Humanitarian Access Manager

The Humanitarian Access Manager supports NRC Ukraine’s country strategy (50%) by providing strategic advice and analysis, operational support, technical guidance, and capacity strengthening for NRC teams and partners. Through humanitarian engagement, advocacy, access coordination and analysis, and civil-military coordination, the manager will support the Country Office and Area Office’s in planning and operationalizing of strategies and approaches that will increase the reach, acceptance and impact of NRC programmes, particularly in hard-to-reach areas. S/he will advise on strategic decision-making, program design, monitoring, and operational footprints to be principled, conflict sensitive, adaptive and contextually driven, enhancing NRC’s response capacity, preparedness, and comparative advantage.

Below is a brief summary of the role. Please download the Job Description for further details.

What you will do:

Strategy Development

• Develop country and area-based humanitarian access strategies to support the safe and principled delivery of emergency assistance.
• Contribute to the development of international and national advocacy initiatives, with a particular focus on access barriers faced by people in need and humanitarian agencies.

Analysis

• Coordinate the provision of information into national and regional contextual and access analysis briefings and dashboards.
• Design internal and external humanitarian access briefings and accompanying data collection tools that contribute to raising awareness of humanitarian access barriers and potential solutions across NRC’s areas of operation.
• Ensure NRC has an up to date and comprehensive actor mappings and analyses of the key national and international stakeholders relevant to humanitarian access.

Advocacy

• Collaborate closely with regional and country advocacy colleagues and key stakeholders to coordinate advocacy and engagement processes and initiatives concerning bureaucratic and administrative access impediments (BAIs), including leading, participating, and/or contributing to multidisciplinary working groups and taskforces.
• Provide policy advice to senior humanitarian leadership at country and regional level related to humanitarian access and other relevant thematic areas.
• Produce a range of products including policy briefings, guidance notes and reports to support influencing and external engagement particularly related to humanitarian access and humanitarian diplomacy.

Operational support

• Rove between emergency and hard-to-reach contexts across Ukraine, to support NRC teams and Partners on humanitarian access and hard-to-reach related issues (e.g., through development-drafting and roll-out of context-specific guidance, engagement, access and acceptance plans-strategies, and capacity building).
• Remote or direct support to relevant response teams or CO SMT in their engagement with authorities, armed actors or communities around access challenges and/or other principled engagements.
• Contribute to the development of a remote management strategy, alongside programme, logistics and security colleagues that can help ensure NRC can continue to deliver assistance across a range of scenarios.
• Liaise with area and local based colleagues in order to ensure an effective flow of access related information between NRC’s Ukraine response team and the area and local response team.
• Coordinate cross sectoral input into operational response scenarios and provide recommendations on appropriate response modalities.

Training

• Deliver context specific trainings to NRC staff, especially access focal points, and local partners on humanitarian principles, access, negotiations and key principles of Civil-Military Coordination.

Coordination

• Maintain active contact with Access/Liaison counterparts from peer agencies (including Local Humanitarian Partners) and relevant organisations.
• Liaise with critical coordination mechanisms (such as the protection and logistics clusters/working groups) at the national level.
• Co-Chair UN OCHA’s Humanitarian Access Working Group. Within this role, provide support on:
  • Access Analysis and Monitoring
  • Policy Development, Strategic advice, and Operational Guidance
  • Humanitarian Engagement and Advocacy
  • Access Coordination, at national and local level
  • Information Sharing and Awareness Raising
  • Chair or participate in relevant Task Force’s

What you will bring:

• Minimum 3 years of experience from working as a Senior Project Manager in a complex emergency with high level access constraints
• Advanced University/Master’s degree in relevant field
• Previous experience chairing, cochairing or playing a prominent role in coordination mechanisms is a strong asset
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities
• Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal
• Ukrainian and/or Russian language skills considered an asset

Specific Skills, Knowledge and Experience:

• Knowledge of education context in Ukraine is an asset

What Makes This Position Attractive?

• The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee. The organisation protects displaced people and supports them as they build a new future. NRC began relief efforts after World War II, and today, works in both new and protracted crises across more than 40 countries.
• Meaningful work that responds to the diverse needs, priorities, and concerns raised by beneficiary communities. NRC Ukraine meets immediate humanitarian needs, prevents further displacement, and contributes to durable solutions.

What We Offer

• Duty station: Ukraine (either kyiv or Dnipro)
• Contract duration: 12 months fixed term-renewable subject to performance, structure and funds availability
• Travel : up to 30% within Ukraine
• Salary/benefits: According to NRC salary scale grade 8, terms and conditions.
• NRC is an equal opportunities employer. In the selection of our staff, we are committed to diversity without distinction to age, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, and physical ability.
• We think outside the box, encourage ideas, and give responsibility to all employees at all levels. You will have many opportunities to be heard and take the initiative.

Key Information – Please Take Note When Applying

• Learn more about NRC here and NRC Ukraine
• To apply as an internal candidate, please click on the suitcase icon “I am an employee” on the top right of the page to be redirected to NRC’s internal career site.
• Apply by completing all the system-required fields of your experience, employment history, and education in your application.
• Ensure to attach your latest CV and application in English.
• When creating your profile, include your full name as per your passport.
• Applications that do not meet the minimum standards in terms of experience or qualifications will generally not be considered.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. We receive many applicants for each vacant position.