Head of Humanitarian Trends and Analysis Unit

The Head of Humanitarian Trends and Analysis Unit leads a global team to deliver open-source analysis of the external environment, supporting strategic and operational decision-making at the ICRC. The role involves managing the unit's strategic priorities, budget, and delivering actionable insights to senior leadership to inform institutional understanding and response to humanitarian trends.

Responsibilities

• Define the Unit's strategic orientations, objectives and action priorities during the annual planning exercise, and drive their implementation.
• Prepare, manage and implement the Unit's budget.
• Lead, motivate and manage a diverse global team to deliver high-quality analyses that inform decision-making.
• Present actionable insights to senior leadership and participate in strategic platforms to provide a nuanced understanding of the external environment.
• Promote critical thinking by constructively challenging prevailing assumptions and integrating diverse perspectives.
• Proactively flag emerging trends and their potential implications for ICRC operations and reputation.
• Lead and coordinate with the Director General team, Operations and Policy on multi-perspective analyses that capture diverse viewpoints, particularly from the Global South.
• Oversee delivery of flagship analytical products (On the Radar, Global Trends Report, inputs to the weekly brief, the quarterly report).
• Lead and co-design initiatives that deepen genuine engagement with diverse actors and perspectives, including collaborative research and exchanges with partners from diverse geographies.
• Support the co-creation of research initiatives, academic partnerships, visiting scholar programs and other initiatives.
• Bridge crisis, regional and thematic expertise within the team, and link external trends to internal challenges and opportunities.
• Ensure a holistic, integrated approach to analysis that strengthens organizational foresight and decision-making by leveraging expertise across the team and the organization.
• Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders in Operations, the Director General's office, Policy and External Mobilization, delivering tailored, high-quality analytical support.
• Coordinate the provision of agile, experienced and sustainable analytical support to crisis and emergency mechanisms, ensuring timely, effective decision-making.
• Oversee structured risk and reputational assessments for staff, high-level stakeholders and high-risk suppliers, in collaboration with Logistics, Risk and Assurance, Finance and other teams.
• Oversee the coordination and training of environment-scanning practitioners in delegations, in collaboration with Communication and Operations.
• Coordinate with other heads of information and data teams to promote a coherent, complementary and collaborative analytical approach across the ICRC.
• Ensure continuous professional development, providing training opportunities particularly in AI and other emerging technologies.
• Co-lead the open-source information (OSI) Community of Practice (CoP) to foster knowledge-sharing and innovation.
• Establish and maintain a network of analytical specialists in think tanks, peer humanitarian organizations and the Movement.
• Facilitate the exchange of methodologies and explore potential partnerships to enhance analytical capabilities.
• Actively participate in the IFRC Technical Working Group and engage with analytical teams from the IFRC and National Societies.
• Cultivate partnerships with external information and data service providers to secure access to tools and resources that enhance the team's capabilities.

Requirements

• University degree in global affairs, international relations, political science, open-source intelligence, conflict/security studies or a related analytical field.
• Substantial experience conducting and/or managing research projects in the humanitarian sector, academia, think tanks, government, or the private sector.
• Strong command of methodologies and techniques related to open-source intelligence, strategic analysis, foresight and research.
• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience leading and managing a global team.
• Strong analytical capacity, adept at synthesising information.
• Proven leadership skills and confirmed management capacity.
• Excellent cross-functional coordination skills.
• Ability to understand, translate and connect the dots between operational challenges facing the ICRC.
• Keen interest in current affairs.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and at least one of the following languages: Arabic, Russian, Chinese, French, Spanish or Portuguese.
• Creative and solution-oriented.

Skills

• Open-Source Intelligence Research
• Strategic Analysis
• Foresight Methodologies
• Research Project Management
• Humanitarian Sector Expertise
• Global Team Leadership
• Analytical synthesis
• Cross-Functional Coordination
• Operational Analysis
• Written Communication
• Oral Communication
• Budget Management
• Strategic Planning
• Conflict Studies
• Security Studies

Languages

English, Arabic, Russian, Chinese, French, Spanish, Portuguese