Consultant – Foresight, Preparedness and Anticipatory Action Specialist At International Organization for Migration

Position Title: Consultant – Foresight, Preparedness and Anticipatory Action Specialist

Job Code: CON 2024 21

Duty Station: Geneva, Switzerland

Classification: Consultant, Grade Other

Type of Appointment: Consultant, three months Estimated Start Date : As soon as possible

Closing Date: 24 July 2024

Established in 1951, IOM is a Related Organization of the United Nations, and as the leading UN agency in the field of migration, works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing services and advice to governments and migrants.

Context:

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is committed to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all.

IOM’s Strategic plan 2024-2028 underscores that IOM will go beyond simply responding to displacement crisis to anticipating and mitigating risks and enhancing preparedness, and prioritize and act on data strategic foresight and preparedness. This involves strengthening anticipatory action, foresight and preparedness, horizon scanning, and engagement with inter-agency early warning and early action groups.

The organization is developing a Foresight and Preparedness Dashboard tool to bring together data, foresight, risk analysis, security concerns, operational preparedness in an integrated way. This is to be used as diagnostic tool that will help identify Organizational gaps in operational preparedness and response capacity and allow the Organization to more effectively close such gaps.

The primary objective of this consultancy is to support IOM in enhancing its preparedness strategies through:

• Developing and implementing anticipatory action plans.
• Enhancing joint foresight and preparedness mechanisms and the roll-out of the Foresight and Preparedness Dashboard
• Conducting horizon scanning for potential crises.
• Strengthening inter-agency coordination for early warning and early action.

Organizational Department / Unit to which the Consultant is contributing:

Department of Humanitarian Response and Recovery – Preparedness and Climate Change Adaptation Division.

Core Functions / Responsibilities:

A. Anticipatory Action

1. Conduct an assessment of IOM’s current early and anticipatory actions.
2. Develop and propose improvements to these, aligning with best practices.
3. Support in the development of a framework and approach in Anticipatory Action for IOM.

B. Foresight and Preparedness

1. Contribute to the enhancement and roll-out of the institutional Foresight and Preparedness Dashboard.
2. Contribute to foresight analysis exercises led by IOM Global Data Institute to identify potential future crises and trends affecting migration and provide strategic advice on its operationalization.
3. Support in streamlining various prioritization processes and identifying a standard framework for preparedness support to prioritized countries.

C. Monitoring and Reporting

1. Produce regular reports highlighting key findings and implications of early warnings and horizon scanning for IOM’s operations.
2. Ensure findings are disseminated effectively to relevant stakeholders within IOM.

D. Inter-agency Early Warning and Early, Anticipatory Action

1. Attend meetings on behalf of IOM in the relevant inter-agency groups together with the preparedness team.
2. Facilitate information sharing and collaborative decision-making with other agencies.
3. In coordination with the DRR unit, support mechanisms for integrating Early warning for all (EW4ALL) mechanisms under pillar 4 on preparedness, to support IOM preparedness operations.

E. System Integration and coordination

1. Integrate inter-agency early warning data and insights into IOM’s Foresight and Preparedness Dashboard and foster an institutional approach to early warning and early/anticipatory action system.
2. Develop protocols and workflows for seamless coordination and action.

Performance indicators for evaluation of results

• Anticipatory Action: Report on the current state of anticipatory action, foresight, and preparedness within IOM and action plan.
• Foresight and Preparedness Dashboard: Enhanced dashboard, roll out and implementation plan.
• Monitoring and Reporting: Regular reports are complete and available.
• Inter-agency Early Warning and Early, Anticipatory Action : An info sharing system is in place.
• System Integration and coordination: Relevant tools are integrated in a systematic way and protocols for coordination and action are in place.

Required Qualifications and Experience:

Education, experience and/or skills required

• Advanced degree in Emergency Management, International Relations, Social Sciences, or related field from an accredited academic institution.

Experience

• At least 10 years of experience in emergency preparedness, anticipatory action, and foresight.
• Proven experience in horizon scanning and inter-agency coordination.
• Experience in data visualization applications (MS Power BI, Tableau, Qlik, or similar is required;

Skills

• Strong analytical and communication skills.
• Familiarity with IOM’s mandate and migration-related challenges is an advantage.

Languages

IOM’s official languages are English, French, and Spanish. All staff members are required to be fluent in one of the three languages.

For this position, fluency in English is required (oral and written). Working knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish) is an advantage.

Proficiency of language(s) required will be specifically evaluated during the selection process, which may include written and/or oral assessments.

Notes

For any support please contact surge.iom.int

The consultant must adhere to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Data Protection Principles (IN/138) and maintain confidentiality.

The consultant will be responsible to follow IOM writing guidelines and latest glossaries in all given assignments for accurate translation.

Accredited Universities are the ones listed in the UNESCO World Higher Education Database (https://whed.net/home.php).

Required Competencies:

Values – all IOM staff members must abide by and demonstrate these five values:

• Inclusion and respect for diversity: Respects and promotes individual and cultural differences. Encourages diversity and inclusion.
• Integrity and transparency: Maintains high ethical standards and acts in a manner consistent with organizational principles/rules and standards of conduct.
• Professionalism: Demonstrates ability to work in a composed, competent, and committed manner and exercises careful judgment in meeting day-to-day challenges.
• Courage: Demonstrates willingness to take a stand on issues of importance.
• Empathy: Shows compassion for others, makes people feel safe, respected, and fairly treated.

Core Competencies – behavioural indicators

• Teamwork: Develops and promotes effective collaboration within and across units to achieve shared goals and optimize results.
• Delivering results: Produces and delivers quality results in a service-oriented and timely manner. Is action-oriented and committed to achieving agreed outcomes.
• Managing and sharing knowledge: Continuously seeks to learn, share knowledge and innovate.
• Accountability: Takes ownership for achieving the Organization’s priorities and assumes responsibility for own actions and delegated work.
• Communication: Encourages and contributes to clear and open communication. Explains complex matters in an informative, inspiring and motivational way.

IOM’s competency framework can be found at this link.

https://www.iom.int/sites/default/files/about-iom/iom_revised_competency_framework_external.p df

Competencies will be assessed during a competency-based interview.

Other:

• The appointment is subject to funding confirmation.
• Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and background verification and security clearances. Subject to certain exemptions, vaccination against COVID-19 will in principle be required for individuals hired on or after 15 November 2021. This will be verified as part of the medical clearance process.
• Vacancies close at 23:59 local time Geneva, Switzerland on the respective closing date. Nolate applications will be accepted.