Internal/External

Vacancy Announcement 

IR/INT/EXT/VN/068.21
December 23, 2021

Job Title:                    Insurance Officer
Reports to:                Project Manager
Duty Station:             Somali Regional State, Hargelle

Salary:                        As per the organization Scale

Required:                   One

Duration:                    One year with possible extension based on performance  

Introduction

Islamic Relief is an international relief and development charity founded in 1984 with its headquarters in Birmingham, UK. As well as responding to disasters and emergencies, Islamic Relief promotes sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities – regardless of race, religion or gender. The office officially started its operation in Ethiopia in 2004. Islamic Relief Ethiopia (IRE) is operational in the Somali Regional State with a base office in Hargelle, Elkere, Bare and Dekasuftu, Afar Regional State; Ewa and Gulina, Oromia Regional State; Chiro and Meayso and an additional operational office in Addis Ababa. For more information please visit our website: http://www.islamic-relief.org/work-with-us.

Job Summary

Islamic Relief Ethiopia has received funding from DFID for a resilience building project to be implemented in Somali Regional State, Ethiopia. The project aim is to protect livestock and reduce mortality to strengthen the resilience of 3,000 pastoralist HH (19,800 individuals) to withstand drought shock through five pillars: livestock insurance, disease prevention, DRR technology, and water infrastructure and fodder production. The project will be implemented in Hargelle woreda targeting Cid-dhere, Dawacale, Dirinder, Hayir and Sogsog kebeles.

To successfully deliver on the target component of the project, IRE will require Insurance Officer who provide support to the “Reduced vulnerability and strengthening the capacity of pastoralist households to withstand drought shock in Ethiopia” project activities with insurance components that effectively meet pastoralist household need.

Main Tasks and Responsibilities

·         Act as primary interlocutor for the insurance component of the project in the field and provide technical input to the project manager.

·         Organize, coordinate and manage technical assessments for the insurance component.

·         Support the design of the insurance product and its condition, including the development of insurance policies, delivery channels and linkages to other project components.

·         Act as the focal point for the Insurance company or Pool of Insurance companies that underwrites the insurance component of the project as well as for the Regulator.

·         Support the interactions with specialized consultants (e.g. IRI and ILRI) and facilitate all the relevant data collection for index design and product refinement purposes. And, ensure that such consultancies and service contracts related to index insurance are contracted on a timely basis, in order to support project assessments and implementation.

·         Support the project manager on analyzing insurance participation in country, and assess insurance-specific bottlenecks for the scale up of the project.

·         Support the development of new and existing platforms, such as the Index Insurance Working Group, build up a network and enhance the capacity of key insurance stakeholders at local level from public and private sector.

·         Be in charge of index-design training and other capacity building activities, for all stakeholders, government, private sector, public service providers (NMA) as well as to Islamic Relief National staff. Closely work with ILRI on this element, and ensure that ILRI delivers its services as per the signed MOU.

·         Ensure integration and complementary of savings and credit activities with existing index insurance ones.

·         Support the development of adequate technical, economic, and legal, mechanisms to allow for insurance payments and payout delivery in Oromia Insurance Company (OIC) and Somali Micro-finance Institution (SMFI).

·         Ensure that the insurance components of the project are adequately and effectively integrated in the M&E plan and system, including the impact evaluation. Closely work with ILRI to develop the M&E framework for the livestock insurance program in the project location

·         Building on the existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Contribute to the revision/preparation of index-insurance specific SOPs for Livestock Program in Ethiopia. As well as ensuring that all identified activities related to the Insurance component of the project are well reflected in the programme budgets, and carry responsibility for implementation of those activities within that budget.

Must have following competencies;

• Understanding and experience with livestock insurance is a strong criterion.
• Experience with insurance mechanisms, especially weather index-based tools for vulnerable populations.
• Experience in the establishment of partnerships with public and private sector actors; understanding of policy issues.
• Understanding of food security vulnerability and ability to link analysis to programme design.
• Excellent work planning and project management skills, ideally demonstrated
• Training and/or experience utilizing computers, including word processing, spreadsheet and project management

Qualification/Experience/expertise

• Advanced University degree in Economics, Agriculture, Geography and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Insurance, Disaster Risk Management, Financial Services or related discipline
• 2 years of professional experience in the concerned function
• Experience in an environment & programmes with linkages with insurance industry is a strong added value.
• Technical experience in livestock and agriculture programs
• Excellent oral and written communications in English and Somali language are mandatory.

Safeguarding and Equal Opportunity

Islamic Relief and Islamic Relief staff considers the welfare and protection of children, young people and people at risk to be paramount to the organization. And must adhere the principle of ‘do no harm and leave no one behind.’ It is critical we do not expose communities or staff we work with to the risk of harm through our interventions.  With a zero tolerance approach Islamic Relief have a number of related policies which also describe standards in behavior expected from the organization, its staff and representatives towards each other and those we serve. Islamic Relief is committed to responding swiftly, appropriately and constructively to any and all information children, young people and people at risk have disclosed.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks. We participate in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme and will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and child abuse during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment before signing the contract agreement.

Islamic Relief believes everyone has the right to be safe, respected and valued regardless of who they are or their circumstances, and an equal employment opportunity  to all candidates and qualified applicants, we do not discriminate on the base of age, sex, race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, disability status and diversity.