Organizational Context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian network, with 191-member National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. IFRC uses the Triple R – response, resilience and respect – to deliver on Strategy 2030. IFRC responds to disasters and crises, ensuring timely, coordinated and locally led humanitarian action. IFRC supports its members in building community resilience in the areas of climate and environment, health and wellbeing, and migration and displacement. IFRC promotes respect for our fundamental principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality, including in our work on values, power and inclusion. The IFRC focuses throughout on our core mandate – our raison d’être – of strategic and operational coordination, humanitarian diplomacy, National Society development, and accountability.

IFRC is led by its Secretary General and has its Headquarters in Geneva and five regional offices in Africa (Nairobi); the Americas (Panama); Asia Pacific (Kuala Lumpur); Europe (Budapest); and MENA (Beirut) as well as representation offices, service centres and delegations across the globe.

IFRC has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment and other forms of harassment, abuse of authority, discrimination, and lack of integrity (including but not limited to financial misconduct). IFRC also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles.

The Ebola outbreak, declared mid‑May 2026, is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, with hundreds of suspected cases and hundreds of deaths reported across Ituri, South Kivu and North Kivu provinces. It began with clusters of unexplained deaths in early May and is spreading in a context of weak health systems, population movement, insecurity, and community mistrust, which together increase the risk of sustained transmission and cross‑border spread to neighboring countries such as Uganda and South Sudan. The absence of an approved vaccine or specific treatment for this strain makes the outbreak particularly complex and heightens the urgency of rapid containment.

IFRC is scaling up a national society‑led response centred on community engagement, surveillance, and infection control, supported by an emergency appeal. Red Cross volunteers are mobilized in affected areas to conduct door‑to‑door awareness, counter misinformation, encourage early care‑seeking, and support safe and dignified burials, key to breaking transmission. At the same time, IFRC is coordinating closely with governments and partners, strengthening cross border preparedness, mobilizing resources and surge capacity, and supporting logistics, infection prevention control, and community-based surveillance to contain the outbreak and reduce regional spread.

In close coordination with the Operations Manager, the Staff Health Delegate supports the establishment and implementation of measures to ensure that health considerations are systematically addressed within the response. This includes promoting sound occupational health practices and supporting the access to appropriate clinical and public health interventions, including mental health and psychosocial support, to safeguard the wellbeing of personnel across the response.

Job Purpose

The Staff Health Delegate will be deployed to support the BVD response in DRC as part of IFRC’s emergency operations. Under the supervision of Operations Manager and technical management of the IFRC Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing (OHSW) unit GVA, the Staff Health Delegate collaborates closely with Movement partners, delegates, national staff, volunteers, and local health authorities. They operate as an integral member of a multidisciplinary team, working within the mandate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

In support of IFRC emergency response operations, the Staff Health Delegate provides technical leadership and guidance for the development and implementation of a comprehensive duty of care framework, with a focus on the health, safety, and wellbeing of staff. This strategy is integrated into the operational Plan of Action and guides the implementation of disease prevention and health promotion activities targeting personnel engaged in the response.

In coordination with the OHSW Unit, the Staff Health Delegate provides technical support to the emergency response on all staff health-related matters, ensuring the health, safety, and wellbeing of both IFRC personnel and Partner National Societies when required and visitors to operations.

The role further supports the host National Society in the development and implementation of comprehensive prevention, preparedness, and response measures to strengthen workplace safety for staff and volunteers engaged in emergency operations.

The Staff Health Delegate’s interventions are informed by evidence, best practices, and a comprehensive understanding of the evolving humanitarian context. They actively engage staff and volunteers to ensure participatory approaches, while taking into account the needs, priorities, and capacities of the response team, the host National Society, and relevant internal and external stakeholders.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

The Staff Health Delegate is responsible for assessing, coordinating, planning and overseeing quality implementation of all IFRC staff health, wellbeing and duty of care support in the response to emergencies.

Individual Staff Health

• Serve as the initial focal point to any staff health issues amongst the response team in close cooperation with the PNS and OHSW unit in Geneva.
• Deliver country and/or disease-specific briefings, provide wellbeing and travel health advice in line with global public health recommendations and national measures and ensure balance between the public health risk and the continuity of the operational needs.
• Follow up on any health condition contracted during the personnel assignment; define the need of referral; monitor recovery; review actions taken; and make suggestions to improve processes during the deployment lifecycle of the staff/volunteer.
• Make sure that proper medical insurance coverage is present. Provide technical input for the review of international health insurance plans; advise on national insurance plans, as requested; and ensure that emergency assistance plans for staff, such as for medical evacuation, are in place and fit for purpose
• Ensure vaccination and other prophylactic measures of staff and volunteers in line with MoH and IFRC/DRCRC protocols and guidance.

