Senior Officer, Socio-Economic Empowerment (Strategy and Design)

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian network, with 191-member National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. IFRC uses the Triple R – response, resilience and respect – to
deliver on Strategy 2030. IFRC responds to disasters and crises, ensuring timely, coordinated and locally led humanitarian action. IFRC supports its members in building community resilience in the areas of climate and environment, health and
wellbeing, and migration and displacement. IFRC promotes respect for our fundamental principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality, including in our work on values, power and inclusion. The IFRC focuses throughout on our core mandate – our raison d’être – of strategic and operational coordination, humanitarian diplomacy, National Society development, and accountability.
IFRC is led by its Secretary General and has its Headquarters in Geneva and five regional offices in Africa (Nairobi); the Americas (Panama); Asia Pacific (Kuala Lumpur); Europe (Budapest); and MENA (Beirut) as well as representation offices,
service centres and delegations across the globe.
The 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.
IFRC is implementing the program Sustaining Employment, Careers and Resilience for Community Health Workforce (SECURE), a 4-year initiative (2025–2029) funded by the Mastercard Foundation. The program supports Community Health Workers (CHWs) in the Central African Republic through a multi-pillar approach: employability, entrepreneurship and health ecosystem strengthening.

The Senior Officer, Socio-Economic Empowerment will lead the design, contextualization, and monitoring of entrepreneurship and livelihoods strategies for Community Health Workers (CHWs) under the SECURE program in the Central
African Republic (CAR). This includes developing inclusive business training curricula, coordinating transparent seed grant disbursements, strengthening financial inclusion, facilitating CHW market integration, and building institutional and community capacity to support sustainable micro-enterprise development.
The incumbent will coordinate a comprehensive package of entrepreneurship interventions, including the design of inclusive business training, the development of milestone-based seed grants and integration into viable local and regional markets.
The role will also ensure alignment between entrepreneurship efforts and the broader health ecosystem and community resilience goals of the program.

Serving as a technical anchor within the IFRC team in the country and working closely with the Central African Red Cross (CRCA) and other key stakeholders, he/she will guide efforts to ensure that businesses led by community health workers become sustainable and dignified sources of income particularly for youth, women and marginalized groups disproportionately affected by poverty, instability and unemployment.
In line with the IFRC's Strategy 2030 particularly under the "Enabling a Healthy and Safe Lifestyle" pillar and the Pan-African Key Initiative on National Society Development (NSD), this role will be central in advancing locally led, youth-inclusive and gender-responsive economic empowerment models. The Senior Officer will ensure that entrepreneurship pathways for CHWs are embedded in resilient systems that are community-driven and National Society-owned. This will include supporting
the co-development of policies, capacity-strengthening frameworks, and sustainability plans anchored in the outcomes of Organisational Capacity Assessment and Certification (OCAC), Branch Organizational Capacity Assessment (BOCA), and
Preparedness for Effective Response (PER). The position will support the strengthening of institutional systems and staff capacities that enable the CRCA to implement sustainable entrepreneurship programmes well beyond the duration of the SECURE programme.
In addition, the role contributes to the production of evidence, tools and learning products that will inform not only national impact, but also the regional and global replication of successful business models in other fragile, conflict-affected or postcrisis
contexts. This includes promoting inclusive innovation, sharing operational lessons, and advocating for enabling policies that elevate CHWs as drivers of public health and local economic development.
This role is integral to the implementation of the Mastercard Foundation's Young Africa Works strategy, which supports largescale economic empowerment through local, gender-transformative, and opportunity-driven approaches.

