Commercial First Aid Advisor

We help to reduce vulnerabilities and strengthen resilience by responding to disasters and crises and by supporting community and institutional risk reduction and preparedness.

In the Netherlands with more than thirty thousand volunteers and internationally with the aid of specialists or by sending relief supplies or money.

Together we act before, during and after disasters to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people. We do this without regards to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinion. Our seven principles guide our humanitarian work: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality.

The International Department is amongst other responsible for supporting vulnerable groups through its partnership with Ethiopia Red Cross, Zambia Red Cross and Croix Rouge Cote d’Ivoire. To strengthen our Strategic Partnership team, the department is looking for a Commercial First Aid advisor.

Position title: Commercial First Aid advisor

Duty station: to be determined in consultation with candidate

Time period: 12 months

Starting Date: 1st October 2014

Status: Single posting

Rationale

Working in close partnership with other Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, IFRC and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a key feature of the Netherlands Red Cross Society’s (NLRC) strategy for international work. Partnerships are seen as essential to allow NLRC and sister National Societies to fulfill their humanitarian mission. This requires mutual trust, accountability, recognition of complementary strengths and a long-term commitment to share resources and knowledge. NLRC intends to enter into a long-term partnership with a sister National Society to deliver cost effective services to the most vulnerable in order to save lives and strengthen community resilience.

NLRC defines two types of Partnership: programmatic partnerships and strategic partnerships. In programmatic partnerships the focus is on increasing a National Society’s capacity for sustainable service delivery to communities at the branch level and the programmatic functions at head quarter levels aimed specifically to support the sustainability of the program (such as program management, coordination, quality assurance etc.).

The primary aim of our strategic partnerships is to contribute towards sustainability of the organization. Support is based on an organizational capacity analysis performed by the National Society, accompanied by an organizational development plan indicating priority areas for development. Specific focus is on building the capacities of the National Society to mobilize (domestic) resources to cover core infrastructure costs, leading to increased self-reliance and decreased financial dependency on other (international) partners.

The intended impact of supporting a National Society’s financial self-reliance is to collectively build financially stronger National Societies that have financial reserves, capacity to invest in their own organization, and can better cope with the volatility of donor funding.

Summary statement and responsibilities

First aid is one of the core activities of the Red Cross and fits in its overall strategic aim of saving lives, and additionally contributes to the resilience of society and its ability to cope with crises. In many countries, first aid is also considered a commercial opportunity and has been developed as such with varying degrees of success.

Initial discussions with the leadership of NLRC’s strategic partners show an interest in establishing, expanding or improving first aid training as a business operation. Assessments show its relevance as a strategy to generate local income to support core cost coverage and building up a financial reserve while simultaneously providing the opportunity to expand the delivery of first aid, a core activity of each of these National Societies.

The concept of commercial first aid (CFA) was tested in previous years. As part of NLRC’s strategic partnership with Cote d’Ivoire Red Cross, the intention is to continue to support this business activity and extend the learning into the strategic partnerships with Zambia Red Cross and Ethiopia Red Cross (and at a later stage possibly other Red Cross / Red Crescent Societies).

Previous learning demonstrated that there are four stages to developing CFA within a National Society, once there is a shared commitment to exploring first aid training as a business initiative. This approach would be replicated in the 3 targeted countries, but the intent would be to gather learning about how this process can be adapted to the needs of different National Societies in different contexts:

1. Assessing the internal and external environment (SWOT analysis);
2. Developing plans for establishing a business operation, and gaining strategic buy-in from senior leadership within the National Society which supports change management;
3. Implementing change management plans, recruiting and developing key business management staff and skills;
4. Monitoring progress and providing coaching, advice and technical support to meet the needs of a growing business in a potentially changing external marketplace.

NLRC’s unique approach to strategic partnership development involves harnessing the skills and expertise from the external commercial sector in The Netherlands, and bringing skills in financial analyses, marketing (including sales methods, promotions, product design and pricing), market research and assessment, corporate engagement and strategic change management.

The consultant/advisor will be recruited to support the (initially three) selected National Societies in establishing, expanding or improving their CFA activities, and will ensure to incorporate the learning from the 8NS Africa Initiative.

The consultant/advisor will identify opportunities for engagement of the (Dutch) commercial sector and will facilitate specific assignments as part of the CFA business development. For this, the consultant will prepare separate terms of references.

Position in the organization

The CFA consultant/advisor will part of the Strategic Partnership Unit, NLRC headquarters, The Hague.

The consultant/advisor will undertake frequent travel to Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Ethiopia and The Netherlands. It is expected that at some stage, exploratory missions could take place to Haiti and Central African Republic.

In the first year, it is expected that the consultant/advisor will need to allocate approximately 2,5 months per selected National Society to provide technical guidance (this excludes possible deployment of experts from the commercial sector) and that he/she will use the remaining of his/her time for capturing learning of CFA business development support, facilitating potential expert missions from the commercial sector and integrating this support to the benefit of the CFA business of the selected National Societies, visiting other (strategic) partners of NLRC upon request.

At the start of the assignment, the consultant/advisor will be requested to prepare a more thorough work plan for the duration of the assignment, further detailing tasks and time allocation.

Requirements/Qualifications

· Rich experience in and understanding of setting up income generating activities and businesses, and preferably CFA;

· Good understanding of organizations (structure and systems), and preferably the Red Cross;

· Knowledgeable in the field of financial analyses, marketing and sales;

· Understanding of and commitment to NLRC mission, values and programming approaches;

· Credibility and stature to be a senior counterpart;

· Willingness/ability to travel up to 50% of the time to target countries.

Key competencies

· Strong assessment, analytical and interpretation skills;

· Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;

· Strong advisory skills, including the demonstrated ability to guide and influence colleagues and others face to face and from a distance;

· Excellent inter-personal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations in different cultural and organizational settings;

· Ability to work with minimal supervision, to develop clear goals, and to relate with the external business community;

· Excellent command of the English and French language;

· Organizational and cultural sensitivity, flexibility, result and process oriented, pragmatic;

· Excellent computer, writing and communication skills, including fluency in written and spoken French and English.

How to apply:

· Please send your resume in English and letter of motivation with reference: competition number 82, before 15th August 2014 to:sollicitaties@redcross.nl

· For more information about the position, you can contact Patricia Vermeulen, Head of Unit Strategic Partnerships at NLRC HQ (pvermeulen@redcross.nl, +31.612157980).

· An assessment can be part of the selection procedure.

· While we appreciate all responses, only candidates under consideration will be contacted.