Humanitarian Access and Safety Coordinator North-East Ukraine Kharkiv

Medical & Health Security

Overview

Take part in managing safety and security risks in humanitarian contexts.

You have:

• Minimum three years of relevant experience in a humanitarian/recovery context.
• Solid understanding of the Humanitarian Principles and their application in programmatic and advocacy responses, NGO safety and risk management, humanitarian access, and civil-military coordination.
• Previous experience working in complex contexts and understanding of access negotiations.
• Proficient in MS Office applications including Word and Excel.
• Working proficiency in English, Ukrainian and Russian, both written and verbal.
• Experience in liaising with communities and authorities as well as with NGOs.
• Experience in risk management with implementing partners.
• Demonstrated knowledge of context.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is reinforcing its presence in North-East Ukraine and establishes an Area Office based in Kharkiv. The Area Office North - East (AONE) will become a new area office, scaled up from the current Kharkiv Field Office, and will start being operational in the first half of 2026. The Area Programme Manager will take an active part in this scale up.

AONE will cover regions of Kharkiv and Sumy where current Field Office (FO) in Shostka will, in first half of 2026, structurally move to be under new Kharkiv AONE. The key sectors of intervention covered by the North-East area office will include Shelter, Information Counselling and Legal Assistance (ICLA), Protection from Violence, Education, and emergency response through cash assistance.

The Humanitarian Access and Safety (HAS) Coordinator is a key technical resource on safety and security, crisis management, and access at the area level. This role contributes to managing safety and security risks, building capacity, implementing Duty of Care (in direct coordination with People and Organisation), developing humanitarian access strategies, and facilitating principled humanitarian programming. The HAS Coordinator reports directly to the Area Manager and is technically overseen by the HAS Manager. This position is a core member of the Area Management Group.

The start date for this position on January 2026

Qualifications

Generic professional Competencies:

• Minimum three years of relevant experience in a humanitarian/recovery context.

• Solid understanding of the Humanitarian Principles and their application in programmatic and advocacy responses, NGO safety and risk management, humanitarian access, and civil-military coordination.

• Previous experience working in complex contexts and understanding of access negotiations.

• Proficient in MS Office applications including Word and Excel.

• Prior experience as a trainer is an added value.

• Working proficiency in English, Ukrainian and Russian, both written and verbal.

  Experience:

• • Demonstrated knowledge of context.

  • Experience in liaising with communities and authorities as well as with NGOs.

• • Experience in risk management with implementing partners (as applicable).

  Behavioural Competencies:

  • • Handling insecure environment
  • • Planning and delivering results
  • • Working with People
  • • Analysing
  • • Communicating with impact and respect
  • • Coping with change
  • • Leadership Profile Competencies
  • • Build meaningful relations
  • • Empower people
  • • Deliver results
  • • Act with integrity

  What do We Offer

  • This position is open to candidates who have the legal right to work in Ukraine. Please note that we are unable to provide work permits or visa sponsorships for this position.
  • We offer an opportunity to match your career to a compelling cause and a chance to meet and work with people who are the best in their fields.
  • We are also looking for people who share our values:
  • To be dedicated in what we do;
  • To be innovative with our solutions;
  • To act as one unified and inclusive team;
  • To be accountable to the donors that make our work possible;

  We invite applications from all qualified and interested candidates. Candidates are encouraged to apply early, as applications will be screened on a rolling basis and interviews will be assigned instantly until a suitable candidate is selected.

  About Us

  The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a global humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee.

  Join us in assisting millions of people in areas where others cannot, tackling some of the world's most dangerous and difficult crises. Bring your skills and dedication to an organisation recognised for providing high quality aid and for defending the rights of refugees and internally displaced people.

  At NRC, we give responsibility to employees at all levels and foster professional growth and innovative teams. You can expect a supportive culture and an open dialogue with management. We are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion.

  Together, we save lives and rebuild futures.

  Safeguarding is central to NRC’s work. We expect all employees to:

  • treat everyone with respect and dignity

  • contribute to building a safe environment for all

  • never engage in any form of exploitation, harassment and specifically sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment (SEAH)

  • always report. NRC has a zero-tolerance approach to inaction against exploitation, abuse and SEAH

Responsibilities

Generic Responsibilities:

• Implement the NRC Global HAS Management System at the area level, prepare reports as required and execute area-focused elements of the HAS Operational Plan.

