Operational Assurance Team Coordinator

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.

The 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 Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is responding to an outbreak of Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD), a form of Ebola virus disease, in a complex operating environment characterised by population movement, insecurity, constraints on access to health services and significant risks of continued transmission and geographic spread. The absence of an approved vaccine or specific targeted treatment for the Bundibugyo strain reinforces the importance of early detection, effective infection prevention and control, appropriate clinical and supportive care, safe and dignified burials, and trusted community-based action.

IFRC is supporting the DRC Red Cross to deliver a locally led, community-centred response aligned with national outbreak priorities and coordinated with the Ministry of Health and key technical and humanitarian partners. The response brings together community-based surveillance, risk communication and community engagement, safe and dignified burials, infection prevention and control and WASH, mental health and psychosocial support, clinical care and continuity of essential health services. Through its extensive volunteer and community networks, the DRC Red Cross plays a critical role in strengthening community trust, supporting early detection and referral, promoting protective behaviours and helping communities access timely and appropriate services.

Alongside immediate outbreak control, IFRC's support seeks to strengthen the capacity, systems and operational readiness of the DRC Red Cross and reinforce its auxiliary role to public authorities. The response therefore combines technical and operational support, coordination, surge capacity, resource mobilisation and institutional strengthening, while continuously adapting priorities and interventions to the evolving epidemiological, operational and community context. This approach aims not only to contribute to interrupting transmission and reducing the humanitarian impact of BVD, but also to leave stronger National Society and community capacities for future epidemics and health emergencies.

Job Purpose

Reporting to the Finance and Administration Delegate and leading a team of four staff, the Operational Assurance Team Coordinator enables IFRC and the DRC Red Cross to translate the agreed operationalising risk mitigation measures and the associated volunteer payment protocols into consistent, practical arrangements across the BVD operation in DRC. The Operational Assurance Team Coordinator position connects IFRC finance, technical focal points and DRC Red Cross branches and headquarters in an effort to strengthen accountability, support timely and traceable volunteer payments, and help maintain continuity of operational funding.

The Operational Assurance Team Coordinator position leads the field-level coordination of activity documentation, supporting-document consolidation, joint verification, reconciliation and follow-up so that complete, accurate and mutually consistent monthly narrative and financial reports move through the agreed review and validation process on time.

Operational Assurance Team Coordinator position provides hands-on support and capacity strengthening while preserving DRC Red Cross ownership, technical accountability and the segregation of financial duties. The position coordinates assurance and corrective action; it does not replace finance approvals, authorise payments or transfers, or constitute an independent audit or investigation function.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Lead operational assurance and implementation of agreed measures

• Translate the 2026 agreement between IFRC and DRC Red Cross on volunteer payment protocol and applicable Project Funding Agreement provisions into a joint field implementation plan, with clear responsibilities, evidence requirements, deadlines and escalation arrangements.
• Maintain a risk mitigation action tracker covering reporting, volunteer payments, branch transfers, joint monitoring and relevant expenditure controls; distinguish field actions from matters requiring headquarters or specialist decisions.
• Maintain a risk-based operational assurance workplan, prioritising branches, activities and reporting periods affected by material delays, payment or documentation risks, significant budget variances, funding conditions, or imminent reporting and closure deadlines.
• Coordinate with IFRC finance, technical focal points, planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting colleagues, and DRC Red Cross counterparts to identify bottlenecks early and resolve them without bypassing agreed controls.

Coordinate timely, quality monthly reporting

• Establish a backward-planned monthly calendar for collection, review, correction and validation, supporting submission of narrative and financial reports by the agreed deadlines, including the 10th of the following month where specified in the reporting schedule.
• Coordinate the collection and consolidation of supporting documents in Bunia. Support DRC Red Cross finance to prepare the WWPP 5.5 report against the approved budget, and technical focal points to substantiate activities, results, variances and operational challenges.
• Check reporting packages for completeness and consistency between approved plans, activities delivered, volunteer days, expenditure, commitments, budget coding, reported results and supporting evidence; identify material differences between physical and financial progress and refer technical and financial judgements to the responsible focal points.
• Coordinate the sequence of DRC Red Cross review, IFRC finance review and spot checks, documented corrections, and onward headquarters and delegation validations in accordance with the agreed process. Track observations to closure and retain evidence of each validation.
• Facilitate joint monthly budget reconciliations and follow-up of outstanding advances, unreported balances and reporting backlogs; prepare a consolidated readiness status for subsequent funding requests without certifying financial eligibility or approving transfers.
• Support Finance, programme and operations colleagues to analyse material variances and use reconciled operational and financial information for forecasting and cost-to-complete reviews. Distinguish justified timing or operational differences from under-delivery, delayed posting, incomplete documentation, payment backlogs, procurement constraints or forecasting errors, and identify adjustment or funding needs without assuming approval or certification responsibilities.
• Coordinate assurance of material operational revisions, budget narratives, donor-reporting inputs and closure packages for the assigned operation, ensuring outstanding activities, advances, reporting obligations and supporting records are identified and followed up before submission or closure.

Strengthen volunteer payment accuracy and end-to-end traceability

• Support consolidated planning of activities and volunteer requirements, and joint branch-level review of volunteer lists, including Branch President approval, before payment documentation is submitted for the required reviews.
• arrange resolution with DRC Red Cross and the responsible IFRC programme and finance teams before approval.

