The Head of Emergency is a critical position for DRC charged with leading and representing DRC’s emergency response capability and global expertise. It is DRC’s leading expert on emergency response and champions the emergency area across the global organization.
The role leads DRC’s global emergency unit, consisting of a team of emergency and technical experts based in headquarters as well as a larger EMPACT team of globally roving emergency experts. It also technically manages and directs the regionally-based emergency coordinators.
The Head of Emergency leads on DRC’s approaches to emergency response, setting global direction for how DRC prepares for, responds to and learns from emergency response worldwide. Currently, this takes the form of an exciting organizational change project to strengthen emergency response capabilities across all of DRC.
The position also provides oversight and direction to the Hard to Reach/Access strategic initiative, a Global 2025 strategic initiative aimed at enhancing DRC’s ability to gain access to Hard-to-Reach Populations across its country operations.
The Head of Emergency is a core member of the Programme Division management team and helps set overall direction for the division. It also sits alongside Executive Directors as a core member of the newly formed DRC Emergency Steering Group, providing global, organizational oversight and support to large-scale emergencies.
Specifically, the Head of Emergency will:
Lead and manage the emergency unit and technically manage regional emergency coordinators
Lead and manage the emergency unit’s project portfolio and deployable resources
Ensure and support strong organizational mobilization around large emergencies
Lead and develop DRCs global emergency programme platform
Champion and enhance organizational capability across DRC in emergency response
External engagement and representation as needed on emergency response
About you:
To be successful in this role we expect you to be an experienced leader with an ambition nature to drive emergency response across DRC.
You need to be skilled both in building organizational capability, in leading teams and change projects, and have strong demonstrated experience in responding to concrete emergencies.
Concretely, we expect the following:
Required:
Master’s degree or equivalent in a relevant technical management area,
Considerable management experience, with at least several years leading senior/global advisors,
Extensive experience with humanitarian work and emergency response with an organization covering multiple continents,
Significant field experience, mostly from humanitarian and/or fragile contexts, and ideally from DRC operations,
Considerable experience managing rapid-onset and complex emergencies from field, country, region and/or global level,
Experience working with the UN and/or a donor is an advantage,
Demonstrated skills in coordination, representation and facilitation,
Organized, articulate and with attention to quality,
