Job Description

Roles & Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

JOB POSITION: Regional HEA Senior Advisor

JOB PURPOSE: The Regional Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs (HEA) Senior Advisor provides strategic and technical leadership to strengthen disaster management across Middle East and Eastern Europe (MEER). Through technical advice, influence, coordination, deployment and remote support, this role helps Field Offices and regional leadership anticipate, prepare, and manage humanitarian responses that are context-relevant, timely and aligned with WV and external standards and requirements. The role also leads regional capacity strengthening, including Regional/ National Disaster Management Team (RDMT/NDMT) coordination, development and delivery, mentoring, learning and surge/deployment systems, so field and regional teams can make informed decisions and deliver fast, effective, and accountable humanitarian action.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Response Programme Management

• Provide in-country or remote leadership and technical support to Humanitarian response teams as requested by the Regional Impact Director or Senior Director of Operations.
• Lead or support emergency response set up, scale up, coordination and/or transition, ensuring responses are timely, context-relevant, risk-informed and aligned with external and WVs standards and requirements.
• Support and, where delegated, lead emergency declaration processes, alert drafting/review, response coordination mechanisms and response planning.
• Lead or contribute to development of humanitarian response plans, scenario, or contingency plans, among other processes.
• Remain available for deployment to crises situations in a country or region within 24 to 72 hours and (worst case scenario) be prepared to support for up to 12 weeks (remote and/or in country).

Direct Field support

• Ensure that the leadership of selected countries have adequately considered humanitarian issues (including preparedness, response capacity, early action and scenario and risk analysis) into their strategies, structures, and programming.
• Support Field Offices SLTs and HEA focal points to review and strengthen disaster management systems, preparedness action plans, response readiness and capacity improvement plans, using relevant regional and global metrics such as the Disaster Management (DM) Preparedness Scorecard or Maturity Framework.
• Provide technical input into humanitarian project design and grant proposals, ensuring proposals are context-relevant, feasible, risk-informed and aligned with World Vision (WV) and external humanitarian standards.
• Field Offices with scenario planning, disaster risk reduction, anticipatory action, early action, CBDRM and other preparedness approaches according to country and regional needs.
• Review Field Office humanitarian communications, positioning materials and response updates from an HEA perspective, supporting technical accuracy, and alignment with response priorities.
• Advise Field Office leadership on humanitarian issues as requested.

Capacity Building & Surge

• Lead the design, development and delivery of regional disaster management capacity strengthening initiatives, including the Regional Disaster Management Team and National Disaster Management Team training, refreshers, mentoring, ToT and learning processes.
• Work with the RDMT leaders of other regions to gather best practice and opportunities to improve MEERs RDMT and enable inter regional deployments.
• Manage and strengthen the MEER deployment roster and related surge systems so that timely and capable humanitarian surge support can be mobilized as needed.
• Mentor national, regional program staff, supporting practical application of external humanitarian standards and internal standards and awareness through on-the-job learning.
• Liaise with Global Centre (GC) DM Surge functions to influence their development, coordinate deployments and maximize their value for MEER.
• Lead on development and implementation of DM related capacity building and surge capacity strategies and plans in consultation with the Impact Director and other key RO functions

Quality Assurance and Policy Alignment

• Provide technical support to ensure Regional HEA engagement with SMQ systems and procedures such as AIM, IMPAQ, Response Portal, etc.
• Develop, adapt, and promote practical tools, templates, and guidance , ensuring learning from other regions and disaster management practitioners.
• Build mechanisms for gathering, analysing, and sharing lessons-learned, after-action review findings, best practice and innovation across the region and the wider partnership.
• Ensure that relevant WVI DM policy, SPHERE, CHS, the Red Cross Code of Conduct, HAP, Child Protection policies and other international humanitarian standards are used in all design and management of responses and disaster mitigation activities.
• Engage and stay involved in International Humanitarian Aid and International Humanitarian Rights standards and initiatives.

Analysis and information provision

Desired Candidate Profile

• A University degree in the social sciences, international relations management, or other relevant areas.
• On the job training in emergency response, humanitarian operations management, humanitarian project design, risk management and disaster risk reduction
• At least 5 years of humanitarian experience, including leading teams working in emergency settings.
• Experience leading, coordinating or supporting humanitarian responses in complex, fragile or rapidly changing contexts.
• Coaching ability
• Disaster risk reduction knowledge
• Strong understanding of emergency relief management, program response, program design, project proposal development and budgeting.
• Experience providing technical support to country teams, including support to humanitarian strategy, response planning, project design, grant proposals and/or capacity strengthening.
• Experience in advising and influencing global technical teams, regional leadership, and national leadership to forward a technical agenda in a complex matrix organization.
• Experience in coordinating/managing field operations and implementing external humanitarian standards, including Sphere, CHS, protection, safeguarding, conflict sensitivity and accountability standards.
• Experience managing or coordinating surge support, deployments, rosters, mentoring or capacity building initiatives.
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to assess humanitarian risks, track response progress, identify gaps and translate complex information into clear recommendations for decision makers.
• Cross cultural experience and proven ability to work effectively on short term deployments and with diverse and multi-disciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated commitment to WV s vision, mission, and core values.
• Ability to exhibit exemplary lifestyle as interpreted in specific local cultural contexts, with an open world view.
• Responsible steward of resources and assets.
• A self-starter with a proven ability to work independently and meet deadlines under pressure.
• Ability to promote a team building environment and understands and values diversity and maximizes diversity to achieve organizational goals.
• High level of cultural sensitivity and diplomatic skills, and a demonstrated ability to manage cross-cultural dynamics.
• Emotional maturity, and physical stamina.
• Is able to promote a healthy work environment for self and others whereby a balance is maintained between work and recreation/family.
• Ability to maintain performance expectations in diverse cultural contexts, psychologically stressful environs, time pressure and physical hardships.
• High degree of negotiation and persuasion skills.
• A team builder committed to capacity building and the transfer of knowledge.
• Mature Christian with commitment to World Vision Core Values and Mission Statement.
• Fluency in spoken and written English
• Must be able and willing and to travel up to 40% of time including long-term deployment of up to 3 months to a crisis situation.
• Ability to adjust to harsh living conditions and work in high tension and high security situations.
• Experience working in the MEER region or in contexts affected by conflict, displacement, rapid-onset disasters, or protracted crises.
• Experience in anticipatory action, early warning, scenario planning, CBDRM, cash programming, or localisation approaches.
• Experience developing practical tools, guidance, learning resources or capacity strengthening materials for country teams.