Technical Advisor III– Emergency Program Response (EPR) Generalist

Catholic Relief Services | CRS • United States,

5d • Remote

About The Position

You will contribute to strategy development in Emergency Response and Recovery at a regional or global level and provide technical advice and leadership in program quality and management aspects of Emergency Response and Recovery at a regional or global level, including as a focal point for a geographic area as needed, in line with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices to Technical Advisors and Country Program (CP) teams to advance the delivery of high-quality programming to the poor and vulnerable. Your expertise, advice and influence will significantly contribute to determining how effective, adaptive and innovative CRS’ Emergency Response and Recovery programming is across a region or regions.

This includes:
providing rapid deployment leadership focused on program quality and management for breaking and ongoing humanitarian responses, including emergency programming in conflict-affected areas as well as responses to natural disasters such as floods, drought or food crises;
guiding CPs and partners on humanitarian funding opportunities and supporting humanitarian proposal design/development, in coordination with regional teams and HRD sectoral technical advisors;
engaging with PIQA, Business Development and regional colleagues to bring a humanitarian lens to discussions on broader program quality initiatives
Contribute to agency‑wide risk management efforts by conducting holistic risk assessments and providing technical leadership to CP teams on effective risk mitigation.
Contribute to knowledge management and learning through the collection and analysis of lessons learned and best practices in ERR and CRS’ risk assessment/mitigation activities in high-risk field contexts to facilitate improvements in decision-making and contribute to the Emergency Response and Recovery learning agenda.

Requirements

• Experience in the development and production of curricula, tools, and other products to support Emergency Response and Recovery interventions and programming.
• Demonstrated experience in transferring knowledge to diverse audiences through training, mentoring, and other formal and informal methods.
• Strong understanding and application of technical principles and concepts in Emergency Response and Recovery.
• Good knowledge of related disciplines to ensure a proper cross-sectoral approach.
• Excellent relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings.
• Very strong strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment.
• Fluency in English and at least one additional CRS core language (Arabic, French, and/or Spanish).
• 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 1 to 3 months, depending on the needs of the country program/partner.
• Candidates should have the capacity to live and work in difficult/stressful environments and serve wherever agency needs dictate.

Nice To Haves

• Master's Degree in International Development, Disaster Management or related field is an advantage.
• Located in or able to cover UTC +0 – UTC +4 time zones.
• Experience should include high-risk field contexts such as emergency programming in disaster and conflict zones.
• Strong business development skills including project design, proposal coordination, proposal development, writing and review.
• 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 and civil society partners.
• Understanding of partnership principles.
• Familiarity with both operations (e.g., supply chain, HR, finance) and program management.
• Proficiency in the use of all asset transfer modalities (i.e., in-kind, voucher and cash).
• Experience with data visualization, analysis and management applications such as PowerBI, Sharepoint and other ICT4D applications.
• Proficiency in additional languages a plus.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the design, advocate for, and ensure implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools, and best practices in Emergency Response and Recovery that effectively engage partners, donors, and governments. Ensure a cross-sectoral approach that integrates gender, protection mainstreaming, and disaster risk reduction.
• Provide technical solutions globally, for regional and/or CP teams for strategic planning and how to best apply and adapt program design and implementation standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools, and risk management in emergency response and recovery, particularly for emergency coordination, program quality and management.
• Take on acting emergency leadership roles and support the set up and/or management of emergency field offices, teams, humanitarian programs as requested during field deployments. Support and/or provide leadership for operational functions such as security, staffing, supply chain/logistics, finance, IT/communications and administration, as needed.
• Contribute to HQ, regional, and country program staff efforts to pre-position CRS for strategic growth opportunities in Emergency Response and Recovery. Provide technical guidance in proposal development and project design with a focus on complex projects to ensure innovative programming solutions and technical excellence. Support CPs to appropriately staff project teams.
• Oversee and lead the delivery of capacity strengthening initiatives in Emergency Response and Recovery programming globally for staff and partners through helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums; organizing and/or facilitating trainings, workshops and conferences; and mentoring and coaching staff in innovative CRS approaches and tools. Provide mentoring and coaching to TAs, as well as CP and regional staff.
• Effectively manage talent and supervise. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching, strategically tailor individual development plans, and complete performance assessment for direct reports.
• Oversee and lead aspect(s) of the agency knowledge management and learning agenda in Emergency Response and Recovery programming and Risk Management through helping implement conditions for collective learning that ensure the capturing, documenting, and sharing of key successes, promising practices, lessons learned, and evidence-based implementation research, internally and externally, including publications in peer reviewed journals.
• Represent CRS in targeted regional or global forums to develop opportunities and better ensure collaboration and shared learning in Emergency Response and Recovery to influence technical partner approaches, future funding opportunities, and policies. Network with relevant organizations to increase CRS’ profile in Emergency Response and Recovery, influence in the regional or global Emergency Response and Recovery community, and donor diversification.

Benefits

• Contingent on the selected candidate’s ability to legally work where the position is to be performed.
• Pre-employment medical clearance required for positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside a home country.
• Some work permit processes require clearing a separate government administered medical examination.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior