North West Humanitarian Access & Safety Officer at Danish Refugee Council (DRC)

Purpose

The overall aim of the Access and Safety Officers' post, he/she will be responsible for supporting the day-to-day Access functions and oversight of the DRC Nigeria Safety Risk Management function at the NW level while having the capacity to rove throughout the region when/if required.  This includes ensuring compliance with the DRC Nigeria Mission safety policies, plans and procedures within his/her areas of responsibility; monitoring staff movements; delivering safety orientation and pre-departure briefings; static guard management; conducting State and area level and site-specific security risk assessments and safety improvement plans; staff movements and communications; providing safety advisories and notifications and aiding in the delivery of safety training and capacity building of program staff to enable DRC Nigeria Mission operations to be implemented safe and secure manner.

Responsibilities

Humanitarian Access:

• Implement the DRC Nigeria Missions humanitarian access strategy and set approaches tailored to local contexts in field sites within the Northwest Region of Nigeria.
• Ensure humanitarian access approaches are responsive to the local context and include overarching community engagement components during all operational phases.
• Ensure that the DRC Nigeria, NW region field teams conduct principled and sustainable negotiations with relevant actors in all areas of intervention while following the humanitarian principles, humanitarian needs, and duty of care principles.
• Work to ensure that the DRC Nigeria Mission, its mandate, and work in the areas of operations are known and accepted within the NW region.
• Provide technical input and advice in assessments to consider new DRC Nigeria programs in new geographic areas within the region and regular assessment reviews for existing locations as directed by the Humanitarian Access and Safety Manager.
• Provide 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 preparedness vis-a-vis predicted contextual fluctuations operationally and programmatically.
• Work with the Area Manager/ Head of Base to ensure timely and appropriate follow-up to violations of the DRC Code of Conduct and operational breaches of humanitarian principles.

Staff movement, communications and equipment issues, oversight, and support:

• Review, and action respective Field Travel Authorisation requests, ensuring all information is complete and correct and a rapid security risk assessment is conducted, followed by the issuing of clear safety-related advice and guidance to field teams deploying within his/her areas of responsibility before forwarding to the respective supervisor for final review and operational approval.
• Ensuring the issue of serviceable safety equipment is completed to support all field deployments and program staff; Delivering equipment familiarisation with program staff to ensure correct usage is maintained while in the field; Equipment maintenance completed to ensure serviceable safety equipment is available to support all program activities.
• Coordinate with the respective DRC Nigeria Operations Room watchkeepers, logistics and fleet staff when directed to support field-level movement oversight and support; Ensure all movements are always conducted and in line with the DRC Nigeria Mission Field Travel Safety and Security SOPs and all movements are coordinated through the DRC Country Operations Rooms.

Staff briefings and new staff orientation:

• Deliver new staff safety orientation briefings to all new DRC Nigeria Mission staff, visitors, and consultants (both national and international) as and when required to ensure the area, state and country-level safety policies, plans, procedures, and protocols are fully acknowledged, understood, and always adhered to.
• Deliver pre-departure and post-safety briefings to all field staff prior to and post-field deployments to ensure the staff are familiar with and fully understand the DRC Nigeria Mission safety policies, plans, standard operating procedures, and protocols.

Static security and asset management:

• Ensure the physical protection system (access control, perimeter protection, building protection) at each DRC facility at the area level is operational at all times; Ensure all static security guards maintain a high level of professionalism and readiness at all times through the delivery of training, capacity building and regular emergency drills and rehearsals at all DRC facilities at area level; ensure all static security SOP’s, compound safety plans and both daily and emergency protocols are fully understood.
• Maintain the Safety department's current asset register at the area level and oversee all assets utilised and stored (Thuraya and iridium satellite phones, push-to-talk devices, and UHF radios, etc.).  Coordinate with the DRC Logistics and Procurement department to ensure the overall DRC asset register reflects the Safety Unit’s current asset register

Security risk assessments and safety improvement planning:

• Conduct regular security risk assessments of building and compound infrastructure and area-specific locations, ensuring a safety improvement plan is drafted, reviewed, and approved before implementing mitigation measures and strategies.

Assessment, planning and information management:

• Draft and disseminate as required advisories for DRC staff in an email when relevant and significant security incidents occur or elevated threat levels are reported.
• Conduct regular security risk assessments at the area level of building and compound infrastructure and area-specific locations. Ensure a safety improvement plan is drafted, reviewed, and approved before implementing mitigation measures and strategies.
• Maintain a live risk register of all safety and security incidents and near misses.
• Ensure compliance with the safety incident reporting SOP and all safety and security incidents are reported, managed, and followed up promptly

Networking and Liaison:

• Organise and ensure DRC Nigeria field offices located within the NW Region keep and maintain a network of key informants and interlocutors at 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 within the NW Region.

Context Understanding and Reporting

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

Training and Capacity Building:

• Assist in the Identification of safety, security and access learning and development needs for NW Nigeria program staff.
• Assist in the provision of regular trainings for all DRC Nigeria program staff on the humanitarian principles and the in-country PAST and HEIST workshops as directed by the Humanitarian Access and Safety Manager and Area Manager/ Base Manager.

Experience and technical competencies: (include years of experience)

• Tertiary education (Bachelor minimum) in Security Operations, Management, Communication, Criminology, Law, Public Administration, or related   field.
• Computer skills (primarily MS Office applications), especially Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• 2-years’ experience working with international agencies or UN agencies.
• Proven ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines.
• Stable, moral, and 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 security related subjects as threats/risk management, security management, personal and organizational security awareness.
• Competent and literate in English, verbal and written, with a sound knowledge of technical expressions in English and Hausa.
• Demonstrative experience in INGO/NGO or UN field (operations) with experience of Access, safety, and security.

Desirable:

• Masters in Security Risk Management, Security Operations, Law, Management, Communication, Criminology, Public Administration or related field.
• Five years of experience working with INGOs or UN agencies.
• Previous services with any Nigerian Disciplined forces (police, Army, NSCDC etc.) will be a desired advantage; a certificate of discharge or recommendation from an immediate supervisor will be required as proof.