Coordinator, Rapid Response Team

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 centers and delegations across the globe.

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.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is responding to an outbreak of Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD), a form of Ebola virus disease, in a complex operating environment characterized by population movement, insecurity, constraints on access to health services and significant risks of continued transmission and geographic spread. The absence of an approved vaccine or specific targeted treatment for the Bundibugyo strain reinforces the importance of early detection, effective infection prevention and control, appropriate clinical and supportive care, safe and dignified burials, and trusted community-based action.

IFRC is supporting the DRC Red Cross to deliver a locally led, community-centred response aligned with national outbreak priorities and coordinated with the Ministry of Health and key technical and humanitarian partners. The response brings together community-based surveillance, risk communication and community engagement, safe and dignified burials, infection prevention and control and WASH, mental health and psychosocial support, clinical care and continuity of essential health services. Through its extensive volunteer and community networks, the DRC Red Cross plays a critical role in strengthening community trust, supporting early detection and referral, promoting protective behaviors and helping communities access timely and appropriate services.

Alongside immediate outbreak control, IFRC's support seeks to strengthen the capacity, systems and operational readiness of the DRC Red Cross and reinforce its auxiliary role to public authorities. The response therefore combines technical and operational support, coordination, surge capacity, resource mobilization and institutional strengthening, while continuously adapting priorities and interventions to the evolving epidemiological, operational and community context. This approach aims not only to contribute to interrupting transmission and reducing the humanitarian impact of BVD, but also to leave stronger National Society and community capacities for future epidemics and health emergencies.

Reporting to the Health Manager, the Coordinator, Rapid Response Team leads a mobile, multidisciplinary team comprising IFRC staff and DRC Red Cross staff to support newly affected or priority hotspot health zones during the Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Through deployments of two weeks to one month, the Rapid Response Team Coordinator supports the DRC Red Cross branch in the affected health zone to rapidly assess needs, establish and scale up priority interventions, and address critical response gaps in coordination with health authorities, communities and other partners.

The Rapid Response Team Coordinator translates joint assessments into an integrated, time-bound deployment plan spanning all relevant response pillars, mobilizes operational support and specialist expertise, and ensures coherent delivery against agreed priorities. The role combines hands-on field leadership, branch and volunteer capacity strengthening, local coordination, monitoring and problem-solving. It does not replace operation-wide technical leads or require one individual to provide specialist services across every discipline; the Rapid Response Team Coordinator ensures that competent personnel, approved standards and appropriate referral arrangements underpin delivery. Success is measured by priority gaps addressed, functioning branch-led interventions and a resourced, documented handover that sustains activities after the team redeploys.

Deployment readiness, rapid assessment and operational planning

• Maintain readiness of the joint IFRC–DRC Red Cross team; prepare deployment objectives, role allocations, equipment and support requirements with the Health Manager and DRC Red Cross counterparts.
• Organise periodic readiness drills and simulation exercises with DRC Red Cross counterparts and relevant specialists to test roles, communications, equipment, referral arrangements and procedures, and address gaps before deployment.
• Recommend deployment priorities using available epidemiological information, unmet needs, branch capacity, partner coverage, community feedback and access considerations; obtain approval through agreed IFRC and DRC Red Cross arrangements before deployment.
• Maintain operational scenarios and contingency options based on epidemiological trends, access, security, partner coverage and branch capacity, identifying the personnel, supplies and specialist support required.
• Lead a joint rapid assessment on arrival with the branch and health-zone authorities, mapping affected communities, existing interventions, volunteer capacity, service and referral gaps, operational constraints and community priorities.
• Agree a prioritised, costed deployment plan within two weeks to one month, specifying immediate actions, geographic coverage, responsibilities, resource needs, measurable outputs and handover milestones; update it as conditions evolve.
• Coordinate transport, accommodation, communications, supplies, administrative arrangements and deployment briefings with support functions; confirm readiness and escalate constraints before activities commence.

