A Career Without Borders: Finding Purpose Through Standby Deployments

For many humanitarian professionals, a career is measured by long-term positions and linear progression. For Information Management specialist Vincenza Lofino, it has been shaped by something different: the flexibility, variety and impact that comes from serving on multiple standby rosters.

Since joining her first standby roster in 2019, Vincenza has deployed through three different Standby Partnership rosters, IMMAP Inc, Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency and RedR Australia, to support a range of UN agencies and emergencies. Her assignments have taken her from supporting the Global Protection Cluster with UNHCR, to Child Protection emergency operations for UNICEF during the Gaza crisis, and to the WHO Health Cluster response to the MPox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"From a recruiter’s point of view, it can look like a lot of short contracts," she says. "But when you deploy through a standby partner, they understand your career, your objectives and your experience."

Today, Vincenza remains active on three standby rosters, seeing them not simply as a source of deployments, but as a deliberate career choice.

"The Standby Partnership is an opportunity to be flexible. I can continue providing my skills where they are most needed while still balancing time with my family."

That flexibility has allowed her to work across multiple humanitarian sectors. While Information Management is often associated with data and reporting, Vincenza can utilise her expertise and apply it to multiple programme areas.

"I love that I can apply my skills across various programmes. Protection, WASH, education, health – we are all interconnected, and Information Management helps break across silos."

Her deployments have ranged from remote support to some of the world's most challenging operational environments. During the MPox response in Kinshasa, security restrictions often meant working from a compound and travelling in armoured vehicles. Supporting UNICEF's child protection response to Gaza from Geneva brought different challenges, including connectivity constraints, limited access to data and working alongside national colleagues experiencing the emergency firsthand.

Throughout each deployment, one constant has remained: helping people make better decisions through better information.

"Everything comes from data – reporting, advocacy and decisions. Information Management is such a vital tool in humanitarian settings. I feel lucky to be in this area."

But Vincenza believes successful Information Management is about much more than systems and analysis.

"It has to be a balance. You need time behind the computer to analyse the data, but you also need to be present with partners and colleagues."

That people-centred approach has become one of her defining strengths. Across multiple deployments, she has developed training sessions and practical tools that simplify data collection and reporting processes for frontline responders.

"The way some teams were working, the processes and tools were very difficult and time consuming. I could make it simpler and easier for them, reducing bureaucracy and confusion. That reduced wasted time, effort and stress while increasing their ability to use the information."

Among the comments she values most in her performance evaluations is one recurring phrase: team builder.

"I'm proud to see that. Interpersonal skills bring positivity to the work, even in very difficult contexts."

For Vincenza, standby deployments are not only about responding to emergencies. They are also about belonging to a global community of experts who share knowledge, support one another and help connect colleagues to future opportunities.

Looking ahead, she hopes to continue deploying through the Standby Partnership.

"I would love to continue deploying as a standby expert. I love giving my full effort, concentration and focus to this work. Through the roster, I can continue contributing where needed while maintaining balance in my personal life."

Her experience demonstrates how standby rosters can offer more than surge capacity. They can provide a flexible and rewarding career path for specialists whose skills are needed across agencies, sectors and emergencies worldwide.