IT Consultancy _ Product Manager with software development project management and business analyst experience

Organizational Context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world's largest humanitarian organization, with 192-member National Societies. As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, our work is guided by seven fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality.

The IFRC is headquartered in Geneva, with regional and country offices throughout the world. The IFRC is led by a Secretary General.

The Digital Transformation Department (DTD), based in Geneva and in Budapest, coordinates and provides all information and digital technology services for the IFRC worldwide. It also coordinates the development and adoption of Digital products within the RCRC movement.

The Digital transformation Department, in close collaboration with the IFRC Emergency Health department has developed the Red Cross Health Information System (RCHIS), a robust electronic medical record used in field hospital and clinics, tailored for emergency health services. RCHIS is designed to improve the quality of medical care delivered in emergency response situations by streamlining reporting, increasing accountability, and facilitating collaboration among care providers. It also allows health facility managers to better plan and manage staffing and equipment needs based on real-time data.

Job Purpose

The escalating crisis in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory since October 2023 has precipitated a severe health emergency, particularly in the Gaza Strip. As part of a response in Gaza, the IFRC will be using RCHIS. It will be the first time RCHIS is deployed in an acute crisis setting like Gaza and the IFRC plans to take an iterative approach to testing and implementation. The targeted deployment date is early July 2024. Despite the challenges, the successful implementation of RCHIS in Gaza could prove its effectiveness for health in emergencies, making it an integral part of health Emergency Response Unit (ERU) deployments in the future.

The primary focus will be to ensure the RCHIS deployment in Gaza is a success. This will include being the focal point to monitor and resolve any issues with the remote support provided by the IFRC vendor and coordinating necessary software development (context specific enhancement and bug fixes).

Job Duties and Responsibilities

The main tasks are:

• Monitor quality of support service delivered by the vendors once the product is deployed in Gaza and organize regular reviews of the same with stakeholders as needed,
• Be the focal point of contact for escalation that cannot be resolved by the software developers,
• Analysis of new request, feature or bug creation in Azure dev Ops, define acceptance criteria and test scenarios, backlog management,
• Plan, coordinate, and communicate new software release,
• Coordinate software development of RCHIS (new feature, bugs) in close collaboration with the software developers, the Gaza deployment local coordinator and the IFRC Health department,
• Manage the UAT for new release in close collaboration with the IFRC Health department,
• Manage the relationship with the software vendor,
• Regularly communicate to IFRC relevant stakeholders on new development progress status and support performance.

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

The other focus will be to build and manage the RCHIS roadmap. This will include using the learning from the Gaza deployment to build a robust product roadmap with the objective to have RCHIS as an integral part of health Emergency Response Unit (ERU) deployments toolkit.

The main tasks are:

• Works with multiple stakeholders (product leads, security, data etc.) to define product Strategy & Vision 
• Oversee entire product lifecycle: working with developers/ vendors and other third parties for integrations. 
• Market research & customer feedback: synthesize to inform product decisions. 
• Competitive analysis: Monitoring and analysing the activities of competitors to understand their products, features, and strategies.
• Define & maintain product roadmap: outline of planned features, enhancements, and releases over time. Prioritization of backlog based on end user/ business needs. 
• Requirements Definition & Quality: Collaborating with various stakeholders to gather and document detailed product requirements.
• UAT: Ensures the final product meets the defined requirements before it is released to end users. Ensures Acceptance Criteria are met. 
• Metrics & KPI tracking: Defining and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success and performance of the product.
• Feedback Loop and Iteration: Continuously collecting and integrating user feedback into the product development process to improve existing features and identify opportunities for new ones.

Education

Required

• University degree (or equivalent) in Engineering, computer sciences, business or similar discipline

Preferred

• Certification in Project Management

Experience

Required 

• Minimum 5 years of related experience in Software Project Management
• Minimum 5 years of related experience in Product Management
• Minimum 2 years of related experience in Business Analysis
• Experience working in Agile projects
• Significant experience with processes related IT support and operations 

Preferred

• Experience with complex projects and full software development lifecycle.
• Experience with vendor management
• Experience working in humanitarian organization
  
• Experience working on Health Emergency related project or deploying Digital tool in acute crisis settings 

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Knowledge and Skills 

Required 

• Excellent verbal and oral communication skills.  Excellent documentation skills.
• Strong analytical skills, ability to abstract and represent graphically.
• Ability to work effectively with technicians in different roles and work as part of a team.
  

Preferred 

• Knowledge of IT systems including Microsoft technologies.
• Knowledge of ticketing system, Azure DevOps or similar

Languages 

Required 

• Fluently spoken and written English 

Preferred

• Good command of Hungarian and / or Arabic.

Competencies, Values and Comments

Duration

The mission should start as soon as possible and is expected to last for 9 months with an occupation rate of 50%. This may be adjusted up or down based on daily rate and experience, within allocated budget.

Upon successful deployment of the product in Gaza, there may be potential increase of the occupation rate and contract duration.

Location

The work location is remote with potential need to travel to Geneva or Budapest. The consultant time zone will preferably be convenient for easy interaction with the stakeholders based in Gaza, Geneva and Budapest.

Expected offer content

Proposal should include individual’s resume or CV with a short highlight of the fit for the mission, proposed daily rate (in CHF) and dates of availability. For this application we are expecting individuals to apply, not companies.  

Expected proposal

The deadline to submit your proposal is 24th May, end of the day (Geneva time).

Contacts:

John Esplana - john.esplana@ifrc.org

Thomas Raffort – thomas.raffort@ifrc.org