Global Director, Humanitarian Operations at World Vision

Background/Context

• Humanitarian crises are affecting more people and for longer. Driven by conflict, climate change and disaster over 130 million people worldwide need humanitarian assistance and protection just to survive. The number of active emergencies with an international response has doubled in a decade. Conflict related crises are increasingly protracted, with average emergency responses lasting 7 years and 60% of people receiving humanitarian assistance doing so for 5 years or more.
• For children facing emergencies these large scale, protracted humanitarian crises means that much of their childhoods are too often scarred by violence, long term displacement and disrupted education with their psychosocial needs increasingly recognized. After years of decline global hunger is growing again. From 2015-17 the number of people experiencing crisis-level food insecurity or worse increased from 80 to 124 million.
• Humanitarian principles are under attack and the international humanitarian system is changing. Aid work should be protected under international law, yet hospitals are bombed, aid workers targeted and civilians starved by armed groups. Despite growing humanitarian funding (from US$4 billion in 2005 to $15 billion in 2018) a huge funding gap remains, of around 40% in most emergencies. New ways of working are bringing greater effectiveness & efficiency through cash based assistance, digital innovation and more local, durable and preventive solutions.
• Responding to the needs of vulnerable children in humanitarian emergencies has been central to World Vision’s identity and ministry since our founding. WV’s core values, mission statement, Board policy on ‘Disaster Management and Conflict Response’ and Our Promise’s strategic imperative to ‘deepen our commitment to the most vulnerable children’ all reinforce our commitment to principled humanitarian action framed by our Christian identity and child focus.
• In FY18 World Vision reached 14 million people (incl. 10 million children) with humanitarian assistance in response to 140 disasters in over 40 countries. Disaster Management ministry totaled $692 million, over a third of WV’s total ministry spend.

Job Description

• Monitor and support new and evolving humanitarian emergencies and WV responses. Participate in emergency declarations, advising on strategy & identifying where global capacity is needed to supplement local, national and/or regional capacity.
• Lead and manage WV’s global Humanitarian Operations (HOps) Team and matrix management to Regional Humanitarian Directors & national/local Emergency Response Directors.
• Setting and upholding World Vision’s standards for disaster management.
• Build and monitor WV’s Disaster Management capabilities at national, regional and global level.
• Develop, maintain and deploy WV’s global rapid response and pre-positioning capacity: leading WV’s Global Rapid Response Team & overseeing WV’s pre-positioned emergency supplies and emergency preparedness & response fund.
• Position World Vision as a leading humanitarian agency, overseeing WV’s relations and engagement with UN OCHA and engaging regularly with sector peers.
• As a member of WV’s global Disaster Management executive team, contribute to the strategic direction and effective functioning of the Disaster Management team.

Requirement/Skills

• Bachelors-level degree in International Studies.
• Leadership and senior management experience in a complex global organisation.
• Minimum of 10 years operational and management experience in the humanitarian sector, including at field level in major emergency responses.
• Extensive knowledge of the international humanitarian sector (including standards, systems and actors) and strong track record of relationships and external engagement in the sector.
• Verbal and written fluency in the English language.
• Master’s Degree in International Studies with focus on humanitarian action.
• Leadership and management development studies.
• Humanitarian studies and/or humanitarian leadership development.
• Effective communications – written and spoken with media, public presentations etc.
• Technical skills and experience in relevant area (e.g., programmes, logistics, security. management, humanitarian protection, accountability, technical sectors [e.g., WASH]).
• Some proficiency in other languages (e.g., French, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese).
• Experience working in a range of international and cultural settings and at global capital level.
• Management of a dispersed geographic team.
• Financial and budget management.
• Risk management in humanitarian settings.

Work Environment:

• The position requires ability and willingness to travel internationally up to 40% of the time.
• This will include insecure areas and locations where basic services are damaged or limited as well as high level external representation in global humanitarian capitals such as Geneva and New York.
• Some travel may be at short notice if needed in response to humanitarian emergencies and on rare occasions may need to be prolonged for up to several weeks.
• A day-to-day working base could be from a WV office and/or home office environment, preferably from a well-connected international travel hub location.
• During home/office working times, extensive virtual/online interaction across several international time zones would be common so flexibility in daily working hours and routine is both possible and necessary.