Surge Admin Officer

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 (NSs). The overall aim of IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by NSs 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 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 delegations and country delegations throughout the world. Together, the Geneva Headquarters and the field structure (regional, cluster and country) comprise the IFRC Secretariat.

IFRC has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment and other forms of harassment, abuse of authority, discrimination, and lack of integrity (including but not limited to financial misconduct). IFRC also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles.

The Operations coordination team is placed within the Disaster & Crisis Department has a main responsibility of coordinating the resources applied in Emergency Operations supported by the IFRC. This includes financial resources as the emergency appeals (also work in very close coordination with Disaster Relief Emergency Funds (DREF), short-term human resources and assets (Surge Capacity), Preparedness for Effective Response (PER) and Shelter Cluster Coordination. The team designs rules and procedures for strategic and tactical use of these resources and support the application at operational level upon request from National Societies. The Surge Capacity function is responsible for managing the portfolio of tools and mechanism that helps coordinate the deployment of individual experts (Rapid Response Personnel) and Emergency Response Units (Health, WASH, Relief, Logistic, Basecamps, etc.) from one National Society to another.

Job Purpose

Provide critical administrative and information management support to ensure the International Federation Secretariat leads global efforts in strengthening the quality, accountability, and efficiency of disaster response operations. This role contributes to the development, maintenance, and continuous improvement of global Surge capacity systems, facilitating the timely deployment of skilled personnel and resources while supporting key readiness, learning and reporting initiatives.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

A) Information Management:
• Consolidate and analyze data on Disaster Response Global Tools (e.g., Rapid Response, ERUs, HEOps, and others) to produce insights and reports for National Societies, donors, and other stakeholders.
• Support the development of the annual Global Surge Report by collecting, organizing, and presenting deployment, learning and capacity statistics.
• Gather and analyze quantitative and qualitative data to inform IFRC analysis products, including baseline studies, historical trends, and lessons learned from Surge operations.
• Assist in preparing thematic reports and ad hoc analyses to address operational needs and highlight key trends.
• Contribute to reviewing methodologies and analysis products to ensure high quality and relevance, and participate in evaluations to improve Surge processes and procedures.
• Collaborate on data visualization initiatives by providing inputs for dashboards, infographics, and other tools that enhance the presentation of Surge information.
• Propose and support the implementation of improved processes for data collection, management, and reporting to strengthen the efficiency of Surge operations.
• Assist with data entry and processing to maintain the integrity and reliability of Surge-related information systems.
• Compile and organize evidence and data to contribute to meta-analyses of lessons learned from IFRC Orange- and Red-level operations.

B) Roster Management:
• Maintain the Rapid Response Management System (RRMS) as the central database for global Surge personnel, ensuring all profiles, deployment records, and training histories are accurate and up to date.
• Regularly update information related to personnel deployments, learning, and training to reflect the latest developments in surge capacity.
• Support the development and testing of new RRMS features to improve functionality, efficiency, and user experience.
• Coordinate and engage with community of practice of National Societies interested in database enhancements, ensuring clear communication and collaboration.
• Provide ongoing user support for the RRMS, including troubleshooting issues and developing user guidance to promote effective system usage.
• Extract and analyze data from the RRMS to produce Surge activity reports and identify trends.
• Assist with the administrative aspects of Surge deployments, including processing itineraries, setting up Surge-specific email accounts, and following up on value statements for ERU deployments.
• Monitor the completion and upload of performance appraisals for deployed personnel to ensure accurate record-keeping in RRMS.
• Contribute to the dissemination of RRMS updates and advocate for its efficient use across regions to enhance Surge deployment workflows.

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

C) Support to RCRC Global surge capacity learning initiatives and events:
• Support the administrative and logistic tasks related to the organization of different trainings such as the Emergency Team Leader, Coordination Assessment and Planning for RCRC Operations, Managing IFRC operations training , Needs Assessment trainings, Induction to IFRC Operations, Train. Assess. Facilitate., among others.
• Announce calls for applications, deal with enquiries, and coordinate selection of participants for different learning opportunities liaising with the IFRC regional offices, NSs & technical departments.
• Invoice participants and coordinate allocation of funding support.
• Coordinate evaluation of training events and draft reports.
• Maintain a filing system on Sharepoint and ensure the documentation is in order.
• Support with project management: update workflows, coordinate stakeholders, etc.
• Communication: maintain Surge Learning website, draft posts, update intranet.

D) Administrative support:
• Support the organization and delivery of events, including the Global Surge Working Group (GSWG) meetings such as monthly and quarterly online meetings, bi-annual face-to-face meetings, and bi-annual online meetings, by coordinating logistics, managing schedules, and documenting outcomes.
• Coordinate and support membership engagement initiatives, including the Surge Awareness Series webinars, by overseeing scheduling, briefing presenters, organizing and communicating session details, sharing recordings, and ensuring follow-up engagement. Set up teleconference, oversee travels and financial payments arrangements.
• Support meetings organized by the global surge desk including note taking, syntheses and summaries, agreements and action points for follow-up
• Support of report writing and assist the Global Surge Desk in the preparation of funding proposals and management of reports.
• Provide input to report for internal or external stakeholders.
• Communications: draft announcements, newsletters, updates for intranet and websites.
• Provide comms support to assist with newsletters, visual materials, etc.

Duties applicable to all staff
1. Actively work towards the achievement of the Federation Secretariat’s goals.
2. Abide by and work in accordance with the Red Cross and Red Crescent principles.
3. Perform any other work-related duties and responsibilities that may be assigned by the line manager.

Education

Required

Preferred

Experience

Required

Preferred

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

Required

LANGUAGES

Required

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