Sr Spec, LEARN Emerg Resp

International Medical Corps; United States; On-site; USD 85,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

International Medical Corps in Washington, D.C. seeks a Senior Specialist, LEARN Emergency Response to oversee the infectious disease response portfolio under LEARN and donor funding, coordinating field teams and donor representatives.

The role ensures timely information flow, donor reporting, and alignment with organizational priorities, while supporting surge operations and cross-functional coordination across country offices and headquarters.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (master’s preferred) in Public Health or a related field.
• Minimum 7 years of humanitarian health programming and emergency response experience.
• Experience managing infectious disease outbreak responses (e.g., Ebola, cholera).
• Proven donor liaison experience with USAID/BHA, DOS/PRM, CDC and other donors.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate outbreak response activities and ensure timely donor reporting.
• Serve as liaison between field teams, donors, and leadership.
• Monitor outbreak developments and provide analyses and recommendations.
• Oversee cross-functional coordination across departments (grants, security, logistics).
• Support surge operations and risk mitigation planning.

Skills

Donor engagement

Program management

Data analysis

Stakeholder communication

Cross-cultural collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Public Health

Job description

JOB SUMMARY:

The Senior Specialist, LEARN Emergency Response will oversee International Medical Corps' infectious disease response portfolio under the LEARN project and separate donor funding, and serve as the primary liaison between field-based response teams and donor representatives. Based in Washington, D.C., the position will provide coordination, communication, and operational support to ensure effective implementation of outbreak response activities while maintaining strong donor engagement and compliance.
Working closely with country offices, regional platforms, technical advisors, grants management, monitoring and evaluation teams, and senior leadership, the Senior Specialist will ensure timely information flow, effective decision-making, donor reporting, and alignment of infectious disease response activities within broader LEARN project objectives and International Medical Corps' organizational priorities.
This position plays a critical role in supporting emergency surge operations, monitoring outbreak developments, identifying operational bottlenecks, facilitating cross-functional coordination, and ensuring donor requirements are met through high-quality reporting and communication.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function with or without reasonable accommodation.

Main Tasks And Responsibilities

Program Coordination and Response Management

• Serve as the primary focal point for International Medical Corps' infectious disease response activities under the LEARN project.
• Coordinate communication and information sharing between field response teams, regional platforms, headquarters departments, and organizational leadership.
• Monitor outbreak developments and response implementation across affected countries and provide timely analysis and recommendations to leadership.
• Track response priorities, action items, operational challenges, and critical decisions to ensure effective implementation.
• Facilitate coordination among technical, operational, security, logistics, finance, grants, and program quality teams supporting ID response activities.
• Support rapid response scale-up efforts and facilitate surge coordination during outbreak emergencies.
• Identify programmatic and operational risks and work with relevant stakeholders to develop mitigation measures.
• Foster a continuous understanding of the outbreak operating environment and emerging response needs.
  

Donor Liaison and External Representation

• Coordinate donor communications, updates, briefings, presentations, and response-related meetings.
• Lead preparation for donor engagements by collecting inputs from field teams and cross-functional departments.
• Ensure donor communications accurately reflect operational realities, response achievements, challenges, risks, and funding needs.
• Prepare donor briefing materials, situation updates, presentations, and meeting summaries.
• Support donor visits, virtual briefings, and monitoring activities as required.
• Represent International Medical Corps in external meetings, coordination forums, and technical discussions as delegated by senior leadership.
  

Reporting, Analysis, and Information Management

• Analyze and synthesize field data, operational updates, epidemiological information, and response metrics from country teams and regional platforms.
• Produce high-quality donor reports, situation reports, briefing papers, executive summaries, and response updates.
• Develop and maintain systems for tracking key response indicators, milestones, risks, and action items.
• Ensure accurate and timely information sharing with internal and external stakeholders.
• Support development of strategic analyses to inform leadership decision-making and response planning.
  

Proposal Development and Resource Mobilization

• Support the development of emergency funding proposals, modifications, and cost extensions related to ID preparedness and response activities.
• Coordinate inputs from technical, operational, finance, and country teams for proposal development.
• Assist with donor negotiations and funding discussions as requested.
• Ensure proposed activities align with donor requirements, operational realities, and strategic response objectives.
  

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

• Collaborate with Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) teams to track response performance and outcomes.
• Ensure response data is incorporated into broader LEARN monitoring and reporting frameworks.
• Support learning reviews, after-action reviews, and documentation of best practices and lessons learned.
• Promote evidence-based decision-making through data analysis and performance monitoring.
  

Cross-Departmental Coordination

• Collaborate with Grants, Finance, Compliance, Security, Human Resources, Logistics, Procurement, Communications, and Program Quality teams to support effective response implementation.
• Facilitate timely review and approval of agreements, budgets, reports, and operational requests related to ID response activities; act as ID response budget manager as assigned by Sr. Leadership.
• Ensure compliance with donor regulations, International Medical Corps policies, and organizational standards.
• Support organizational leadership in addressing complex operational, compliance, and risk management issues.
  

Knowledge Management and Capacity Strengthening

• Develop tools, templates, guidance documents, and coordination mechanisms to strengthen outbreak response management.
• Support documentation and dissemination of lessons learned and best practices from response operations.
• Contribute to strengthening organizational emergency response systems and preparedness efforts.
  

Security and Duty of Care

• Support implementation of organizational safety and security policies related to response activities.
• Coordinate with security personnel to monitor operational risks and ensure appropriate follow-up actions.
• Promote staff safety, well-being, and adherence to duty-of-care standards during emergency operations.
  

Perform other duties as assigned. The duties and responsibilities listed in this document are representative of the nature and level of work assigned and not necessarily comprehensive.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (master’s preferred) in Public Health, Epidemiology, Infectious Diseases, International Development, Humanitarian Assistance, Global Health, International Relations, or a related field. Equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.
• Minimum 7 years of progressively responsible experience in humanitarian health programming and emergency response.
• Minimum 3 years of experience managing infectious disease outbreak responses, including Ebola, Marburg Virus Disease, cholera, or similar public health emergencies.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating complex, multi-country humanitarian response programs.
• Proven experience serving as a donor liaison and managing relationships with U.S. Government and institutional donors, including USAID/BHA, U.S. Department of State/PRM, CDC, ECHO, and other bilateral or multilateral donors.
• Strong experience in donor reporting, proposal development, cost modifications, and grants management.
• Experience supporting emergency response operations across multiple countries and regions.
• Strong understanding of outbreak preparedness, response coordination, health systems strengthening, and humanitarian health programming.
• Experience working with monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems in humanitarian settings.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze complex information and communicate effectively to diverse audiences.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including exceptional report writing and presentation abilities.
• Strong organizational and project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Proven ability to work effectively across cultures, time zones, and multidisciplinary teams.
• Excellent problem-solving, strategic thinking, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to remain flexible and perform effectively in fast-paced and rapidly changing emergency environments.
• Full professional proficiency in English required; professional proficiency in French and/or Arabic strongly preferred.
• Commitment to the values, mission, and principles of International Medical Corps.
• Humanitarian health emergency response leadership.
• Ebola and infectious disease outbreak coordination.
• Donor engagement and strategic communication.
• Program management and operational oversight.
• Proposal development and grants management.
• Data analysis and strategic reporting.
• Cross-functional leadership and stakeholder engagement.
  

SALARY RANGE:

Mid $80's up to $105K per year
For positions filled in the United States, the typical salary range for this role is as stated above. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, job level, internal equity and budget. Exact salary offers will be determined by factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, experience and geographic location.