CRS
About CRS
Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.
Note: This is a telecommuter position.
Job Summary:
You will provide technical advice and support to a range of program design and implementation issues in the area of Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience (DRR/R) in line with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices to Country Program (CP) teams to advance the delivery of high-quality programming to the poor and vulnerable. Your advice, knowledge, and support will contribute to determining how effective, adaptive and innovative CRS’ DRR/R programming is across the globe.
The Disaster Risk Reduction/Resilience (DRR/R) Technical Advisor leads DRR coordination and leadership among three Caritas Internationalis (CI) organizations: Catholic Relief Services, CAFOD and Caritas Australia. This DRR/R Coordination Group (DRR/R CG) has been working together for 10 years to collectively advance DRR and resilience initiatives including disaster preparedness, programming related to climate change and environmental stewardship.
Roles and Key Responsibilities:
- In line with the annual workplan, provide field-level Technical Assistance (TA) to CG member programs/partners
- Support the development and contribute to the implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools and best practices in DRR/R that effectively engage partners, donors, and governments and participate in select CRS working group/ committees formed to achieve CRS’ strategic goals
- Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach integrating gender, protection mainstreaming, and disaster risk reduction.
- Provide technical solutions to country program (CP) teams, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools and Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability And Learning (MEAL), to ensure high-quality implementation.
- Contribute to, and in some cases lead, the development of the technical design for proposals: Support the process of preparation, design, submission and approval of project concepts and full-fledged proposals. As needed, act as a technical writer on proposal development teams. Advise project teams on integrating donor strategies, priorities and technical requirements into CRS’ approach.
- Support capacity strengthening initiatives in DRR/R programming for staff and partner through supporting the development of learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and coaching.
- Collect and analyze program data, capture and share lessons learned and best practices for specific projects to facilitate improvements in decision-making and contribute to the DRR/R learning agenda.
- Maintain relationships with donors, peer organizations, research and other institutions, and participate in forums in the area of DRR/R to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work and that of DRR/R WG members’ joint initiatives.
Lead the DRR/R Coordination Group (DRR/R CG)
- Coordinate and chair the three agency DRR/R CG
- Lead the development and implementation of realistic annual work plans that may include both multi-agency and individual agency activities
- Facilitate annual meetings with the humanitarian directors in all three agencies to provide updates and present annual work plans
- Manage communications and information sharing within the group, and between the working group and external audiences
- Manage budget for the DRR/R collaboration supported by the three agencies
- Develop links to other CI Member Organizations with DRR/R programming as a means of sharing tools/guidance and/or identifying opportunities to collaborate at the field level
- Follow up on opportunities to share learning or support capacity building opportunities within the wider CI network
- Promote quality DRR/R within the wider Caritas Internationalis (CI) Network
Required Languages – Fluency in English; professional proficiency in one of CRS’ other ‘main’ languages (French, Spanish, Arabic) a plus
Travel – Must be willing and able to travel up to 40%.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Strong 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
- Good strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment
- Good technical writing skills
- Presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills
- Proactive, resourceful, and results-oriented
Preferred Qualifications
- Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, knowledge-sharing networks.
Supervisory Responsibilities – None
Key Working Relationships:
Internal – DRR/R Technical Advisor II, sector teams on Humanitarian Response Department (HRD)
External – CAFOD and Caritas Australia members of DRR/R CG, Team Leads at Caritas Internationalis
Qualifications – External
Basic Qualifications
- Master’s Degree in International Relations, or field(s) related to DRR/R such as Disaster Management, Environmental Management, Climate Risk Management, Global Affairs, Humanitarian Aid, etc. required.
- Minimum of three years relevant work experience with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with minimum of two years relevant field-based experience in DRR/R.
- Knowledge of technical principles and concepts in DRR/R. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.
- Experience in project design and proposal development. Experience in writing content for proposals.
- Knowledge of capacity strengthening best practices.
- Experience with program monitoring and evaluation and analysis.
- Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles.
Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.
· Integrity
· Continuous Improvement & Innovation
· Builds Relationships
· Develops Talent
· Strategic Mindset
· Accountability & Stewardship
*Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.
*Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.*
Note: All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside their home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical examination.
CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people – especially children and vulnerable adults – to live free from abuse and harm.
CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.
CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer