Bangladesh Red Crescent Society
National Headquarters
684-686, Red Crescent Sarak, Bara Moghbazar, Dhaka-1217

Vacancy Announcement

Red Cross - Red Crescent (RCRC) Movement is the largest volunteer organization in the world.   Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) is a national society of the Movement, constituted on 31 March 1973 by the President's Order No. 26 of 1973 with retrospective effect from 16 December 1971. This is the biggest humanitarian organization in Bangladesh. As an auxiliary to the government in the Disaster Management field, BDRCS provides humanitarian assistance to the vulnerable people over the last 50 years and has undertaken a wide range of activities in humanitarian response, disaster management, health, capacity building and in promoting Red Cross/ Red Crescent ideals and principles.

Currently Bangladesh Red Crescent Society is looking for suitable Bangladeshi candidate for the following position of Urban Empowerment and Resilience (UER)-III Project supported by Swiss Red Cross:

Background:

Urbanization is one of the most dramatic global social transformations of the 21st century. Considering the current trend of urbanization in Bangladesh, it is predicted that more than 60% of the country’s population will be in urban settings by 2050. Cities in Bangladesh are growing and see high rates of rural-urban migration as well as economic development. The pace and magnitude of change require coherent and anticipatory urban planning. While city corporations strive to develop various long-term master plans, they face serious financial, procedural and structural limitations. Despite the breath-taking proliferation in urban needs, the urban governance led by the City Corporation or Municipalities is seriously challenged. These factors while underscoring the complexities involved in managing urban transformation highlight the need for structured and sustained engagement of statutory partners like BDRCS. Furthermore, the urban sector is also witnessing a plethora of partnerships between the state and non-state agencies to address the extremely diverse and unique needs that cannot be solely addressed by the urban local bodies (ULBs) given their paucity of funds and functionaries.

BDRCS, given its widespread urban presence through its city units and a national network of urban volunteers, is suitably placed to join these partnerships which will permit it to further deepen its statutory auxiliary functions. This, however, will require identifying and/or revalidating its urban priorities and establishing the architecture for its future urban engagement. At the organizational level, though BDRCS has been working in the urban space since its inception and despite considerable willingness to emerge as a strong urban actor, no urban strategy and plans are currently defined. To respond the growing needs of urban engagement BDRCS NHQ has been established an Urban Thematic Desk and looking for an Urban Coordinator to lead the thematic desks as well as the projects under the thematic desks.

Roles & responsibilities:

Program

• Lead the Urban Strategy development process for BDRCS in line with BDRCS strategic Plan 2021-2025 and following the available IFRC guidance and tools.
• Towards the development of urban strategy identify in-house resources (including those available with movement partners) and the need for external support. Develop terms of reference for engaging external expert support and coordinate and manage relevant external consulting inputs to the urban strategy development process.
• Coordinate with relevant BDRCS departments through the urban working group and other coordination modalities to leverage their sustained engagement in urban strategy development. This person will be the member secretary of the urban working group. )
• Lead the Urban Thematic Desk and provide leadership to BDRCS Urban thematic desk to grow and sustain through resource mobilization from other Partners.
• Conduct a consultative process with Partners and identify joint Urban activities at the National level and develop a mechanism to track their progress through an annual work plan. Oversee implementation of all BDRCS Urban Programme interventions and ensure alignment with key BDRCS strategy in the domains of DRM, NSD and health.  
• Dialogue with Partners on urban issues and harmonize urban approaches such as Urban Risk Assessments, Urban Needs assessments, developing criteria and standards for urban area selection, developing templates for information collection and analyses, Urban DRM curriculums etc.
• Coordinate activities that are essential for accessing and analysing available information on city-level need assessment and urban development plans.
• Oversee the entire process of staffing under the urban thematic desks,

Partnership

• Establish relationships and liaise with other actors, particularly with SPHERE Community Bangladesh, Urban INGO forum and relevant urban knowledge networks
• Maintain liaison with key BDRCS branches /Mayor, Councilor, City/ municipality authorities, and relevant government stakeholders for ensuring BDRCS visibility and linkage with other global/regional/country instruments
• Coordinate with other Partners on designing and developing urban programs.
• Leverage support and coordination with other consortiums on specific urban issues or access to wider stakeholders

Knowledge Management and Advocacy

• Represent BDRCS at various urban networks and national level dialogues  
• Identify joint programming and advocacy issues with a view to strengthen BDRCS’ auxiliary role in the urban sector  
• Strengthen BDRCS’ auxiliary role in the urban sector.
• Set up Urban Movement Coordination Group and ensure its effective functioning.
• Develop and roll out institutional knowledge management framework to ensure sustainable, scalable and replicable urban resilience programming.
• In order to maximize synergies with other relevant activities, on-going and planned, at the national level with different Partners, improve coordination and information exchange.
• Coordinate with Partners to organize knowledge management events on urban issues which include case studies / learning stories on Urban humanitarian and resilience initiatives, organize cross-learning events, webinars and talks on key urban issues.
• Analyze and collate plans, engage with existing knowledge platforms to harvest learnings and good practices, and advise units/branches in developing their capacities and urban portfolios.
• Support BDRCS NHQ and city units in acquiring adequate capacities to address the knowledge gaps.

Qualification & Experience  

• Master’s in development studies, Social Science, Economics, Urban Planning, Disaster Management or related field from any reputed university.
• Minimum 10 year of professional experiences in development sector; at least 5 years in the managerial role, and 5 years in urban development.
• Knowledge on the urban context of Bangladesh with special reference to urban resilience, DRR and CCA.
• Knowledge of national policies, issues and legal frameworks related to urban development
• Ability to write good quality reports, policy document and strategic papers in English. 

Other key requirements 

• Ability to solve complex problems
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated ability to work with others in a team environment
• Knowledge on local context
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, in English and Bangla.
• Knowledge of relevant computer packages.

Application Instructions:

• Departmental clearance will be required for internal candidates.

If you think you are competent enough for the position, please apply online before 5:00 pm, October 19, 2022.

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified for interview.
BDRCS is an equal opportunity employer