Emergency Specialist

The Emergency Specialist will work under the supervision of the Assistant Representative in Barbados to lead emergency preparedness and response efforts across the Caribbean Multi-Country Office. The role involves coordination across programme and operations to support a coherent and shock-responsive approach across sectors, ensuring effective emergency interventions for children and affected communities.

Responsibilities

• Establish and implement the multi-country office emergency preparedness and response.
• Develop, plan, implement, monitor and evaluate emergency interventions to ensure the survival and well-being of children and mothers, and the affected communities in an emergency situation.
• Work in close partnership with the Area Representative, Deputy Representative Programme Coordinator, Chief of Operations and People & Culture Specialist on emergency leadership, programme continuity, workforce readiness and institutional resilience, including readiness for WASH-related emergency needs.
• Ensure effective coordination across programme and operations and coordinate functional linkages with emergency focal points across locations.
• Embed emergency preparedness and response within the MCO's core coordination mechanisms and strategic workstreams to support a coherent and shock-responsive approach across sectors.

Requirements

• Advanced University degree in one of the following fields: social sciences, public administration, international law, public health, nutrition, international relations, business administration or other related disciplines.
• Preferably a combination of management, administration, and relevant technical fields.
• A minimum Five years of progressively responsible professional work experience at the national and international levels in programme/project development, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and administration.
• Humanitarian coordination & interagency systems expertise is highly desirable for this position.
• Field work experience.
• Ability to influence and build partnerships, in close coordination with diverse stakeholders across countries.
• Strong coordination skills are required for this role.
• Ability to coordinate effectively across dispersed locations while maintaining strong relationships with in-country focal points.
• Knowledge of UNICEF policies and strategy to address national and international emergency issues, particularly relating to conflicts, natural disasters, and recovery.
• Knowledge of global humanitarian issues, specifically relating to children and women, and the current UNCEF position and approaches.
• Knowledge of UN humanitarian reform principles, international humanitarian laws.
• Knowledge of the principle of gender parity and equality.
• The UNICEF mission statement; UNICEF Board policy papers and decisions.
• The Core Commitments for Children in Emergencies.
• The Convention on the Rights of the Child; Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women.
• EMOPS Technical Notes, EMOPS Emergency Field Book.
• UNICEF Program Manuals, policy guidelines, ExDirs, PROs; Country Programme documentation.
• UNICEF personnel, financial, supply and administrative rules, regulations and manuals.
• National development plans and policies; Guidelines and manuals from NGO/donor partners.
• Annual work plan.
• UNDAF; The UN Humanitarian Reform; IASC documents, guidelines and materials on UN Humanitarian Reform and the cluster approach.
• Information & Communications Technology literacy, including skills and knowledge of office system applications, LAN, internet navigation, telecommunications, and data analysis.
• Gender equality and diversity awareness
• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.
• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.
• Experience supporting or deploying to emergency/humanitarian responses, including rapid onset emergencies.
• Experience working across multiple countries, decentralized teams, or regional/multi-country programmes.
• Previous experience with UNICEF, another UN agency or an international humanitarian organization.
• Specialized training/experience in emergency response management highly desirable.
• Direct experience coordinating or supporting emergency preparedness and response operations is highly desirable.
• Candidates applying for National Officer positions must hold the nationality of the duty station country where the position is located, except for UNICEF internal candidates, holding a fixed-term, continuing, or permanent appointment and are legally authorized to work in that country, independently of UNICEF appointment, and as per the UNICEF Staff Selection Procedure.
• UNICEF internal candidates must hold and upload a valid CARICOM Skills Certificate when applying to positions located in a CARICOM Member State outside of their country of nationality and are accountable for taking the respective steps for the verification of the certificate in the Duty Station, immediately upon arrival to the new Duty Station if selected for the position, in accordance with applicable immigration and employment requirements of the respective Country.

Skills

• Program Development
• Project Planning
• Project Implementation
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Humanitarian Coordination
• Interagency Systems
• Field Work Experience
• Stakeholder Partnership Building
• Coordination Skills
• Emergency Preparedness
• Emergency Response
• UNICEF Policies Knowledge
• Knowledge of International Humanitarian Law
• Gender Equality Awareness
• Information and Communication Technology Literacy
• Data Analysis
• Office System Applications
• Telecommunications
• Multi-country Programme Management
• Humanitarian reform

Languages

English