Digital Humanitarian Platform R&d Technology Lead

• Head of Operations

Functional reporting to the Data Protection Office (DPO) in Geneva for the data protection and security by design objectives, Red Safe team in Geneva for the Red Safe programmatic objectives, and Delegation for Cyberspace Head of Technology to ensure compatibility with the Delegation for Cyberspace R&D environment.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) works worldwide to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to people affected by conflict and armed violence. We take action in response to emergencies and, at the same time, promote respect for international humanitarian law. We are an independent and neutral organization, and our mandate stems essentially from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. We work closely with National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and with their International Federation in order to ensure a concerted, rational and rapid humanitarian response to the needs of the victims of armed conflict or any other situation of internal violence. We direct and coordinate the international activities conducted in these situations.

The humanitarian sector has been undergoing a significant digital transformation in recent years, creating both opportunities and risks. On the one hand, people affected by humanitarian emergencies are increasingly connected, and humanitarian organizations are developing and offering digital humanitarian services. On the other hand, unauthorized access to or extraction of humanitarian data by malicious actors, to gain operational advantages or for other non-humanitarian purposes, can create significant risks for the dignity and safety of vulnerable people whilst undermining the work of humanitarian actors.

RedSafe, the Digital Humanitarian Platform, has been piloted in Southern Africa since 2021 and in Central America since 2023. It enables its users (people in need of humanitarian assistance) to self-register and access digital humanitarian services provided by the ICRC and its partners, through a web application and a mobile App. The platform has security and data protection concerns at the heart of its mandate, minimizing data collection and exposure of data.

The recent creation of an ICRC Delegation for Cyberspace aims at strengthening its capacity to be operational, also in a digital space, according to the standard working modalities of the ICRC. The ICRC Delegation for Cyberspace aims at exploring new ways to support, enable, and protect the ICRC’s digital footprint, which is made up primarily of the data that affected populations entrust it with. The Delegation also aims at creating a safe R&D environment to develop a response to the challenges brought by digitalization, notably in conflict settings, and anticipate those that will continue to emerge with its expansion. Understanding what adherence to the fundamental principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence of exclusively humanitarian action means in a digital world, and adapting its operating modalities and technology choices accordingly, is a key component of this. This is essential for the ICRC to gain and preserve the trust of affected populations as well as interlocutors, to continue to have access to affected areas, also by digital means, to ensure that affected communities access essential humanitarian services, and to ensure the acceptance and safety of its own staff.

From 2024, RedSafe and the Delegation for Cyberspace in Luxembourg will be working together to create a separate instance of the Red Safe platform with the aim of ensuring the highest degree of neutrality, impartiality and independence from a technical architecture standpoint. This involves capitalizing on the Delegation work in the domain of Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) as well as a strong focus on data protection and security by design research and development done by the Data Protection Office in Geneva (DPO). The end goal is to scale selected outcomes of the research and development stream into the production RedSafe product that is already being used by thousands of people.

We are looking for a full-stack engineer to join our team, with experience in data protection and security by design architecture, who will be responsible for the development of the ICRC Digital Humanitarian Platform ‘RedSafe’ (www.icrc.org/redsafe) research and development. The role’s objective is to complete the Delegation’s team with strong technical expertise in the area of data protection and security by design and robust development skills, and the position holder will lead the research and development (R&D) activities that will be feeding RedSafe product roadmap.

The Digital Humanitarian Platform R&D Technology Lead position will be responsible for designing a data protection and security by design research and development version of Red Safe, and for all technical aspects of the R&D stream, including infrastructure, DevSecOps, development of proof of concepts, testing of new technologies and of alternative solutions, code reviews and scanning, technical documentation. Furthermore, the Technology Lead will accompany the integration of selected R&D modules into the RedSafe production environment, transferring the knowledge and working together with the ‘Technology and Information’ team in Geneva that is in charge of the operation of the RedSafe solution.

• Is responsible for the creation of a new architecture for the R&D version of Red Safe that is based on data protection and security by design and aimed at ensuring neutrality, impartiality and independence with regards to tech suppliers and states. This architecture will be supported by the Red Safe team in Geneva, by the DPO in Geneva and, as required, by temporary specialized external resources.
• Manages infrastructure and DevSecOps of the R&D version of Red Safe at the ICRC Delegation for Cyberspace in Luxembourg.
• Leads the development of Proof of Concepts and new modules/microservices, supported as required by the Red Safe team in Geneva and temporary specialized external resources.
• Ensures the new developments follow security and privacy by design principles.
• Works closely with technology advisor, business analyst and IT architect, proposing improvements and feeding into the operational product.
• Documents learnings and assures quality of the deliverables in the R&D version of Red Safe at the ICRC Delegation for Cyberspace in Luxembourg.
• Coordinates, with the support of the Red Safe team in Geneva, review of deliverables and code, proposes improvements.
• With the support of the Red Safe team in Geneva, integrates and improves products or components that are delivered by other partners or by the open-source community.

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• Geographical remit: Global

Focal point on RedSafe at the delegation for cyberspace in Luxembourg

• Internally, reports to the Head of Operations, interacts with the Head of Delegation, Head of Policy and outreach, the Cyber-analysts, the OSI team, as well with delegations in the field.
• Functional reporting: DPO Team in Geneva for the data protection and security by design objectives, Red Safe team in Geneva for the Red Safe programmatic objectives, and Delegation for Cyberspace Head of Technology to ensure compatibility with the Delegation for Cyberspace R&D environment
• Externally, represents the ICRC in meetings/workshops related to the topics under direct responsibility.
• Works together with the RedSafe unit in Geneva (6 team members), who will be partially dedicated to building and supporting this new R&D environment in Luxembourg.

• University degree (or equivalent experience) in a relevant field like engineering or computer science

• 10+ years of experience in the field of development
• Including 2+ years of experience on Dev/SecOps approach
• Experience in data protection and security by design, and architecture implementing data protection and security by design
• Experience with the integration and usage of open-source solutions
• Knowledge of development languages (Python, Java and JS),containerisation/orchestration (Docker, OpenShift, Kurbenets AKS) and API management (eg. WSO2 API management)
• Experience in innovation or research projects: an asset
• English: fluent ; French: an asset

• Excellent technical skills, ability to develop and to take the lead on architectural topics
• Excellent analytical and synthetic skills, ability to review code, produce documentation, challenge decisions and propose recommendations
• Excellent understanding and awareness of personal data protection principles
• Good communication skills, ability to provide information and recommendations for non-technical colleagues, and to maintain different stakeholders involved and informed.
• Assertiveness and result-driven: ability to drive the outcomes of the research workstream in the midst of other initiatives and objectives.
• Ability to work independently

• At the ICRC, we value impact, collaboration, respect, and compassion. We seek candidates who demonstrate behaviors based on these shared values. For more information on the ICRC values, please visit this page.