Deirdre Van Heerden - Humanitarian Team Manager,

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Work Background

Etihad AirwaysSpecial Assistance Team Manager

Sep. 2022 - Mar. 2025Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates• Strategic Planning: Development of strategic plans & policies for providing humanitarian support, in accordance with international & GCAA standards for crisis management and response. • Partnership Development: Establishing and maintaining partnerships with Emergency Services providers, Government agencies, and other stakeholders. • Resource Management: Managing Team Members, including recruitment, training, performance evaluation, ensuring their skills and talents are applied optimally. • Safety & Compliance: Overseeing adherence to aviation regulations, security protocols, and humanitarian standards across all facets of airline humanitarian support operations. • Coordination and Communication: Facilitating communication and coordination between the airline, Emergency Services providers, humanitarian organisations and other stakeholders involved in support operations. • Team Leadership: Providing leadership, guidance, and support to all team members. • Project Management: Planning, coordinating, and implementing humanitarian operations, ensuring effective execution. • Planning and Development: Development, implementation, and maintenance of comprehensive emergency response plans to mitigate risks and ensure effective responses. • Monitoring and Evaluation: Monitoring project implementation and evaluating outcomes to assess effectiveness, identify gaps, and inform decision-making and adaptive management. • Reporting: Preparing timely and accurate reports on project progress, expenditures, and outcomes for all stakeholders. • Development of Humanitarian manual/processes, in accordance with GCAA and international standards. • Development of training modules. • Researched, developed, and produced new Special Assistance online training program. • Evaluate external Emergency Services providers worldwide and provide recommendations based on these analyses. • Manage challenging Guest Response cases. – (E.g., dealing with families who have lost a loved one.)

Etihad AirwaysEmergency Response Planning Officer

Nov. 2013 - Aug. 2022Abu Dhabi• Risk Assessment: Conducting risk assessments to identify vulnerabilities and/or threats. • Training and Coordination: Assisting in developing and delivering training programs and exercises to enhance emergency preparedness and response capabilities among staff and stakeholders. • Coordination: Coordinating with internal departments, external agencies, and community partners to ensure alignment of emergency response efforts and resources. • Testing and Exercises: Facilitating regular simulations, and exercises to test the effectiveness of emergency response plans and procedures and conducting post-exercise evaluations to identify areas for improvement. • Incident Management: Providing support and guidance during emergency incidents, serving as a point of contact for communication and coordination, and assisting with decision-making and resource allocation. • Regulatory Compliance: Ensuring compliance with relevant regulations, standards, and best practices related to emergency preparedness and response. • Communication: Developing communication strategies and materials to inform stakeholders about emergency procedures, risks, and preparedness measures. • Documentation and Reporting: Maintaining accurate records of emergency response activities, incidents, and lessons learned, and preparing reports for management, regulatory agencies, and stakeholders. • Continuous Improvement: Analyzing feedback, performance metrics, and lessons learned to identify opportunities for enhancing emergency response plans, procedures, and capabilities. • Setup and maintenance of the departmental shared drive document repository. • Managed departmental procurement and Emergency Response credit card requirements. • Managed the development, testing and final rollout of IT solutions for the department. These responsibilities are vital for effectively preparing for, responding to, and recovering from emergencies and disasters in order to protect lives, property, and the environment.

Etihad AirwaysProject Officer

Jul. 2012 - Jun. 2013Abu Dhabi• Project Coordination: Organizing and coordinating project activities, resources, and stakeholders to ensure smooth project execution. • Documentation Management: Maintaining project documentation, including plans, schedules, progress reports, and meeting minutes. • Risk and Issue Management: Identifying, assessing, and managing project risks and issues to minimize their impact on project objectives. • Stakeholder Communication: Facilitating communication between project teams, stakeholders, and management to ensure alignment and manage expectations. • Change Management: Assisting in managing changes to project scope, schedule, and resources, including assessing impacts and obtaining approvals. • Reporting and Analysis: Generating regular progress reports and performance metrics and analyzing project data to identify trends and areas for improvement. • Team Support: Providing administrative support to project teams, including scheduling meetings, preparing agendas, and coordinating logistics.

Etihad AirwaysProject Administrator - Contractor

Apr. 2012 - Jun. 2012Abu Dhabi• Coordinated the master Shift Roster and administered SharePoint. • Coordinated numerous workshops and documented the output.

SelfSABBATICAL

Jan. 2007 - Mar. 2012Abu DhabiFrom January 2007, my focus was on the educational requirements of my children. During this time, I also assisted new expatriates getting settled in Abu Dhabi. This involved guiding them on options for various products; services; accommodation and schools. Additionally I worked as a Personal Assistant for my husband with duties such as: • Preparing correspondence; compiling reports & developing presentations. • Managing his electronic diary as well as coordinating meetings.

Kempton-HooglandMarketing & Communications Administrator

Jul. 2003 - Nov. 2006Kempton Park, South Africa• Planning and logistical coordination as well as guest interfacing. • Development of marketing and communication pieces. • Development and maintenance of databases, data analyzing and drafting of statistical reports.

XEROX SA (Now Bytes Document Solutions)Contract Control Supervisor & Contract Controller

Sep. 1994 - Jun. 2003Isando, Gauteng, South Africa• Developed and delivered a training program for Contracts Administration across South Africa. • This training enabled staff to perform to required company and ISO9001 standards. • Validation of contracts.

ABSA (Volkskas Bank / United Bank)Bank Clerk

Dec. 1987 - Aug. 1994Pretoria, Gauteng, South AfricaCredit Control; Cashier.