Job Description
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.
As part of the Strategic Partnerships and Resource Mobilization (SPRM) Africa Regional Team, this role provides agile, surge-based leadership for partnerships and resource mobilization across emergency operations in Africa.
The position is designed to deploy rapidly to priority humanitarian contexts across the continent, providing hands-on leadership to support the launch, scale-up, and sustain funding coverage of IFRC Emergency Appeals and DREF operations. The role is responsible for implementing and driving resource mobilization strategies in dynamic emergency environments, ensuring timely and effective engagement with donors and partners to secure predictable funding flows.
It also plays a critical coordination function, working across Africa regional structures, country-level operations, National Societies, and global IFRC stakeholders in Geneva and beyond, to ensure aligned, coherent, and high-impact resource mobilization efforts throughout the emergency cycle.
Lead Partnerships and Resource Mobilization (Roving) – Emergency Appeals, Africa
Pre-Deployment / Preparedness:
- Maintain and continuously expand a strong network of strategic partners and donors positioned to support emergency operations across Africa, ensuring readiness for rapid activation during crises.
- Contribute to Africa regional preparedness by strengthening tools, systems, and processes for emergency fundraising and resource mobilization, ensuring they are fit for surge deployment.
- Support Country Clusters and National Societies in pre-positioning resource mobilization strategies, donor engagement plans, and emergency funding frameworks, enabling rapid and coordinated response activation.
- Support National Societies in strengthening strategic positioning with their respective governments as auxiliary humanitarian actors, ensuring readiness for coordinated emergency financing engagements.
- Facilitate and support National Society–Government joint positioning and preparedness frameworks to access emergency and resilience funding from Development Banks (including African and international Development Finance Institutions), ensuring alignment with IFRC Emergency Appeals, national disaster response systems, and donor requirements.
- Strengthen anticipatory engagement with key donors, governments, and partners to ensure early alignment on emergency funding readiness, including multilateral and Development Bank financing windows for crisis response and preparedness.
- Ensure readiness for rapid deployment across Africa through strong understanding of regional humanitarian priorities, risk profiles, and evolving operational contexts, including financing landscapes linked to emergency and resilience funding mechanisms.
During Deployment (Emergency Response Phase):
- Deploy rapidly to priority emergency operations across Africa to lead or reinforce resource mobilization efforts on the ground, ensuring immediate activation and scale-up of blended financing strategies involving governments, Development Finance Institutions (including Development Banks), and private sector partners.
- Ensure partners and donors receive timely, accurate, and high-quality information on Emergency Appeals, DREF allocations, funding gaps, and evolving operational priorities to support informed decision-making across all financing streams.
- Participate actively in coordination mechanisms, ensuring strong collaboration with Africa Regional Office teams, Country Cluster Offices, National Societies, and global IFRC departments, including Finance, PMER & Quality Assurance, Health, Disaster, Climate & Crisis, Global Humanitarian Services, and Supply Chain.
- Ensure alignment between operational delivery, financial planning, and resource mobilization strategies, supporting coherent and predictable blended emergency funding flows across public, development, and private sector sources.
- Convene and chair regular donor briefings, partner calls, and coordination teleconferences, ensuring continuous engagement with institutional donors, Development Finance Institutions, private sector partners, and governments on funding needs and operational updates.
- Engage directly with bilateral and multilateral donors, Development Finance Institutions (including Development Banks), private sector partners, foundations, governments, and National Societies in-country to mobilize emergency resources.
- Support and maintain structured engagement with government counterparts and National Societies, reinforcing their auxiliary role and ensuring coordinated advocacy for access to blended emergency financing, including Development Bank resources and private sector contributions.
- Facilitate and support continued National Society–Government joint engagement with in-country partners, including Development Banks and other Development Finance Institutions, to access and unlock emergency and resilience financing in alignment with IFRC Emergency Appeals, national response plans, and blended financing frameworks.
- Maintain and strengthen strategic engagement with private sector actors during emergency response, including corporate partners, national industries, and regional business networks, to diversify and scale emergency funding as part of blended financing approaches.
Post-Deployment / Ongoing Support:
- Provide continued remote and/or periodic in-country support to ensure sustained funding coverage and strong partner engagement across Africa operations.
- Maintain active liaison with field operations to ensure continuous, high-quality resource mobilization support throughout the emergency lifecycle.
