Country Representative at Swedish Red Cross

**Title:**Country Representative, Liberia

Place of assignment: Monrovia (with regular travels in the country)
Type of posting: International Delegate, non-family posting
Desired starting date: As soon as possible
Contract period: 12 months, with the possibility of extension

Background:

The Swedish Red Cross (SRC) and the Liberian Red Cross (LNRCS) are part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (the Movement), consisting of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and 192 Red Cross/ Red Crescent National Societies, that make up the world’s largest humanitarian network.

SRC has been engaged in Liberia for decades and supported the work of LNRCS since the end of the civil wars in Liberia. LNRCS has been a key national actor in the country in times of crises, with its local presence of trained staff and volunteers across the country, ready to act to save lives. LNRCS played a crucial role in contributing to halt the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic through its nationwide operations and has been responding to the Covid-19 outbreak in Liberia. Following the EVD response operation 2014-2016, the LNRCS had a deep organizational crisis and is still rebuilding its organisational capacity while also scaling up its interventions to address the situation in vulnerable communities at risk. In 2019, SRC started working bilaterally with LNRCS as the only in-country partner with two international delegates based in Monrovia. The focus of the initial bilateral cooperation was strengthening a sustainable LNRCS for resilience interventions in vulnerable communities. SRC and LNRCS has recently renewed their partnership in a new 3-year project period focusing on DRR (Disaster Risk Reduction) and CCA (Climate Change Adaptation) and strengthening of the LNRCS capacity through a national society development (NSD) approach. The 3-year DRR/CCA project is funded by the Swedish Embassy with a focus on disaster risk reduction, health and livelihoods. The NSD-supported program is comprised of different aspects focusing on, 1) Resource Mobilization 2) Communication and 3) Cross cutting issues such as protection, gender and inclusion (PGI), community engagement and accountability (CEA) and volunteer management.

Your role in the organization:

As the Country Representative you are part of the Liberia team together with the DRR/CCA international delegate and part of the Africa geographical Unit, and reports to the SRC Regional Head of Unit, who is based in Stockholm. You are responsible for the SRC representation, the strategic direction, and the quality management of the SRC supported programmes in Liberia.

Key duties and responsibilities:

1. Strategy and representation/partnerships

• Represent and position SRC in Liberia, in the RCRC movement (the LNRCS, IFRC, ICRC, other NS) and with strategic institutions and other humanitarian and development actors in the country, including donors;
• Collaborate closely with relevant departments (e.g.: thematic advisors and support functions) at the SRC headquarter in Stockholm to define and implement SRC strategic direction in Liberia, resource mobilization, collaboration and partnership, programme quality and development;
• Develop and operationalize SRC country strategic direction;
• Strategical planning including business intelligence; mapping, forecasting and strategizing how to apply to available funding opportunities.

2. Programmatic responsibilities

• Responsible for the country /program following the operational cycle; in other words, under a technical cooperation approach support the LNRCS in planning, implementation, M&E, learning and accountability (reporting and auditing of SRC program);
• Responsible for the funding channelled through SRC to LNRCS;
• Provide technical support to the LNRCS for organisational development and quality programming;
• Responsible for planning and implementing the cross cutting areas for good programming.

3. Head of office and duty of care

Manage the SRC in-country office; including supervising delegates in country and support to visitors; additionally, ensure due diligence process to comply with necessary duties about admin/finance/HR/logistics/procurement/fleet/IT and safety/security management.

Your profile:

As an SRC employee, you share the Red Cross Red Crescent humanitarian values including diversity and actively work against all forms of discrimination. You understand, respect and comply with the SRC Code of Conduct and security rules and regulations.

The position demands that you have a strong organisational awareness, the ability to work seamlessly with several stakeholders, while taking responsibility for ensuring that SRC works towards our intended objectives in Liberia. You need to be analytical and able to develop and assess project proposals and reports. You need to be systematic and structured, with the ability to handle high workloads. You meet deadlines and can work with an elevated level of independence.

As a successful candidate you have solid interpersonal, networking and diplomatic skills, you have proven experience in holding similar responsibilities outlined above.

Required qualifications and experience:

• Relevant academic degree in international relations, development studies, business management or related field;
• At least 5 years relevant working experience in multinational environments managing development and emergency programmes;
• 3 years of working experience in resource-scarce settings in Africa, preferably West Africa;
• Strong experience in programme management, result based oriented (proposal writing, planning, implementing, monitoring, evaluation, learning and reporting);
• At least 3 years’ experience in organizational development, including staff and volunteers capacity-building (training and coaching);
• Relevant security training and experience from working in contexts with high security risks, including ability to assess risks, security protocol management, etc.;
• Proficient knowledge of written and spoken English.

Meriting qualifications:

• Experience in working within the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement Experience in emergency deployments;
• Experience in managing teams;
• Experience from one or several of the following fields is an asset: protection, gender and inclusion, community engagement and accountability, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, volunteer management, resource mobilization, financial sustainability, communication.

Other requirements:

• Candidates must be in good health and are required to pass a medical check-up prior to departure in the field;
• Candidates must hold a manual driving license and have experience in driving manual transmission vehicles;
• Ability to travel in the field during periods is required for the position.

Application process:

In line with the principle of neutrality, the SRC does not assign personnel to a country of which they are nationals. Candidates must state their nationality in their application.

Please note that online tests and several interviews is part of the selection process. We do a thorough reference check on final candidates.

For more information about the position, please contact: Gisela Holmén Yngrot, Head of Africa Unit, Swedish Red Cross. E-mail: Gisela.Holmen@redcross.se.

Application deadline: 24th of April 2023

Below the ad and the general information about the Red Cross Movement, you will find the button “Apply”. Click on “Apply”, fill out the form and upload letter and CV. You will get an automatic confirmation that we have received your application. Note: if you have trouble to get date of birth accepted, please try the format yymmdd (example: 15 Jan 1975 = 750115).

We kindly decline any offer of services from recruitment agencies or consultants.

How to apply

Please apply through our website: https://www.rodakorset.se/en/who-we-are

Please note that only applications made through our website will be considered.

 

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