Health, Safety and Security Coordinator Syria Response AO6 At Norwegian Refugee Council

About NRC Syria Response Office

NRC currently has more than 2,000 staff in the Middle East region assisting people displaced by conflict in Syria. As a leading humanitarian organization, we support displaced persons by implementing programmes across the Shelter, Education, Food Security, Information Counseling and Legal Assistance (ICLA) and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sectors with strong protection and resilience focus integrated into our programmes.

The Syrian crisis is almost into its 9th year, but the level and intensity of the conflict in the country remains high. Humanitarian and protection needs inside Syria are overwhelming. Ongoing conflict and continued displacement compound a complex emergency situation. According to UN OCHA, 13.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Syria and millions have been forced to flee. More than 1.4 million displacements were recorded in 2019. More than 6.5 million are internally displaced and many have fled the war-torn country, including 5.5 million refugees across the region.

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

Duties and responsibilities

The Health, Safety and Security Coordinator position contributes with security and risks-related technical competences to project implementation.

Generic responsibilities:

Ensure adherence to NRC policies, guidance and procedures
Ensure that minimum operating security standards and procedures are implemented in the Area Office
Conduct specific technical assessments and present recommendations
Conduct situational monitoring and analysis and present results
Conduct security actors networking / Liaise and collaborate with relevant local authorities and other key stakeholders
Train and develop staff in safety and security protocols
Ensure all security staff uphold NRC’s principles and values
Promote the rights of IDPs/returnees in line with the advocacy strategy

Specific responsibilities:

Compliance to NRC standards

Ensure that Security Risk Analysis (SRA) are conducted according to minimum operational requirements (MOSS)
Be responsible for maintaining security protocols for staff and operations inside Syria. Ensure that minimum compliance standards are met and that the documents are relevant to the context and updated (including Duty of care for staff; hibernation plans; Proof of Life procedures; Fire Safety Plans; critical incident management protocol; etc.)

Timely security assessments and recommendations

Lead security-related assessments and present recommendations
Monitor the security situation on the ground; share regular context updates, and present exceptional update if needed
Make sure that incidents and contextual trends are monitor, tracked and reported.
Support area management team as well as staff on crisis management, incident management and post incident management
Issue security/access advice on demand and/or when the situation requires so
Issue guidance on safety & security and movement protocols

Liaison

Maintain active contact with Safety/Liaison counterparts from peer agencies (including Local Humanitarian Partners) and relevant organisations (UNDSS, INSO, etc.)
Maintain a sound analysis of local stakeholders
Support the field office coordinator and access officer with establishing and maintaining contacts with the authorities in the areas of operation

Safe and secure programming

Support NRC PMs in ensuring that program activities are conducted safely through advisory and technical support on all PCM phases
Ensure that all NRC staff receive sufficient information on context and risks, enabling them to provide an informed consent through NRC template
Support Local Humanitarian Partners in managing safety & security when implementing programmes on NRC behalf, including by issuing security advice to NRC management if and when the security of partner staff is at risk
Support Local Humanitarian Partners in carrying out sound security risk assessment relevant to the programs they implement on NRC behalf
Facilitate information management and dissemination amongst others through weekly context updates as well as ad-hoc security notices

Analysis and planning

Produce short and long-term assessments and projections related to contextual developments, relevant dynamics and actor mapping.
Use those incidents and trends as a basis for providing analysis related to safety, security and access
Write regular as well as ad-hoc reports pertaining to security incidents, access developments and other contextual concerns in order to better inform decision-making process.

Capacity building and management

Support the identification of capacity building needs and ensure that the staff is trained on existing security packages as needed.
Manage the Access Team Leader performance and support his/her career development.

Critical interfaces

By interfaces, NRC means processes and projects that are interlinked with other departments/units or persons. Relevant interfaces for this position are:

Area Manager
Field office coordinator and field access officer
Area Programme Manager and Project managers
Area Support Manager and HR, Finance and Logistics coordinators
Syria Response Office (SRO) Risk & Security Adviser

Scale and scope of position

Staff: Technical management of 1 Access Team Leader

Stakeholders: Safety/Liaison counterparts from peer agencies / security organisations

Budgets: Not a budget holder but responsible to budget Security equipment, security-related trainings, etc.

Information: N/A

Legal or compliance: N/A

Professional competencies:

Generic professional competencies for this position:

3 years of experience with a satisfactory performance in the same or similar functional area
2 years of managing humanitarian access within UN or NGOs
General understanding of project management
Previous experience from working in complex and volatile contexts
Previous experience in remote management
Fluency in English, both written and verbal
Bachelor degree
Advanced computer skills
Analytical-minded and able to read political /reference maps
Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities
Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile

Context/specific skills, knowledge and experience:

Experience in liaising with communities and authorities
Experience of assessing political, social and security situations in the country
Fluency in Arabic preferable
Familiar with Middle-East culture, politics and geographical areas

Behavioural competencies:

Planning and delivering results
Handling insecure environments
Analyzing
Strategic thinking
Empowering and building trust

Performance Management

The employee will be accountable for the responsibilities and the competencies, in accordance with the NRC Performance Management Manual. The following documents will be used for performance reviews: