Interim Senior Health Coordinator (Short-Term)

Background/IRC Summary: Working in coordination with the humanitarian community, the IRC currently addresses the needs of war-affected Syrians from several operational bases in the region. Our activities in the region focus primarily on the supply of vital medications and medical equipment, non-food items, water, sanitation and hygiene and child protection and form part of an over-arching humanitarian response in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and the region that seeks to assist refugees, IDPs and war-affected Syrians survive conflict and displacement.

The IRC/Turkey team is currently providing health services to displaced Syrians across northern Syria in Idleb, Aleppo, Homs and Lattakia governorates. IRC implements a variety of health activities, both directly and through Syrian partners, including primary health care, reproductive health care, trauma centers, polyclinics, community health, etc. The current health portfolio is approximately $10.5 million.

Position Overview: The current Senior Health Coordinator is departing at the end of July and we are looking for a Senior Health Coordinator to fill the gap until a new Coordinator can be recruited. The Interim Senior Health Coordinator is responsible for overseeing the implementation of all of the IRC’s health programming in northern Syria. S/he will provide technical and managerial leadership to the health program and ensure all activities are of high quality, respond to assessed needs, and ensure program delivery is on time and on budget. The majority of the IRC’s health funding is implemented through Syrian partners, thus candidates should have a background in partnership and sub-grant management.

Main Responsibilities:

• Project Management and Oversight
  • Ensure smooth management of project work plans and budgets, timely recruitment, and accurate reporting in accordance with IRC and donor regulations;
  • Maintain and update project procurement and spending plans, particularly OFDA, DFID and SV;
  • Provide training to program teams on IRC activities and health best practices;
  • Ensure that all internal and external reporting requirements are met, that reports are of a high quality and are submitted on time.
• Technical Quality
  • Ensure all IRC Health projects are implemented according to objectives, goals and indicators established by SPHERE and the IRC, in line with donor requirements and based on beneficiary needs;
  • Ensure procurement of medical supplies and materials, including drugs, is fully compliant with Donor requirements;
  • Analyze health data collected from the field, to obtain evidence-based trends in diseases and other healthcare-related issues identified;
  • Ensure all implementation plans employ a programmatic approach that integrates the needs of other sectors of work;
  • Monitor and evaluate appropriate implementation of technical healthcare projects against program objectives and IRC’s Program Framework.
• Partnership Management
  • Manage the Syrian health partner relationships and oversee health partner program implementation, proposal design and technical quality standards;
  • Review partner budgets, reports and other implementation/proposal inputs;
  • Provide technical health trainings to partners as appropriate.
• Coordination
  • Work closely with the Health Cluster, and other relevant coordination structures, to ensure harmonized implementation approaches;
  • Liaise with other internal sector coordinators to ensure program integration.

Job Requirements:

• Public health professional preferably with a clinical background being a Doctor, Nurse or allied health professional but not necessary;
• Minimum of 6 years professional experience in management of health emergencies, INGO experience required;
• Strong program/technical and budget management acumen as well as planning, reporting, monitoring and evaluation skills;
• Strong written and oral communication skills, effective in representation and liaison with external parties;
• Proven technical writing skills;
• Proposal writing acumen and experience;
• Minimum budget management experience of $1,000,000 USD+
• Must be capable of applying his/her skills and knowledge in a range of capacities, including direct implementation, advisory functions, training and the transfer of technical knowledge and management skills to others;
• Interpersonal qualities: Works well in and promotes teamwork, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment, flexible and able to handle pressure with professional grace;
• Fluent in spoken and written English;
• Functional Arabic strongly preferred.

Working Environment: The position will be based either in Antakya or Gaziantep, Turkey with frequent travel between each city. The IRC’s security phase for Antakya is currently yellow. The Interim Senior Health Coordinator will be provided individual housing.

For External Candidates or those concluding an IRC assignment and seeking a short-term role:

Apply here for the Interim Senior Health Coordinator