Medical Coordinator Cotabato City

Title

Medical Coordinator

Pre hire checks

This role is classified as requiring standard pre-employment checks

Important Note

This recruitment is part of a pre-positioning effort. Submission of an application and participation in the selection process do not guarantee engagement. Any engagement will be contingent upon project activation, funding availability, and final approval.

• Context
  
  

About Relief International 

Relief International (RI) partners with communities impacted by conflict, climate change, and disaster to save lives, build greater resilience, and promote long-term health and well-being.  

Currently, we work in 14 countries across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, providing Health and Nutrition, WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), Education and Livelihoods programming that creates the foundation for community resilience. 

Relief International includes the four corporate members of the RI Alliance: Relief International Inc., Relief International-UK, Relief International-France, and Relief International-Europe. Under our alliance agreement, we operate with a single, shared management structure. 

About The Philippines Country Program 

Relief International Philippines operates with a strong focus on peacebuilding, humanitarian response, and development programming in areas affected by conflict, natural disasters, and socio-economic vulnerabilities. Since establishing its presence in the country, RI has worked closely with local communities, civil society organizations, and government institutions to support conflict-affected populations, promote social cohesion, and deliver life-saving assistance. The country's program integrates gender equality, youth empowerment, and community resilience across its portfolio, ensuring that interventions address both immediate needs and long-term structural challenges.

RI Philippines implements programs in the Mindanao and other high-risk regions, supporting initiatives on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), protection, education in emergencies, nutrition, and health. It also plays a role in disaster risk reduction and emergency preparedness, responding to both conflict- and climate-induced emergencies. Through a localized and participatory approach, RI Philippines strengthens local capacities and promotes inclusive development, aligning with national frameworks and global humanitarian and development standards.

• Job Profile
  
  

The Medical Coordinator will provide technical leadership and operational oversight for the implementation of various humanitarian health interventions under the DG ECHO-funded project and other health initiatives of Relief International. The position is responsible for ensuring quality, timely, and accountable delivery of emergency health services in accordance with humanitarian principles, national health protocols, and donor requirements.

The Medical Coordinator will support planning, coordination, supervision, technical monitoring, and capacity strengthening of project health activities in collaboration with local health authorities, humanitarian partners, and community stakeholders. The role will also ensure integration of protection, gender, age, disability inclusion, and Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) across project implementation.

In addition, the Medical Coordinator will maintain close coordination and collaborative engagement with government agencies, health and nutrition clusters, UN agencies, local government units, civil society organizations, and other health and nutrition actors operating in the Philippines at national, regional, and sub-national levels. The role will support strengthened inter-agency collaboration, information sharing, and harmonization of humanitarian health and nutrition interventions to ensure timely, integrated, and effective delivery of life-saving services during emergencies and disaster response operations.

The Medical Coordinator will actively participate in relevant coordination platforms, technical working groups, health and nutrition cluster meetings, and emergency preparedness and response mechanisms to facilitate alignment with national policies, humanitarian standards, and operational priorities. The position will also contribute to identifying gaps, promoting complementary programming within Relief International, and strengthening local response capacities to improve continuity, accessibility, and quality of health and nutrition services for affected populations, particularly vulnerable and at-risk groups.

• Key Responsibilities
  
  

Technical Responsibilities

• Provide overall technical leadership and strategic guidance for health and nutrition programming across the country program, including humanitarian preparedness, emergency response, and recovery interventions.
• Ensure that all health and nutrition activities are implemented in accordance with national standards and protocols, humanitarian principles, Sphere standards, and donor requirements, particularly DG ECHO commitments and compliance standards.
• Lead the development, adaptation, and implementation of technical guidelines, standard operating procedures (SOPs), referral pathways, and response protocols for emergency health and nutrition interventions.
• Support integration of public health, nutrition, WASH, protection, gender, age, disability, and inclusion considerations across humanitarian programming.
• Ensure quality implementation of emergency health activities including disease prevention and control, community-based health services, outbreak preparedness and response, health promotion, and emergency medical support.
• Provide technical oversight in the planning and implementation of rapid needs assessments, emergency response activities, contingency planning, and anticipatory action initiatives.
• Lead technical monitoring and supportive supervision of field teams and implementing partners to ensure quality, accountability, and adherence to technical standards.
• Support the strengthening of community-based health systems and local emergency response capacities through mentoring, coaching, and technical capacity building activities.
• Maintain close coordination and technical collaboration with the Department of Health, local health authorities, humanitarian clusters, UN agencies, NGOs, and other health and nutrition actors at national and regional levels to strengthen coordinated humanitarian action and service delivery.
• Represent the organization in health and nutrition technical working groups, coordination meetings, humanitarian forums, and emergency response platforms as delegated.
  
