Prior to this position, Mr. Schmale worked with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in different capacities: Acting Chief-of-Staff (August – October 2021) responsible for providing support to the Commissioner-General and Deputy Commissioner-General; Director of Operations (October 2017 – August 2021) leading almost 13,000 strong team in providing essential services and humanitarian aid to more than 1.4 million Palestine refugees in Gaza; Director Representative Office, New York (January 2017 – October 2017); Director for Syria (September 2016 – December 2016); Director Lebanon Affairs (April 2015 – September 2016).

Before his career with the UN, Mr. Schmale worked at senior management level at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) for fifteen years including being the Under Secretary General for six years in Geneva, Switzerland. He is very familiar with trends affecting humanitarian and development work within sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Middle-East and Europe.