Danish Refugee Council
Overall Context
Danish Demining Group (today known as the Humanitarian Disarmament and Peacebuilding, HDP, sector of DRC) Afghanistan was established in Kandahar in 1998 during the Taliban regime and since May 2000 conducted operations in Central, Northern and Eastern regions of Afghanistan. HDP has trained a large number of professional Afghan national mine action personnel across a wide range of disciplines and has built a solid reputation as an implementing partner (IP) of Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan (MAPA) with a strong focus on integrated activities as well as quality and safety.
As of January 2022, HDP alone has 230 staff, including 17 women. To date, HDP has found and destroyed over 26,803 Anti-Personnel and Anti-Vehicle mines, and 1,167,755 items of ERW, releasing 68,614,623 m2 of safe land to impacted communities. Over three million Afghans in 3,294 at-risk communities have also benefited from receiving EORE from HDP’s teams.
HDP Afghanistan is looking for a dedicated Technical Advisor to support in the development and improvement across Mine Action operations.
The Technical Advisor (TA) has the primary function of providing technical advice to national staff. The purpose of providing this technical advice is to develop the capacity and technical knowledge of the national staff within DRC-HDP and other IPs. The objective of building technical knowledge and capacity within the national staff is to ensure that correct and safe Mine Action practices are according to HDP Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and sustainable supervision and management capacity is developed within the organisation.
The TA is to develop staff capacity, in particular from a strategic point of view, focusing on planning, operational statistics, information management, and innovative approaches. The TA is not to take on tasks and responsibilities of the national staff under his/her supervision, but rather monitors and ensure that these tasks and responsibilities are carried out correctly, efficiently and effectively.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Support the implementation of DRC HDPs Mine Action activities including Abandoned Improvised Mines (AIM)
- Review and revise country-specific SOP) with the consultation of Mine Action Manager (MAM)/Operations Manager and Quality Assurance Manager (QAM) for relevant HDP activities in accordance with HQ Generic Operating Procedures (GOP), Afghanistan Mine Action Standards (AMAS) and International Mine Action Standards (IMAS)
- Develop and, where appropriate, assist in the delivery of specific trainings for members of the HDP team in areas such as EOD, NTS, Mine Clearance including AIM clearance and Mechanical Support.
- Provide recommendation to the Head of HDP and MAM/Operations Manager on capacity gaps, training and establish an overall capacity building structure for national technical staff, including on-the-job training.
- Review the internal Quality Management (QM) structure in cooperation with the QAM
- Participate in QA activities of all areas including medical support
- Review the operational structure of the programme and provide feedback/recommendations to Head of HDP and MAM/ Operations Manager
- Review the application of the Land Release concept throughout operations including the use of task implementation plans and applied land release methodology (cancellation, reduction, clearance)
- In coordination with Head of HDP and MAM/Operations Manager, attend, support and participate in relevant technical working group meetings with the national authority and any other relevant meetings/trainings.
- Identify and recommend any new technologies/methodologies that will contribute to increased operational efficiency and safety.
- Up-date the training packages for all Mine Action activities conducted by HDP in Afghanistan, in coordination with the national training specialist and EOD Instructor.
- Other relevant tasks as assigned by the Head of HDP
Reporting Lines
The Technical Advisor’s direct reporting line will be to the Head of HDP Afghanistan and cooperate directly with the MAM/Operations Manager on a daily basis. The TA will also have a technical line to the Senior Technical Advisor in HDP HQ.
Qualifications
- A minimum of 4 years of relevant working experience at a senior international level with humanitarian international NGOs or similar international body, within the Mine Action sector is required
- Hands-on experience of training, managing and deploying manual/mechanical demining, BAC, EOD, NTS and AIM teams
- Knowledge of and practical experience with a range of hand-held detectors, such as the Minelab F3, Ebinger UPEX 740M, CEIA CMD, Vallon VMR3 / VMC, Wire hound and mine hound detectors for the AIM clearance
- IMAS EOD Level III certification, or equivalent is required
- Experience in drafting SOPs is required as well as knowledge on IMAS/National Standards
- Experience in designing (including TMPs) and delivering technical training is required
- Experience related to use of mechanical assets is desirable
- Fluency in written and spoken English with excellent writing skills required
- A high degree of computer literacy is required
- Work experience in programme management, including representation, staff management, monitoring and evaluation is highly desirable
- Knowledge of advanced trauma care is highly desirable
- Work experience from within the region is desirable
Personal competencies
- Strong leadership skills.
- Capacity to work independently
- Managerial courage and integrity
- A problem-solving attitude and ability to get things done in spite of a challenging political environment
- Innovative and creative thinking with strong analytical and reporting skills
- Political and cultural sensitivity, as well as a diplomatic, tactful, and flexible interpersonal style
- Proven ability to function well in a potentially volatile and sometimes stressful environment
Conditions
Duty station: Kabul, with regular travel to other regions. The position is unaccompanied and the candidate must be prepared to live and work in an isolated environment for longer periods of time with limited recreational and social facilities. Simple accommodation is provided for the duration of the contract.
Contract: 6 months, with possibility of additional 6 months extension.
Salary and conditions in accordance with Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for Expatriates; please refer to www.drc.dk under Vacancies. This position is placed at salary level F.
How to apply
Application process:
Interested? Then apply for this position, all applicants must send a cover letter & CV online
Note: Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis due to urgency in filling the position.
*Closing date: 15-Oct-22