Integrated technical response and quality assurance

• Coordinate an integrated response across community-based surveillance, risk communication and community engagement (RCCE), safe and dignified burials (SDB), infection prevention and control (IPC)/WASH, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), and links to clinical care and continuity of essential health services, according to assessed gaps and the agreed DRC Red Cross mandate.
• Support the branch to establish practical delivery arrangements, trained volunteer teams, supervision, alert and referral links, community engagement mechanisms and access to essential materials, rather than creating parallel structures.
• Translate technical guidance into coordinated field workplans with IFRC and DRC Red Cross focus area leads; obtain specialist support, training or additional surge when needs exceed the four-member team’s expertise or capacity.
• Ensure high-risk and specialised activities are undertaken only by appropriately trained, authorised and equipped personnel under approved protocols and technical supervision; escalate gaps and do not initiate activities without the required safeguards.
• Review implementation quality with technical leads, identify bottlenecks and agree corrective actions; connect community interventions with available health and protection services through agreed, confidential referral arrangements.
• Ensure deployment planning and implementation comply with applicable national protocols, IFRC technical guidance, Sphere standards, the Core Humanitarian Standard and other relevant outbreak-response quality and accountability requirements.

Joint team leadership, branch capacity and partner coordination

• Provide day-to-day operational leadership to the team’s IFRC and DRC Red Cross members, agreeing objectives, tasks and coordination routines while respecting each organization’s employment, management and technical accountability arrangements.
• Work alongside branch leadership to mobilize volunteers through National Society structures, establish clear supervisory responsibilities and strengthen planning, activity management, reporting and resource tracking.
• Organize targeted training, practical coaching and on-the-job mentoring with qualified specialists; verify that branch focal points can sustain priority functions and identify continuing support needs.
• Support DRC Red Cross representation in health-zone outbreak coordination mechanisms and maintain working relationships with health authorities, community representatives, Movement partners and responding agencies; agree complementary coverage and avoid duplication.
• Maintain regular contact with the Health Manager, technical leads and support functions, communicating field priorities, requesting decisions or resources and ensuring coordination agreements are translated into action.

Monitoring, accountability, transition and learning

• Track deployment outputs, coverage, quality, outstanding gaps and branch readiness with technical and planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting colleagues; provide concise situation updates and escalate urgent issues through agreed channels.
• Ensure community feedback and accessible complaints mechanisms inform priorities and adaptations; integrate protection, inclusion, safeguarding and responsible data management throughout delivery.
• Work with Information Management, technical and DRC Red Cross counterparts to maintain practical, secure and confidential systems for recording, consolidating and sharing deployment information with appropriate access controls.
• Monitor approved deployment expenditure, supplies and assets with relevant support functions; maintain records, flag funding or replenishment gaps and act within delegated authority.
• Plan transition from the outset and agree a documented handover with the branch, Health Manager and technical leads, covering ongoing activities, named owners, volunteer supervision, supplies, funding needs, referral contacts and scheduled follow-up.
• Assess readiness against agreed handover milestones and recommend redeployment, extension or additional support for management approval; clearly communicate unresolved risks rather than treating the deployment end date as evidence of readiness.
• Produce an end-of-deployment report and facilitate a joint debrief, capturing results, remaining gaps and lessons to improve subsequent deployments and the evolving rapid response model.
• Provide verified operational inputs and key messages for management briefings, donor updates and communications products, in coordination with the Health Manager, technical leads and Communications colleagues and within agreed clearance arrangements.

