Emergency Officer, NOB, Homs, Syria

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

PURPOSE OF THE JOB

Under the supervision of and in regular consultation with the supervisor, implement country office emergency preparedness and response. Responsible for the technical contribution to the development, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the emergency interventions to advance the survival and well-being of children and mothers and affected communities in an emergency situation. 

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES and DUTIES & TASKS 

Within the delegated authority and under the given organizational set-up, the incumbent may be assigned the primary, shared, or contributory accountabilities for all or part of the following areas of major duties and key end-results.

Emergency Preparedness

1.  Provides professional assistance in risk analysis to identify emergency-prone conditions/situations and contribute to early warning and timely emergency preparedness.

2. Assists in the formulation of plans of action in preparation and response to emergencies. Gathers information on best practices in emergency situations for the preparation of contingency plans. Monitors compliance of all sectors with emergency plans of action.

3. Identifies formal and informal sources of information. Collects, interprets and analyses all available data on the evolving emergency situation and its implications to the emergency operation.

4.  Assists in organizing and conducting staff training for the office’s capacity building in emergencies preparedness and response. 

Emergency Response

5.  In the event of an emergency, promptly assists in implementing the initial operational tasks relating to emergency assistance. Immediately collects reliable information to verify the nature and extend of the emergency with staff, government officials, other UN agencies or local organizations and media.  .

6.  Assists supervisor with assessment of local emergency and security situation.  Visits the location to conduct an initial rough assessment of the magnitude of the crisis and its implications for children, mothers and the community.

7. Participates in Implementing the emergency preparedness and response plan as necessary.  Follows up with the timely delivery of assistance and procurement of supplies, and monitors the appropriate and effective use of UNICEF resources.

Emergency Project

8.  Participates in the implementation of plans of action and workplans for emergency project. Undertakes field visits to emergency project areas, to assess local conditions and monitor project progress.

9. Collects and analyses lessons learnt from UNICEF's emergency operations experience and contributes towards adoption of the best practices and standards for longer-term emergency interventions. Assists in identifying longer-term requirements of the emergency intervention/operations.

10. Works with other colleagues to make sure that disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response strategies are mainstreamed in the country office's workplans.

QUALIFICATION and COMPETENCIES ([  ] indicates the level of proficiency required for the job.)

1. Education

   University degree in one of the following fields: social sciences, public administration, law, public health, nutrition, international relations, business administration or other related disciplines.

2. Work Experience

    

   Two years of relevant professional work experience at the national and/or international levels in programme/project development, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation or administration.

   Developing country work experience (for IP) or field work experience (for NO). Training/experience in emergency response management highly desirable.

    

         3.     Language Proficiency 

    

   • Fluency in English and a local working language of the duty station; a second UN language an asset

         4.  Competency Profile (For details on competencies please refer to UNICEF Professional Competency Profiles.)  

   i)  Core Values (Required)

   • Commitment  

   • Diversity and Inclusion

   • Integrity

   ii)  Core Competencies (Required)

• Communication  [I]
• Working with People  [II]
• Drive for Results  [II]

iii) Functional Competencies (Required)

• Persuading and Influencing   [II]
• Applying Technical Expertise [II]
• Planning and Organizing   [I]
• Adapting and Responding to Change  [II]
• Coping with Pressure and Setbacks   [II]

Duration : One year