Information Manager (Short-term Contract)

CARE is a leading humanitarian organization dedicated to fighting poverty and social injustice with a special emphasis on women and girls. We are known everywhere for our unshakable commitment to the dignity of people. CARE partners contribute to the empowerment of the most marginalized and vulnerable rural women and girls to exercise their rights. CARE’s East and Central Africa (ECA) Regional Office is part of CARE International, whose vision is to seek a world of hope, tolerance, and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security. The Regional Office is responsible for the oversight of CARE’s operations in the region as well as the provision of support to country offices in the region.

CARE USA Core Values Commitment

The Core Values Commitment describes who we are, what we do, and how we do it. It reflects our core values of TRANSFORMATION, INTEGRITY, DIVERSITY, EQUALITY and EXCELLENCE, which serve as a foundation for all what we do. The Core Values Commitment articulates our shared expectations of each other including our board, staff, volunteers, interns, partners and contractors globally.

Role Profile

The primary role of the Information Manager is to facilitate communication flows to ensure that CARE decision-makers and key external stakeholders (including CARE implementing partners and disaster-affected communities) receive the information they need during an emergency response in a timely way in a format that is adapted to the target audience.

This requires strengthening and streamlining the existing information management systems in the Country Office (CO) to respond to vastly increased time-critical information demands from internal and external stakeholders.

A key responsibility of the Information Manager is to ensure that CARE staff decision-makers and their key partners can make decisions based on sound analysis of readily available, timely and credible information.

This position will support the CARE Sudan CO primarily from Nairobi, Kenya.

Responsibilities

1. Information Management Systems

• Conduct periodic assessments to determine:
  • Current and anticipated priority information needs of key target groups (CARE decision-makers, media/communications, fundraising, implementing partners, conflict-affected communities, donors, government and UN coordinators, etc.);
  • Effectiveness and functioning of existing information management systems; and
  • Information resource availability.
• Lead the development and implementation of a communications/information management (IM) strategy for CARE’s emergency response which:
  • Clarifies IM approaches;
  • Defines resource requirements (funding, equipment, personnel);
  • Describes communication products for key target audiences (e.g. design of Operations Rooms, frequency and content of internal and external Sitreps and other documents, internal/external meetings, databases, e-mail protocols, etc.);
  • Describes how knowledge management occurs, including use of lessons-learned;
  • Provides streamlined protocols for collection and validation of information collected; and
  • Describes how information and management commitments in CARE’s Humanitarian Accountability Framework will be met.
• Based on the above strategy, strengthen and streamline IM systems, including:
  • A clear display of updated status of CARE’s activities and priority follow-up actions to, for example, facilitate decision-making during meetings, proposal development, preparation of Sitreps and emergency strategies, presentations to donors, etc.;
  • Easy-to-find information in document archives and computer databases; and
  • User-friendly procedures for accessing information.

2. Information and Data Collection and Coordination

• Attend internal briefings, external meetings (e.g. cluster meetings), collect and (where appropriate) synthesize relevant documents, meet with CARE staff and undertake field visits as appropriate to remain up to date on the unfolding emergency situation and CARE’s response.
• Assist the CO to produce necessary materials to disseminate information throughout CARE International and externally. Such materials may include situation reports, programme strategy, fact sheets, briefing notes and any others requested by CARE International members.
• Act as a reference/contact point for CARE International Members on general information requests related to the emergency situation and CARE’s response.
• Attend external briefings and meetings with the Team Leader.

3. Capacity Building

• Train/coach CO counterpart information manager(s) with the aim to handing over responsibilities at the end of the deployment.
• Provide relevant training to staff and partners in using information management systems, report drafting, etc.

Reporting Line

This position reports to the CARE Sudan Emergency Team Leader.

Qualifications and Experience

Core Competencies:

• 3 – 5 years information management and humanitarian aid experience.
• Requires general finance, administration, information management and telecommunication skills and proficiency in information technology/computer skills.
• Knowledge of CARE policies and procedures, Sphere and Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) standards, NGO code of conduct.
• People skills: ability to work independently and as a member of a team who is able to support and train local and international staff and be able to deal sensitively with local partners and disaster affected communities to understand information needs.
• Communication skills: well developed written and oral communication skills. Able to communicate clearly and sensitively with internal and external stakeholders as a representative of CARE. This includes effective negotiation and representation skills.
• Integrity: is trustworthy and has a clear commitment to CARE’s core values and humanitarian principles.
• Resilience/Adaptability and flexibility: ability to operate effectively under extreme circumstances including stress, high security risks and harsh living conditions. Works and lives with a flexible, adaptable and resilient manner.
• Awareness and sensitivity of self and others: demonstrates awareness and sensitivity to gender and diversity. Have experience and the ability to live and work in diverse cultural contexts in a culturally appropriate manner. Has a capacity to make accurate self-assessment particularly in high stress and high security contexts.
• Work style: is well planned and organized even within a fluid working environment and has a capacity for initiative and decision making with competent analytical and problem solving skills.

Technical Competencies:

• Prior experience of setting up streamlined information management systems for a humanitarian agency during an emergency response.
• Ability to undertake research under potentially difficult and sensitive conditions.
• Awareness of sensitivity of information in the context of CARE’s emergency response and ability to differentiate between information for internal versus external audiences.