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

Safe deployment, duty of care and operational risk management

• Apply approved security, access, staff health and IPC requirements with designated specialists; ensure briefings, communications, movement approvals and contingency arrangements are in place, understood, periodically reviewed and, where appropriate, tested before and during deployments.
• Monitor changing operational risks and community acceptance with branch leadership; promptly escalate incidents, exposures and unsafe conditions and pause activities where required safeguards are absent, in accordance with approved procedures.
• Promote manageable workloads, rest, supportive supervision and confidential access to staff and volunteer support; coordinate concerns with the appropriate management, staff health and MHPSS services.
• Uphold humanitarian principles, professional conduct and do-no-harm in all deployment decisions, maintaining clear limits of authority and respecting National Society leadership and community dignity.

Education

• University degree in public health, humanitarian action, disaster management or another discipline relevant to emergency health operations. Required
• Advanced degree or postgraduate qualification in public health, epidemiology, emergency health or humanitarian/disaster management. Preferred
• Training in outbreak response, rapid needs assessment, emergency coordination or operational team leadership, including applicable infection prevention and control principles. Required
• IFRC IMPACT, rapid response/team leadership training and HEAT or equivalent humanitarian security training. Preferred

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in emergency health or humanitarian operations, including at least two years coordinating field responses or leading multidisciplinary teams in emergencies. Required
• Demonstrated field experience in infectious disease outbreak response, coordinating complementary community-based and health interventions with public authorities and technical partners. Required
• Experience rapidly establishing or scaling up field activities through needs assessment, prioritized workplans, mobilization of personnel and supplies, and practical problem-solving. Required
• Experience coordinating with local authorities, communities and humanitarian partners in insecure, remote or access-constrained settings. Required
• Experience strengthening local partner or National Society capacities through joint planning, volunteer mobilization, practical coaching and structured handover. Required
• Experience leading mixed national and international teams, allocating work across disciplines and coordinating specialist inputs while respecting partner management structures. Required
• Experience integrating community engagement, feedback and inclusion into operational decisions and adapting activities to local priorities and barriers to access. Required.
• Experience managing operational workplans, deployment budgets, supplies and activity monitoring, and producing concise situation reports and handover documentation. Required
• Previous Red Cross/Red Crescent rapid response deployment; Ebola or other viral hemorrhagic fever response experience; operational experience in DRC or comparable contexts. Preferred.

• Applied understanding of integrated outbreak response: surveillance, RCCE, SDB, IPC/WASH, MHPSS and links to clinical care and essential services; ability to recognize specialist limits and mobilize qualified support. Required
• Strong rapid assessment and gap-analysis skills; ability to interpret epidemiological information, branch capacities, partner coverage and community feedback and convert findings into prioritized field actions. Required
• Practical operational planning, budget monitoring and logistics coordination skills, including matching deployment objectives to available personnel, supplies, time and resources.Required
• Sound judgement under uncertainty; ability to adapt plans to changing outbreak conditions, identify unsafe or unsupported activities and escalate decisions beyond delegated authority.Required
• Availability for repeated short-notice deployments of two weeks to one month in remote or basic field conditions, subject to required security and staff health clearances; ability to maintain responsible workloads and team wellbeing.Required
• Strong coordination, negotiation and communication skills; ability to build practical agreement with branch leaders, health-zone authorities, communities and technical partners. Required
• Strong multidisciplinary team leadership, delegation and follow-up; ability to establish clear responsibilities and maintain an integrated delivery plan across organisational boundaries.Required
• Ability to consolidate technical inputs into clear workplans, situation updates, resource requests and handover packages, with measurable outputs and explicit outstanding risks. Required
• Practical coaching, facilitation and capacity-strengthening skills, including on-the-job support to branch focal points and volunteers and planning for continuity after redeployment.Required
• Ability to work equitably across cultures and disciplines, respecting National Society ownership; sound application of humanitarian principles, safeguarding, inclusion, confidentiality and responsible data handling.Required
• Proficiency in digital communication and collaboration, spreadsheets, basic data analysis and reporting tools, digital safety and responsible use of technology in field operations.Required
• Understanding of and commitment to IFRC’s mission and values. Required

Languages

• Good command of spoken and written French and English

• 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.