Closing date: 20 Feb 2010
Location: Kenya - Nairobi
Program/Department Summary:
Mercy Corps operates in six countries in East and Southern Africa –Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan (north and south), Uganda, and Zimbabwe employing almost 1000 international and local staff.
Our operations in East and Southern Africa have grown rapidly over the past five years and may continue to expand in the future. Many if not most of the countries we work in are unstable and pose considerable security challenges to our operations and staff.
Somalia and Sudan, where Mercy Corps operates, are rated as “Extreme Security Risk” by Control Risks Group. Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe are rated as “High Security Risk” by the same group.
The loss of three Mercy Corps staff in Eritrea in 2004 and one in Somalia in 2008 is perhaps the most ominous of the many indicators of the dangers we face with both security and safety.
Mercy Corps is a humanitarian organization which values inter-agency collaboration and approaches security through principles that have been developed in close cooperation with others in the humanitarian community.
Among those principles are those embodied in the IFRC Code of Conduct and the centrality of community acceptance as the foundation piece of security.
General Position Summary:
The East and Southern Africa Regional Security Advisor (ESA-RSA) will reduce the risk exposure of Mercy Corps’ staff and programs by empowering our field offices to better assess and respond to threats inherent in the region.
The ESA-RSA advances best practices through training, technical advice and support for improved assessment, analysis and planning and does not hold the authority to suspend operations, impose procedures or evacuate staff.
The ESA-RSA will prioritize support to the highest risk countries in consultation with the ESA-Regional Program Director (ESA-RPD) and the Director of Global Emergency Operations (D-GEO).
Essential Job Functions:
Training and Orientation:
The ESA-RSA will work with the East and Southern Africa field offices to ensure that all new staff hired at a regional, national or expatriate level, as well as official visitors to the region, receive a consistent and thorough security orientation upon hire/arrival in the region.
Additional effort will be made to ensure that those deployed in extreme security risk areas receive enhanced training on personal security, first aid and the specific threats in those areas. During routine field visits, the ESA-RSA will also provide on-site training aimed at the special needs of staff, from guards and drivers to field managers and program staff.
At times, external consultants arranged in consultation with the D-GEO may be utilized. The ESA-RSA will seek and exploit opportunities for Mercy Corps staff to attend appropriate external security trainings sponsored by other NGOs, the UN, etc.
Security Planning and MOSS:
The ESA-RSA will promote and support efforts by field offices to meet the InterAction Minimum Operating Security Standards (MOSS) through effective planning and budgeting for security.
The ESA-RSA will support the development and maintenance of current security plans in a consistent format (using ECHO’s Generic Security Guide) through the provision of planning workshops, training, and the provision of feedback on plans.
The ESA-RSA will maintain a file with all current security plans for the East and Southern Africa Region. The ESA-RSA will produce an annual report on the region’s adherence to InterAction’s MOSS guidance.
Information Management:
Responsibility for monitoring the security environment in each ESA country falls to the respective Country Directors and their in-country security focal points. The ESA-RSA will ensure that field offices have access to good security information sources.
While the ESA-RSA is expected to remain conversant in the particular security challenges of each country, it is not the ESA-RSA’s responsibility to track and report security developments in each country.
The ESA-RSA should ensure that a system of incident reporting and after-incident review is in place reflecting Mercy Corps global policy and protocol;
Technical support:
The ESA-RSA should be readily available at all times to the ESA-RPD, the Country Directors and field staff to advise on security developments.
The ESA-RSA through the D- GEO, the ESA-RPD, or other connections should be able to call upon additional expertise where needed when requests from the field exceed the RSA’s technical depth or available time.
The ESA-RSA will make field visits, respond to emails and calls and review security plans, providing advice and feedback as appropriate.
Networking:
The ESA-RSA will place high value on inter-agency coordination in security; encourage Mercy Corps field-level coordination in the NGO community; seek opportunities for formal and informal cooperation; develop a network of relationships with peers in the humanitarian community (UN, NGO, ICRC, appropriate governmental offices, etc); develop and engage Mercy Corps’ internal network of Security Focal Points and encourage inter-communications between them, and; pursue opportunities to engage others in our community in creative solutions to our security challenges through collaborative efforts.
General:
The ESA-RSA does not have the authority to close programs, manage operations or evacuate staff so the effectiveness of the position will rely heavily on the incumbent’s ability to develop strong positive working relationships with the Country Directors, Security Focal Points, field staff, the ESA-RPD and the D-GEO to advocate change as needed through compelling presentation of risks, costs and benefits of enhanced security.
Organizational Learning
As part of Mercy Corps’ agency-wide Organizational Learning Initiative, all team members are responsible for spending 5% of their work time in formal and/or non-formal professional learning activities.
Accountability to Beneficiaries
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
Supervisory Responsibility:
This position currently holds no supervisory responsibility.
Accountability:
East and Southern Africa Regional Program Director (quotidian oversight) and the Director of Global Emergency Operations (technical guidance/oversight/overall agency security policy integration)
Reports Directly To:
Regional Program Director for East and Southern Africa
Works Directly With:
Regional Program Director East & South Africa, Director of Global Emergency Operations; Security Focal Points, Country Directors, HQ-based Program Officers.
Knowledge and Experience:
- Graduate degree in a relevant field preferred
- Minimum of five years’ field experience related to humanitarian response
- Substantial prior experience with adult learning and organizational development and training
- Minimum 2 years previous experience in NGO security management
- Prior work experience in Sub-Saharan Africa preferred
Success Factors:The successful ESA-RSA will have strong communication and diplomacy skills. As this is an advisory role, the ESA-RSA must focus on understanding the conditions and concerns of the various Mercy Corps field offices and respond to them in a way that meets local needs, while enhancing the security environment.S/he will not protect Mercy Corps staff per se, but will strive to empower our Country Directors and staff to better protect themselves. It is imperative that the ESA-RSA have a clear understanding of, and willingness to work within the culture and mandate of humanitarian response.Living Conditions:The position is based in Nairobi, Kenya. Nairobi is an accompanied post for spouse and children. Nairobi is a major metropolitan center with world class healthcare and excellent education options.Mercy Corps provides expatriate staff with a housing allowance that covers rent, utilities, and security for comfortable accommodations in safe areas of the city.Telephone and internet access is available and there are dozens of excellent restaurants along with easy transport links to the rest of Africa and Europe. Significant travel is expected with this position at 60% of the time to remote and insecure environments.Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting.Staff are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps' policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.Mercy Corps is an AA/EOEHow to applyApply via url: http://hostedjobs.openhire.com/epostings/submit.cfm?fuseaction=app.dspjob&jobid=216887&company_id=15927&jobboardid=479
