Emergency Preparedness Specialists

The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) is now looking for Emergency Preparedness Specialists for our field staff roster, willing to be deployed at short notice to various parts of the world.The Emergency Preparedness Specialist position is a strategic and/or advisory position and could form the function as a Team Leader of a regional team, with other secondees in country offices, with a focus on policies and strategies. The work will require diplomacy, tact, negotiation skills and previous experience at coordination level with local authorities and key stakeholders is mandatory. The position will cover one or several of the following areas: risk analysis, early warning systems, contingency planning, preparedness and response, capacity building and training. Therefore, experience in designing methodology and guidelines for emergency preparedness and response activities are necessary. The ability to develop and deliver trainings on emergency preparedness and response processes is beneficial. In addition, the incumbent should have experience from both humanitarian response and development programming. The work will be in high-medium risk areas, so experience from working in an insecure environment or similar context is required.
The duties are a generic description of potential areas of responsibilities. The actual duties will be specified in a Terms of Reference (ToR) and will depend on the needs and situation in respective country or region.

Duties

Generic Duties:
Review, develop and implement guidelines for emergency preparedness, operational plans and contingency planning.

• Conduct risk analysis and develop methodologies for early warning systems.
• Guide and support preparedness activities such as: early warning, preparedness planning and risk assessments in countries or regions of concern.
• Provide regular technical reviews of preparedness plans and ensure that these are maintained/updated in relation to new and ongoing crises.
• Provide policy advice to the government in the development of institutional legislative and policy frameworks for risk analysis and early warning systems.
• Develop and negotiate strategic partnerships with key actors, in the country or region, such as government agencies, UN, NGO, and/or private sector.
• Support with technical guidance on preparedness, to government, including work towards developing a national strategy for preparedness.
• Advice and engage in the creation of response plans for clusters, and assist with the insertion of this plan into the Inter-Agency contingency plan. Ensure alignment with Inter-Agency policies and processes .
• Design, implement, monitor, revise and assess humanitarian programmes based on preparedness related information and analysis.
• Liaise with the government in identifying areas related to emergency preparedness and response. Support the governments Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) capacity in the region through the development of training programmes and by providing technical support when required.
• Develop, organize and implement tailored training activities related to Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) and facilitate/participate in Inter-Agency simulations and exercises.
• Ensure support to the immediate emergency response in the country or region, as required.
• Contribute and support knowledge management initiatives related to emergency preparedness, including communities of practice intitiatives.

Qualifications

Experience
At least 8-10 years progressively more responsibility experience within the field of Disaster Management, Humanitarian Assistance, Project Management, or similar fields of work. Significant international experience is necessary, and knowledge of the UN or EU systems, policies, rules, regulations and procedures governing disaster risk reduction is also meritting. Experience in management or team leading positions are necessary. Experience in representation and coordination with local authorities and key stakeholdersare are required. Capacity development, training skills and experience in designing methodology and guidelines for emergency preparedness and response activities are necessary, as well as a working knowledge from both humanitarian response and development programming is necessary.

Education
Masters degree in a relevant discipline such as Disaster Management, Emergency Response, Humanitarian Assistance or other related fields. A relevant combination of academic qualifications and experience may be accepted in lieu of a formal university degree.

Languages
Fluent English is essential, both spoken and written. Knowledge of French or any other official UN language is an asset.

Other requirements
Candidates must be physically capable and medically fit to work and travel and will be required to undergo a pre-employment medical examination by a licensed physician before being contracted.

Profile
MSB is looking for men and women with a strong commitment towards humanitarian relief and disaster operations. It is of utmost priority that candidates understand, respect and act in the spirit of the mandate and core values of MSB. The candidate must possess a high level of professional and personal maturity together with an ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues, managers and external partners, such as UN organisations, NGOs, recipient governments and host populations. Candidates must be able to interact with sensitivity and display respect for diversity and gender in multi-cultural environments. A capacity for working under pressure is essential, as work is often in difficult and demanding conditions, where the focus frequently shifts due to changes in priority. The candidate is expected to have excellent analytical and communicative skills, show initiative and take both a hands-on and an analytical approach to tasks and problems.