Position Title: Project Officer

Duty Station: Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Organizational context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a network of 191 member National Societies (NS). The overall aim of the IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times 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.”  The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises. 

In late 2021, a new Country Cluster Delegation was established in Sarajevo to facilitate the IFRC’s collaborations and coordination and provides direct support to National Societies in the cluster and donors and humanitarian partners located/working in the country cluster.  IFRC’s Country Cluster Delegation (CCD) to Central & South-Eastern Europe (CSEE) covers the seven Red Cross National Societies of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia.

Job purpose

The purpose of the Projects Officer position is to support the Programs Coordinator in the management, coordination, administration, and further development of IFRC’s programmatic portfolio in Central & South-Eastern Europe. This entails ensuing closer linkages between programs and project implementation and technical support provided by the IFRC in the fields of organizational development and humanitarian diplomacy, disaster preparedness/response and risk reduction, migration and displacement, climate action, health and wellbeing to ensure effectiveness and integrity of actions with increased agility in countries under the CCD CSEE region.  

Job duties and responsibilities

Project management:

• Administer and manage, as assigned, IFRC coordination in support of NSs in key programming areas such as migration and displacement, disaster preparedness, response, recovery, cash and vouchers assistance, emergency health, livelihoods, climate action and food security.
• Review the budgets proposed by the NSs, in cooperation with other relevant staff members. 
• Monitor actual expenditure of project budgets by each NS and the alignment with pledge and project requirements. 
• Review financial reports from ongoing projects with the finance department.
• Conduct corrective and anticipatory actions to mitigate risks and act in line with the IFRC procedures.
• Participate in and, when assigned, lead negotiations with the NSs about activity implementation and any new Project Agreements including the contracting process.
• Conduct regular monitoring of the implementation of project activities according to needs and assignments, including field monitoring.
• Continuously analyze, assess and, if assigned, adapt project activities and reflect the changes in appropriate documents and share information about the changes with colleagues.

Emergency Appeals (EA): 

• For the Ukraine & Impacted Countries EA; conduct operational coordination and support to the Red Cross National Societies of Croatia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia in implementing the activities under this EA, including closing EA operations in said National Societies. Support IFRC’s Operations Manager for Bulgaria in the same process.

Disaster and crises preparedness/Emergency Operations Response, supporting the Disaster Management Senior Officer, as assigned:

• Provide support to disaster preparedness activities based on hazard risk profiles and National Society capacity
• Support the NSs in scaling up their disaster risk reduction initiatives at the national, branch and local levels and their coordination of initiatives with non-Red Cross organizations
• Support NSs in the immediate aftermath of disasters with initial assessment and development of an Operational Strategy in emergency response
• Coordinate Federation support to NS plans and delivery and perform above-listed Project Management tasks.

Migration/people on the move: 

• Participate in the coordination of migration activities with the NSs.
• Support new program development, project design, and the roll-out of any new projects in migration.

Coordination:

• Ensure and further enable the flow of information between the Regional Office Europe (ROE) operations leadership, CCD CSEE, and the NSs in the country cluster, and participate in coordination forums/meetings, as assigned. 
• Ensure a coordinated approach to programming support among Partner National Societies and maintain regular communications for greater Federation and Movement coordination and cooperation in the country cluster.
• Support the NSs in establishing Federation and Movement coordination and participating in external coordination.
• Coordinate with Federation and Movement partners as well as external stakeholders on activities and actions in line with CCD CSEE objectives.
• Maintain shared coordination and communication tools in collaboration with PMER and other colleagues.
• Contribute to internal coordination and information exchanges.
• Participate in external coordination meetings, conferences, trainings and other relevant events, as assigned.

Partnership development, advocacy, and resource mobilization: 

• Contribute to fundraising efforts, especially in the design and development of new programs and projects and writing program intervention logics into funding proposals and other products.
• Liaise with NSs about their interest in new opportunities and negotiate future steps in development of new projects.
• Support the Head of CC Delegation and Programs Coordinator in preparations for activities in their scope of work.

Capacity Building 

• Promote knowledge and experience sharing between programs and NSs, and within IFRC, by organizing the documentation of best practice/lessons learned/pilot projects findings, for current programs and future use.
• Facilitate technical support from the IFRC to the NSs, with focus on activities that are part of assigned projects.
• Assist NSs and dedicated IFRC staff in building institutional preparedness, linking local, regional and governmental policies, strategies and procedures.
• Support NSs to integrate within select governmental frameworks, with clear roles and responsibilities assigned.

Policy and planning: 

• Contribute to achieving the objectives of IFRC strategic documents as well as commitments from the IFRC CCD CSEE.
• Ensure all activities and actions are aligned with Federation and Movement coordination documents and established mechanisms. 
• Facilitate technical support to NSs in analyzing and identifying socio-economic challenges and forecasting/impacts of disasters and population movement and implementing relevant programs to addressing them.
• Encourage NSs to undertake annual and longer-term planning processes including the Unified Planning process.
• Support the roll out of IFRC’s strategic planning and coordination events with Red Cross National Societies.

Position requirements

• University degree and/or similar formal qualification e.g. in Humanitarian assistance/ development studies, economic or socio-economic velopment, or Business Administration.
• At least 3 years of work experience with a humanitarian aid or development organization.
• Relevant project management experience: assessing, designing, planning, implementing, monitoring, and reporting, as well as financial management of various programs in emergency, early recovery, and development contexts.
• Experience in international operations, including emergency response, and in humanitarian and development aid programs.
• Experience in implementing development assistance programs, such as disaster risk reduction at national and/or international level.
• Experience in working with national organizations and counterparts.

Knowledge and skills

• Proven in-depth knowledge of organizational development, capacity building of partner organizations and program management
• Proven project management and program coordination skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to prepare reports, updates, plans, and emergency appeals.
• Demonstrated and documented strong financial management skills.
• Demonstrated skills in negotiation and building relations, excellent communication skills
• Fluently spoken and written English

General Condition

• Citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Possession of a valid driver’s license “B” category, willingness to travel

If you can contribute to the performance of the above-mentioned tasks and you are an open-minded, flexible, and trustworthy person, we would very much like to hear from you.

Please forward a motivation cover letter as well as your CV.

Deadline: 07 December 2024 (midnight). 

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. 

Lokacija: Sarajevo (Rad iz firme)

Broj izvršilaca: 1

Datum objave: 22.11.2024.

Trajanje oglasa: 15 dana (ističe 07.12.2024.)