CAREER DEVELOPMENT ADVISER

Purpose of the post

The Career Development Unit is responsible for the design and implementation of innovative and effective global strategies, actions and tools to drive development, engagement and retention of ICRC staff. Working on multiple levels across the areas of Talent Management, one of the cornerstones of the unit is the new Career Centre, which acts as an enabler of individual growth, development and staff engagement.

The Career Centre focuses on providing support and establishing tools to enable sound people management and career development practices across the ICRC. The Career Centre provides support to the total ICRC workforce (16’000 people across the globe) in partnership with the other key people management stakeholders. Founded on best practices in Talent Management, the Career Centre focuses on multiple levels to strengthen staff engagement and enable individual development and growth at the ICRC, namely by:  

1. Providing career development coaching, counselling and guidance to individual staff, guiding them towards crafting concrete action plans for their individual development and leveraging at best their career relays (line manager, HR manager, staffing manager).
2. Institutionally, through capability-building and tools to further enable managers, HR service providers and Talent Partners (staffing managers) to engage in quality career conversations and individual development dialogues, as well as to enable staff engagement through sound people management.
3. Designing innovative and effective online tools and job aids, including potentially mobile apps for individual career development and other forms of customised targeted development planning to enable and empower individuals to assume responsibility for their own careers.
4. Designing high-impact, tailored development solutions and programmes for strategically select groups of staff such as women, field-based resident staff, high potentials, millennials and staff in transition etc.

You will work in close collaboration with (and under the direct supervision of) a Senior Career Development Advisor, and as part of the broader Career Development Unit.

In this role you will work across most areas of career development with particular focus on providing career coaching, counselling and guidance for individual development; supporting managers (capacity building) in career management; and on creating virtual tools, including applications, to be able to reach all ICRC staff in an impactful way. In this context, your people management skills, coaching experience and qualifications, growth mindset and technology savviness - as well as your ability to empower others and to deliver on results - will be called upon.

Key to success lies in approaching career development at multiple levels and working both conceptually and practically to design pragmatic tools and solutions as well as work with individuals to coach, counsel and give guidance. As part of the integrated talent management function, you work within the continuum of Talent Management to enable great people decisions and individual growth and development.

In this role you will have a chance to positively impact the professional life of ICRC staff in a direct manner and to strengthen people’s engagement as they become clear on their career goals. You will also have a chance to support and enable managers in a very meaningful way as they invest in the development of their team members. You will be exposed to the richness and diversity of contexts people in the ICRC work in, and to the strength and diversity of the ICRC’s truly global workforce. .

Main duties and responsibilities

1. Provide direct career coaching, counselling and/or career development advice to ICRC staff (resident and mobile). In seamless collaboration with other sources of career development support available to staff:

• Listen, guide and support ICRC staff in their professional development
• Help ICRC staff define their professional objectives and individual career development action plans
• Inform on staff on options for development (and their feasibility), including by providing referrals as relevant e.g. to other components of the ICRC’s Development Ecosystem.

1. Provide direct career counselling / guidance to line managers on career development, staff engagement and sound people management.

1. Provide continuous support to clients such as managers, HR service providers and Talent Partners to further enable them to engage in quality career development conversations and individual development dialogues.

1. Together with the Senior Career Development Advisor and other key stakeholders, create effective tools to build the capability of people involved in career development, staff engagement and sound people management:

• Line managers
• HR managers
• Talent Partners (people in charge of the staffing in each of the function)

  Tools developed will need to be measured according to the direct impact on people’s behaviours and career-related outcomes.

1. Propose and develop tools enabling to support more people than people seen in face to face counselling through on line tools, mobile apps, job aid.

1. Based on the deep understanding of the diverse realities and experiences of people and their careers in ICRC - which you will gain through direct coaching and other forms of career development support - generate Career Development scenarios, collaborating with HR Partners, Talent Acquisition & Sourcing, Talent Partners and Learning and Development to identify talent gaps and develop related strategies to address organizational career development needs.

Education, experience and skills required

• University degree or equivalent (within a discipline in Human Resources, Psychology, Management, Business or related discipline).
• Coaching and/or Counselling qualification and experience required.
• Experience in providing individual career development support (i.e. coaching / counselling) to staff working with the humanitarian or development sectors (RC/RC Movement, INGO, IO, UN agencies etc.), preferably at regional or global level.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in one or more of the following areas: coaching, career counselling, mentoring, people management, recruiting, talent management, learning & development or HR roles in a large, people-oriented organisation. Experience of working successfully with people from different cultures, nationalities, religions; demonstrated commitment to nurturing diversity & inclusion.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including high levels of emotional intelligence, empathy and tact, and demonstrated ability to connect with and relate to people of all backgrounds. Strong communication and active listening skills as well as insight to also understand non-verbal clues and development needs.
• Demonstrated adherence to the ethics and practice of coaching (including proven ability to design & maintain a safe & trustful coaching environment, respect for confidentiality).
• Evidenced success in designing, implementing and measuring the impact of career development tools (ideally in organizational settings) is highly desirable.
• Interest / experience in developing digital learning resources (such as mobile apps, or other self-directed resources) is an asset.
• Experience of connecting/working well with people via remote communication tools (including in the provision of individual coaching / counselling) is an asset.
• Openness and flexibility to shift easily between multiple functions; accountability and confirmed ability to deliver strong results.
• Understanding of / experience working with the ICRC, within the RC/RC Movement or similar experience in an international organization with a global presence desirable.
• Fluency in English and French with working knowledge a third language (e.g. SP, AR) an advantage.

Desired profile

• You are passionate about enabling people’s development and growth in a humanitarian organizational setting and see capacity-building and individual development as key levers to embedding sustainable talent management practices organization-wide.
• You are or have been on your own development journey and can relate your experience to others in a guiding and sage manner.
• You have solid experience in coaching and counselling others to grow and develop and enjoy being a partner on their development journey, recognizing that the individual is resourceful and is capable of progression and growth.
• You are able to balance empathy, insight and encouragement to enable clients to develop action plans focused on their strengths, purpose and desires.
• You put clients in focus and have an affinity for transcending the impact of your work throughout the organization in partnerships with others.

Additonal information

Type of role:                  Resident　

Type of contract:          Open-ended　

Working rate:                100%　

Application deadline:   Sunday, 13th August 2017