Emergency Officer, NOB, for 9 months, San Jose, Costa Rica (only for nationals of Costa Rica)

Contract

This is a NO-2 contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. More about NO-2 contracts.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, their rights

UNICEF Costa Rica is looking for an Emergency Officer to implement country office emergency preparedness and response and to be responsible for the technical contribution to the development, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the emergency interventions to advance the survival and well-being of children and mothers and affected communities in an emergency situation.

How can you make a difference?

Provide professional assistance in risk analysis to identify emergency-prone conditions/situations and contribute to early warning and timely emergency preparedness.

Assist in the formulation of plans of action in preparation and response to emergencies. Gather information on best practices in emergency situations for the preparation of contingency plans. Monitor compliance of all sectors with emergency plans of action.

Identify formal and informal sources of information. Collect, interpret and analyze all available data on the evolving emergency situation and its implications to the emergency operation. Keep the effective flow of information and communication crucial for the planning and implementation of emergency measures. Identify availability of resources in emergency prone areas.

Assist in organizing and conducting staff training for the office’s capacity building in emergencies preparedness and response. Provide briefing, as required. Participate in other emergency training workshops in the region and contribute to enhancement of the emergency preparedness and response capability of the office staff.

In the event of an emergency, promptly assist in implementing the initial operational tasks relating to emergency assistance. Immediately collect reliable information to verify the nature and extend of the emergency with staff, government officials, other UN agencies or local organizations and media.

Assist supervisor with assessment of local emergency and security situation. Visit the location to conduct an initial rough assessment of the magnitude of the crisis and its implications for children, mothers and the community. Assist with the assessment of the validity of the emergency preparedness plan and ability of the office vis-à-vis the current crisis as well as immediate and additional needs. Provide input in and contributes toward determining priorities and an appropriate intervention by UNICEF. Coordinate with other partners to make a rapid assessment covering priority areas as defined by the Core Commitment for Children in Emergencies. Establish contact with community groups, government, UN agencies, media and other partners to keep the country office of emergency situations.

Participate in Implementing the emergency preparedness and response plan as necessary. Assist in identifying urgent staffing requirements and redeploying country office staff. Follow up with the timely delivery of assistance and procurement of supplies and monitor the appropriate and effective use of UNICEF resources. Identify problems and constraints in project delivery. Send daily situation reports to concerned parties.

Participates in the implementation of plans of action and workplans for emergency project. Undertakes field visits to emergency project areas, to assess local conditions and monitor project progress. Carries out project administration. Prepares inputs for appeals and updates related to emergencies. Coordinates with program sections staff and others to mobilize donor response and recovery/rehabilitation-related funding, including humanitarian appeals and documents (e.g., pitch documents). Communicates and advocates on the situation and needs of children through local and international media, as appropriate.

Collect and analyze lessons learnt from UNICEF's emergency operations experience and contribute towards adoption of the best practices and standards for longer-term emergency interventions. Assist in identifying longer-term requirements of the emergency intervention/operations.

Work with other colleagues to make sure that disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response strategies are mainstreamed in the country office's workplans. Assist in the preparation of sectoral input for the country programme documents, plan of action, annual work plans, and other related documents of the office’s Emergency Preparedness and Response. Provide technical input in the preparation of the Situation Analysis and the Country Programme document, as required.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in social sciences, public administration, law, public health, nutrition, international relations, business administration or other related disciplines. *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• A minimum of two years of relevant professional experience at the national and/or international levels in programme/project development, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation or administration.
• Training/experience in emergency response management highly desirable.
• Fluency in English and Spanish is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

This position is temporary for 9 months with the possibility of extension.

This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is: a role with direct contact with children, works directly with children, is a safeguarding response role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) applies.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.