Regional Emergency Coordinator At Danish Refugee Council

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is an independent international non-governmental organization, working in 40+ countries throughout the world, and our primary mandate is to promote durable solutions for refugees and displaced populations. DRC East Africa & Great Lakes (EAGL) region provides urgent response at the onset of displacement and works with displacement-affected populations – both internally and across borders – to develop solutions to the challenges that they face. The DRC office in Nairobi is a Regional Office providing management support and strategic direction to DRC programs operating in East Africa & Great Lake region. The EAGL Regional Office covers the following country operations: Burundi, Djibouti, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

Overall purpose of the role

The Regional Emergency Coordinator for East Africa assists in the development and strengthening of emergency preparedness and response within the region through the provision of technical support, operational guidance, trouble-shooting and quality assurance to all emergency programmes within the East Africa sub-region on a needs and request basis. This position represents an excellent opportunity to provide technical leadership and capacity building in an exciting and challenging context, and to strategically develop the quality, impact and sectoral integration of DRC’s emergency responses

Responsibilities:

Emergency Preparedness and Response

• Support EA countries to ensure they have up-to-date Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans (EPRP);
• Coordinate closely with the regional emergency response coordinator for Great Lakes to ensure coherence and inter-connectivity of EPRPs in neighbouring countries (particularly Horn of Africa);
• Support all EA countries to conduct Annual Integrated Emergency Response Needs Assessments and ad-hoc Rapid Needs Assessments where required;
• Provide emergency response training to RO and CO staff as required/identified;
• Undertake needs assessments for new emergencies/projects/programmes as required/identified;
• Support existing/new operations in emergency response – assist in staff recruitment, staff training, setting up systems, and planning and starting activities; and
• Support in emergency proposal development/review.

Quality Assurance

• Conduct humanitarian response capacity assessments in countries/areas as required;
• Provide trouble-shooting in existing operations facing bottlenecks in implementation;
• Ensure countries are using and able to use correct emergency MEAL tools, develop new tools where necessary, and ensure coherence of emergency MEAL approaches across EA and GL;
• Develop and maintain an up-to-date regional EA and GL emergency toolkit and provide required trainings in close coordination with the regional emergency coordinator GL;
• Work with RO and CO technical staff to ensure integration of emergency response into Strategic Plans, promote sector integration in emergencies, and ensure response activities are appropriate and high quality across all sectors;
• Provide significant input and advice to strategies to transition emergency operations to recovery, resilience and Durable Solutions approaches;
• Ensure all emergency response actions are adhering to standards and best practices including HAP/CHS standards, relevant Minimum Standards and SPHERE etc.
• Ensure that DRC mandate, policies and values in programming is upheld, and DRC’s accountability obligations are delegated and carried out in accordance with standard regulations and operational procedures e.g. Code of Conduct, DRC Programme Handbook, DRC Operations Handbook

Regional Leadership and Coordination

• Lead and coordinate regionally-led multi-country emergency responses as/where needed in EA, provide support in GL as relevant;
• Lead on DRC’s hard to reach (H2R) technical approach in EA.
• In close coordination with the Regional Security Coordinator, assist in assessing access possibilities to new areas, or areas with limited/no access, as needed;
• Provide technical support and quality assurance for all emergency response business development opportunities in EA countries, including leading on business development for regional and/or multi-country business development as needed.
• Participate as relevant in coordination mechanisms throughout the region and represent DRC as requested, including building relationships with other regional Emergency Coordinators (or equivalent) in NGOs, CSOs, donor agencies, UN etc.;
• Act as the primary point of contact for HQ Emergency Management Unit for emergency response and surge deployments in EA
• Provide RO and CO Senior Management Teams with updated information on ongoing/emerging humanitarian crises and needs within the East Africa region;
• Identification and prioritization (continuous) of geographical areas for assessment and response, both new and existing;
• In close coordination and collaboration with the Regional Head of Support Services provide support and training with respect to procurement, supply chain and asset management in emergency operations;

Other

The Emergency Coordinator, may, on temporary basis, be given overall responsibility for a specific DRC humanitarian response within the region. In such a case, the individual will have the overall organizational, financial and administrative responsibility of that particular DRC response, including the overall responsibility for security planning and implementation of security precautions.

The responsibilities listed in the JD are not exhaustive and may be readjusted according to operational needs but will remain in line with the overall purpose of the role.

About you

In this position, you are expected to demonstrate DRC’s five core competencies:

• Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process.
• Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback.
• Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.
• Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly.
• Demonstrating integrity: You act in line with our vision and values.

Experience and technical competencies:

• At least seven years of INGO or other agency emergency response experience in insecure environments, including at least three years of management experience;
• Essential experience in RRM/MRT implementation/coordination/emergency response planning in similar contexts
• Relevant technical expertise/experience in relevant sectors of humanitarian programming such as WASH, Food Security, CCCM or Protection.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and management and leadership skills;
• Proven commitment to accountable practices and knowledge of quality assurance systems in an emergency response;
• Hands on experience in managing staff in insecure locations and strong human resource management skills in general. Solid experience in staff management in a cross-cultural environment required;
• Good communicator and proven diplomacy with all types of stakeholders;
• Experience of managing budgets and multiple donor contracts, particularly with BHA, OFDA, ECHO, SIDA and UN agencies;
• Fluent and articulate in spoken and written English
• Ability to work independently, but also coordinate effectively as part of a team;
• Strong computer skills (MS Word, Excel, Outlook and Power Point); and
• Ability and willingness to work and live in diverse, challenging and potentially unstable environments.

Desirable:

• Relevant technical experience in delivering ‘hard to reach’ approaches in complex conflict contexts
• Previous experience the East Africa and Great Lakes region or similar context with conflict/access analysis ability; and
• Previous experience in drought and flood responses;
• Strong working knowledge of Somali, French or other languages spoken widely in the region.

Education

• University degree with advanced training or technical qualification in relevant line of work/sector

Languages:

• Fluency in written and spoken English
• Strong working knowledge of Somali, French or other languages spoken widely in the region desirable

What we offer

Contract: One year. Salary and other conditions are offered in accordance with DRC’s Terms of Employment for Employment band F – Non Management.

Availability: January 2024

Duty station: Nairobi, Kampala or any other DRC Country Office in the region.

Reporting Line: Regional Head of Programmes

Providing equal opportunities We are committed to creating an inclusive and positive work environment based on mutual respect for all employees. All applicants are considered for employment without attention to race, age, ability, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other factor. At DRC we celebrate diversity and appreciate our employees for the people they are and their unique skills, backgrounds, and perspectives. We encourage all interested candidates to apply.

Promoting high standards : DRC’s capacity to ensure the protection of and assistance to refugees, IDP’s and other persons of concern depends on the ability of our staff to uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation DRC’s values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. DRC conducts thorough and comprehensive background checks as part of the recruitment process