Senior Emergency Team Officer

MENTOR Initiative

The context: The MENTOR emergency team aims to design and deliver highly effective (evidence-based) life-saving health programmes, designed to mitigate and control the most important tropical disease threats that are faced by communities in crisis settings. At the same time, MENTOR seeks to maximise opportunities to combine and harmonise essential health, WASH, shelter, education and nutrition interventions with key humanitarian partners, to ensure effective disease control outcomes for beneficiaries. In so doing, it aims to further strengthening the humanitarian communities understanding of vector borne disease surveillance, prevention, and case management as an integral part of the first phase of all emergency responses.

Team members conduct exploratory assessment missions; assist to initiate emergency interventions; support or initiate emergency interventions in MENTOR missions; provide support to the organisation and existing country teams in promoting and monitoring emergency response capacity; and support the management of operations in humanitarian emergencies.

Overall Job Purpose: The Senior Emergency Team Officer will support the Emergency Team in the identification, assessment, programme design, fundraising, field programme start-up, and subsequent handover to HQ Regional Teams for priority humanitarian crises around the world.

Tasks and responsibilities:

Analysis and Internal Communications:

  • Maintain a watching brief on new, or changing humanitarian crises settings (man-made, natural or combined causes) around the world, and note and further track/review any which in which tropical diseases are likely to be an important health concern for the populations affected.
  • In close cooperation with the Head of Emergency Operations (HEO), propose and agree any such settings that require further organizational attention.

Assessment:

  • Support HEO to conduct the operational ground work needed, in order to open programmes in relevant humanitarian crisis setting in which the organisation is not currently operation.
  • Work with Emergency Team Grants Manager in budget design and planning for assessment missions.
  • Liaise with partners to establish registration and legal requirements for in country operations.
  • Support in the approach to donors in country, government agencies (MoH and others), other INGOs, UN co-ordinational bodies/clusters, security co-ordination groups, NGO forums, regional and local authorities, key individuals (cluster leads, humanitarian coordinators, etc).
  • Ensure high quality communication and representation with national agencies, ministries, INGOs, donors, UN cluster, and other humanitarian coordination mechanisms within the region of targeted assessment.
  • Conduct assessments, data collection, mapping of other stakeholders, transportation means, mapping needs/gaps in coverage, and assist in the overall development of possible responses.
  • Provide technical input and detailed research on public health needs, vector borne disease prevalence, epidemiological data, and primary healthcare capacity of any area region where assessments are conducted.
  • Provide technical input for the designing of programme responses to identified needs within the organisations operational mandate.
  • Support advocacy with officials for developing programme responses and to help others understand the needs and benefits of the overall proposed responses in order to gain trust and access to areas of programme interest.
  • Support HEO in the regular updating of the Director, the Head of Programme Management, and Head of Security on field progress to date and planning for next steps.
  • Ensure detailed assessment reports are built as the assessment proceeds, and is shared and updated during the course of the assessment, and finalised at the end of the assessment.
  • Support HEO in briefings of donors, UN agencies, Ministries, and other partners on assessment findings and recommendations, as appropriate.

Donor approach:

  • Support on the developing of concept papers/proposals and budgets (both during and following assessment missions) based on the analysis and assessment results and recommendations in agreement with HEO in relation to emergencies within new countries, and with Head of Programmes and HQ Regional Team leads in relation to emergencies within existing country programmes.
  • Work with the HEO to ensure the Emergency Team help identify and contribute to the development of new donor relationships and partnerships (institutional, non-institutional, and private sector).
  • Support with good quality management and development of established partnerships with supporting donors (institutional, non-institutional, and private sector) where relevant to the Emergency Team.
  • Maintain regular contact with Emergency Team donors and partners as appropriate.
  • Assist HQ regional Teams in ongoing emergency phases to develop appropriate analysis and proposals, where agreed with the HEO and the Head of Programmes.

Mission start-up:

  • Support the Emergency Team and, where appropriate, Programme Teams to ensure the required HR, Financial, Logistical, Operational, and Programmatic functions are in place to ensure an effective emergency programme start-up.
  • Ensure appropriate pre-deployment preparation is undertaken for all Emergency Programme start-ups.
  • Support the Programme Management of all emergency programmes that fall under the mandate of the emergency team (allocating responsibilities for grants and technical management as appropriate in the Emergency Team), for as long as required in the absence of an HQ Regional Management Team.
  • In agreement with the Head of Programmes work with the appropriate HQ Regional Management Teams to coordinate the transition of established emergency programme start-ups to the Management Teams.

HR & Administration:

  • Work with Emergency Team Grants Manager to ensure that they are accurately informed for each response such that they are enabled to design the administrative, contractual, and budgetary tools needed to effectively support Emergency Team missions.
  • Work with the Emergency Team Grant Manager to ensure the management of administrative preparation of staff travelling on Emergency Team business (travel/insurance/visas, etc)
  • Ensure an operational briefing package is made available for all staff / visitors going to emergency programmes that fall under the Emergency Team remit.
  • Work with Recruitment Officer to ensure HR needs for assessments and start-up programmes are correctly staffed (screening of applicants, design of job descriptions, and interview stages as appropriate)

Position Title: Senior Emergency Team Officer Base: HQ 40%, up to 60% in field locations. Start Date: 1 September (negotiable)

Reporting to: Head of Emergency Operations (HEO)

Job requirements:

– 3-5 years of professional experience in public health or humanitarian project management.

– Familiarity with NGO working environments and standard procedures.

– Clinical or public health qualifications are highly desirable.

– Experience working in remote and/or insecure settings.

– Organized and good coordination / project management skills

– Fluency in English with additional language skills in either, Portuguese, French, Arabic, or Spanish highly desirable

– Experienced developing grant proposals and designing programmes.

– Excellent communication skills

– Ability to take the initiative and work independently

The Mentor Initiative applies a zero-tolerance approach to sexual exploitation, abuse, mistreatment or harassment, and other types of unethical behaviour including fraud. The Mentor Initiative will contact previous employers of applicants to determine if they have any history of violating international standards and codes of conduct relating to such matters.

How to apply

To apply, please send your CV, letter of motivation and 3 references to: [email protected]


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