Regional Risk and Compliance Adviser – NRC Middle East At Norwegian Refugee Council

Background

The NRC Middle East Regional Office (MERO) was established in 2014 and covers four major protracted crises: Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Libya. The country programmes incorporate Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Libya, in addition to the recently established Human Mobility Hub in Tunis, hosted by the Libya country programme. Located in Amman, Jordan, the Middle East Regional Office (MERO) oversees the country programmes in the region, and provides strategic guidance and oversight across core programme, advocacy and support functions.

Across the region, NRC delivers life-saving and principled longer-term assistance to people in need. Given the protracted nature of many of the crises, NRC has a focus on self-reliance and durable solutions with a particular focus on improving national policies and systems to support sustainable livelihoods, accessto formal education and civil documentation for displaced populations. Another focus is to strengthen potential partnerships with International Financial Institutions, development donors with transition funding streams, and the private sector.

NRC is committed to fulfil its compliance obligations and requirements in order to mitigate risk, increase accountability and improve quality. To facilitate this commitment, the Middle East Regional Office (MERO) established a Risk Management and Compliance Unit in 2018.

This function is responsible for i) enabling NRC to manage risks by supporting organisational efforts to identify, assess, prepare for and respond to risks; ii) fostering a risk management culture by institutionalising processes and systems that embed risk management into operations and build capacity and awareness on risk throughout NRC; and iii) improving organisational effectiveness by streamlining compliance practices and enabling better prioritisation of support resources to highest-risk issues

At the Regional Office level, the Unit supports Country Management Groups (CMGs) to develop and manage risk within the Country Office (CO) programmes – focusing on high level, cross-cutting areas. The Unit holds regional oversight of high-risk compliance issues in COs, with regular analytic reporting to the Regional Management Group (RMG). The Unit is responsible for working with both Programmes and Support functions, creating a culture of risk management culture in the region, through training and communication, and through the development and review of key policies and procedures.

Job Purpose

The purpose of this position is to work with the Regional Head of Risk Management and Compliance to manage risks, foster a risk management culture and improve organizational effectiveness.

What you will do

1. Foster an organisational culture related to risk management, ethics and compliance;
2. Develop and implement tools and methods to measure and improve levels of risk and compliance related to areas/issues of high organisational risk and cross-cutting topics in the region;
3. Provide technical support, advice and capacity building to Country Office staff and Country Management Groups (CMG) on risk mitigation and compliance management, including areas of expertise held/supported by the Risk & Compliance (R&C) Function (risk management, counter-terrorism & sanctions, anti-corruption, data protection, potential legal liabilities and the use of waivers, partnerships and consortia, donor compliance, etc.);
4. Ensure that NRC’s risk management framework is rolled out through providing support, guidance, and advice to the Country Offices in Middle East Region;
5. Support the Regional Head of R&C in providing assurance to the Regional Management Group (RMG) on Country Offices’ compliance within high-risk areas/issues by facilitating their identification; conducting regular Country Office compliance checks on those areas/issues; and following up on recommendations from checks;
6. Provide training, guidance and support to risk and compliance staff in Country Offices on their role and responsibilities and on the implementation of the Risk Management Framework, NRC’s approach to compliance, the Code of Conduct and Whistleblowing;
7. Document lessons learned and best practices in the region’s Risk & Compliance assurance efforts;
8. Support the technical supervision of R&C staff in County Offices by participating in their recruitment, workplans, capacity building, and performance management when requested, as well as providing regular day-to-day support;
9. Support the Unit on implementing prevention mechanisms in response to trends within Investigations (responsibility also held by the Head of Unit);
10. Facilitate coordination among Country Offices and the Regional Office to respond to external audits initiated by institutional donors;

Professional Competencies, Qualifications & Skills

• Minimum of 5 years of humanitarian management experience, including an oversight, analysis, and control role with relevant experience in the design and implementation of risk and compliance management programs or strong knowledge of multiple departments (programmes, logistics, finance, etc.)
• Experience and demonstrated knowledge of counter-terrorism legislation, sanctions, donor compliance, risk management
• Cross-cutting Programmatic and Support experience preferred
• Professional knowledge of compliance and risk management
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal
• Strong understanding of humanitarian operations
• Demonstrated knowledge of organisational culture, cultural change and change management

Behavioural competencies

These are personal qualities that influence how successful people are in their job. The following behavioural competencies are essential for this position:

• Analytical thinking
• Working with people
• Problem solving and Enabling
• Planning and delivering results
• Influencing
• Communicating with impact and respect
• Handling insecure environments

What We Offer

NRC is an equal opportunities employer and aims to have staffing diversity in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, nationality and physical ability.

We offer an opportunity to match your career to a compelling cause and a chance to meet and work with people who are the best in their fields.

Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply and join our work culture that empowers every employee to share ideas and take responsibility: At NRC we think outside the box. We encourage ideas and give responsibility to all employees at all levels, to help solve the complex issues that we face. You will have many opportunities to be heard and take initiative.

We are also looking for people who share our values:

• To be dedicated in what we do;
• To be innovative with our solutions;
• To act as one unified and inclusive team;
• To be accountable to the donors that make our work possible; the people we exist to serve, and to each other… the members of our NRC family.

Additional Information:

Duty Station: Amman, Jordan

Travel: Upto 40%

Grade 9 in NRC’s grading structure

Reporting to: Regional Head of Risk & Compliance – Middle East

For more information regarding the role, here is the detailed job description.