Organizational Context
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian network, with 191 member National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. IFRC uses the Triple R – response, resilience and respect – to deliver on Strategy 2030. IFRC responds to disasters and crises, ensuring timely, coordinated and locally led humanitarian action. IFRC supports its members in building community resilience in the areas of climate and environment, health and wellbeing, and migration and displacement. IFRC promotes respect for our fundamental principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality, including in our work on values, power and inclusion. The IFRC focuses throughout on our core mandate – our raison d’être – of strategic and operational coordination, humanitarian diplomacy, National Society development, and accountability.
IFRC is led by its Secretary General and has its Headquarters in Geneva and five regional offices in Africa (Nairobi); the Americas (Panama); Asia Pacific (Kuala Lumpur); Europe (Budapest); and MENA (Beirut) as well as representation offices, service centres and delegations across the globe.
The IFRC has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment and other forms of harassment, abuse of authority, discrimination, and lack of integrity (including but not limited to financial misconduct). IFRC also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles.
The Ebola outbreak, declared mid‑May 2026, is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, with hundreds of suspected cases and hundreds of deaths reported across Ituri, South Kivu and North Kivu provinces. It began with clusters of unexplained deaths in early May and is spreading in a context of weak health systems, population movement, insecurity, and community mistrust, which together increase the risk of sustained transmission and cross‑border spread to neighbouring countries such as Uganda and South Sudan. The absence of an approved vaccine or specific treatment for this strain makes the outbreak particularly complex and heightens the urgency of rapid containment.
The IFRC is scaling up a national society‑led response centred on community engagement, surveillance, and infection control, supported by an emergency appeal. Red Cross volunteers are mobilized in affected areas to conduct door‑to‑door awareness, counter misinformation, encourage early care‑seeking, and support safe and dignified burials, key to breaking transmission. At the same time, the IFRC is coordinating closely with governments and partners, strengthening cross-border preparedness, mobilising resources and surge capacity, and supporting logistics, infection prevention control, and community-based surveillance to contain the outbreak and reduce regional spread.
Job Purpose
The Officer, Infection Control and Prevention, will work as part of a team composed of the Red Cross and Red Crescent health team and its support staff. He or she will ensure compliance with infection prevention and control protocols, contribute to a high level of biosecurity within the BVD operation to limit the risk of BVD transmission, and ensure access to healthcare within the operation.
Job Duties and Responsibilities
- Lead the planning, implementation, monitoring, and continuous improvement of IPC measures across all RCRDC/IFRC high-risk operational activities, including Safe and Dignified Burials (SDB), ambulance services, patient transport, healthcare facilities, and cleaning and disinfection operations.
- Develop, adapt, update, and disseminate RCRDC/IFRC IPC policies, standard operating procedures (SOPs), protocols, checklists, and technical guidance in alignment with Ministry of Health and WHO standards.
- Ensure the consistent implementation of standard and transmission-based IPC precautions across all RCRDC/IFRC operational pillars by working closely with technical leads, supervisors, and operational managers.
- Conduct IPC risk assessments of RCRDC/IFRC operational sites, including healthcare facilities, ambulances, SDB bases, warehouses, offices, and other field locations, identifying gaps and recommending corrective actions.
- Develop and implement multimodal IPC improvement strategies for RCRDC/IFRC operations, including system strengthening, infrastructure improvements, training, supportive supervision, performance monitoring, feedback mechanisms, and quality improvement initiatives.
- Establish and maintain regular IPC monitoring, supervision, and audit systems across RCRDC/IFRC activities, analyze findings, prepare technical reports, identify priorities, and ensure implementation of corrective actions.
- Develop and oversee RCRDC/IFRC staff and volunteer occupational health and infection prevention measures, including routine health screening, symptom monitoring, referral pathways, exposure management, return-to-work procedures, staff wellbeing, and occupational health protocols.
- Establish systems within RCRDC/IFRC to identify, report, isolate, and refer suspected cases among staff and volunteers in collaboration with surveillance, health, and occupational health focal points.
- Plan, organize, and deliver IPC training, mentoring, coaching, and supportive supervision for RCRDC/IFRC staff, volunteers, healthcare workers, supervisors, and managers, while identifying capacity gaps and implementing targeted capacity-building plans.
- Organize regular IPC briefings, refresher sessions, and pre-deployment orientations for RCRDC/IFRC operational teams, particularly those involved in Safe and Dignified Burials, ambulance services, healthcare delivery, and decontamination activities.
- Monitor the availability, quality, and appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), disinfectants, IPC supplies, and other infection prevention materials used by RCRDC/IFRC teams, and provide recommendations for procurement and stock management.
Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)
- Collaborate with RCRDC/IFRC Health, WASH, SDB, Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA), Surveillance, Case Management, Logistics, PMER, and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) teams to ensure IPC measures are integrated across all operational activities.
- Represent RCRDC/IFRC in IPC coordination meetings, technical working groups, and partner coordination mechanisms, ensuring harmonization with Ministry of Health, WHO, and other humanitarian partners.
- Monitor epidemiological trends and operational risks to identify emerging IPC priorities and support RCRDC/IFRC preparedness planning for Ebola and other infectious disease outbreaks.
- Support the Health Coordinator in developing and implementing RCRDC/IFRC preparedness and response plans, including contingency planning, occupational health procedures, staff medical evacuation plans, and emergency health protocols.
- Support the development and strengthening of RCRDC/IFRC national IPC capacity through mentoring, training, documentation of lessons learned, and establishment of qualified national IPC resource pools.
- Document and disseminate best practices, lessons learned, technical guidance, operational innovations, and case studies generated through RCRDC/IFRC preparedness and response activities to strengthen institutional learning.
- Contribute to RCRDC/IFRC operational reporting, donor reporting, technical documentation, after-action reviews, and evaluations related to IPC activities.
Education
- Degree or training in tropical medicine, infectious disease control, or humanitarian aid
- Medical degree or other health-related degree
- Postgraduate training in public health is preferred
Experience
- Minimum 3 years of experience in healthcare
- Previous work in infection prevention and control
- Practical experience responding to an outbreak is highly preferred
- Experience working in resource limited hospital settings
Knowledge, Skills and Languages
- Ability and willingness to follow strict infection prevention and control protocols
- Good knowledge of barrier nursing
- Expert knowledge of IPC application to ensure quality and safety for patient care delivery in a variety of development and emergency settings
- Knowledge of IPC measures and implementation of these measures to enhance health worker safety in a variety of development and emergency settings
- Knowledge of adult learning principles in the development of training material
- Knowledge of the dissemination and implementation strategies for IPC materials
- Flexible in responding to changing needs and fluctuating workloads and works well under pressure
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Ability to work well as part of a multi-disciplinary team
- Good communication, cultural sensitivity and presentation skills
- Skills in training and developing staff
- Works well as part of a multidisciplinary team
- Demonstrated core proficiency in (a) digital communication & collaboration, (b) basic digital content creation, (c) digital safety & security, (d) data literacy, and (e) problem solving with technology (including responsible use of AI assistants.
- Understanding of and commitment to IFRC’s mission and values.
- Fluently spoken and written English and French
- Good command of another IFRC official language (Spanish or Arabic)
Competencies, Values and Comments
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
Comments: We are recruiting for two local staff positions to be based in Beni and in Bunia. Kindly include your preferred locality in your application.