- In collaboration with Health, Disaster, Climate & Crisis teams and Senior Management Teams (SMT), proactively drive strategies to increase coverage of IFRC emergency appeals across Africa.
Develop and implement a strategy to engage partners in support of IFRC’s disaster/emergency response work, preparedness and DREF
- Develop and implement evidence-based resource mobilization strategies for Emergency Appeals and DREF operations across Africa, aligned with operational priorities and donor landscape realities.
- Identify, cultivate, and manage strategic partnerships with governments, multilateral institutions (including African regional bodies), private sector entities, foundations, and humanitarian actors.
- Represent IFRC in external engagements, strengthening visibility and positioning of emergency response and preparedness work across Africa.
Standards, Compliance & Risk Management with RM in Emergencies procedures and guidelines:
- Lead on IFRC Regional tracking, documentation, communication and procedural implementation in relation to disaster and crisis response.
- Lead on developing and implementing specific procedures and guidance for the role of SPRM staff in emergency fundraising.
- Record and track all relevant donor engagement information, contacts, pledges and lead on developing analytical management reports and engagement strategies as required.
Effective Team Management and Development
- Provide coaching, mentoring, and technical guidance to strengthen team performance and field readiness.
- Ensure team members are equipped with appropriate tools, skills, and field exposure for effective emergency response support.
- Foster a culture of high performance, accountability, innovation, and collaboration across Africa and global interfaces.
Resource Mobilization Capacity Building (National Societies – Africa Focus)
- Work closely with the Domestic Resource Mobilization Development Coordinator to support the implementation and strengthening of National Society emergency appeals across Africa, ensuring alignment with IFRC regional and global resource mobilization strategies.
- Strengthen systematic tracking and analysis of National Society bilateral and domestic resource mobilization efforts, ensuring data-driven engagement, accountability, and learning across Africa operations.
Duties applicable to all staff
- Actively work towards the achievement of IFRC’s goals.
- Abide by and work in accordance with the Red Cross and Red Crescent principles.
- Perform any other work-related duties and responsibilities that may be assigned by the line manager.
- University degree in relevant discipline (ex. g. International Relations, Humanitarian Affairs, Business Administration, Economics, Finance, Marketing). Required.
- Relevant professional training courses (Red Cross/Red Crescent related, humanitarian and development sector, management). Preferred.
- 5-7 year’s professional experience in marketing, corporate engagement, partnership development, related to the RM function. Required.
- Experience/knowledge in emergency appeal mechanisms and humanitarian donor policies. Required.
- Experience/knowledge in building and maintaining strategic relationships with partners and development of strategic partnership concepts. Required.
- Experience in research and market assessment. Required.
- Relevant experience in the humanitarian sector. Preferred.
- Relevant work experience with the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and knowledge of IFRC systems and processes in pledge management, planning, project proposals development, reporting systems and financial management. Preferred.
- Experience in organizing partnership calls, events, conferences or meetings. Required.
- Experience in drafting agreements, pledge management and income processing. Required.
- Experience of working in Africa. Preferred.
- Experience of developing proposals and ensuring strong communication from start to end of relationship. Required.
- Demonstrated ability to build partnerships and to successfully navigate donor, multilateral and partner decision making processes and funding mechanisms. Required.
- Knowledge of EU and other key donors requirements for proposal development. Preferred.
- Knowledge of and skills in tracking open calls for proposals from key donor institutions. Required.
- Advanced knowledge of RM landscapes, priorities, policies and instruments supporting humanitarian action. Required.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Ability to work and communicate efficiently in a multicultural, multilingual and cross-functional environment. Required.
- Excellent networking, representational and relationship building skills. Ability to be proactive and persuasive.
- Strong writing and editing skills, including drafting proposals. Required.
- Demonstrated core proficiency in (a) digital communication and collaboration, (b) basic digital content creation, (c) digital safety and security, (d) data literacy, and (e) problem solving with technology (including responsible use of AI assistants. Required.
- Result-oriented and demand-driven mindset, strategic thinker, entrepreneurial and hands on. Required.
- Understanding of and commitment to IFRC’s mission and values. Required.
- Fluent spoken and written English. Required.
- Good command of another IFRC official language (French, Spanish or Arabic). Required.
- 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.
- Functional competencies: Strategic orientation; Building alliances; Leadership; Empowering others.
- Managerial competencies: Managing staff performance; Managing staff development.