Job Opportunities at Catholic Relief

Background

• The EARO region consists of the following country programs: Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and has program offices in Tanzania and Somalia.  Support is also provided to the Church in Djibouti and Eritrea.  The DRD/PQ is expected to spend on average 25% of her/his time travelling and providing direct support to country programs. EARO’s main programming areas are: Humanitarian Response, Resiliency, Health, Agriculture/Livelihoods, and Youth.

 Job Summary 

• As a member of the Regional Office Senior Management Team, the Deputy Regional Director for Program Quality (DRD/PQ) is responsible for technical and program quality, business development, and staff development in these areas, in accordance with the Agency Mission. The DRD/PQ is responsible for ensuring that the Agency’s overall vision and strategy is understood and incorporated into strategic planning and program management in all country programs and at the regional level; providing technical and programmatic support to country program staff; ensuring close and efficient coordination with PIQA, IDEA, and HRD on common programming initiatives and departmental mandates; ensuring that all appropriate opportunities for growth throughout the region are pursued.

Roles and Key Responsibilities 

• Contribute and/or lead the development and implementation of regional and country program (CP) strategies, ensuring synchrony with Agency priorities.
• Lead coordination and planning for Regional Office strategic priorities and project implementation. Support project implementation across the region to increase quality.
• Play a leadership role in project Start up, management, close-out, ensuring CRS tools ProPack, Compass, and Program Quality Standards are utilized.
• Represent CRS to donors and institutional partners active in East Africa by sharing Regional Office priorities and strategies in order to explore collaboration.
• Mentor and manage regional PQ personnel (regional technical advisors, PMs) including performance and development plans and appraisals.
• Support onboarding and development of Heads of Program (HoP)and Chiefs of Party through regular mentoring, training opportunities.
• In coordination with CRS technical staff in HQ and throughout the region, maintain awareness of relevant best practices; ensure dissemination throughout the region and application of best practices in program and project planning/design.
• Liaise with other regions, Headquarters departments (PQSD, IDEA, M&M) and external partners in sharing information, facilitating discussion on program quality standards and implementing program quality initiatives.
• Ensure HOPs design high-quality projects with innovative approaches that incorporate project management standards and MEAL methods, appropriate to scope, context, and technical requirements of large and complex projects.
• Oversee the regional reviews of all proposals, concept notes and Country Programs’ strategies, as well as other strategic reports and documents.
• Incorporate lessons learned from CPs/regions/HQ into regional and country level resource mobilization and program development/execution, as appropriate. 
• Develop EARO’s Heads of Program through regular communication and coaching; assist HoPs with structure and staffing, PQ challenges, reporting, MEAL.
• Ensure that Country Program technical assistance needs for PQ/BQ are met through Technical Advisors (Tas) and prioritization is explained to the CP’s, other TDYs; Support the development of staff and consultant rosters.  
• Works closely to ensure Humanitarian Responses in region; support needs assessments, sitreps, resource mobilizations, staffing/TDYs, implementation bottlenecks and reporting.
• Help ensure work environment, culture and staff actions reflect CRS guiding principles, where dignity, diversity, community, and rights and responsibilities of all are understood, promoted, valued and upheld.
• Work closely with DRD-Ops, RFO and HOPs in addressing ongoing programmatic-management issues such as operational delays which affect programmatic and spending performance.
• Promote safeguarding at the country program level. Ensure quality implementation of CRS safeguarding policy and principles across both operations and programs. With support from technical advisors, ensure capacity building efforts and technical guidance to CRS staff and partners, in line with CRS principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Excellent strategic, analytical, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment and decisions.
• Excellent relation management abilities. Ability to work collaboratively
• Demonstrated leadership, management and supervisory skills
• Strong facilitation and training skills
• Team leadership abilities with diverse/multi-disciplinary teams. Coaching/mentoring skills 
• Ethical conduct in accordance with recognized professional and organizational codes of ethics
• Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented and results-oriented

Preferred Qualifications:

• Required/Desired Foreign Language: Fluency in English
• Travel Required: 25%

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• TAs for Health, Nutrition, Agriculture/Livelihoods, Microfinance/Youth, Gender, Social Cohesion, and MEAL; Business Development Manager

Key Working Relationships:   

• Internal: Deputy Regional Director-Ops; Regional Finance Officer, Country Representatives; Heads Of Programming; Chiefs of Party, PIQA & IDEA team members, other DRD/PQs,  HRD staff
• External:  USG, including USAID (Washington, local Missions) and other relevant agencies; other bilateral/multilateral; Donor Agencies; local and international PVOs; local partners; other Catholic development agencies; technical support networks; US and local universities, private sector corporations and investment companies.

QUALIFICATIONS
 Basic Qualifications  

• Master's Degree in development or related sector.
• Minimum of 7 years required; 10 or more years preferred in a management position with progressive responsibilities. Experience with an international NGO and experience outside country of origin preferred. Past experience serving as a CRS Head of Programming, desirable.
• Familiarity with technical standards in project management and program design for CRS core competencies and programmatic themes.
• Demonstrated ability to transfer knowledge and skills formally and informally to diverse audiences; desire and ability to mentor staff.
• Demonstrated understanding of industry program quality standards and management best practices in relief and development.
• Knowledge of multiple public donors’ regulations, including USAID, highly preferred.
• Ability to represent the agency at high levels

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Background:

• Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

Job Summary:

• The Regional Health, Safety and Security Advisor provides operational –technical and tactical– safety and security solutions to the East Africa (EARO) and Southern Africa (SARO) Country Programs. The Advisor is responsible for coordination, support and where necessary facilitation of safety and security training initiatives and implementation of safety and security systems and policies. The Advisor will ensure effectiveness and efficiency in Country Program security documentation, operating procedures (SOPs), risk assessment processes and continuity of operations preparedness. The Advisor collaborates with relevant national and international security agencies and providers, through representation, relationship building, information sharing and advocacy. 

