to work in the European Union or Ukraine desirable. Fluency in Russian, Ukrainian, Polish or other relevant language preferred.

MISCONDUCT DISCLOSURE SCHEME

All offers of employment at International Medical Corps are subject to satisfactory references and background checks. International Medical Corps participates in the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme from the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR). In accordance with this, we will request information from an applicant’s previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.