Humanitarian Access Manager

Work Arrangement:

Job Description

Background:

The International Rescue Committee, one of the world’s largest humanitarian international NGOs, provides relief, rehabilitation and development support to vulnerable people and communities over 30 countries. We began work in Ethiopia in 2000 in response to severe drought in Ethiopia’s Somali region and are currently providing assistance to Ethiopians and refugees in six regions in Ethiopia, implementing emergency and development programs in health, water and sanitation, economic recovery, and development (ERD), women’s protection and empowerment, education, child protection, and multi-sectoral emergency response.

Position Overview:

The Humanitarian Access Manager will work closely with all members of the Safety, Security, and Access Department to develop overarching and localized access strategies for the country program and individual field sites. They will identify changes and trends in the humanitarian access context in Ethiopia, develop and be responsible for the implementation of both proactive and adaptable plans. They will facilitate and deliver training and capacity building related to access to IRC and partner’s staff. The Humanitarian Access Manager will be based in Addis with extensive travel to field locations.

Major Responsibilities:

Access

- Contribute to the implementation of humanitarian access strategies and approaches tailored to local contexts in IRC’s field sites throughout Ethiopia and include overarching community engagement components. - Ensure that IRC field teams conduct principled and sustainable negotiations with relevant actors in Ethiopia in line with humanitarian principles, humanitarian needs, a duty of care principles, and the IRC’s Strategy Action Plan. - Support access innovation initiatives, including the development of other strategies, tools, and guidelines for the management of IRC’s access in Ethiopia. - Provide access analysis based on program operation demand and in consolation with field staff. - As required, provide area-based access analyses supporting operational implementation or program development, including recommendations on how to address issues as they arise. - Work with program units to ensure access elements are included in proposals.

Training

- Provide regular training for IRC and partner staff on humanitarian principles, context analysis, and access related trainings. - As agreed with the Senior Management Team, provide ad hoc trainings on topics related to Safety, Security, and/or Access to IRC and partner staff. - Contribute to the develop and implement an annual training plan for the country program, with specific inputs related to access and negotiation. - Contribute to access negotiation trainings for all field sites. - Design and update access and security training materials/packages with assistance from the RSSA and Global Access team.

Building Acceptance & Networking

- Maintain a network of contacts from other NGOs, ICRC and Red Cross movement, and UN agencies. - Actively participate in in-country access forums, including but not limited to the Access Working Group. - Support the development of engagement plans and the identified ongoing relationships with community elders and other power brokers within IRC Ethiopia operational areas. - Work to ensure that IRC, its mission, and work within Ethiopia is known and accepted.

Safety and Security Management Planning

- Support Safety and Security team to ensure compliance at all times to Ethiopia Security Management policies, procedures, and guidelines. - Evaluate, review, and support the updating of evacuation/relocation plans for all IRC offices and field sites, ensuring access challenges and mitigation measures are incorporated into the design of evacuation/relocation plans. - As required, support the development of program continuity plans for identified/most likely scenarios and contribute to the development of operational and programmatic contingency plans that respond to different emergency scenarios.

Learning

- Contribute to documentation and organizational learning on access in IRC. - Contribute to IRC regional and global access discussions and share lessons learned and best practices from Ethiopia.

Qualifications

- A minimum of 4 years of experience implementing humanitarian access strategies and approaches within humanitarian assistance or development programs for bachelor’s degree and 3 years for Master’s. - Experience as a trainer, with the ability to develop, implement, facilitate, and impart learning to a wide range of audiences. - Must have a proven track record of proactively identifying and communicating potential problems and proposing solutions. - Ability to gain a precise understanding of the various local, regional, country, and international policies, operational positions, and interactions, providing clear analysis of given and unfolding safety, security, and political situations when they occur. - Understanding of humanitarian principles and codes of conduct.

Educational Requirements:

- BA/MA graduate in Law, Political Science and International Relations, Peace Studies, Security Studies, or related social science fields.

Preferred experience & skills:

- Excellent verbal and written communication skills as well as, an overall ability to be clear and concise in all communications. - Excellent organizational skills with proven ability to manage large amount of information and prioritize work. - Must be able to function effectively in a sophisticated work environment and to work with competing priorities. - Strong organizational and time-management skills; proven ability to prioritize and deliver on time. - Strong analytic problem-solving skills. - Strong collaborator with effective interpersonal skills and ability to manage conflicting views. - Strong ability to communicate concisely and with impact in English. - Ability to work both independently and in a dynamic, cross-functional global team structure. - Highly proficient in Microsoft Office suite - Demonstrated ability to work effectively with stakeholders at all levels. - Ability to manage and work through change in a proactive and positive manner.

Language Skills:

- Fluent in English, local language is a plus.