IFRC Knowledge Officer Consultant – Zurich Floods Resilience Alliance

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.

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.

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.

IFRC has five regional offices in Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and the Americas. IFRC also has country cluster delegation and country delegations throughout the world. Together, the Geneva Headquarters and the field structure (regional, cluster and country) comprise the IFRC Secretariat.

The Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance (hereafter: The Alliance) is a multi-sectoral partnership which brings together community programmes, research, shared knowledge, and evidence-based influencing to build community flood resilience in developed and developing countries. Its vision is that floods should have no negative impact on people’s ability to thrive. To achieve this, it is working to increase funding for flood resilience; strengthen global, national, and subnational policies; and improve flood resilience practice in communities. Within the Alliance, the IFRC and National Societies are currently operating community resilience and disaster law programs in nine countries.

The overall purpose of this position is to contribute to the strengthening and improvement of the accountability and impact of Red Cross Alliance programs and operations supported by IFRC. This includes providing technical assistance in capturing and documenting key knowledge generated through the Alliance.

Given the closure of Alliance country programs in 2024, the position will work closely with the global and country teams to support knowledge management processes aimed at identifying best practices and lessons learned. More specifically, the role will collect, organise, and analyse data from six country projects and develop content for knowledge products including case studies, infographics, and video scripts, among others.

Final reports
Current Red Cross Alliance country programs will close in a staggered manner throughout 2024. Five final reports will be produced, along with a global report, reviewing the impact and achievements of the programs between 2019 and 2024. The consultant will provide technical support to five Red Cross country teams to develop these final reports.

• Deliverable: Inception report (Q1 2024)

The inception report should include a data collection plan with identified deliverables, activities and timeframe, draft data collection tools such as interview guides and evaluation questions, team members’ roles and responsibilities, and propose travel and logistical arrangements for the evaluation.

• Deliverable: Draft report (Q2 2024)

The consultant will produce a draft report which should include key findings/results, lessons learned, and recommendations for the current and future operations.

Knowledge Management
This position will provide support to the global knowledge management plan that aims to develop externally facing knowledge products promoting lessons learned and successes of Red Cross country teams to the Alliance, IFRC network, potential future donors, and other key stakeholders.

• Deliverable: technical solutions briefs (Q1 2024)

The consultant will collaborate with Alliance country teams on the development of technical solution briefs on scalable community resilience building interventions in accordance with the Alliance requirements (i.e. Interventions Questionnaire).

• Deliverable: human impact stories (Q2 2024)

The consultant will develop technical guidance and provide ongoing support for the collection of human impact stories that reflect the positive changes generated by the Alliance country teams.

• Deliverable: draft case study (Q2 2024)

The consultant will support the development of a thematic case study bringing together the diverse experiences of the Red Cross Alliance country teams, Alliance partners and other National Societies on shared topics related to flood resilience.

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.

Required

• Relevant university degree in a related discipline from an accredited academic institution.

Required

• Experience within the humanitarian sector and the area of Disaster Risk Reduction, Resilience Programming, or related fields of practice and research.
• Experience in conducting quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis.
• Demonstrable experience in translating complex information in to clear and impactful knowledge products.

Preferred

• Experience with remote methodologies for consultations is a plus.

Required

• Fluently spoken and written English.
• Familiarity with different data collection and analysis tools and software.
• Strong writing skills.
• Access to basic word processing software, i.e., Microsoft Word.

Preferred

• Good command of Spanish or Portuguese is a plus.
• Good command of other IFRC official languages (French, Arabic).

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.

Application Instructions

• Please submit your application in English only.
• One-page cover letter clearly summarizing experience as it pertains to this consultancy.
• Please include in your cover letter your availability and your current Daily Fee Rate in CHF.

IFRC values equal opportunity, diversity and inclusivity. We encourage applications from all suitably qualified candidates, irrespective of sex, gender, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, nationality, class, political opinions, ethnic or social origin, disability, religion, or belief.