Jobnumber: S02882
Contract Type: Employee
Closing date: 13-Feb-2023
Posting Start Date: 30-Jan-2023
Location: HUNGARY
Duty Station: Budapest, Hungary
Duty Station Status: N/A
Duration: 12 months
Accompanied Status: N/A
Grade: D2
Organizational Context
The IFRC Regional Office for Europe (RoE) is one of five regional offices within the Federation and is responsible for coordinating current responses across Europe and Central Asia.
The Agenda for Renewal provides a vision for how the IFRC sees its role in the implementation of Strategy 2030. The Agenda for Renewal ensures that the IFRC provides strategic and operational membership coordination, National Society Development services and represents the collective with humanitarian diplomacy and advocacy. In addition to a focus on the five strategic priorities of Strategy 2030, IFRC will strive to be more engaged, more accountable and more trusted by the membership. As one of the five decentralized parts of the Secretariat, the Regional Office for Europe (ROE) in Budapest leads the support to National Societies of 53 countries through Country and Country Cluster Delegations and directly from Budapest spread across Western and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Caucasus and Central Asia. ROE is organized in units overseen by unit heads. The Health, Disasters, Climate and Crises (HDCC) unit will lead the coordination and management and quality support of, and technical support to, all operations and programmes delivering towards beneficiaries and support IFRC Offices and National Societies in building of capacity across a range of thematic files. The HDCC unit has three teams: Health and Care, Thematic Files and Operations Coordination.
In Strategy 2030IFRC commits to integrating climate risk management across all programmes, operations and advocacy, ensuring that all our work is “climate-smart”. The first Strategic Priority of the Plan and Budget 2021-2025calls for a transformational change in addressing climate and environmental crises by undertaking urgent action to reduce and adapt to the rising and evolving risks, as well as adopting environmentally sustainable practices and contributing to climate change mitigation. In the Tbilisi Commitments National Societies in Europe Region expressed their collective and individual ambitions to scale-up climate action and greening initiatives, using Climate and Environment Charter as a framing tool. This new position of Senior Climate and Environment Officer at ROE will support the operationalization and implementation of a Regional Roadmap for Climate Action (which is being developed in first half of 2023) in Europe Region.
Job Purpose
Reporting to Regional Climate and Resilience Coordinator, the Senior Officer, Climate and Environment is responsible for facilitating the IFRC’s work on scaling-up climate action, including climate-smart risk reduction, climate adaptation and greening activities and initiatives, and developing and supporting mainstreaming climate-smart and environmentally sustainable programmes, operations and advocacy in the region. This includes providing climate and environment related technical support to the IFRC network, aligned with relevant global and regional policies, frameworks, approaches and tools. S/he will work in cross-functional manner with other IFRC technical teams, also ensuring close cooperation with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, other relevant reference centres, Anticipation Hub and groups like the Green Response Working Group and facilitates close collaboration with climate and environment related networks and agencies.
Job Duties and Responsibilities
Technical Support (in close coordination with Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre):
- Facilitate IFRC’s work on mobilizing urgent climate action at scale, and support making all programmes, operations and advocacy climate-smart and environmentally sustainable.
- Provide technical support and knowledge sharing for climate action, especially anticipatory, risk reduction, climate adaptation and resilience work, and promote environmentally sustainable practices, and mainstream concept of Green Response across IFRC network systems and practices in the region.
- Support the operationalization and implementation of the Regional Roadmap for Climate Action and work with delegations to support National Societies to develop national climate risk assessments and climate-smart and environmental screenings of their programmes and operations and, on this basis, to develop multi-year climate strategies (including Climate and Environment Charter targets where relevant) and/or action plans.
- Together with the programme, operations and preparedness focal points, support the integration and mainstreaming of community early warning systems and anticipatory humanitarian action approaches to address the climate crisis, where possible.
- Facilitate/coordinate climate and environment related peer-to-peer exchange activities to share innovative approaches and good practices to inspire National Societies to scale-up their climate action and promote environmentally sustainable practices, including how to reduce the overall environmental footprint of National Societies.