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

• Ensure payment files link each volunteer’s identity and unique identifier to the approved activity, location, role, attendance, number of days and applicable rate, with the evidence required by the protocol, including activity reports and participation documentation.
• Coordinate checks for duplicate names, identifiers and telephone numbers, inconsistencies in days or rates, missing documents and calculation errors
• Track completion of the joint programme/operations and finance pre-payment reviews and follow up with DRC Red Cross on payment within one week after the activity, as required by the protocol; promptly escalate delays without substituting for DRC Red Cross payment responsibilities.
• Coordinate post-payment reconciliation using mobile money transaction statements or signed cash-payment sheets, as applicable; track failed, partial, duplicate or unconfirmed payments and support documented resolution through authorised channels.
• Support finance review of the protocol’s narrative-reporting condition accounting for at least 75% of funds used for previously planned activities, the new consolidated activity plan and other applicable funding conditions before subsequent requests. Support development of an integrated volunteer payment system without establishing a parallel payroll.

Coordinate joint monitoring and corrective action

• Develop and implement joint, risk-informed monitoring plans with DRC Red Cross and IFRC technical and finance teams, covering activity verification, selected trainings, assets and post-distribution monitoring where relevant; apply the agreed verification frequency, sampling and coverage.
• Monitor evidence that funds reach branch accounts within seven working days of receipt at headquarters; refer procurement, staffing-cost, indirect-cost and operating-advance issues to the relevant specialists for assessment under the applicable agreements.
• Maintain an exceptions and corrective-action register with owners, deadlines and closure evidence. Consolidate relevant findings from joint monitoring, management reviews, audits and other authorised assurance processes; track recurring issues and ensure agreed lessons inform updated tools, guidance, training and operating arrangements. Escalate material discrepancies, suspected irregularities and repeated delays promptly through established channels, without undertaking independent investigations or deciding on suspension of funds.

Maintain accessible, secure and review-ready records

• Establish a supporting-document register, unique references and a standard filing structure linking each reported activity and transaction to its evidence and review history.
• Maintain regularly updated SharePoint records with version control, traceable observations and approvals, and access restricted according to responsibilities. Protect volunteer identity, contact, payment and other sensitive information under applicable data-protection requirements.

Lead the team and strengthen sustainable joint capacity

• Supervise, coach and organise the work of four staff, setting clear objectives, allocating branch coverage and workloads, and reviewing the quality and timeliness of assurance outputs.
• Sustain a collaborative, service-oriented relationship with DRC Red Cross counterparts, providing practical coaching on documentation, volunteer reconciliation, reporting and records management while reinforcing National Society ownership.
• Maintain a concise operational assurance dashboard covering reporting readiness, payment timeliness, outstanding advances and documentation, unresolved exceptions, corrective actions and upcoming deadlines; highlight trends, recurring bottlenecks, management decisions required and practical process improvements.

Education

• Degree in accounting, finance, business administration, audit, risk management, programme management or a closely related discipline(Required)
• Professional qualification or specialised training in accounting, internal controls, risk management, audit or humanitarian partner financial management(Preffered)

Experience

 

Required

• At least five years of progressively responsible experience in partner financial management, operational assurance, internal controls or programme financial reporting, including at least two years supervising staff or leading a multidisciplinary team.
• Field experience supporting humanitarian operations or local partners in complex settings, including hands-on verification of activity evidence, payment records and expenditure supporting documents.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating monthly narrative and financial reporting, budget reconciliations, outstanding advances and corrective actions; experience reconciling volunteer, incentive or other high-volume field payments.

Preferred

• Experience in DRC, particularly eastern DRC, and familiarity with branch-level operations, mobile money payments or epidemic-response reporting.
• Experience with the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, IFRC partner-funding arrangements or National Society branch systems.

 

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Required

• Sound knowledge of internal controls, segregation of duties, partner-funding conditions, expenditure documentation and risk-based verification.
• Ability to lead a small team, allocate field workloads, assure output quality and coordinate colleagues across finance and technical functions without displacing their accountabilities.
• Diplomacy and partnership skills to resolve documentation and control issues constructively while maintaining National Society ownership and clear accountability.
• Strong report-writing and communication skills; ability to connect technical results, activity evidence and financial information in clear reporting packages.
• Strong planning and deadline-management skills, including backward scheduling, action tracking and timely escalation of reporting and payment bottlenecks.
• Strong Excel and reconciliation skills, including duplicate detection, variance analysis and tracking of large payment datasets; meticulous attention to evidence and accuracy.
• Practical coaching and capacity-strengthening skills, including development of simple tools and procedures usable by branch teams.
• Proficiency in shared electronic filing, document registers and version control; ability to handle identity and financial records securely and work with remote field teams.
• Ability to prioritise under operational pressure, adapt to access constraints and undertake field travel in accordance with security requirements.
• Integrity, discretion and sound judgement; ability to document exceptions objectively and escalate concerns through appropriate channels.
• Good command of French and English

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

Functional competencies: Strategic orientation; Building alliances; Leadership; Empowering others

Managerial Competencies: Managing Staff Performance; managing Staff Development.