Humanitarian Access Specialist at Danish Refugee Council (DRC)

Purpose

The overall aim of the Humanitarian Access Specialist post, he/she will be responsible for supporting the day-to-day Access functions and oversight of the DRC Nigeria Access Strategy Management function at the Country Office while having the capacity to rove throughout the Country when/if required.  This includes ensuring compliance with the DRC Nigeria Mission Access and safety policies, plans and procedures. Under the direct supervision of the Humanitarian Access and Safety Manager, the Access Specialist position will promote humanitarian access and coordination efforts and support the day-to-day implementation of the DRC Nigeria Mission project in implementation sites. The main tasks will be delivered through staff training on day-to-day negotiation, humanitarian principles and contributing to evidence base advocacy. The Access Specialist will work closely with other program Managers, Coordinators, Advocacy, and Field Staff to ensure a unified reporting information sharing on access constraints, enablers, and statistics. He/ She will regularly interface with DRC Access Technical Team at the RO and/ or HQ level, INGO Forum and UN/ OCHA Access Teams through attending meetings, webinars and communicating outcomes to Humanitarian Access and Safety Manager. He/ She will be aiding in delivering access and safety training and capacity building of program staff to enable DRC Nigeria Mission operations to be implemented safely and securely.

Duties and Responsibilities

Humanitarian Access:

• Design, in a participatory manner with field offices, Access and Safety team, and program units, the DRC Nigeria Mission's humanitarian access strategy, which is responsive to the local context.
• Develop, in a participatory manner, access work plans with field offices working closely with the Area Manager/ Head of Base/ HASM.
• As a DRC Nigeria Humanitarian Access and Safety unit member, he/she will support the HAS Manager in developing, reviewing, and implementing HAS management plans in all locations.
• Support monitoring and evaluation of access-related initiatives and other reporting and information/communication flows.
• Support access innovation initiatives in all DRC field offices.
• Participate in security incident reporting and analysis to determine the access impact on DRC activities.
• Maintain and update access-related incident tracker for all locations in Nigeria.
• Provide area-based access analyses supporting operational implementation or program development.
• Support HAS Manager in mentoring field staff on access and humanitarian principles relevant to program implementation.
• Collate and compile monthly access reports in consultation with all Safety and Access teams, Program Coordinators, and Area Managers and submit them to HASM.
• Maintain and update area-specific actors mapping for all DRC Nigeria locations.
• Continuously and proactively monitor and evaluate the political, economic, social, and humanitarian situation for developments affecting humanitarian access to inform DRC’s response.
• Collaborate and participate with the DRC HQ ACE Team/ Sessions and report to HASM.
• Work with the Access and Safety Manager to ensure timely and appropriate follow-up to violations of the DRC Code of Conduct and operational breaches of humanitarian principles.
• Work to ensure that the DRC Nigeria Mission, its mandate, and work in the areas of operations are known and accepted within Nigeria.
• Provide access technical advice to the Area Manager/ Head of Base and field teams on implementing program activity and reviewing tailored acceptance strategies as directed by the Humanitarian Access and Safety Manager.
• Maintain a high level of access preparedness vis-a-vis predicted contextual fluctuations operationally and programmatically.

Access Coordination Support:

• Support the facilitation of access coordination groups which DRC participates in and/or leads.
• Participate in all Access Working Group meetings, Civil–Military Co meetings and ad hoc meetings as may be required occasionally.
• Provide briefings following unique research or assessments to access teams/ groups.
• Facilitate field-level coordination meetings with the Field team, Area Managers, Program Managers, and Coordinators ensuring that access challenges are identified and discussed with relevant local actors.
• Conduct regular visits in all DRC field locations, including those with potential for interventions.

Networking, Liasson, Humanitarian Negotiations and Community Outreach

• Represent DRC as a humanitarian organisation in community outreach and access negotiation meetings with government and non-government stakeholders.
• Strategically network with interlocutors in a thoroughly principled and transparent manner.
• Coordinate humanitarian negotiations and community outreach plans with all DRC field offices.
• Develop training plans for staff on humanitarian principles, negotiation, mediation and CIMCORD.
• Organise and ensure DRC Nigeria field offices keep and maintain a network of key informants and interlocutors at the field level to ensure timely and accurate information sharing.
• Identify, create, and maintain a network with INGO/UN and other humanitarian access and safety/security professionals operating in Nigeria.

Context Understanding and Reporting

• Work closely with DRC Nigeria field teams to ensure all access incidents are reported and followed up with an official Safety Incident Report (SIR).
• Monitor the operating environment, identify new access threats, assess vulnerabilities, and recommend mitigation.
• Contribute to local-level conflict sensitivity analysis and macro-level analysis of access trends within the Nigerian security context.
• Provide credible information and contextual understanding of localised and country-wide security situations and incidents, along with appropriate advice to DRC field and program staff.
• Understanding and respecting humanitarian work, particularly refugee and displacement issues.

Training and Capacity Building:

• Assist in identifying safety, security and access learning and development needs for DRC Nigeria program staff.
• Assist in providing regular training for all DRC Nigeria program staff on the humanitarian principles and the in-country Access, First Aid, PAST and HEIST workshops as directed by the Humanitarian Access and Safety Manager.

Required Qualifications

Essential

• Tertiary education (Bachelor minimum) in Humanitarian Studies, Law, Security Operations, Communication, Criminology, Risk Management, Public Administration, or a related field.
• Computer skills (primarily MS Office applications), especially Microsoft Excel.
• Three years of experience working with INGOs or UN agencies.
• Proven ability to prioritise tasks and meet deadlines.
• Stable, moral, robust character and a good team player.
• Excellent communication skills, calm and a good sense of humour.
• Proven commitment to accountability practices.
• Ability to comprehend Access and security-related subjects such as threats/risk management, security management, and personal and organisational security awareness.
• Competent and literate in English and Hausa, verbal and written, with a sound knowledge of technical expressions.
• Demonstrative experience in INGO/NGO or UN field (operations) with access, safety, and security expertise.

Desirable

• Masters in Humanitarian Studies, security risk management, Security Operations, Law, Management, Communication, Criminology, Public Administration or related field.
• Five years of experience working with INGOs or UN agencies

Required Skills & Qualities

Core Competencies of DRC:

• Striving for excellence
• Collaboration
• Taking the lead
• Communication
• Demonstrating Integrity
• Ability to work in a multinational and multicultural environment
• Excellent writing, proof-reading, and communication skills
• Excellent organizational and multi-tasking skills
• Strong ability to adapt, take initiative and work in a multicultural environment
• Interest for humanitarian sector and donor’s environment
• Listening, analytical and synthesis skills
• Excellent communication skills, as well as patience and politeness
• Exemplary sense of ethics in the workplace.