The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) was founded in 2005 and has become the largest and most influential University-wide program in humanitarian leadership in the United States. As an Inter-faculty Initiative, HHI leverages the multidisciplinary resources at Harvard University to create partnerships with NGOs, UN agencies, governments and universities to improve the quality, accountability and effectiveness of humanitarian aid in war, conflict and disaster. HHI has major programs in humanitarian technology, vulnerable populations, women in war, climate and urbanization and disaster resilience. Launched in 2012, the Humanitarian Academy at Harvard is the educational arm of HHI and a university-wide platform for humanitarian education and training, and, with HHI, based at the Harvard School of Public Health. The Academy is dedicated to educating and training current and future generations of humanitarian leaders in the areas of disaster response, program monitoring and evaluation, crisis leadership, human rights and ethical frameworks, civilian protection, international humanitarian law, and other dimensions of providing aid in acute settings affecting large populations.
The Executive Director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative will oversee the strategic and administrative management of HHI and all of its affiliated programs and initiatives in close coordination with the Faculty Director, to whom this position reports. The ED will serve as a thought partner for senior leadership across HHI and with various internal stakeholders, driving exploration, critical thinking, solution generation and implementation of strategies to ensure the status of HHI as a highly relevant and visible academic contributor to the humanitarian sector and the academic community at Harvard. S/he will work closely with HHI’s Deputy Director of Administration and Finance and other staff members to ensure that HHI is a smoothly running, productive research environment for associated faculty and staff. A key component of this role will be effective leadership, communication, coordination and relationship management with: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Department of Global Health and Population (where HHI is administratively based), the University’s Office of the President and Provost and the Office of the Dean of the Harvard Chan School (to which HHI also jointly reports programmatically), the administrative team of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine (an integral collaborator), and a network of faculty, students and programs across Harvard University that are conducting the interdisciplinary work of humanitarian research and education.
The position’s main responsibilities include:
• Strategic and administrative leadership of HHI in close collaboration with HHI’s Director and Deputy Director of Administration and Finance to ensure highest quality program delivery, compliance and strong sense of accountability
• Developing and implementing strategic vision and planning for organization; contributing to fundraising and proposal development (in partnership with the Harvard Chan School’s Office of External Affairs);helping to develop programming capacity and engaging programmatically on projects where skills and background are a fit
• Developing and strengthening key relationships across Harvard University and with external collaborators and internal offices and departments closely connected with the University. Stakeholders include: Harvard Chan School’s Department of Global Health and Population (where HHI is administratively based), Harvard Chan School central administration, University’s Office of the President and Provost, humanitarian-focused programs and centers in schools across Harvard University, as well as others.
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