Job Responsibilities:

 Technical Assistance

• Provide technical support and coordination to EARO and SARO Country Programs to ensure that appropriate security systems and procedures are in place and are fully operational. 
• Advise senior regional and country program leadership in decisions affecting the health, safety, and security of CRS staff and partners.
• Provide international, regional and local security information and expertise, as well as technical input to all EARO-SARO CPs in the development and management of their Country Security Plans and other security risk management documents. 
• In close collaboration with the Deputy Regional Security Advisor and other Technical Advisors assist EARO-SARO CPs in aligning safety and security plans and systems with current and future program design. 
• Conduct initial security assessments before the opening of new CRS offices/programs and assignment of staff to a country and in case of office closures.
• Strengthen and drive the risk assessment process by carrying out regular threat and vulnerability assessments, adapting procedures accordingly and monitoring compliance, together with the CP Security Focal Points. 
• Provide guidance on security management procedures, policies and practices, including the management of incidents, to Security Focal Points. 
• Follow up on reported health, safety, and security incidents and close out incidents in the CRS reporting system. Support incident trend analysis and learning from incidents through periodic dashboards. 
• Stay up to date with international trends and developments, monitor open sources and cultivate different sources of information and analysis around safety and security trends in the region and share these with the Deputy Regional Safety and Security Advisor. 
• Monitor, review and adjust CRS’ staff tracking systems as necessary and monitor staff compliance. 
• Identify opportunities for interface with regional-level and country-level security committees, key contacts and staff from other agencies to support the update of FSPs. Carry out regular assessments to review and monitor compliance.
• Feed into and support CRS’ continuous process of improvement on safety and security risk management.

Organizational & Systems Implementation and Staff Capacity Strengthening

• Support the implementation of CRS’ health, safety and security risk management system in the regions. 
• Support Country Programs to roll out minimum standards, track and manage compliance.
• Assist and collaborate with CPs in defining roles and responsibilities for safety and security management. Optimizing organizational/departmental efficiency, performance, and accountability. 
• Support the facilitation of the regions’ community of practice for security focal points and other key staff to encourage learning and implementation of best practices in the area of health, safety, and security management. 
• Organize and facilitate incident and crisis management trainings and exercises.
• Liaise with other members of the CRS global safety and security community for additional sources of technical or training assistance, best practices, and learning.
• Act as the regions’ key point of contact for safety and security training requests
• Ensure compliance with CRS’s security training and learning policy 
• Implement agency wide trainings at the regional and country level, including those for drivers and guards. Guide the full regional roll-out of the (Advanced) Personal Security Training curriculum, both in person and virtually.
• Document and visualize (i.e., through periodic dashboards) dates and types of security training staff members have received and make recommendations on training needs. 
• Strengthen local training capacity and facilitate trainings as is needed.

Key Working Relationships: 

• Internal: Deputy Regional Advisor Safety and Security Risk Management, Deputy Regional Director(s), Regional Technical Advisors, Country Representatives, Heads of Operations, Heads of Programs, Security Focal Points, Global Safety and Security Unit and Humanitarian Response Department. 
• External: International and local partners, including local and US Catholic agencies, US Embassy RSOs within the region, contracted security service providers, security officers of other international and local NGOs operating in EARO and SARO.
• Supervises one Deputy Regional Safety and Security Advisor
• Language Required: Fluency in English required, Arabic and French strongly desired, Portuguese a plus.
• Travel: Approximately 50% of the time, primarily to/within the regions, and sometimes in remote areas with minimal amenities available. Often with short notice. 

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in security management, politics, international development, non-profit management, or related field, or equivalent work experience.
• Minimum of 5 years work experience in operational safety and security management with an international humanitarian organization, preferably at a regional or multi-country level. 

QUALIFICATIONS
Technical/Professional:

• Demonstrated knowledge of best practices in security and staff safety
• Experience working in delicate situations with partner organizations
• Knowledge of and working experience in the regions strongly preferred
• Strong cross-cultural skills
• Ability to train and convey information to non-security personnel
• Excellent interpersonal and negotiating skills
• Excellent writing skills and strong communicator
• Proficiency in MS Office
• Diplomatic, able to manage conflict and move groups toward consensus
• Good judgment and sound decision-making skills
• Excellent organization and planning skills, detail-oriented, ability to work on multiple task simultaneously
• Strong initiative and self-motivated, with a commitment to humanitarian principles
• Able to work without close supervision
• Quick learner, adaptable and creative

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities 

• Strong analytical and critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment and decisions
• Strong relations management abilities. Ability to relate to people at all levels internally and externally. Strategic in how you approach each relationship
• Strong communications and presentation skills; able to develop tailored and persuasive messaging for varied audiences
• Ability to collaborate with diverse/multi-disciplinary teams
• Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented and results-oriented

Preferred Qualifications 

• Demonstrated experience of successful security program support at regional level
• Experience engaging partners
• Ability to present and train different levels and compositions of staff and partners
• Formal technical training(s) in safety and security is a plus