Regional Humanitarian Access and Safety Advisor

Contract

This is a DRC - Expatriate contract. More about DRC - Expatriate contracts.

We are looking for a highly qualified Regional Humanitarian Access and Safety Advisor for a short term position based in Dakar.

Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has an operational presence in West and Central Africa since 2014, working in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and the Central African Republic. The Regional office, where the Regional Humanitarian Access and Safety Coordinator (RHASC) is based is in Dakar.

Currently, DRC delivers life-saving assistance and protection to vulnerable, conflict-affected populations including internally displaced persons, returnees and host communities in the areas of armed violence reduction, humanitarian mine action, livelihoods, nutrition and food security, protection, shelter and non-food items (NFI) and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

DRC is in the phase 2 of its reorganisation. During this phase, the former West Africa region will expand considerably, from 6 to more than12 countries in West and Central Africa, North Africa and Latin America.

About the job

Under the authority of the Regional Executive Director, the Regional Humanitarian Access & Safety Coordinator (RHASC) will provide advice, coordination, and technical support on all aspects of the DRC Safety Risk Management system (SRMS) in the countries of operation, ensuring compliance with DRC Global Safety and Global Access policies. The RHASC will be the pivot for critical incidents and crisis management throughout the region.

The Regional Humanitarian Access & Safety Advisor will be based in Dakar but may have to travel up to 40% of the working time through the region.

This position is a senior one, requiring a strong previous experience in safety and humanitarian access. This position also requires strong communication and analysis skills in order to feed informed decision making regarding DRC operations.

Duties and responsibilities:

The Regional Humanitarian Access & Safety Advisor will manage all aspects of the DRC Safety Risk Management (SRM) system in the region (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico). Under the direct management of the Regional Executive Director he /she is expected to pursue the following objectives and duties in his/her daily work:

Overall objectives

• Manage the development and implementation of the Danish Refugee Council’s (DRC’s) Safety Risk Management System (SRMS)
• Facilitate program access and continuity by providing reliable advice
• Ensure compliance with DRC safety policy as stated in Chapters 19 & 20 of the DRC Operations Handbook
• Supervise and mentor the Country Safety Coordinators
• To develop policies and procedure, in coordination with project staff, for the safe delivery of program activities

Incident and Crisis Management and recovery:

• Work as Coordinator and primary point of contact for critical incidents and crisis management. Ensure smooth flow of information both upward (from field to HQ) and downward (from HQ to the field).
• Ensure due process is followed during the different phases of incident and crisis management: immediate and rolling actions, post-incident recovery, residual risk assessment and options for programme continuity. Ensure appropriate mitigation measures developed during the After Action Review are translated into an executable Safety Improvement Plan.
• Monitor the advancement of achievable and cost-effective mitigation measures set up in the countries Safety Improvement Plans.
• Regularly inform the Regional Executive Director and the Global Safety Advisor on Incident management and After-Action Reviews (AAR) through the Region.
• Work with the Global Safety Advisor on the development of the Safety Incident Report (SIR) and on the safety workstream.
• Conduct post-incident inquiries, if required, and monitor compliance with action points on SIRs and AAR.
• Ensure all incidents are duly reported in the Safety Incident Report (SIR) system.

SRMS:

• Ensure that countries are up to date with the different components of the DRC Safety Management System: Contingency plans; Safety Level System (SLS), Minimum Operating Safety Standards (MOSS), Local Safety Rules (LSR), Safety Risk and Threat Assessments (SRA); Record of Emergency Data (RED) as per the SRMS tracker that will be provided.
• Ensure that countries provide updated Safety Risk Assessments (SRA), Context Assessments and Programme Assessments for each programme area pursuant to DRC Safety Policy.
• Ensure each programme area has appropriate SOPs developed and implemented. Monitor compliance with SOPs. Keep track of the SOPs in the SRMS tracker.
• Support Incident Management Teams (IMTs) with the implementation of contingency plans. Conduct regular reviews with IMTs to ensure CPs are up to date, realistic and understood. Act as the primary point of contact for safety related matters with the Regional Office and other local actors (UNDSS, etc).

