Security Adviser – Emergency Team At Concern Worldwide

Security Adviser – Emergency Directorate

Our vision, our mission and our work are all defined by one goal – ending extreme poverty, whatever it takes. We believe that no-one should have to live in fear that they won’t have a home to sleep in or enough food to feed their children. For over 50 years we have been working with the world’s poorest people towards this goal.

Today we are a team of over 4,400 highly skilled and dedicated professionals from 50 countries who share an exceptional depth and diversity of experience. We want committed, values driven staff to join our Dublin team and are currently looking for a Security Adviser to be part of our Emergency Directorate.

We are committed to providing our staff with the skills needed to excel in their jobs. Concern offers in-house management and leadership courses and tailored organisation-wide learning opportunities both in-person and online. All employees are required to undertake training in equality, diversity and inclusion; the Code of Conduct; and safeguarding, along with any other training required for the role.

Our culture is values driven and friendly. A global engagement survey conducted in 2022, responded to by 3,577 of our staff, showed that 89% of our staff would happily recommend Concern as a great place to work and 94% are proud to tell people that they work for Concern.

Our office is in Dublin 2 and we are currently working a hybrid model (50% remote working) and offer flexi time.

The job: To support and strengthen Concern’s safety and security management practice to ensure that it is consistent with good practice and commensurate with the level of threat faced by our country programme teams.

Concern’s country programmes are largely organised into five regions, and this role will support two of those regions. Another Security Adviser will support another two regions, and the Head of the Emergency Technical Unit will support one region.

To work with country teams in two regions – particularly Security Focal Points (SFP) and Security Focal Groups (SFG) – to reinforce and support essential contextual analysis, situational monitoring specifically in rapidly changing risk environments.

To work with country teams, particularly SFPs and SFGs, to ensure that their security risk management practice, documentation and incident reporting remains commensurate with security risk profiles in their specific locations.

To work with country teams and regional desks on preparation and response plans to ensure the safety of Concern staff in the event of fire and selected natural hazards including extreme wind events, earthquakes, floods and volcanoes.

If you join us, this is what you will be doing:

Major Security Tasks

• Undertake security reviews and audits of countries’ security and safety management practice
• Develop in-depth contextual knowledge of the assigned regions of responsibility to support and reinforce country teams’ analysis
• Support the regular analysis of changing/disimproving contexts
• Deliver security management training to staff and partners
• Support countries in the development, preparation and review of Security Management Plans (SMP) and scenario planning for major events such as elections
• Support the management of the Concern security incident data base (SIRT) and share information about incidents with appropriate staff and international security databases
• Respond to serious security incidents by following up with CDs or SFPs to discuss how they will address the deterioration through, for example, further analysis or the revision of SOPs
• Contribute to post-incident reviews following serious incidents reported on SIRT
• Carry out security risk assessments as requested
• Prepare occasional advisories and briefing notes for staff on security issues as required
• Contribute to any revisions of SMP², the SMP template and the Security Policy or the individual security briefing notes that exist, or develop new ones as needed in agreement with the Head of the Emergency Technical Unit
• Actively engage with relevant regional security fora in the assigned regions of responsibility
• Attend GISF, Alliance2015 Security Group and other occasional security related meetings as required
• Brief new staff on Concern Approach to Security Risk Management as required and at formal induction weeks
• Encourage and assist with appropriate security management support to partners

Major Safety Tasks

• Develop guidelines for staff safety for selected natural hazards
• Develop guidelines for hazards such as fires in offices, residences and warehouses
• Maintain an overview of and provide updates on airlines that have been banned for safety reasons
• Conduct audits as needed to ensure that countries are compliant with these guidelines during field visits

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

• Upholding and promoting Concern’s values, including our workplace equality, diversity and inclusion values.

Skills you will bring:

• Educated to degree level or equivalent
• Minimum of five years’ experience of working in insecure environments for a humanitarian organisation
• Fluent spoken and written English
• Proficiency in French and / or Arabic
• Detailed knowledge of INGO security management approaches and practice
• Good understanding of humanitarian principles and practice
• Experience of developing and delivering training courses and workshops
• Ability to coach, mentor and develop staff capacities in security awareness and practice
• Excellent communication, interpersonal and negotiation skills
• Good writing and computer skills
• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability and willingness to travel to and operate in insecure environments

You will report to the Head of Emergency Technical Unit and work with Outside of Concern: may include Security Focal Points of Alliance2015 agencies, GISF, INSO, INSSA, UNDSS, Regional security fora, Eurocheck, Aid Worker Security Database, Insecurity Insight

As well as work closely with colleagues Inside Concern: Emergency Directorate, Regional Directors, Desk Officers, Country Directors, Country Security Focal Points and Groups

The salary is from (€51,402 – €60,472 (band 5) and this is initially a 2 year full-time fixed term contract

We encourage all eligible candidates, irrespective of gender, ethnicity and origin, disability, political beliefs, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status to apply to become a part of the organisation. Concern is against all forms of discrimination and unequal power relations, and is committed to promoting equality.

If this role sounds right for you, please apply with your CV and cover letter. We will respond to every applicant. Please be aware we may offer positions before the closing date.

If you have any concerns about our recruitment process and need particular assistance – for example if you have a visual impairment or are neuro-divergent – please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you.