Regional Coordinator for PPP Grant and Strategic Partnerships and Resource Mobilization (SPRM)

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. The overall aim of the 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.”  The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises. 

The 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. 

The 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

The IFRC has five regional offices in Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and the Americas.  The 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.

The Country Cluster Support Team for Central Asia is based in Bishkek and oversees IFRC support to five National Societies: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The IFRC is assisting National Red Crescents in Central Asia on their health, climate, disaster preparedness, disaster risk reduction (DRR) and National Society Development programmes and also emergency response actions. 

IFRC signed a global agreement with the European Commission’s Directorate General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) to roll out the Pilot Programmatic Partnership (PPP) Project in 25 countries globally, including two countries in Europe/Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) aimed to boost local capacities of Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies to support affected people, communities, and local actors in their preparedness, anticipatory/early action and response efforts to various crises.  IFRC Country Cluster for Central Asia is seeking a Coordinator for PPP Regional Grant and SPRM to be based in the IFRC Country Cluster Delegation`s Country Office based in Dushanbe, Tajikistan , responsible for the regional coordination of the PPP project in the Europe/Central Asia Region, as well as assisting IFRC in developing partnership relations with internal and external stakeholders and partners. 

Job Purpose

The coordinator is responsible for regional coordination of the PPP Programme, working in close coordination with the IFRC Central Asia Country Cluster, Regional Office for Europe and Global Teams (including IFRC Programme Manager, IFRC Country Project Coordinators, thematic, PMER and financial teams), as well as with Red Cross Red Crescent Societies involved in the implementation of the PPP.

This is a key position in IFRC’s flagship partnership with DG ECHO, the European Commission’s humanitarian aid department. The selected candidate will be responsible for coordinating and managing this innovative project that aims to transform the lives of the most vulnerable people in the region and will also have the opportunity to grow and expand the project, driving the change for a better humanitarian response. To succeed in this role, candidates need strong project planning, management and monitoring skills, as well as excellent verbal and written communication and representation abilities. It is important to have a good understanding of the humanitarian context and challenges in Central Asia, and be able to work effectively with diverse stakeholders. As Coordinator, selected candidate may also support strengthening SEP capacities of IFRC Central Asia Country Cluster, ensuring the development of core competencies in partnership building and donor stewardship.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

In close coordination with the PPP Global Grant Management Team and relevant teams in IFRC Central Asia Country Cluster and Regional Office for Europe, the coordinator will:

PPP Regional Grant Coordination 

•    Act as key focal point in the Europe/Central Asia Region for any PPP-related coordination. As a key conduit, be able to manage communication (horizontal and vertical) and build stronger network of project stakeholders by connecting bilateral, country, and regional project stakeholders through various means and platforms.
•    Ensure that relevant internal IFRC stakeholders and Red Cross Red Crescent Societies involved in PPP are playing an active role in planning, implementation and monitoring of the PPP. 
These stakeholders may include technical departments in IFRC Headquarters (in Geneva), IFRC Regional Office for Europe (in Budapest), IFRC Central Asia Country Cluster, implementing National Societies in Central Asia and supporting EU National Societies, including their headquarters. The coordination will also require close work with IFRC Programme Manager, IFRC country-level coordinators, and thematic focal points at CCD and Regional levels.
•    In coordination with IFRC Risk Management tea, ensure the programme has the strong risk management approach, identify possible delivery risks, inform and advise management of actions to be taken to mitigate these.
•    Proactively, plan, convene and facilitate meetings with assigned focal persons from operations, finance, audit, PMER, risk management and communication units to ensure collaborative review, provision of input and shared understanding of the PPP.
•    In coordination with IFRC risk management team, ensure that the risk management tools and processes are implemented and integrated in the PPP programme management processes. 
•    Plan and facilitate regional coordination meetings and workshops of regional relevance. 
•    Facilitate the monitoring missions (including the ones participated by the donor and partners) in coordination with the implementing National Societies. 
•    Handle internal contracts deriving from negotiations and agreements with DG ECHO. 
•    Participate and/or lead where relevant, in evaluations, assessments, reviews and/or audits to ensure IFRC systems are properly taken into account and partner requirements are successfully met.
•    Provide support to the PPP Global Grant Management Team by coordinating input regionally. 

