Delegate, Risk Management At International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies

Organizational Context

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 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.” 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 work of the IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality. IFRC is led by its Secretary General, and has its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Headquarters are organized into three main Divisions: (i) National Society Development and Operations Coordination; (ii) Global Relations, Humanitarian Diplomacy and Digitalization; and (iii) Management Policy, Strategy and Corporate Services. IFRC has five regional offices in Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and the Americas. IFRC also has country cluster delegation and country delegations throughout the world. Together, the Geneva Headquarters and the field structure (regional, cluster and country) comprise the IFRC Secretariat. Risk management plays a crucial role in ensuring the delivery of essential assistance to communities in need while safeguarding donor investments made to the operation. Drawing on the lessons learned from other IFRC operations, the ongoing assessment and monitoring of IFRC’s overall operational risks, against clearly defined risk appetites, is essential from early on in any operation. Risk management is a vital tool, allowing us to make sure we take the right amount of risk, at the right time, to maximise the impact of our operations to save lives. Reporting to the Head of Delegation, this position will support and facilitate the work of the Syria Earthquake Operation and other programmes in Syria to identify, capture, assess, and mitigate potential areas of risk, including: contextual, fiduciary, operational, programme delivery, reputational, safeguarding and strategic risk. The role will facilitate risk escalation to the MENA Regional Office (and to Geneva HQ as necessary), to enable centralised mitigation to occur and build a central understanding of total risk exposure. The role will also work on capacity building in risk management to facilitate the effective implementation of risk management processes in Syria.

Job Purpose

Under the direction of the Head of Delegation, and with technical supervision of the Senior Officer Global Risk Management, the Risk Management Delegate will provide risk management and advisory services that add value and support IFRC management to take and manage risk proactively and effectively for the Syria Earthquake Operation and other programmes as required in support of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. The incumbent will collaborate with and guide IFRC’s country team to implement an effective risk management process, in line with the IFRC Risk Management Policy and the risk management plan for the operation, developing suitable processes for risk identification, documentation, analysis, mitigation, and escalation. The role holder will facilitate risk discussions and reviews across the operation and help develop an appropriate approach to risk mitigation, supporting the development of a practical control framework.

The Delegate will provide regular updates to the IFRC MENA Region and Geneva Headquarters on emerging and escalating risks within the operations and mitigating actions to adjust the risk appetite as necessary.

The Delegate will work to raise the overall risk maturity of the IFRC for this operation, providing ongoing risk management training and guidance to the teams within the operation.

Additionally, the role will coordinate the response to risk-related inquiries primarily relating to the Syria Earthquake Appeal and beyond from partners and donors, in alignment with the global risk management strategy.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Risk Management

Implement IFRC’s risk framework to guide the operations at the country level and support the effective management of operational risks. This will be done in part by:
- Implementing risk management framework components for the in-country response.
- Enhance, build, or expand risk appetite statements for the operation based on risk identification, risk assessment, and risk reporting infrastructures, including relevant programs and processes in the country.
Facilitate the development of appropriate initiatives to mitigate the contextual, fiduciary, operational, program delivery, reputational, safeguarding, and strategic risk arising from the operation and their impact on the IFRC itself.
Together with the Operations Manager, facilitate the review of the centralized operational risk register.
Act as a central point of escalation, ensuring critical risks are reviewed and where needed escalated to the Head of Delegation or to the Senior Officer of Global Risk Management.
Facilitate regular risk discussions with the different operational teams across the country.
Provide risk reporting to the Regional Director and Senior Officer of Global Risk Management.
Support the response leadership in establishing action plans to manage risk, and making practical recommendations for risk-taking and mitigation.
Provide guidance and training on risk management to the operational teams in critical risk areas and support the development of effective risk mitigation action plans.
Provide support, education, and training to staff to build risk awareness and risk management capacities within the organization.
Assist in the preparation of risk reports and risk registers for stakeholders (internal and external).
Support the work of the IFRC Global Risk Network, in the wider implementation of risk management in the MENA region.

National Society Capacity Enhancement

Provide guidance and support to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to improve the risk management framework.

Organizational Accountability

Keep IFRC management duly informed on any material risk developments that could affect the IFRC and movement partners.

Key Result Areas

The jobholder’s accountability areas are outlined as follows:

Implementing risk management processes.
Facilitating the establishment and review of risk registers at the operational level.
Providing risk
Facilitate the collection and analysis of risk evidence.
Facilitating management initiatives over risk and control.
Overseeing the implementation of the risk management plan for the operation.
Overseeing the management of risk mitigation action plans at the operational level.

Duties applicable to all staff:

Work actively towards the achievement of the Federation Secretariat’s goals.
Abide by and work in accordance with the Red Cross and Red Crescent principles.
Perform any other work-related duties and responsibilities that may be assigned by the line manager.

Education

Relevant University education: MSc. or MA or equivalent in Audit, Business, Engineering, Economics, Finance, International Relations, Law, Management, Risk management, or another relevant discipline. -Required
Risk Management qualification (ICERM, IDERM, or others), a member of the Institute of Risk Management, or an extensive background in risk management. -Required

Experience

At least 5-7 years of professional experience in risk management, internal audit, compliance, finance, legal, project/program management, or similar, in international humanitarian organizations, UN agencies, and Donor agencies. -Required
Development assistance, and/or Multi–National companies. -Required
Experience in delivering training and awareness on risk management, and control. -Required
Experience in working in a multi-cultural environment. -Required
Experience in implementing risk management at the operational and/or corporate level. -Required
Experience in coordinating with senior management, donors, and other relevant stakeholders. -Preferred

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Understanding of the principles and application of good corporate governance, business and operational risk management and effective internal controls. -Required
Ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing with different audiences, adapting style to fit the situation. -Required
Ability to gather, analyze, and evaluate facts, and prepare/present concise oral and written reports. -Required
Ability to plan work and manage conflicting priorities and handle multiple demands simultaneously. -Required
Ability to establish/maintain effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders. -Required
IT literate and self-supporting in computers (Windows, spreadsheets, word-processing). -Required
Ability to work under stressful conditions, meet deadlines and work remotely. -Required
Good working knowledge of system audit procedures and techniques. -Preferred
Knowledge of financial principles and financial risk. -Preferred
Good knowledge of MENA region. -Preferred
Experience of working for the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. -Preferred

LANGUAGES

Fluent in spoken and written English -Required
Fluent spoken and written Arabic -Preferred

Competencies, Values and Comments

Values: Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; Accountability
Core competencies: Communication; Collaboration and teamwork; Judgement and decision making; National society and customer relations; Creativity and innovation; Building trust

IFRC ensures equal employment opportunities!