Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Save the Children Juba, South Sudan

JOB TITLE Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager
REPORTING TO Emergency Coordinator	GRADE 4.1
REPORTING TO POSITION (MANAGEMENT) Juba Based: Emergency Officer Field Based: Technical / Matrix management to Emergency Preparedness and Response Focal Points in each Field Office.	LOCATION Juba, with frequent field travel.

CHILD SAFEGUARDING
Level 3. The responsibilities of this post may require the post holder to have regular contact with children and young people. In the overseas context all posts are considered to be level 3.

As part of these responsibilities the post holder will support the establishment of child safeguarding systems, promote a culture of keeping children safe, and ensure that potential harm to children (by our own staff and/or as a result of how we do our work) is identified and addressed on an ongoing basis. The post holder should report and respond to interventions as determined by position related responsibilities identified in the Child Safeguarding Policy.


INTRODUCTION
The Republic of South Sudan (RoSS), is the world’s newest state, having achieved statehood on the 9th July 2011, following more than 40 years of civil war. As the new nation forms, historic ethnic and political rivalries are re-emerging, with armed insurgencies, militia activities, and violent intercommunal clashes becoming increasingly frequent. Meanwhile, tension and conflict with Sudan is on the rise, sparked by the failure to agree all outstanding elements of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement prior to Independence, such as the border demarcation, citizenship, oil control and transit fees. As a result, there have been influxes of hundreds of thousands of returnees and refugees, placing enormous strain on an already fragile infrastructure. The oil shutdown at the beginning of 2012 continues to have a considerable economic impact, with the collapse of the GDP, depreciation of the SSP, rise in inflation, and depletion of reserves. The social impact of the shutdown is also reversing previous development gains, and increasing poverty and child mortality, and decreasing school attendance rates. The most notable impact however, is the worsening food insecurity, compounded by rising inflation and what many feel is a collapsing economy. The country is therefore currently in the midst of multiple ongoing emergencies, which are likely to deteriorate further throughout 2012.

Save the Children is a child rights organisation working in 9 of the 10 states of South Sudan, in the themes of Education, Child Protection, Nutrition, FSL, WASH, Health and Child Rights Governance. Save the Children International is a 'dual mandate' organisation and as such equal priority will be given to both humanitarian and development work. This is the only way we are able to ensure that some of the fundamental rights that we believe children have, such as survival, safety and constant access to protection and education, can be guaranteed.

The majority of SCISS emergency interventions are mainstreamed through the country programme’s ongoing activities in each of the states in which it operates. There are therefore regular programme development changes that take place to respond to the emerging humanitarian needs, in various parts of the country throughout the year. In response to the refugee influx in late 2011, Save the Children in South Sudan (SCiSS) mounted a specific Emergency Response Program in Upper Nile and Unity States, with a focus on Education and Child Protection in Emergencies, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion (WASH), which are currently managed directly by the Juba based Emergency Team. There is also considerable work ongoing in emergency preparedness and response capacity building, owing to the current humanitarian context and the potential additional displacements of people due to increasing food insecurity as well as border and internal conflict.

It should be noted that the country context is very challenging and precarious and that field conditions are extremely basic. It should also be kept in mind that the existing country programme is very large, complex, under-resourced and blighted with operational and systemic challenges, especially as we are currently attempting to scale up activities in the rainy season and towards SCI transition.


ROLE
The Emergency Preparedness and Response (EP&R) Manager’s main responsibility is to build the in-country capacity for EP&R activities.
He/she would maintain strong coordination at Juba level with EPP and NFI/ES clusters and would act as the budget holder for all grants related to EP&R activities.
The EP&R Manager will provide technical support to an in-country team of EP&R focal points and officers based in all SCiSS field locations.
The post holder will also conduct emergency assessments when needed and would assist on emergency response at field level where necessary in the case of new emergency response interventions.


MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES
• Build the SC in country capacity in EP&R activities
• Maintain coordination with EPP cluster and attend EPP cluster coordination meetings in OCHA office in Juba
• Maintain coordination with NFI-ES cluster and attend NFI-ES cluster coordination meetings in IOM in Juba
• Act as budget holder of CHF-NFI program in Jonglei, Lakes and Unity and any other grant related to EP&R
• Indentify EP&R focal points in all field bases where SC operates at country level
• Supervise EP&R Officers and focal points in all country
• Provide training to EP&R team and SC staff on Emergency Preparedness and Response Issue
• In the event of new emergency response, lead the response team in the implementation of the response in country level
• Lead emergency assessments in country when required
• Compile feedback from all EP&R Officers and focal points about emergency situation in South Sudan and provide
feedback to emergency coordinator
• Work closely with Emergency Coordinator in designing Responses to eventual Emergencies based on the needs and SC capacity
• Draft concept notes and proposals in the event of new emergency responses
• Coordinate closely with Upper Nile & Unity Emergency Team Leaders for all activities related to refugee response
• Develop and disseminate EP&R tools and formats to be used by all EP&R team in country


CORE BEHAVIOURS
Leadership: Action; Thinking; Self; Inspiring; Developing Others
• Demonstrates managerial courage by confronting difficult situations and seeking resolution, and stating willingness to champion ideas
• Tailors communication style to certain audiences
• Effectively influences others by understanding their interests and showing how they will be met by own preferred resolution
Understanding humanitarian contexts and application of humanitarian principles:
• Integrates beneficiary accountability principles into the approach
• Ensures that programme goals and activities uphold the principles of the key national and international humanitarian frameworks, codes and commitments
Achieving results effectively
• Collects, analyses and disseminates information to and from communities and other stakeholders
• Addresses difficult situations and makes tough decisions confidently and calmly
• Considers the wider impact of decisions to be made in the short and long term
• Coordinates with stakeholders to avoid duplication & maximise resources
• Documents lessons learned and applies them to future projects

Maintaining and developing collaborative relationships
• Establishes and maintains clear communications and dialogue with disaster and conflict affected people and other stakeholders
Operating safely & Security
• Takes measures to do no harm and to minimise risks for partners and communities
• Reduces vulnerability by complying with safety and security protocols set by the organisation

Managing yourself in a pressured and changing environment
• Remains effective and retains perspective in the face of difficult or demanding situations
• Plans, prioritises and performs tasks well under pressure


QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
Knowledge/Experience:
• At least 2 years field experience in a humanitarian emergency context, including remote insecure environments
• Substantial experience in management of emergency preparedness and response.
• Experience in managing and monitoring distributions to beneficiaries and warehouse pre-positioning and storage
• Ability to design and deliver training related to emergency preparedness and response.
• Analytical ability to conduct assessments and evaluations, and report accordingly with recommendations
• Strong teamworking and leadership capacity including remote management experience
• Substantial people and programme management experience with good interpersonal skills and ability to communicate at all levels.
• Experience in grant management, including budget holding and donor reporting.
• Strong relationship building, influencing, negotiating & interpersonal skills, with the ability to liaise with key stakeholders on child rights issues.
• Substantial understanding or proven experience of security management issues.
• Experience of working with partners and a participatory approach
• Fluency an spoken and written English and computer literacy
• Commitment and understanding of Save the Children’s aims, values and principles.

Desirable
• Experience or knowledge of working in South Sudan
• Experience of working with Save the Children
• Experience of Education and Child Protection in Emergencies programming.

Application Process
To apply for the position, visit our website http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/jobs and apply for position 7419 by 18th August 2012.