The Geneva Sustainability Centre is seeking to appoint a project officer to support its learning programmes. This is an exciting role that will suit a self-motivated candidate who wants to generate real impact at the nexus of climate change and healthcare services.

Headquartered with the International Hospital Federation in Switzerland, the Geneva Sustainability Centre’s vision is to equip a global community of hospital leaders with the skills they need to lead their organizations in developing and executing effective responses to climate change. The Centre will support hospital leaders with capacity-building training, executive assessment programmes, and knowledge exchanges around the world. Through this work, the Geneva Sustainability Centre seeks to reduce the healthcare sector’s direct contributions to global carbon emissions and accelerate the transition of hospitals to low-carbon healthcare.

A multi-year funding commitment is in place to establish and grow the Centre, providing a unique opportunity for a project management professional to support the development of a new global initiative at the intersect between climate change and healthcare.

Position Overview

The Project Officer will play a key role in the Geneva Centre’s core team. Under the direction and supervision of the Geneva Centre’s Director of Learning Programmes, the Project Officer will manage and support the delivery of a high-quality portfolio of project and programmatic initiatives focused on healthcare leadership education for sustainability.

This position will suit an early to mid careerist with established project management and curriculum development skills, relevant experience in sustainability and a positive, ‘can do’ attitude. The postholder will work with a range of stakeholders from across the Geneva Centre’s global community (hospital leaders, clinical executives, academic groups, and non-profit organisations at both national/international levels) to reduce the healthcare sector’s direct contributions to global carbon emissions and to help hospitals on their journey towards a lower carbon future.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

The post holder will be responsible for ensuring a considered approach to educational programmes for the Geneva Centre by:

Project Management and Implementation

• Supporting the Geneva Centre’s Director of Learning Programmes; Executive Director and other personnel with the development of materials on sustainability for healthcare leaders in line with the organisation’s strategic work-plan.
• Undertaking and supporting projects and programmatic initiatives, by developing and maintaining robust plans with well-defined metrics of success; monitoring and tracking risks and issues and contributing to proactive resolution and escalation processes.
• Providing coordination of, development of and participation in relevant educational program and team meetings – assisting with in-person conferences, coordinating study tours, etc.

Governance and Reporting

• Contributing to effective reporting and governance processes for the Geneva Centre including:
  • Managing the reporting processes for the educational programmes
  • Supporting the preparation of narrative and financial reports to funders as needed.
• Contributes to the production of key strategic documents in support of the Centre’s work, such as strategic business cases and funding/grant applications to enhance revenue streams.
• Monitors global leadership in sustainability developments, reports and initiatives from external stakeholders and partners which are relevant to the mission and work of the Geneva Centre.

Other Duties

• Provides administrative and operational support as needed to the Director of Learning Programmes and the Executive Director of the Geneva Centre.
• Contributes to the IHF membership support processes as part of a shared and aligned approach across the IHF and Geneva Sustainability Centre.

This is a hands-on ‘doing’ role: the post holder may be asked to undertake other reasonable duties in addition to those listed in this job description.

Profile Requirements

Prospective candidates will need to demonstrate these competencies in an assessment and at interview.

Essential Criteria:

• Educated to Masters’ degree level in 1-3 relevant fields (e.g., executive development, sustainability, environmental sciences, healthcare delivery or similar area), or can demonstrate the equivalent level of knowledge gained through experience, which may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.
• Established educational expertise including experience of preparing course materials, running training events or study tours and developing supporting materials.
• Established project management skills, including experience in managing multiple deliverables from start to finish and delivering to tight deadlines.
• Ability to confidently engage with a range of stakeholders, at all organisational levels.
• Be self-supporting, with a strong motivation and passionate commitment to achieving effective action against climate change, in support of improving human health.
• Be a native or fluent English speaker with excellent oral and writing skills (the operating language of the IHF /GSC is English).
• Highly proficient in the use of Microsoft Office systems, including MS Word, MS Outlook, MS PowerPoint and MS Excel and SharePoint.
• Ability to work remotely, blending in-person and virtual approaches as required.
• Swiss or EU citizenship or a valid work permit for Switzerland at the time of application is a pre-requisite.

Desirable Criteria:

• An understanding of the connectivity between climate change, healthcare, and public health.

What this position offers

Working within the Geneva Sustainability Centre provides a unique opportunity to act in the vibrant Geneva NGO ecosystem and to engage with healthcare leaders across the world. The Project Officer will receive a competitive salary based on experience and skills set.

Applying for the role

This role requires an enthusiastic mid - early careerist with strong educational programmatic and project management skills, relevant experience in sustainability and a ‘can do’ attitude. If this sounds like you, please apply by sending your application to gscrecruitment@ihf-fih.org with the subject header ‘Application: Project Officer – Learning Programmes’, enclosing:

• a cover letter in English describing your motivations and relevant experience for this position (maximum of two pages).
• a concise CV.

The Geneva Sustainability Centre is committed to fostering an organizational culture which values respect, teamwork, and excellence, and to building a working environment in which all staff are empowered and respected. In recruiting candidates, we seek candidates with the proven skills required, irrespective of race, gender, religion or belief, age, disability, or sexual orientation.

Date of application closure 9th September 2022