Occupational Health

• Develop and oversee the staff health and wellbeing plan, ensuring compliance with duty of care standards.
• Train and support staff on stress management, Psychological First Aid (PFA), and self-care, with access to psychosocial support as needed.
• Monitor staff safety, including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) use, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) compliance, and occupational risk management.
• Set up and supervise staff-focused point of entry screening and handwashing stations at offices, bases, and accommodation sites.
• Coordinate with HR, Security, and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) teams to integrate staff health into operational planning.
• Track and report staff health indicators to inform decision-making and adapt support measures.
• Coordinate and communicate with Operations Manager and other stakeholders to ensure effective assessment and implementation of activities that ensure safety and wellbeing of staff and volunteers.
• Based on identified health risks, assess, record and monitor the current occupational health and wellbeing among the personnel, using existing and new data, focus groups, and discussions with health and psychosocial focal points.
• Promote wellbeing and mental health aspects in the context of the response operation, using the support work of IFRC’s Psychosocial Support Programme (PSP). Facilitate the access and promotion of Psychosocial Support Programme together with the PSP network.

National Society Liaison and Advocacy

• Alongside the National Society Development Delegate and the Operations Manager, advocate for the integration of staff health, wellbeing and exposure management into DRC Red Cross operational plans and provide institutional sensitisation and technical advice when requested.

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

Guidance

• Proactively participates in the development of guidance on staff health related issues by ensuring that evidence, best practices and core standards are applied to all levels of staff health programming, ensuring quality of services and alignment with IFRC policies and practices.
• Review staff health activities and procedures in the context of the response operation. This will allow to optimize referral pathways/protocols, coordinate prevention campaigns and programmes, and identify local and regional resources
• Ensure context-specific health risks assessment and guarantee regular updates. Identify delegates/staff members health risks specific to NS and IFRC operations to evaluate the specific preventive measures
• Liaise with national and local focal points (internal and external) to understand issues and localized developments, such as environmental hazards, that may affect staff health and; and recommend, to the extent possible, the most appropriate course of action.
• Support the development of workplace safety protocols including PPE, hygiene rules, mitigation measures and contingency planning in case of exposure and/or infection.
• Develop and/or revise the medical evacuation plan; taking into consideration the emergency response operation context. Support the coordination of the medical evacuation process when necessary.
• Lead the design and implementation of occupational health and wellbeing communication campaigns and initiatives to leverage the health promotion and disease prevention efforts within the staff and volunteers.
• Work with IFRC and NS stakeholders (including Information Management colleagues) to adapt secure and confidential information management systems for staff health (health statistics, medical files, case management, etc.) in the context of the emergency response.
• Take a capacity building approach to work, providing training, technical support, mentoring and dissemination as part of the implementation of staff health activities during the response.
• Develop staff health interventions plans to support transitions to early and longer-term recovery and ensure an appropriate exit approach, including, where relevant, strengthening the capacities of the National Society.
• Contribute to the reports of the operation and others required during the deployment.

Education

Required

• Degree in nursing, medicine or paramedic sciences

Preferred

• A first level university degree in public health, occupational health, travel health or staff health related fields
• IMPACT, BTC or equivalent experience
• Qualification or certification in Psychology, Counselling, Human Resources, or related field.

Experience

Required

• Experience working preferably in health programming in emergency or humanitarian contexts
• Experience working for the Red Cross or other humanitarian organizations on
• health in emergencies
• Experience working on staff health and wellbeing role in an international emergency

Preferred

• Experience implementing IFRC health/staff health tools and approaches in emergencies

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Required

• Strong knowledge of occupational health, duty of care and occupational risk management in humanitarian or emergency settings
• Strong knowledge of infection prevention and control (IPC), occupational exposure management and staff health measures applicable to infectious disease outbreaks
• Ability to analyze the overall staff health and wellbeing situation and develop a response strategy based on evidence
• Knowledge of medical referral pathways, emergency medical assistance and medical evacuation planning and coordination
• Knowledge of staff mental health and psychosocial wellbeing approaches, including stress management, Psychological First Aid and appropriate referral mechanisms
• Knowledge of medical confidentiality, data protection and secure management of sensitive staff health information
• Skills in training facilitation, coaching and development of staff and volunteers
• Demonstrated core proficiency in (a) digital communication & collaboration, (b) basic digital content creation, (c) digital safety & security, (d) data literacy, and (e) problem solving with technology (including responsible use of AI assistants).
• Understanding of and commitment to IFRC’s mission and values.
• Fluent spoken and written English and French

Preferred

• Understanding of IFRC’s staff health strategy and how to adapt it to the context of the emergency response operation
• Familiarity with IFRC staff health standards, tools and processes
• Good command of another IFRC official language (Spanish or Arabic)

Competencies, Values and Comments

Values: Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; Accountability

Core competencies: Communication; Collaboration and teamwork; Judgement and decision making; National society and customer relations; Creativity and innovation; Building trust