  

Program Management

• Support strategic planning, implementation, and expansion of humanitarian health and nutrition programming within the country program.
• Contribute to project design, proposal development, technical narratives, budgeting, and donor engagement for humanitarian and emergency response initiatives, particularly those supported by DG ECHO and other humanitarian donors.
• Provide support and ensure timely and effective implementation of project activities in line with approved workplans, targets, indicators, budgets, and donor commitments.
• Provide support in technical oversight in monitoring progress of health and nutrition interventions and provide recommendations to improve operational efficiency, quality, and impact.
• Support preparation and review of donor reports, technical updates, assessments, situation reports, and other project documentation related to health and nutrition programming.
• Support documentation of program achievements, lessons learned, best practices, and operational challenges to support accountability and organizational learning.
• Strengthen RI’s visibility, coordination, and collaboration with government agencies, consortium partners, humanitarian actors, and local stakeholders to support integrated humanitarian response efforts.
• Support implementation of monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning (MEAL) systems for health and nutrition interventions.
• Ensure integration of Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), protection mainstreaming, safeguarding, and community feedback mechanisms across all supported activities.
• Identify implementation risks, operational constraints, and emerging humanitarian health concerns, and recommend timely mitigation measures.
• Support emergency preparedness and organizational readiness initiatives, including prepositioning, surge planning, and rapid response mechanisms.
• Provide supervision, mentoring, and technical support to health and nutrition staff, consultants, within the country program.
• Identify staff development needs and support capacity strengthening initiatives to improve technical competencies on health and nutrition programming, including health emergencies.
• Promote teamwork, cross-sectoral collaboration, and adherence to organizational values, policies, and humanitarian principles.
  
  

Behavior and Conduct

• Will ensure the highest standards of behavior inside and outside of work promotes the values in RI’s code of conduct and safeguarding policies
• Will be a model for ethical conduct standards for other team members
• Will ensure own actions and the actions of the teams members they manage do not impact the safety of the RI team and the vulnerable communities we serve
• Will ensure external stakeholders are aware of RI conduct and reporting mechanisms
• Report any concerns
• Person Specification
  
  

Essential criteria

• Registered physician, nurse, public health professional, or other relevant medical/health qualification.
• Postgraduate training or specialization in Public Health, Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Community Medicine, Tropical Medicine, or related field is an advantage.
• Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH), International Health, Humanitarian Health, Disaster Risk Management, or related discipline is highly desirable.
• Minimum of 2-5 years of experience in humanitarian health programming, emergency response, public health project implementation, or health system strengthening.
• Experience in Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) or Psychological First Aid (PFA) is an advantage
• Strong understanding of humanitarian principles, Sphere standards, and public health emergency response.
• Previous experience working with humanitarian donors such as DG ECHO, WHO, UNICEF, USAID/BHA, UNFPA, or similar institutions is highly desirable.
• Experience coordinating with government health authorities and humanitarian coordination mechanisms.
• Strong leadership, communication, and report writing skills.
• Ability to work in emergency and resource-constrained settings.
• Willingness to travel frequently to field locations.
  
  

Relevant Experience

• Demonstrated experience managing health programs in emergency, disaster, conflict, or resource-constrained settings.
• Experience working with local government units, Ministries/Departments of Health, humanitarian clusters, and inter-agency coordination mechanisms.
• Proven experience in technical supervision, program management, and coordination of multidisciplinary health teams.
• Experience in outbreak preparedness and response, disease surveillance, infection prevention and control (IPC), and emergency public health interventions is an advantage.
• Experience in proposal development, donor reporting, budget monitoring, and humanitarian project management is preferred.
  
  

RI Values

Guided by the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, as well as “Do No Harm,” Relief International Values:

• Integrity
• Adaptability
• Collaboration
• Inclusivity
• Sustainability

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