- Facilitate/coordinate tailor-made and standard capacity building initiatives (inc. trainings) and processes that focus on climate and environment, and promote linkages to other cross-cutting themes such as Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA), Protection, Gender and Inclusion (PGI), etc.
- Facilitate/coordinate support to strengthen capacity of National Societies and IFRC delegations to develop climate and environment related proposals, programmes and operations (with targeted actions to reduce climate change impacts and environmental impacts and/or mainstreaming climate-smart and green response approaches) including ensuring that National Societies are well supported and resourced in implementing and managing programmes and operations to meet the needs of vulnerable communities.
Coordination, Cooperation, Networking and Partnership:
- Support effective coordination, collaboration and networking within RCRC Movement and externally on climate action and environmentally sustainable practices.
- Contribute to building stronger partnerships with communities, governments, organizations and the private sector, share information and coordinate activities, support better positioning of IFRC and resource mobilization for National Society climate and environmental action.
- Through networking and effective cooperation, contribute to strengthening of auxiliary roles of National Societies with their respective governments and subregional governmental entities especially in the areas of seeking opportunities increasing funding for anticipatory, risk reduction and climate adaptation and resilience programming.
- Support regional platforms for collaboration, peer-to-peer learning and exchanges on climate action and environmentally sustainable practices across programmes and operations.
Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)
- In close collaboration with Strategic Engagement and Partnerships (SEP), Humanitarian Diplomacy and Communications, and Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting (PMER) and Quality Assurance units/teams, actively support resource mobilization, humanitarian diplomacy and communications, and PMER activities related to climate action.
- When requested, represent the IFRC and develop, facilitate, and manage external partnerships related to climate and environment at regional/international levels.
Knowledge Management and Advocacy
- Promote increased understanding of humanitarian consequences of climate and environmental crises, as well as key climate and environment related concepts, relevant programming approaches and funding needs/gaps.
- Identify and document innovative climate action, environmentally sustainable practices and related lessons learnt from RCRC programmes and operations to share them within the RCRC and externally.
- Promote and support an evidence-based approach to determining climate and environment related capacity gaps of National Societies, designing, and implementing measures/activities to enhance their capacities to deliver innovative programming in line with the National Societies’ mandates.
- Facilitate partnerships with climate and environment related policy and technical institutions, and manage/support related knowledge activities to support evidence-based advocacy, programme designs and funding needs/gaps.
- Support National Societies in leveraging their auxiliary role and influencing policy, planning and legal frameworks on disaster risk reduction, climate and environment, promoting integrated approaches in addressing climate and environmental crises and promoting locally led adaptation.
Education
- Relevant university degree (e.g. related to climate change, environmental and natural resource management, disaster risk management)
- Basic Delegates Training Course (BTC), WORC, IMPACT or equivalent knowledge (preferred)
Experience
- Minimum 5 years of professional experience in climate change and environmental issues; with a good grasp of climate and environmental crises in Europe Region
- Demonstrated experience in climate and environmental science, programme design and implementation related to climate risk management and climate change adaptation
- Demonstrated experience in climate change mitigation initiatives and promoting environmentally sustainable practices. (preferred)
- Experience in capacity development (training, coaching, peer support) and participatory approaches and methodologies.
- Good understanding of the humanitarian, climate and development nexus and experience of working in both emergency and development context.
- Good understanding of the IFRC and experience in working for a humanitarian organization related to climate change issues, including anticipatory, risk reduction and adaptation action for floods and heatwaves. (preferred)
- Experience in planning, monitoring and evaluation, narrative and financial reporting.
Knowledge, Skills and Languages
- Sound knowledge of and commitment to a holistic approach to anticipatory, risk reduction and adaptation actions, with an understanding of a multi-hazard, climate-smart, environmentally sustainable and resilience approaches.
- Strong analytical skills and ability to think strategically
- Ability to build effective partnerships and maintain working relationships within the organization and with external partners
- Excellent interpersonal, communication, organization and facilitation skills
- Fluently spoken and written English
Good command of another IFRC official language (French, Russian, Spanish) is preferred
Competencies, Values and Comments
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.
This is a national staff position open to Hungarian nationals and others who are legally eligible to work in Hungary. Candidates must be able to provide proof of their eligibility to work in Hungary.
