Overview
Lead the Humanitarian Access, Safety and Security (HASS) department, setting strategic priorities and serving as the primary advisor on security and humanitarian access risks to the Country Director and Senior Management Team.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the HASS department and set strategic priorities.
- Serve as primary advisor to the Country Director and SMT on security and humanitarian access risks.
- Ensure appropriate staffing structures and performance management systems are in place.
- Promote a strong organizational culture of safety and principled humanitarian engagement.
- Ensure full implementation and monitoring of Security Minimum Standards and Security Management Plans.
- Validate Security Risk Assessments (SRAs) and provide strategic risk recommendations.
- Oversee country-wide SMPs, SOPs and CPs.
- Ensure security procedures remain adaptive to contextual developments.
- Lead development and execution of country humanitarian access and acceptance strategies.
- Guide negotiations with authorities, communities, and relevant actors.
- Monitor access constraints and support advocacy initiatives.
- Ensure IRC programming is understood and accepted in operational areas.
- Contribute to development of country emergency preparedness plans.
- Coordinate with Program and Operational departments to develop operational and programmatic contingency plans.
- Build the capacity of the in-country Critical Incident Management Team (CIMT) and Safety and Security Management Teams (SSMTs).
- Maintain an up-to-date evacuation plan for international and relocatable staff.
- Update the medevac plan on a regular basis.
- Oversee facility security systems, guard management, and movement safety procedures.
- Ensure vehicle safety and journey management standards are implemented.
- Support safe operational expansion into new geographic areas.
- Lead the development and implementation of country HASS training and capacity building plans.
- Line manage and mentor HASS staff, ensuring effective performance management systems.
- Promote team cohesion, professionalism, and adherence to the IRC Way and HR policies.
- Ensure all direct reports develop and implement capacity building plans for their teams.
- Promote and monitor staff care, wellbeing, and duty of care practices.
- Advocate with the SMT to ensure adequate HASS staffing levels.
- Lead HASS department budget planning and monitoring.
- Ensure proportional allocation of security resources based on risk levels.
- Participate in program design, implementation and review sessions.
- Participate in partner and vendor selection and assessment.
- Advise program and field management teams on context-specific risks.
- Contribute to the development and implementation of mitigation measures and plans.
- Pro-actively collaborate with country leadership and key members of operations departments and programs.
- Represent IRC in national security coordination platforms and access working groups.
- Maintain strategic relationships with authorities and humanitarian actors.
- Ensure alignment between IRC access strategy and broader humanitarian response.
- Provide regular technical reporting on Security Risk Assessments (SRAs), training plans, and SMS compliance.
- Seek technical validation of major risk decisions and contingency frameworks.
- Contribute to regional security analysis and lessons learned processes.
- Align country security and humanitarian access strategies with regional and global IRC priorities.
- Participate in regional HASS coordination platforms and technical reviews.
Required Experience
- Above 6 years’ experience in humanitarian safety, security, or access roles within a humanitarian NGO.
- Experience working in conflict or high-risk environments, preferably Afghanistan or similar contexts.
- Proven experience managing security and/or access teams across multiple locations.
- Experience in humanitarian access negotiations, crisis response, and risk management.
- Experience engaging in coordination forums or government liaison is an advantage.
- Experience advising senior leadership and managing crises.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree required in Security Management, Political Science, International Relations, Law, or related field.
- Master’s degree or relevant professional certification strongly preferred.