• Drive the entrepreneurship strategy of the SECURE programme, ensuring coherence with national development priorities, local market dynamics and inclusive employment models.
• Coordinate multi-stakeholder contributions and technical resources to maximize impact.
• Develop and monitor annual work plans, budgets, procurement pipelines, and technical schedules related to entrepreneurship activities, ensuring that funder expectations, logical framework indicators, and compliance requirements are met.
• Oversee the development and contextualization of inclusive entrepreneurship training modules covering business skills, financial literacy and business management tailored to CHWs, with particular attention to cultural relevance, literacy
levels and gender dynamics.
• Facilitate the deployment of sectoral business development (e.g. agriculture, handicrafts, digital services) and support CHAs to create viable micro-enterprises.
• Design the transparent administration of CHW's seed grants, including business plan reviews, milestone-based disbursements, and community monitoring.
• Forge strategic partnerships with MFIs, mobile money operators, and banks to increase CHW access to savings, loans, and insurance products.
• Lead the design of a national CHW business mentorship model, engaging successful SMEs and entrepreneurs as coaches.
• Establish and expand CHW-led Communities of Practice (CoPs) to promote continuous learning, innovation, and peer-topeer collaboration.
• Support the integration of CHW enterprises into local value chains and public procurement opportunities.
• Work with PMER and finance teams to track entrepreneurship KPIs, including revenue growth, business survival rates, and access to financial services.
• Analyse regular field data collection and learning sessions to inform adaptive management and continuous improvement of entrepreneurship strategies.
• Contribute to the program's quarterly, mid-term, and final reports with a focus on entrepreneurship outcomes.
• Lead the documentation of lessons learned and best practices for internal and regional learning.
• Represent the IFRC in national policy discussions on youth entrepreneurship, financial inclusion and community livelihoods.

• Develop policy briefs, technical notes and advocacy materials that promote enabling environments for CHW business development, including access to finance, training, registration and inclusion in public procurement.
• Strengthen CRCA's institutional capacity to lead future entrepreneurship programs beyond the SECURE program.
• Lead on national engagement with other national stakeholders
• Participate in RCRC Movement coordination meetings, including the thematic working groups.
• Participate in the regular coordination meetings with the Mastercard Foundation.

University degree in business administration, entrepreneurship, development
economics, international relations, livelihood or a related field.

Master's degree in one of the above areas, with additional training or certification in
microfinance, youth economic empowerment, or business development.

Minimum 5 years’ experience leading entrepreneurship, micro-enterprises, or livelihood
programs at the national or regional level.

Minimum 5 years’ experience working with youth, women, and vulnerable populations in business development or informal sector support.

Experience working in multicultural teams and applying participatory approaches that
ensure marginalized voices are heard and empowered.

Experience integrating entrepreneurship indicators into MEL systems and using digital
tools (e.g., Kobo, mobile data collection)

Experience setting up and managing milestone-based seed grants, monitoring business
performance, and ensuring transparent processes.

Knowledge of entrepreneurship ecosystems in Africa and collaboration with ministries of youth, health or economic development.

Proven experience in professional communications, including writing, editing, visual
storytelling (photography, layout and production) and digital content creation. Proficient in standard ICT tools and digital platforms for programme communication, visibility and reporting.

Demonstrated in-depth understanding of youth business development, inclusive
business models, digital livelihoods, financial inclusion, and market systems, particularly in fragile or low-income contexts.

Demonstrated ability to lead multi-stakeholder coordination and manage diverse
technical teams.

Strong facilitation and training skills tailored to adult learners of different literacy levels, cultural backgrounds and technical abilities. Able to design and deliver engaging and inclusive learning experiences.

Strong written and oral communication skills

Able to network effectively, influence and inspire others, including membership,
governments, other organizations, and their peers, staff and partners

Ability to focus on quality and standards, results and accountability

Commitment to gender equity, social inclusion, and youth engagement.

Willingness and ability to travel extensively to field implementation sites, including in
remote and security-affected areas.

Demonstrated core proficiency in (a) digital communication & collaboration, (b) basic
digital content creation, (c) digital safety & security, (d) data literacy, and (e) problem
solving with technology (including responsible use of AI assistants.

Understanding of and commitment to IFRC’s mission and values.

Fluent spoken and written French and English.

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