• Contribute to a culture of enabling a safe and principled humanitarian response and support the implementation of Safe and Inclusive Programming Minimum Standards.

• Line management responsibility for direct reporting staff. This includes:

• Performance management process: setting clear goals aligned to strategic priorities, and to follow up and support staff’s achievement.

• Support Area Manager and HAS Manager with workforce planning, recruitment, staff induction and development and support for Duty of Care for HAS staff in area.

• Maintain an up-to-date understanding of the area’s humanitarian context, including analysis and forecasting, to regularly brief area management on key security developments, NRC exposure, access challenges, and emerging threats to inform decision-making.

• Lead the development of area-level HAS documents, including contingency plans, access strategies, and context-relevant Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), in line with organisational standards.

• Support the HAS Manager in conducting Security Risk Assessments (SRAs) and access assessments, including Rapid SRAs for new operational locations, and collaborate with management to implement relevant mitigation measures and support safe programming.

• Work with the Area Management Group to maintain compliance with NRC’s HAS Management System at the area level.

• Facilitate ongoing culture of learning relevant to Humanitarian Access and Safety and arrange for trainings including Hostile Environment Individual Security Training (HEIST), Field First Aid, drills and simulations for NRC staff and partners, in line with NRC policies.

• In consultation with the Area Manager and HAS Manager, communicate, and coordinate with relevant external actors and coordination structures and build relationships with various stakeholders to inform operations and security management as well as increase humanitarian access and protect humanitarian space at the area level.

• Ensure adherence to NRC policies, guidance and procedures, and a specific responsibility for HAS policies and procedures

Specific Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with the HAS Manager, People and Organisation staff, and the Area Manager to ensure Duty of Care standards are upheld, reflecting the diversity of the NRC workforce and visitors to the area.

• Work with management to ensure that all staff give their informed consent based on briefing upon arrival and that updates are regularly shared on the security context.

• Work with the Area Management Group (AMG) on emergency preparedness and contingency planning.

• Collaborate with AMG members and the HAS Manager to manage access, safety and security related incidents at the Area level, ensuring their documentation in NRC Protect.

• Contribute, in collaboration with the HAS Manager, to improving humanitarian access for NRC operations across the area by providing technical support on tools and strategies, supporting capacity building for area staff, and assisting teams in developing access strategies and engagement plans.

• Ensure that HAS training tracker is up to date.

• Lead and/or advise on the engagement with parties to the conflict, including non-state armed groups and state armed forces at the area level, when designated by management,

• Participate in Project Cycle Management by providing contextual analysis and technical advice on operational and programmatic modalities in the area.

• Provide the relevant HAS information required for project proposals to donors, internal or external audits, and any other requests as needed.

• Contribute to capacity building and knowledge sharing initiatives with local partners regarding security risk management and humanitarian access in the area, in coordination with the HAS Manager and the partnership focal points.

• Represent NRC in external forums at the area level, such as security coordination groups, INSO security management meetings, Humanitarian Access Working Group (HAWG) and Civil-Military Coordination, as well as other forums as required.

• Promote safeguarding principles and commitments within NRC and amongst communities.

• Participate, actively, in the Area Management Group.

• Perform any other tasks related to HAS and the position as delegated by the line manager.

  Critical interfaces:

• Area Management Group members for security risk management, incident management, mitigation measures implementation, and cross-functional priorities.

• Area Support Manager and Logistics team for collaboration on security compliance, accommodation premises, driver safety SOPs, and training.

• Area P&O team for ensuring Duty of Care and coordinating capacity building, recruitment, and performance management.

• Area Finance Team for HAS-related inputs to budgets and managing payments.

• Core Competency teams for conflict sensitivity, programme criticality, the Do No Harm principle, humanitarian needs analysis, and implementation modalities. Where present, Protection from Violence lead is a key interface.

• Access and Security/Safety focal points in peer organisations for information sharing, joint advocacy, and joint training and operations.

• Authorities for engagement to enable safe and principled access and programme delivery.

Apply now

Potential interview questions

Added 6 months ago - Updated 6 months ago - Source: nrc.no