Humanitarian Access and programme continuity

• Ensure that all countries in the Region have finalised their Humanitarian Access strategies.
• Work in collaboration with the Country Safety Coordinators and program teams to ensure that humanitarian access strategies deliver the purpose while minimizing unforeseen adverse consequences on people in need (do no harm), within DRC risk acceptance.
• Produce analysis and evaluations on the humanitarian space and access adapted to the presence of DRC. Provide on request analysis and evaluations on areas, themes, dilemmas or scenarios.
• Identify potential scenarios, indicators of change in the humanitarian space and key decision points at micro, meso and macro level. Keep a register of developments related to access and humanitarian space.
• Work with the Global Access Advisor on the development of the Access Level System

Capacity Building

• Conduct – or facilitate the delivery of – safety training for staff at all levels. Ensure that all countries in the region are at par with DRC Safety Training agenda.
• Supervise and mentor the Country Safety Coordinators on their role.
• Promote the integration of Safety & Access departments with Programmes and Operations in all phases, including in the drafting of proposals and budgeting.

Information Management and Reporting

• Maintain detailed soft and hard copy files of all relevant safety documents. Monitor the overall situation and provide regular situation reports. Maintain an up-to-date incident tracking database and Provide staff with relevant and concise safety related information and analysis, both through external and internal reports, publications, etc.
• Ensure an up-to-date visitor briefing package is provided to all visitors and international staff
• Conduct safety briefings for all visitors and staff at the Regional Office level. Ensure that Country Offices do the same
• Provide briefings on thematic and specific issues, as requested by the Regional Director or the Global Safety and Global Access Advisors

In addition to the above, the Regional Humanitarian Access & Safety Advisor may be asked to carry out other duties requested by the Regional Director or the Global Safety and Global Access Advisors.

About You

To be succesful on this role we expect you to possess the following:

Experience and technical competencies:

• Minimum 5 years of practical experience in sector area working for an INGO
• Management and/or supervisory experience within an NGO or similar organisation
• Proven ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines
• Proven ability to develop and implement effective and contextualized protocols and systems.
• Ability to conduct and produce high quality safety risk assessments (SRAs).
• Experience with critical incident management.
• Proven commitment to accountability practices.
• Experience with information gathering, analysis and report writing.
• Experience working with national partners, local/government authorities, and UN organisations

Education:

• Master's degree (e.g. political science, international development, or economics)
• In lieu of the above, a bachelor’s degree and several years of experience in the sector

Languages: (indicate fluency level)

• Full professional proficiency in French and English
• Knowledge of Spanish, Arabic and other languages native to the WANALA region is an asset but not a requirement.

Required Skills & Qualities

• Core Competencies of DRC:
  • Striving for excellence
  • Collaboration
  • Taking the lead
  • Communication
  • Demonstrating Integrity
• Ability to work in a multinational and multicultural environment
• Proactivity, with a sound commitment to teamwork and with a spirit of genuine collaboration
• Excellent communication skills, as well as patience and politeness, are required
• Multi-tasking and Organizational skills is a must
• Adaptable and Flexible
• Proven analytical and critical thinking skills
• Exemplary sense of ethics in the workplace
• Team-oriented & good sense of humor

General Regulations

• The employee shall follow DRC instructions on safety, confidentiality and ethical guidelines, including the Code of Conduct and the Humanitarian Accountability Framework
• Employee should not engage in any other paid activity during the DRC contract period without prior authorization
• Employee should not engage in any activity that could harm DRC or the implementation of any project during the DRC contract period
• Employee should not give interviews to the media or publish project-related photos or other material without prior authorization
• Employee shall return all borrowed equipment for the project to DRC after the end of the contract period or upon request

We offer

Contract length: 3 months (non-renewable)

Band: E, Non-Management

Designation of Duty Station: Dakar. Unaccompanied position. Access to individual accommodation possible for couples/ families

Start date: As soon as possible

Salary and conditions will be in accordance with Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for Expatriates; please refer to drc.ngo under Vacancies.

Application Process

Are you interested? Then apply for this position on line via the "Apply Now" button. All applicants must send a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages).

DRC provides equal opportunity in employment and prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.

DRC encourages all applicants to apply and does not practice any discrimination in any recruitment process.

However, all applicants shall take into consideration that DRC cannot offer an international work contract to a citizen of the country of assignment (in this specific case: Republic of Senegal)

Applications close on the 25th of March 2022 at midnight (GMT-time). Applications submitted after this date will not be considered.

Due to the urgency of the position, DRC has the right to recruit a candidate who matches the required profile before the above deadline.