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

PPP Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting (PMER) and Quality Control 

• Serve as a primary contact point for the region towards the Global PPP PMER focal point.
• Curate CCD PMER Officer related to ECHO PPP Programme in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan for daily monitoring, reporting, and coordination.
• Ensure independent and proactive monitoring and effective stewardship of PPP funds in line with expectations. This includes tracking key deliverables, implementation rates, timely reporting and visibility.  
• Support IFRC and National Societies engaged in the PPP initiative in efficient and effective quality control and delivery of reporting.
• Set up systems and guidance to coordinate and support the development of quality plans related to the PPP as needed. 
• Assist with the development and implementation of monitoring tools and activities to capture and provide reliable and timely monitoring data to inform quality programming as needed
• In coordination with planning, monitoring and evaluation teams, support any necessary surveys, i.e. baseline surveys, reviews, evaluations or lesson learning exercises or other relevant studies, in response to requirements in the PPP framework. Identify key project trends in order to facilitate practical advisory on success and innovation across partners, countries, and if necessary, regions (e.g. adapting to country context, taking advantage of partnership network etc).
• Consolidate multi-stakeholder information into user-friendly format and, if necessary, disaggregate communication/meetings threads and key decisions as per relevant partner’s actions and follow ups;
• Ensure that learning from all monitoring, reviews or evaluations are accessible and relevant, and can be used to  inform operational decision-making and the direction of the operation. 

Other:

Conduct travels within Central Asia, especially to Kyrgyzstan, to Geneva and Brussels as and when required to ensure comprehensive support to PPP coordination, within the region, as well as with global teams.

Education

Required:

• University degree in relevant discipline (e.g. International Relations, Humanitarian Affairs, Business Administration, Economics, Finance, Marketing)

Preferred:

• Graduate degree in a relevant humanitarian or Social Sciences, ideally studies relating to data management, statistics etc.

Experience

Required:

• 3 years’ experience in management/coordination of projects implemented by international partnerships, involving at least 5 partners
• 3 years’ experience working for the RCRC Movement or civil society sector
• 3 years’ experience working in planning, monitoring or reporting fields
• Experience of developing proposals and building partnerships
• Experience in drafting agreements, pledge management and income processing
• Experience in partnering with development banks (World Bank and regional ones), specialized funds (e.g.: Global Fund, GAVI, GCF), UN agencies, and EC.
• Proven track record in multilateral partnerships, and in achieving results by raising public sector funds
• Experience managing partner and resource development relations in a context of humanitarian and/or development programmes

Preferred:

• Experience working in an emergency response context
  Background in data collection, management, analysis and presentation methods and tools, and ability to set up systems and procedures for reliable data collection and management
  Experience in organizing partnership calls, events, conferences or meetings
• Work experience with other international organizations, large NGOs and/or governmental development agencies
• Experience of working in Europe and/or Central Asia

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Required:

• Strong analytical and written skills, including report writing and presentation skills
• Demonstrated ability to negotiate funding agreements, to structure financial instruments, and to navigate complex funding mechanisms
• Experience in communicating with high level partners and successfully navigating multilateral and IFI partner decision-making processes, funding instruments and requirements
• Outstanding networking, representational, communication and negotiation skills contributing to a client-focused culture. Ability to be proactive and persuasive
• Fluently spoken and written English and Russian

Preferred:

• Skills in supporting organizational learning, accountability and performance
• Knowledge and skills around results-based planning (logframe) and setting up robust planning systems for complex programmes
• Advanced knowledge of multilateral and international financial institutions (IFI) landscapes, priorities, policies, and financing instruments supporting humanitarian action and the attainment of the SDGs
• Good command of another IFRC official language (French, Spanish or Arabic)

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