Economic and food security

WHAT WE DO

The ICRC defines economic security as the ability of individuals, households or communities to cover their essential needs and unavoidable expenditure sustainably and with dignity, given their physical needs, environment, and prevailing cultural standards. Working directly with the people and/or communities affected, the ICRC carries out a broad range of emergency-relief, food-security and livelihood-support activities. These include relief distributions (both in kind and through cash-based transfers); nutrition-sensitive and -specific programmes; micro-economic initiatives to foster resilience; animal-health programmes; agricultural interventions; various cash and voucher responses; and capacity-building linked to the above for both individuals and local and national bodies. Accountability to people affected by conflict and other situations of violence is central to all our activities, and helping those in need remains squarely at the heart of all our economic security work.

Our staff are skilled in project-cycle management and have extensive experience in emergency relief, food security and livelihoods and/or more specific professional skills in agronomy, livestock management, cash and markets, nutrition, income-generating activities or household economy.

WHAT WE LOOK FOR

Strong motivation for humanitarian work and the ICRC’s mandate
Ability to lead a multicultural team
Capacity to work in a cross-cutting manner with a diverse team of experts (also from other ICRC areas of activity)
Ability to work under pressure in a potentially dangerous environment
Strong sense of accountability to affected persons
University degree in economics, humanitarian emergencies, disaster management, anthropology, agronomy, veterinary science, nutrition or public health, or strong equivalent field experience in food security and/or livelihoods (including assignments abroad)
Direct field experience of some or all typical economic security activities, including large-scale relief, livelihood support, income-generating projects, cash-transfer programming and nutrition-sensitive/specific responses
Proven experience in project-cycle management, including needs-assessment methodology and analysis; project design/planning and proposal; beneficiary selection and identification; implementation; monitoring and evaluation frameworks
Fundamental knowledge of and skills related to the sustainable-livelihood framework, household-economy assessment, market assessment and key nutritional concepts
Excellent written and oral communication skills
Very good command of English and French (knowledge of another ICRC working language – Spanish, Arabic or Russian – is a strong asset)
Full proficiency with IT tools; prior experience of digital data collection and analysis and beneficiary and distribution management tools an asset

WHAT WE OFFER

By joining our organization, you will have an opportunity to practise your profession in stimulating, complex and sometimes challenging environments, where your work can really make a difference.

You will work with colleagues from various fields of expertise in a cross-cutting manner to help victims of conflict and other situations of violence. You will be dealing with humanitarian situations that require experience, resourcefulness and innovation in order to achieve the best possible impact, often with limited resources.

You will work for the oldest major international humanitarian organization in the world, adding to your sense of achievement in alleviating the suffering of people and communities and giving you the chance to promote humanitarian values in these turbulent times.

You will benefit from a competitive employment package, including different possibilities for career and personal development. You will take part in an onboarding course and follow continuous training, in order to build your career within the ICRC and beyond.

THE PROFILES SOUGHT IN ECONOMIC AND FOOD SECURITY

Please note that all positions are not continuously open.

ECONOMIC SECURITY DELEGATE

Economic security delegates are responsible for the full project-cycle management of economic security programmes in their place of assignment. They have a solid understanding of the local socio-economic, political and environmental context, as well as the food-security and livelihood strategies.

AGRONOMIST

ICRC agronomists are responsible for supporting farming and agro-pastoralist communities around the world, providing material inputs for food production, technical support and coaching, and helping to restore/maintain livelihoods. They focus on identifying the needs of rural communities affected by armed conflict, planning and developing viable responses aimed at strengthening their resilience, and monitoring and evaluating the impact of ICRC programmes.

NUTRITIONIST

The core function of ICRC nutritionists is to advise and extend technical support to economic security and primary health care activities on appropriate nutrition responses to improve food and nutrition situations. They are responsible for assessing needs and designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the nutrition components of relief and livelihood programmes to treat malnutrition among children and adults in primary health centres, hospitals or places of detention.

VETERINARIAN

ICRC veterinarians help boost the food security of people affected by conflict through animal-health and production interventions. They implement livestock programmes to stem the deterioration of livelihoods and/or support the recovery process of people whose economies are largely based on livestock.

CASH AND MARKET SPECIALIST

Cash and market specialists lead and support ICRC teams in designing, planning, implementing and monitoring cash-based programmes. They advise and coach all staff on cash-transfer programming and any other market-based interventions. They can also be responsible for the direct implementation of all aspects of the project cycle.

ECONOMIC SECURITY DELEGATE

Economic security delegates are responsible for the full project-cycle management of economic security programmes in their place of assignment. They have a solid understanding of the local socio-economic, political and environmental context, as well as the food-security and livelihood strategies of people affected by conflict. They propose and design relevant responses based on an in-depth assessment and analysis of the situation of those in need.

AGRONOMIST

ICRC agronomists are responsible for supporting farming and agro-pastoralist communities around the world, providing material inputs for food production, technical support and coaching, and helping to restore/maintain livelihoods. They focus on identifying the needs of rural communities affected by armed conflict, planning and developing viable responses aimed at strengthening their resilience, and monitoring and evaluating the impact of ICRC programmes.

NUTRITIONIST

The core function of ICRC nutritionists is to advise and extend technical support to economic security and primary health care activities on appropriate nutrition responses to improve food and nutrition situations for populations affected by conflicts or other situations of violence. They are responsible for assessing needs and designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the nutrition components of relief and livelihood programmes to treat malnutrition among children and adults in primary health centres, hospitals or places of detention.

VETERINARIAN

ICRC veterinarians help boost the food security of people affected by conflict through animal-health and production interventions. They implement livestock programmes to stem the deterioration of livelihoods and/or support the recovery process of people whose economies are largely based on livestock. Conflict and extreme climatic conditions severely affect the livelihoods of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists, and building their resilience is the main goal of livestock activities.

CASH AND MARKET SPECIALIST

Cash and market specialists lead and support ICRC teams in designing, planning, implementing and monitoring cash-based programmes. They advise and coach all staff on cash-transfer programming and any other market-based interventions. They can also be responsible for the direct implementation of all aspects of the project cycle.