EXTERNAL VACANCY
Haitian Red Cross in collaboration with American Red Cross is looking for
(1) Senior Social Mobilization Coordinator (National)
Reporting to : Canaan Urban Development Program Manager
Location : Port-au-Prince, future Canaan Field Office
Contract duration: 1 year, extendable
Background: The American Red Cross (ARC) International Services Department (ISD) seeks to prevent and alleviate human suffering around the world by responding to disasters; building safer, more resilient communities; and educating future humanitarians. In pursuit of this mission, ARC mounted a major response to assist Haitian communities in the wake of the devastating 2010 earthquake, and the ARC Haiti Assistance Program (HAP) was established to direct that response. Over the past year, HAP has transitioned from a response and recovery mode to a sustainable development approach aimed at enhancing resilience in targeted communities over the longer term.
Program Background:
The American Red Cross (ARC) Haiti Assistance Program (HAP) was established to direct the organization’s response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. HAP activities focus on integrated community recovery and preparedness interventions in Haiti working within the Red Cross/Red Crescent network, particularly with the Haitian Red Cross (HRC) and also through external partners.
ARC will be working closely with HRC to support resilient social cohesion in Canaan, in alignment with the Government of Haiti’s (GoH) strategic development vision for the area. Canaan is an emerging city developed since the 2010 earthquake that is comprised of several distinct neighborhoods, including Jerusalem, Canaan, Onavil and St. Christophe. Given the unique development history of the zone, the diversity of neighborhoods, and the geographic scale, an innovative approach to community engagement will be required.
This Canaan Social Engagement Program is aligned with the GoH strategic development vision for Canaan and will strongly coordinate with existing actors in Canaan, including existing community structures, local and international NGOs, and the GoH. The Program proposes to support resilient social cohesion through targeting the following four objectives:
1) Strengthening community representation structures to improve the community’s capacity to dialogue with national and local governments, as well as international organizations.
2) Improving community preparedness against, and response to, natural disasters through increased understanding of local natural hazards and risks and response methodologies.
3) Improving the local environmental conditions through increasing community understanding of local environmental concerns and supporting the community through small projects.
4) Increase the Haitian Red Cross volunteer network for community health and disaster risk reduction.
This Program will be implemented in collaboration with the Haitian Red Cross, follow GoH strategic directives, and coordinate with future development actors to ensure they responsibly engage the communities of Canaan

Position Background:
The Sr. Social Mobilization Coordinator will support the development of a feasible yet innovative community engagement strategy that reaches the scale of the entire emerging city of Canaan. The community engagement strategy will build upon existing efforts by community groups and other local and international agencies and will follow GoH directives for Canaan. The strategy will particularly focus on and develop approaches to engage commonly marginalized groups, such as women, youth, and the disabled. Furthermore, ARC will play a strong coordinating role in Canaan with other international organizations for social mobilization and accountability to beneficiary mechanisms. Finally, the Sr. Social Mobilization Coordinator will work closely with the HRC, in particular the Volunteer and Branch Development Unit and the HRC Canaan ambulance and first aid post. S/he will support the HRC to recruit, train and mobilize a network of up to 200 volunteers from Canaan and elsewhere in Haiti. These HRC volunteers should be well integrated and support the social mobilization strategy and activities.
In order to operationalize these social mobilization efforts, the Sr. Social Mobilization Coordinator will manage a team of up to 18 core ARC staff, and progressively coordinate up to 200 part time HRC volunteers. S/he will report to the Canaan Program Manager Delegate and coordinate heavily with the Deputy Canaan Program Manager and the HRC Volunteer Development Unit.
The Sr. Social Mobilization Coordinator will be strongly motivated to support the communities of Canaan and will collaboratively develop a vision on how to do so. S/he will be very well organized, accountable to deadlines, and able to work both independently and as part of a team. The Sr. Social Mobilization Coordinator will identify challenges in advance, be flexible to changing conditions, and effectively solve problems as they arise.
Specific Responsibilities
- Support the communities of Canaan to self-organize representative and fair community platforms that can engage with external actors, such as GoH and international agencies. Develop a strong relationship with relevant community structures, such as: existing or new community platforms, community based organizations, schools and churches.
- Manage ARC’s relationship with the community in order to facilitate the work of other ARC Canaan Program activities, such as trainings in DRR, environmental concerns, health, and emergency response.
- Manage a team of up to three team leaders, and up to 15 field officers. Ensure this team is well trained in community engagement techniques and has daily supervision.
- Support the HRC Volunteer Coordinator and the HRC Volunteer and Branch Development Unit to recruit and manage up to 200 part time HRC volunteers, placing particular emphasis on recruiting volunteers from Canaan. In coordination with the HRC Volunteer Development Unit, develop a management structure within the volunteers to ensure that volunteers have daily supervision and direction of activities.
- Ensure that volunteers are well trained in community engagement techniques, Red Cross principles, and pertinent DRR and environmental modules.
- Support the HRC to manager their relationship with the community. Support the HRC ambulance post and first aid center to better connect with the communities of Canaan.
- Coordinate with the Beneficiary Communications Coordinator to ensure a coherent communication strategy with the community and to support his/her Accountability to Beneficiaries Team to establish and maintain effective accountability to beneficiary mechanisms (e.g. notice boards, telephone hotline, etc.).
- Facilitate the DRR Coordinator, DRR Training Technicians, and the Directorate of Civil Protection (DPC) to train community members and volunteers in disaster risk. Oversee the training and management of volunteers to support Community Intervention Teams (CITs) to better function and serve the needs of the community.
- Ensure the Canaan Program Manager Delegate is up to date on program activities and potential community risks.
- Maintain a relationship with the local, municipal, and national authorities regarding the ARC Canaan social mobilization activities.
- Produce regular written updates and reports on program activities pertinent to social mobilization. Develop and adhere to a clear work plan for social mobilization activities.
- Support new agencies working in Canaan to effectively and responsibly engage the communities and align with GoH and ARC social mobilization strategies.
- Learn and build upon the experiences from other ARC programs in social mobilization.
- Constantly collect community feedback on ARC and other agencies working on Canaan and keep senior program management up to date.
- Effectively collaborate with colleagues: Canaan Program staff, ARC Haiti HQ support staff, HRC counterparts, etc.
Responsibilities of All Red Cross Core Staff
- Support the realization of overall ARC HAP goals through effective teamwork and occasional cross support to other programs.
- Promote clear and effective communication through regular administrative documentation of work progress.
- Understand and implement the Core Principles of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement.
- Establish good working relationship with fellow national and international staff.
- Develop a good working relationship with HRC

Desired Qualifications:
- 7+ years’ experience in community engagement and volunteer mobilization in Haiti or similar contexts.
- Bachelor’s degree or higher required.
- Proven experience managing large teams.
- Prior experience engaging municipal and national government authorities desirable.
- Willingness to work flexible schedules.
- Proven leadership experience and strong capacity for self-organization.
- Written and spoken French and Haitian Creole fluency required.
- English proficiency desirable.
- Familiarity with Microsoft Office required.
- Familiarity with the Red Cross Movement desirable.

The American Red Cross is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
The rules of conduct form an integral part of this contract and must be signed by the employee upon employment.

Interested candidates should send their Curriculum Vitae with cover letter, all copies of certificates or diplomas, copy of ID card (NIF or CIN), certificate of police record by 5:00 pm, April, 17 2015 at the following addresses: