Liaison Officer
Job Description
The Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt) faces a protracted crisis marked by more than 56 years of Israeli military occupation, 16 years of the Gaza blockade, and recurring conflicts between Israeli security forces and Palestinian armed groups. The most recent hostilities commenced in October 2023 and has resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian casualties and hundreds of Israeli casualties. A significant portion of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents have been displaced and are struggling with inadequate access to essential resources, including shelter, food, medical care, clean water, education, and livelihoods. As of September 2024, around 96 percent of the 2.15 million residents in the Gaza Strip are expected to face severe levels of acute food insecurity.
The IRC launched an emergency response in oPt in 2023, responding to the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza. Prior to October 7th, in June 2023, IRC conducted a scoping mission to oPt, in the West Bank, and subsequently developed a strategic plan to initiate programming in the West Bank. Since then, and in the context of catastrophic fighting and renewed violence, the IRC has initiated an emergency response in Gaza and developed a response plan with partners which includes Gaza and the West Bank. Implementing a diverse, integrated program of health, protection, cash, and scaling up in WASH and nutrition, these programs prioritize local partnerships with both public institutions and civil society, and span emergency, humanitarian, recovery, and development modalities, while serving vulnerable Palestinians in oPt.
Job Overview/Summary:
The Movement Coordinator will play a pivotal role in organizing, planning, and executing the successful movement of staff members and EMTs within, into and out of Gaza and West Bank. The individual will work closely with various stakeholders, including partner organizations, and internal teams, to ensure the effective implementation of movement and coordination activities.
Key Responsibilities:
• Gaza Rotations:
o Partner with the internal teams to identify staff members going into and out of Gaza.
o Coordinate with UN agencies and Israeli authorities the submission of the relevant applications, pre-entry/pre-exit briefings, and facilitate the issuance of relevant materials for entry and exit.
o Work with partner organizations to coordinate the entry and exit of EMTs from Gaza.
• Administrative Duties:
o Manage documentation, including tracking and reporting on key data points to rotations and SOPs.
o Coordinate logistics for movements, including scheduling, accommodation arrangements, and material preparation.
o Ensure compliance with internal and external policies and procedures.
o Develop and manage SOPs based on the changing context.
o Organize briefing and debriefing sessions with EMTs.
• Other:
o Deconflict sites within Gaza, working with the DDFM and Security team to identify them and get clearance.
o Deconflict movements (Notifications and coordination) within Gaza working with the Supply chain and security team.
o Provide support to staff traveling into the West Bank including liaising with the relevant point persons and handling logistics related to entry and insurance coverage.
o Develop and maintain external relationships with focal points in partner and key organizations
o Point person for all access questions related to Gaza and the West Bank.
Requirements
• Attention to detail and ability to handle multiple, competing deadlines and priorities in a dynamic environment
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills and ability to work in a multi-cultural environment
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic environment, within and across departments/functions and develop positive relationships with local and remote staff, and external partners
• Ability to work in highly stressful environments with multiple and competing demands
• Ability to work independently as needed.
• Ability to exercise good judgment and maintain confidential information
• Customer service orientation with a desire to find creative and timely solutions for field teams
• Strong comfort level in standard PC office software such as Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint preferred
• Demonstrable ability at report writing and record keeping
Skills and Abilities:
• 2-3 years’ experience in similar roles
• Demonstrable management experience, including budget-holding responsibility.
• Proven capacity to supervise, train and coach staff.
• A willingness and capacity to be flexible and accommodating when faced with difficult and frustrating working conditions.
• Ability and willingness to frequently travel to different program sites
• Excellent oral and written communication skills (English) required
• Multi-lingual skills advantageous – with priority placed on Arabic
Working Environment: The Occupied Palestinian Territory faces a protracted protection and political crisis characterized by more than 56 years of Israeli military occupation and recurrent escalations of hostilities between Israeli security forces and Palestinian armed groups. The most recent round of hostilities began in October 2023 and resulted in unprecedented levels of destruction, tens of thousands of Palestinian casualties and hundreds of Israeli casualties, and the displacement of 1.9 million people who lack access to adequate shelter, food, life-saving medical services, clean water, and livelihoods
Qualifications