Senior Field Investigator

Organizational Context

Under the management of the Secretary General and the guidance of the Audit and Risk Commission, the Office of Internal Audit and Investigations provides an independent high-quality audit, investigation and consulting service that is designed to add value and give management objective assurance on the effectiveness of the Federation Secretariat’s risk management framework and internal control environment. The Department is part of the Secretary General’s Office

Strategy 2030 was adopted by the General Assembly in November 2019. As part of the strategic transformation action 3: “Ensuring trust and accountability”, the IFRC committed to fully embrace a culture of ethical practice and to place personal and institutional accountability at the heart of all our work. The IFRC deepen its efforts to prevent, identify and respond to instances and allegations of behaviour that are contrary to our humanitarian principles and values.

This is a national staff position open to nationals and others who are legally eligible to work in countries where IFRC has legal presence:  Buenos Aires (Argentina), San José (Costa Rica), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Guatemala City (Guatemala), Tegucigalpa (Honduras), Kingston (Jamaica), Managua (Nicaragua), Panama City (Panama), Lima (Peru), or Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago). Candidates must be able to provide proof of their eligibility to work in those countries during application phase.

Job Purpose

Based in the Americas Region, but with travel to the field (as needed), the Senior Field Investigator will act as a regional lead professional, delivering integrity and investigations, under the direction and supervision of the Investigations Manager.

He/she provides advice, guidance to and support National Societies, in the Americas Region, as strong and effective local actors. He/she ensures, across the region, the development of robust integrity systems, and the implementation of whistleblower systems, financial transparency and accountability, and timely action when integrity incidents or transgressions are identified.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Delivering investigations

• Conduct high quality investigations of misappropriation of funds, misuse of power and fraud cases involving IFRC funds, staff and also including individuals and parties external to the IFRC but connected to its programs such as National Societies and suppliers.
• Conduct high quality investigations of serious misconduct (sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment) involving IFRC staff, including individuals external to the IFRC but connected to its programs.
• Carry out investigative field missions, sometimes for an extended period of time.
• Conduct investigations in accordance with generally recognised international investigation standards (CII, CHS) ensuring that the integrity of all evidence obtained is maintained through the course of investigations, and with due respect and consideration to a diverse employee population, taking into account cultural and language differences.
• Care for and support the people affected, including survivors, whistleblowers, witnesses, and subjects.
• Collect evidence, interview survivors, witnesses and subjects, review documents and perform analysis.
• Oversee, advise and guide external resources such as consultants or surge investigators.
• For each investigation, maintain and update records, protocols, and case management system.
• Prepare thorough and well-written investigation reports that are of a consistently high quality with soundly based findings and appropriate recommendations and present them to the Head of Investigations and relevant managers, as appropriate.
• Prepare fit for purpose briefings and presentations to functional Regional Management on findings including root causes and control and/or process gaps, together with the Investigations Manager and/or Head of Investigations.
• Initiate and maintain an internal liaison with different departments under the supervision of the line manager and the Head of Investigations.

Working effectively as a distributed team

• Develop and maintain knowledge of investigation and integrity practises and approaches, and to share this knowledge with others to enhance quality service provision.
• Function effectively with high integrity and ethics as a member of a multi-national and multi-disciplinary team.
• Manage incidents that are time-sensitive, highly confidential, and pose significant risks to the IFRC.
• Maintain professional approach when conducting challenging or difficult conversations at all levels of the IFRC.
• Use own initiative, sound judgement and experience to reach appropriate decisions.
• Handle multiple cases simultaneously, prioritising workloads.
• Manage a regional team of investigation professionals or interns.

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

Inspire people to act with integrity

• Lead ethics and integrity by example, living and displaying ethical values.
• Conduct integrity awareness training including formal presentations, workshops and written materials.
• Contribute to integrity related policies, documents, guidance, tools, procedures and directives.
• Communicate investigation outcomes to deter and prevent misconduct.

Support and develop National Societies (NS), members of the Federation

• Map and develop the NS capacities to prevent, respond and investigate allegations of misconduct.
• Develop and disseminate investigation and integrity guidelines, systems, and tools to ensure consistency and effectiveness across National Societies.
• Ensure implementation of robust integrity systems, and whistleblowing mechanisms (e.g. Integrity Line).
• Work and support the NS corruption awareness and capability.
• Provide technical and thought leadership on investigation matters to the NS.
• Lead a professional community of practice on integrity and investigations in the Region.
• Develop regional investigation capacities and the regional investigation surge roster.

Duties applicable to all staff

• Actively work 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

Required

• University degree or equivalent
• Professional investigation qualification (CFE, PCI or CHS SEAH)

Experience

Required

• Five years and above experience on investigations.
• International Experience.

Preferred

• Experience in working for humanitarian, charitable or not for profit organization.

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Required

• Good understanding of the principles and application of good corporate governance, business and operational risk management, and effective internal controls.
• Good working knowledge of prevention and investigation of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH)
• Good working knowledge of fraud and corruption prevention, detection and investigation.
• Knowledge of the principles, procedures, and techniques of financial and management accounting.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing with different audiences, adapting style to fit situation.
• Ability to gather, analyze, and evaluate facts, and prepare and present concise oral and written reports.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships throughout the organization.
• Project management skills, and ability to handle multiple priorities.
  Analytical with strong problem-solving ability.

Preferred

• IT literate with skills in systems and data analysis using Computer Assisted Audit Techniques (CAAT).
• Good knowledge of information systems auditing and security.

Languages

Required

• Fluently spoken and written English
• Fluently spoken and written Spanish

Preferred

• Good command of French

Competencies, Values and Comments

VALUES

Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; Accountability

CORE COMPETENCIES

Communication; Collaboration and Teamwork; Judgement and Decision Making; National Societies and Customer Relations; Creativity and Innovation; Building Trust.

This is a national staff position open to nationals and others who are legally eligible to work in countries where IFRC has legal presence:  Buenos Aires (Argentina), San José (Costa Rica), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Guatemala City (Guatemala), Tegucigalpa (Honduras), Kingston (Jamaica), Managua (Nicaragua), Panama City (Panama), Lima (Peru), or Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago). Candidates must be able to provide proof of their eligibility to work in those countries during application phase.