Intersos recruits 01 Emergency Coordinator

Terms of reference

Job Title: Emergency Coordinator

Code: SR-55-1133

Duty station: Bogotà, with frequent travels to field locations Cucuta, Arauca) and Venezuela

Starting date: 01/09/2019

Contract duration: 6 months

Reporting to: Head of Emergency Unit

Supervision of: 3 national staff

Dependents: //

General context of the project

The political and socio-economic crisis in Venezuela continued to deteriorate throughout 2018, leading to further collapse of services, deterioration of health facilities, food security, and nutrition among the population, and one of the biggest mass displacements in South America’s history. Food availability is hampered by import restrictions, and price increases reduce access to food, medicine and other basic goods.

Since 2015, the crisis has prompted over 2.7 million people to leave Venezuela, out of which only about 1.4 million have regular status in the countries they fled to. The number of Venezuelans abroad went from 700,000 to over 1,600,000 between 2015 and 2017, and some 1.1 million more fled between 2017 and the beginning of 2019. There is no indication that the influx of Venezuelans will slow down in the near future. By the end of 2019 the number of Venezuelans leaving the country is expected to rise to 5.3 million, including 2.2 million in Colombia alone. As the crisis in Venezuela keeps deteriorating, host countries are increasingly struggling to respond to the influx of Venezuelans. The rising number of people entering neighbouring countries is putting a strain on basic services and impacting host communities. The provision of public goods (such as health care, electricity, water, transportation, and security) in neighbouring countries hosting Venezuelan refugees is likely to further deteriorate. Venezuelan refugees are also at risk of facing growing xenophobia from host communities, as well as exploitation, trafficking, and SGBV.

INTERSOS will start its operations in the country with an ECHO-funded project in partnership with CISP with a focus on protection and health activities in Colombia and Venezuela with the aim of expanding its operation in the course of 2019.

General purpose of the position

The general purpose of the post is to represent INTERSOS in Colombia and Venezuela, ensuring the setup of the mission and the development and planning of INTERSOS program for Venezuela crisis in strict coordination with E-Unit team in HQ.

Main responsibilities and tasks

• Establish and maintain collaborative relations with Local Authorities and Institutions, Donors, International Agencies, NGOs, partners and other stakeholders;
• Follow up, guarantee and monitor government recognition procedures for the organization in compliance with the host country formalities;
• Define, in coordination with the E-Unit team, country priorities based on context and needs analyses; monitor donor intervention strategies in the country; design, promote and elaborate new interventions;
• Define strategic priorities for the development and set up of the mission structure;
• Promote and seek networks and partnerships with another NGO working in the Venezuela crisis
• Continuously assess, analyse and evaluate new areas of intervention in Colombia, especially in the bordering regions with Venezuela and Ecuador and inside Venezuela territory;
• Organise preliminary field mission to start collecting data in order to design new project proposal to be discussed and submitted to donors;
• Support the definition of the mission financial plan, ensuring self-sufficiency and consistency of expenses, and assume responsibility for the mission funds management, including bank accounts;
• Recruit, Coordinate, guide and supervise the mission national core staff, and evaluate their performance;
• Proactively participate in relevant coordination and strategic meeting at Bogotà, Caracas and field level.

• Advanced university degree. A first level university degree with a relevant combination of academic qualifications and experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Professional Experience

• At least 5 years of professional work experience as Head of Mission/Emergency Coordinator or other management/ coordination positions in humanitarian contexts.
• Knowledge of the regional coordination mechanism.
• Proven experience in the management of EU, UN, USAID and ECHO funds.
• Proven experience in the management of staff teams.
• Remote control experience is an asset
• Risk management knowledge is an asset
• previous working experience and knowledge of the country and region is an asset

Professional Requirements

• Knowledge of the regional coordination mechanism.
• Proven experience in the management of EU, UN, USAID and ECHO funds.
• Remote control experience is an asset
• Risk management knowledge is an asset
• Ability to set high standards for quality of work
• Ability to analyze the regional dimension of the Syria situation
• Ability to analyze and integrate information from a wide range of sources
• Ability to define country and program strategies
• Ability to administer funds, logistics and human resources
• Mastery of IT tools (MS Office package, internet, email, etc.)

Languages

• Fluency in Spanish is compulsory
• English is an asset; Italian is a plus

Personal Requirements

• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills
• Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to establish effective working relations with staff, beneficiaries and other stakeholders
• Excellent analytical skills
• Ability to adapt to stressful environment and basic living conditions
• Ability to take initiative and work autonomously
• Ability to achieve results effectively, considering the need for speed, scale and quality
• Ability to ensure quick quality delivery in stressful environment (stress-resilient)
• Ability to integrate and work well within multi-ethnic and multicultural teams
• Knowledge of Venezuela context especially of the bordering areas with Colombia (Tachira and Apure state)

In case you encounter difficulties applying through INTERSOS platform, you can also apply by sending your CV and motivation letter (both in PDF version) via email to recruitment@intersos.org, with subject line: “SR-55-1133 – Emergency Coordinator – Colombia”.

Please also mention the name, position and contact details of at least two references, including the line manager during your last job. Family members are to be excluded.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for the first interview.