Emergency Adviser and Emergency Project Manager (Colombia, Ecuador and Panama) At Norwegian Refugee Council

All NRC employees are expected to work in accordance with the organization’s core values: dedication, innovation, inclusivity, and accountability. These attitudes and beliefs shall guide our actions and relationships.

What we are looking for

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is seeking a highly qualified, resilient, and dynamic professional for the role of Emergency Adviser. This role involves managing and coordinating the implementation of NRC’s BHA-funded emergency project, as well as supporting our operations across Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. The Emergency Adviser will play a key role in defining and standardizing the technical aspects of our emergency response work and supporting the achievement of the Annual NRC Strategy in these three countries. This position, situated within the programme unit due to its specialized technical nature, will also maintain strong connections with the operations unit.

What you will do

1. Oversee the day-to-day management of NRC’s BHA-funded emergency response project, including planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, budget management, and procurement, ensuring the project remains within scope and on schedule.
2. Maintain communication with the BHA’s focal point in Colombia to organize follow-up meetings, field monitoring missions, and project approval requests.
3. Ensure high technical quality, standardization of processes and tools across geographical areas, and compliance with donor requirements and technical guidelines for the project.
4. Support the development of proposals for the continuation of the project and other emergency response initiatives in Colombia, Ecuador, or Panama.
5. Update and/or develop robust emergency response guidelines and SOPs to improve and standardize NRC’s emergency response across the operation, including programmatic, operational, and support processes and tools.
6. Promote the quality of goods and services in humanitarian aid and response based on post-monitoring feedback from the Complaints and Feedback Mechanism (CFM), working with the Programs Team (Technical Specialists) to implement improvements. This is to advocate for the rights of displaced and confined populations (IDPs/returnees) in line with NRC’s advocacy strategy.

Please download the detailed job description to learn more about the position.

What you will bring

• Minimum five years of experience as a manager of emergency response projects in Colombia, with progressively increasing responsibilities in humanitarian crisis contexts involving the management and coordination of large, international multi-donor supported programmes/projects.
• At least two of those years in a technical advisor capacity of some sort.
• First-hand rapid emergency response expertise with a multisectoral approach.
• Fluency in Spanish and English, both written and verbal. The recruitment process will be fully conducted in English.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Good knowledge of the humanitarian context in Latin America, specifically in Colombia. Knowledge of the context of Ecuador, Panamá and/or other countries in the region is considered an asset.
• Good Knowledge of main humanitarian donors.
• University Degree in International Humanitarian Action, Engineering, International Development, Social or Human Sciences, Project Management, Emergency Response or related field.
• Strong experience in operating in hostile environments.
• Skills to facilitate effective meetings that enable consensus building and transparent decision-making
• Experience ensuring processes and tools are in place and used for collaboration-related knowledge management routines.

What we offer

• Duty station: Bogotá, Colombia.
• Contract: Colombian national contract, fixed term: 12 months
• Travel: up to 50%
• Salary/benefits: grade 9 on NRC’s regional salary scale, with accompanying terms and conditions
• NRC is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to diversity without distinction to age, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, and physical ability.
• We think outside the box, encourage ideas, and give responsibility to all employees at all levels. You will have many opportunities to be heard and take the initiative.

Find out more about the benefits of working for NRC

Important information about the application process

• Internal candidates only: please click on the suitcase icon labelled “I am an employee” to be redirected to NRC’s internal careers site.
• When creating your profile, include your full name as given on your passport. Complete all the system-required fields for experience, employment history and education.
• Submit your application and CV in English, taking care to attach your latest CV.
• Applications that do not meet the minimum standards in terms of experience or qualifications will generally not be considered. Unsolicited applications not related to this specific job advertisement will not be considered.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. We receive many applicants for each vacant position.

Why NRC?

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organization helping people forced to flee. Our 15,000 staff work in crises across 40 countries, providing life-saving and long-term assistance to millions of people every year.

Watch this short video to see NRC in action.

NRC began its operations in Colombia in 2003 to assist populations affected by the Colombian conflict. In subsequent years, we expanded our presence to other countries in Latin America, including Ecuador and Panama, which are now part of NRC’s Colombia operation. Since 2017, we have also been responding to the increasing influx of people fleeing the crisis in Venezuela into neighboring countries.

As the Colombian conflict continues to cause both individual and mass displacement, along with confinements and mobility restrictions, and as the regional impact of the Venezuelan crisis grows, NRC remains committed to providing emergency humanitarian assistance and protection mechanisms to those affected. Our focus is on safeguarding life, integrity, and dignity while improving overall well-being. Additionally, NRC has begun developing guidelines for emergency preparedness to be implemented in the short term.

NRC in the last three years secured funding from USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) to implement a large emergency response project across Colombia aimed at providing live-saving and resilience-building support to populations impacted by onset emergencies resulting from the internal conflict and their host communities. Interventions in Information, Counselling and Legal Assistance (ICLA), protection, child protection through education in emergency services, shelter and WASH are planned.

We are looking for people who are passionate about helping refugees and people forced to flee. Are you one of those people? If you are, NRC offers you the opportunity to:

• do demanding and professional work, often in challenging contexts
• join a work culture that empowers every employee to share ideas and take responsibility
• be part of a welcoming and supportive community committed to human dignity

Learn more about NRC