Emergency and Anticipatory Action Lead

Location: Kathmandu with regular visits to areas of presence

Duration: 12-months with possibility of extension subject to funding and performance

Reports to: Head of Programmes

Introduction

People in Need (PIN) is a non-governmental, non-profit, international organization founded in the Czech Republic in 1992. PIN arrived in Nepal as part of a humanitarian response to the April 25, 2015 earthquake. Since its inception in Nepal, PIN has had a strong role advocating and addressing the needs of vulnerable populations affected by disasters including communities who live in geographically remote areas of the country, historically marginalized ethnic groups, and those disadvantaged because of their age and/or gender identity. PIN has also supported Nepal's post-earthquake reconstruction efforts ensuring that the most vulnerable people are not left behind with resilience (focused on shelter and resettlement) and education programming. PIN-Nepal is strongly committed for safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults, including persons with disabilities, in line with its safeguarding framework and child protection policy.

Scope of Work

Our Emergency and Anticipatory Action Lead will be responsible for coordinating the development, implementation and evaluation of emergency preparedness/response, cash transfer programming and anticipatory action initiatives across PIN-Nepal’s operational and programming portfolio. (S)he will be responsible for managing our emergency response team and associated programming ensuring effective and quality control whilst leading & managing key initiatives and ensuring quality programmatic outputs and outcomes.

Key Summary of Functions

• Develop strategy, technical guidance/tools and SOPs for emergency preparedness & response in addition to cash transfer programming (incl. market strategies) approaches/interventions;

• Coordinate emergency responses and have full oversight/management of emergency response activities covering different areas and interventions incl. prioritization and validation of process, developing detailed workplans, and comprehensive budgets;

• Maintain on-going surveillance of the developing humanitarian emergency situation and adjust activities/programmatic adaptations accordingly;

• Provide context analysis and development scenarios for prospective disasters, hazards and risks in relation to emergency response incl. early actions and potential displacements;

• Ensure emergency assessments are executed and from them integrated emergency response plans developed in addition to implementation and exit strategies;

• Contribute to the development of emergency preparedness plans, minimum preparedness actions, contingency planning and macro log-frames;

• Participate in the development of donor proposals, budgets, reporting and quality compliance related to both emergency response and cash transfer programming; Ensure key learning is extracted from emergency response implementation, and incorporate them in emergency preparedness/response and broader staff development processes;

• Participate in the capacity building and systematic training of programmes (incl. technical) staff developing relevant learning materials;Represent PIN-Nepal in relevant fora (incl. Clusters/(T)WGs/TFs) relevant to emergency preparedness/response, cash transfer programming and anticipatory action, acting as focal-point where appropriate;Lead and coordinate with the MEAL department to ensure correct undertaking of Needs Assessments, Rapid Market Assessments, and Post Distribution Monitoring for cash and NFI emergency response;Ensure adherence and respect of humanitarian principles, protection mainstreaming, “do no harm”, and that all unconditional cash transfer programming is aligned with the Minimum Expenditure basket;Ensure adherence to SPHERE standards for in-kind distributions;Analyse existing vulnerability and disaster risk information to identify risks;

• Where possible, support local authorities in establishing and monitoring early warning triggers, i.e. the risk level thresholds beyond which financial resources should be rapidly allocated to prevent and mitigate the impact of a forecast hazard;

• Define protocols and standard operating procedures for linking early warning to anticipatory action, including precise roles and responsibilities for risk monitoring and early action implementation;

• Support the operational and timely implementation of anticipatory action at country level by conducting field missions, advising on appropriate actions and operational arrangements;

• Support efforts to institutionalize EWEA with key government partners; and,
• Lead the undertaking of Anticipatory Action impact assessments in collaboration with the MEAL department

Critical Competencies

Our Emergency and Anticipatory Action Lead should possess a comprehensive set of competencies enabling the successful candidate to immediately contribute to the emergency preparedness and response agenda and efforts of the Country Programme, primarily – strategic, integrity, results-orientation, team-work, good interpersonal skills, well-developed communication skills, sound judgement, analytical skills, flexibility, proactive approach & engagement, innovation, gender & cultural sensitive, ability to work under pressure, and embraces both change, and complexity. 

Minimum Requirements

• • Excellent understanding of local context and strong networks within relevant Nepali institutions;

  • Strong knowledge of existing emergency and anticipatory action funding opportunities, donor guidelines and requirements (including START, ECHO, NERF, BHA, etc.);

  • Educated to Bachelor degree level or above preferably in a related field;

  • A minimum of 5-year relevant programmatic experience in the fields of emergency preparedness & response, cash transfer programming and anticipatory action;

  • A minimum of 3-year experience and progressive responsibility coordinating and managing donor level initiatives including direct engagement and reporting;

  • A minimum of 3-year experience in direct line management of implementation and technical assistance teams;

  • Experience in project management including adaptive programming in dynamic and evolving contexts;

  • Strong understanding of Early Warning Systems;

  • Past experience in conducting Needs Assessments, including Multi-Sector Initial Rapid Assessments, Vulnerability and Capacity Assessments, and Rapid Market Assessments;

  • Past experience in developing contingency plans;

  • Strong communication and influencing skills using evidence-based methods;

  • Good knowledge of monitoring and evaluation approaches and practices both for accountability and learning processes;

  • Familiarity with SPHERE standards

  • Strong report writing skills;

  • Strong excel and analytical data skills;

  • Ability to perform well in stressful environments;

  • Basic understanding of logistic processes in emergency response settings;

  • Ability to travel at the disaster sites for emergency response

  • Fluent in both English and Nepali

How to Apply

Submit an updated CV and Cover Letter to the following link by 22nd March 2022. Please note, applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis and should a suitable candidate be found before the official closing date, the advertisement might be withdrawn prior to the deadline thus early submissions are strongly encouraged. No phone calls will be entertained.

PIN promotes equal opportunities. Women, Janajati and Dalit candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. We are especially looking for female candidates for this position.

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