Regional Operations Manager (CCHN)

Organizational Context

The Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation (CCHN) is a joint initiative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) Switzerland, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

CCHN aims to facilitate the capture, analysis, and sharing of experiences and practices around humanitarian negotiation and to provide a space for dialogue across humanitarian organisations. At the core of our activities is the CCHN community of practice, a global community of humanitarian negotiators working at the frontlines of humanitarian action.

The CCHN is administratively hosted by the IFRC and is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

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 CCHN has a team of 4-5 Operations Managers, accountable for all CCHN operations in one specific region (East/Central Africa, Asia, Middle East, Europe, Latin/Central America) and for the management of the CCHN community of practice of frontline negotiators and for contributing to thematic topics/projects to further develop the domain of humanitarian negotiations.

Job Purpose

The CCHN Operations Manager’s function is aimed at developing and mobilizing the CCHN Community of Practice; designing and delivering context specific events on Frontline Humanitarian Negotiations; supporting the capacity development and advisory support activities for various clients (Individuals, Governments, UN organizations, INGOs, Access Working groups, HCTs etc.); contributing to CCHN’s research, policy, training, and networking capabilities; in MENA and/or globally. In addition to being responsible for a regional portfolio, this particular role will also execute other projects, on-demand initiatives, ranging from operations research to global projects and act as a flexible resource to drive delegated tasks that fall outside the regional scope, ensuring seamless hand-offs and execution across the team.

The Operations Manager will design, coordinate, implement and facilitate CCHN context-specific activities to further strengthen the CCHN Community of Practice in MENA and beyond, contribute to global community of practice engagement and on request lead cross regional or projects in other regions. The incumbent will also support the capacity development and advisory support activities of the CCHN, including undertaken specific projects beyond their region; contributing to CCHN’s research, policy, training, and networking capabilities, and will work in close collaboration with other operations managers in order to support and develop research, discussions and workshops/thematic sessions on relevant negotiation challenges faced by the members of the CCHN Community and provide comprehensive reports and analytical capabilities in humanitarian negotiation.

The role holder will reach out to, and mobilize, the larger humanitarian community around the topic of humanitarian negotiation. To do so, the incumbent will maintain a connection between CCHN events, linking information and participants with the wider deliberations on frontline humanitarian negotiation in their region, and bridging negotiation knowledge with humanitarian agencies and NGOs to ensure an effective support to practitioners/negotiators and a sound response to operational negotiation challenges. Each regional operation manager co-manages an operation associate/intern.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

In line with the 5-year strategic framework of the CCHN, develop a regional annual strategy and an implementation plan:

• Ensure the CCHN’s knowledge and contextual understanding of humanitarian negotiation on contexts by:
  • Supporting the conduct of interviews of humanitarian negotiations’ practitioners as well as listening tours (operational research);
  • Carrying out desk-top research and gathering and analysing information on trends, opportunities and challenges related to humanitarian negotiation practices across the agencies and the larger humanitarian community in their region;
  • Identifying needs of humanitarian practitioners and partners related to humanitarian negotiations and areas where the CCHN can bring added value to them;
  • Drafting operational research papers and analytical reports.

• Lead and facilitate the development of CCHN activities in MENA and beyond, in coordination and collaboration with other Operations Managers, Project Managers and other capacities within the CCHN), including:
  • Capacity-development activities such as context-specific, regional and global Peer Workshops on Humanitarian Frontline Negotiations and Advanced Humanitarian Negotiation Workshops, Training of Facilitators, and others as relevant;
  • Community of practice activities aimed at ensuring a safe space for exchange and learning among humanitarian negotiation practitioners, such as Peer Circles, Regional and Thematic Working Groups, Roundtables, Thematic Sessions, and others.

• Lead operational research activities and the development of new themes and workstreams:
  • In their capacity, the Operations Manager may therefore design and coordinate the organization of these activities, as well as design and deliver curriculum sessions and facilitate during events in MENA (and beyond as needed).

• Support and coordinate with other units of the CCHN in the development of their activities, such as Advanced Negotiation Workshops, Soft Skills, Thematic Sessions, Labs Advisory Support and Research portfolio:
  • Identifying opportunities to implement projects;
  • Supporting the promotion of events and mobilization of the community;
  • If needed co-facilitating events, interviews etc.;

• Responsible for community engagement and be the CCHN’s primary contact point for activities and partners in the MENA and beyond as needed, including by:
  • Develop a community engagement strategy and implement regular activities (online and onsite) to ensure the growth and continuous exchange with members of the CCHN Community of Practice in MENA and beyond;
  • Developing strong relationships with Strategic Partners and other humanitarian actors as well as coordinating bodies such as Access Working Groups, Humanitarian Country Teams and clusters in MENA;
  • Maintaining regular engagement and interactions with community members and other partners to sustain their interest and active engagement in the CCHN and its activities;

• Execute specific assigned projects, including but not limited to research, implementation of on-demand workshops for a variety of clients, including but not limited to Governments, Strategic Partners etc.;
  • Agile Project Support: Dedicate a portion of the capacity to executing high-priority, on-demand initiatives based on current organizational needs and project stage;
  • Cross-Functional Implementation: Act as a flexible resource to drive delegated tasks that fall outside regional scope, ensuring seamless hand-offs and execution across various internal departments and global teams;

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

• • Dynamic Capacity Management: Balance core regional responsibilities with a proactive "utility player" approach, shifting focus to support emergent special projects and operational improvements as business priorities evolve.
• Ensure smooth application of the Project Management System and operational policies and frameworks in their regions.
• Responsible for the proper reporting and information and contact management in their region.

Duties applicable to all staff

1. Work actively towards the achievement of CCHN’s goals.
2. Abide by and work in accordance with the Red Cross and Red Crescent principles.
3. Perform any other work-related duties and responsibilities that may be assigned by the line manager.

Education

Required

• Advanced academic degree in international relations, political science, law or equivalent.

Experience

Required

• Minimum 5-7 years of relevant professional experience in the humanitarian sector, including sizeable experience in MENA with first-hand experience of humanitarian negotiation and a good understanding of humanitarian negotiation processes, the operational challenges, as well as the humanitarian system at large.
• Professional experience working for international organizations or international or national NGOs in the field.
• Familiarity and experience on access issues in any or all of the following contexts: Yemen, ILOT, Syria and the wider MENA region.
• Experience and familiarity with in country, regional and global humanitarian coordination mechanisms etc.
• Proven track-record in the design of projects (or activities) and their management through an efficient project management approach.
• Solid experience in designing, coordinating, and organizing training and peer-to-peer activities, including group facilitation.

Preferred

• Experience with the community of practice of frontline negotiators.
• Experience with facilitating CCHN tools and methods.

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Required

• Proven ability to think critically, succinctly, and creatively.
• Capacity to work independently under pressure with tight deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including good public presentation skills.
• Strong coordination and organizational skills.
• Collaborative attitude within own team and beyond.
• Strong writing, editing, and analytical skills and ability to translate complex questions into policy options leading to practical recommendations.
• Flexibility and adaptability.
• Available for regular field missions (up to 50% /year).

Languages

Required

• Fluent spoken and written English and Arabic.

Preferred

• Good command of another IFRC official language (Spanish or French).

Competencies, Values and Comments

Values: Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; Accountability.

Core competencies: Communication; Collaboration and teamwork; Judgement and decision making; customer relations; Creativity and innovation; Building trust.

Managerial competencies: Managing Performance, Managing Staff Development.

Functional competencies: Strategic Orientation, Building Alliances, Leadership, Empowering Others.

Application Instruction

Please submit your application in English only.