Roles

Most IMOs have a combination of skillsets, with expert knowledge in some skillsets and basic knowledge in others.

A Country Office needs an IM team with a balance of the five skillsets to meet the full range of OCHA’s IM responsibilities. An IMO who has expert knowledge in a single skillset is a ‘specialist’. IMOs who have experience in all skillsets but no specialization is a ‘generalist’. Large offices can have multiple specialists. Small offices or sub-offices need to rely on generalists.

An IMO in a large office who's a specialist in Mapping might spend all of their time working just on mapping and GIS activities, including (in this example) coordinating an inter-agency group working on CODs. We can think of specialists as those who spend 70% or more of their time working on a specific skillset.

An IMO working in a small country office or sub-office will have to do everything. They'll need to manage data, make maps, produce infographics and work with partners. This is a 'generalist' role and suits IMOs with a mix of technical skills and soft-skills.

Regardless of the size of the IM team, the manager should aim for a balance of skill sets. A large team can have multiple specialists, which can be very useful for doing advanced work in each skill. A smaller office will - by necessity - need to have generalists, so they can do a little of everything.