Technical Advisor II – Emergency Program Response Generalist

Catholic Relief Services | CRS•United States,

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States, dedicated to saving, protecting, and transforming lives in need across over 100 countries. CRS's work spans emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance, and peacebuilding. The Humanitarian Response Department (HRD) leads and supports CRS's emergency programming, aiming to enhance impact through high-quality, innovative programs, improved field-level capacity, and active engagement in global humanitarian efforts. The HRD employs technical staff to support emergency program planning, rapid response, and capacity strengthening for staff and partners worldwide. This role provides technical advice, guidance, and support for a wide range of program design and implementation issues, with a focus on larger projects in Emergency Response and Recovery. The position aligns with CRS's program quality principles, standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices, supporting regional and Country Program (CP) teams to deliver high-quality programming to vulnerable populations. Key functions include providing rapid deployment program quality, management, and leadership for humanitarian responses; guiding CPs and partners on funding opportunities and proposal development; supporting knowledge management, capacity building, and best practice sharing in emergency programming; and integrating a humanitarian perspective into broader program quality discussions. The technical expertise in this role is crucial for enhancing the effectiveness, adaptability, and innovation of CRS's global Emergency Response and Recovery programming.

Requirements

Demonstrated application of technical principles and concepts in Emergency Response and Recovery. General knowledge of other disciplines to ensure a proper cross-sectoral approach.
Experience in business development, project design and proposal development in emergency response, including technical writing.
Experience in mentoring, coaching, facilitation and training, applying adult learning practices.
Experience with program monitoring and evaluation, including applying data collection tools and methodologies, data analysis, and data presentation.
Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles.
Strong written and oral communication skills
Proficiency (verbal and written) in English and at least one of the following languages: French, Spanish, Arabic.
Must be willing and able to travel up to 50% (i.e., 6 months out of the year); duration of a deployment will generally be from 3 to 8 weeks, depending on the needs of the country program.
Candidates should have the capacity to live and work in difficult/stressful environments and serve wherever agency needs dictate.
Ability to legally work where the position is to be performed.
Ability to undergo and clear a pre-employment medical clearance.
Ability to sign and adhere to CRS' Code of Conduct.

Nice To Haves

Master's Degree in International Development, Disaster Response, or a related field is an advantage.
Located in or able to cover UTC +0 – UTC +4 time zones.
Knowledge of Humanitarian principles, standards and system, with specific knowledge of CRS and Caritas Internationalis emergency programming and standards a plus.
Knowledge of design requirements and regulations of major emergency donors, including the US Government, EU/ECHO and UN agencies
Highly proficient in security protocols and management of emergency programs in insecure environments
Experience with and enthusiasm for coaching, mentoring and on the job training
Ability to maintain performance expectations and strong working relationships in diverse cultural contexts, psychologically and physically stressful environments
Practical knowledge/skills in Information and Community Technology (ICT) and Information Management
Proficiency in additional languages a plus.

Responsibilities

Contribute to the development and implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools, and best practices in Emergency Response and Recovery that effectively engage partners, donors and governments. Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach integrating gender, safe and dignified programming, and disaster risk reduction.
Provide technical solutions to regional and CP teams, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply program design and implementation standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools, and M&E, ensuring high-quality implementation. Take on acting emergency leadership roles (e.g., Emergency Coordinator, Head of Office) and support the set up and/or management of emergency field offices, teams, and relief operations as requested during field deployments. Support may also be provided in other response functions such as security, staffing, supply chain/logistics, finance, IT/communications and administration, as needed.
Contribute to efforts to pre-position CRS for growth opportunities in Emergency Response and Recovery. Lead or contribute to the development of the technical design for large and/or complex proposals, including defining appropriate monitoring systems and indicators. Advise project teams on integrating donor strategies, priorities and technical requirements into CRS’ approach.
Contribute to capacity strengthening initiatives in Emergency Response and Recovery programming for staff and partners through helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and mentoring and coaching to CP staff. Capacity strengthening approaches may include formal and on-the-job training; development/streamlining of operational policies/systems; accompaniment of partners, etc. as appropriate.
Contribute to knowledge management and learning through collecting and analyzing program data, evaluating strategic projects, assisting with measuring program impact, capturing and sharing lessons learned and best practices, and research and internal reports.
Establish and maintain relationships with donors, peer organizations, research and other institutions. Participate in forums in the area of Emergency Response and Recovery to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.
Represent the agency and partners at cluster, donor and coordination meetings in the field and at international cluster meetings, as requested.
Promote health and wellbeing of CRS and partner emergency staff.