Emergency Response Manager, Latin America

Background:

Every day, Direct Relief prepares the most vulnerable communities worldwide for more frequent and destructive emergencies. When disasters strike, Direct Relief responds rapidly, effectively, and efficiently to get medical resources where they are needed to save lives. Direct Relief’s efforts are fast, yet always in direct response to specific requests from local partners and are coordinated with other organizations and public agencies to ensure the most efficient use of resources.

Over the last several years, Direct Relief has responded to more frequent and higher-intensity disasters. When the COVID-19 pandemic began in January 2020, Direct Relief had already been responding to back-to-back emergencies for two and a half years starting with Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, followed by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and the two largest local disasters in Santa Barbara’s history – the Thomas Fire and the Montecito debris flow. Direct Relief is the largest provider of charitable medicines into Ukraine since the war began in 2022.

Summary of Position:

Direct Relief is in a pivotal time and is looking to develop regional focus on its disaster preparedness and response activities. This position would focus on emergencies in Latin America but would also pitch in to support disaster response efforts across the world as needed. The Emergency Response for Latin America will be responsible for supporting regional efforts related to emergency preparedness, monitoring of humanitarian crises, needs assessments, response planning, Emergency Response activities, and monitoring and reporting.

This position will work with members of the Emergency Response team, as well as other organizational units and leadership to coordinate Direct Relief’s response to both man-made and natural disasters. The Manager will maintain and develop strategic relationships with colleague organizations and specialized disaster response organizations throughout Latin America. The Manager will travel to disaster-affected areas to manage response efforts from the ground, vet new partners to receive medical material support, and recommend partners to receive disaster-related grant funding. This position will maintain all necessary internal reporting and communication about ongoing Emergency Response, partnerships, and grants.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead organizational response to specific emergencies in Latin America, and collaborate with cross-functional team to ensure the approach is aligned with organizational priorities
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with specialized and regional disaster response organizations and other key partners, including the Pan-America Health Organization (PAHO) and the Coordination Centre for the Prevention of Natural Disasters in Central America (CEPREDENAC)
• Monitor early warning and emergencies throughout Latin America
• Travel to disaster zones to manage response efforts and meet with local partners to gain understanding of needs and determine appropriate types and levels of support
• Prepare internal disaster response updates, situation reports, and other communication to inform the executive and other departments about current events and responses
• Articulate verbally and in writing about the response activities, including what’s being done and why it’s important. Provide context to the activities.
• Vet, prepare relevant documentation, and recommend emergency grants to the organizational grants committee
• Collaborate with internal teams to provide insight and perspective that is sharable with external audiences, including medical material product needs
• Assist in tracking the prepositioning and mobilization of emergency medicines and supplies to partners throughout Latin America
• Support Emergency Response efforts in other regions as needed
• Support the Senior Director, Emergency Response in developing materials and presentations related to the work

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Experience with humanitarian Emergency Response management
• Demonstrable experience in project management in humanitarian responses, preferably in Latin America
• Background working in Latin America, or knowledge of relevant information specific to the region, including language, cultural sensitivities, etc.
• Bilingual and able to read, write, and speak Spanish proficiently
• At least 3-5 years of relevant Emergency Response experience
• Degree from an accredited college or university in International Relations or related field preferred
• Capacity building, facilitation, and networking skills
• Experience with emergency preparedness and understanding of the emergency preparedness, response, and resiliency process
• Capacity to design response frameworks, project concepts, proposal outlines, and budgets
• Ability to exercise sound judgment
• Ability to manage multiple competing interests/tasks prioritize accordingly
• Ability to work and interact with multiple senior level external stakeholders
• Ability to travel at short notice, including to disaster areas
• Detail oriented with the ability to take initiative and work independently.
• Contribute to the creation of a positive image and overall credibility of the organization

We appreciate your interest in employment with Direct Relief. Direct Relief is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We welcome all applicants regardless of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, age, physical or mental disability, veteran or military status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local law to apply and be part of our growing team.