SENIOR SAFETY & SECUIRTY OFFICER at Mercy Corps

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible.
In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions
into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.
Now, and for the future.

Program / Department Summary

The conflict in Ukraine has resulted in over a mass displacement across Ukraine. The circumstances and populations are constantly evolving with the conflict. Mercy Corps has reopened its registration and presence in Ukraine as well as offices/activities to support people in neighboring Poland, Moldova and Romania. This includes partnerships, cash, information as protection and other, emergency response activities in a very fluid environment.

General Position Summary

The Security Officer is an important role to our risk management systems, business continuity and duty-of-care towards staff. The Security Officer will be the first face of security management seen by incoming staff and new team members and therefore, responsible for conveying absolute clarity on expectations, rules and our risk profile with quality briefing and context updates. S/he will follow the context and interact routinely with the Crisis Analytics team to enrich the standard briefings with relevant context updates. S/he will contribute to security management planning including the drafting, implementation and feedback on SOPs which are appropriate to the context.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Duty of Care & Standards:

• Assist with the day-to-day line management of the team of Security Team, which includes the five Safety and Security Officers, the Security Team Administrative Assistant, and the Conflict Analyst.
• Support in a mobile capacity with critical tasks in the country context, including survey missions for programmatic and operational activities, assessments of border crossings, and facility assesments for offices and guesthouses.
• Assist the Security Manager in devising a weekly set of topical trainings for the Security Team. These trainings are intended to serve as a capacity building exercise for SSOs and should be focused on training SSOs to operationalize key SOPs.
• Is a central focal point for assisting the Response Security Manager in implementing the core of the Security Management Plan and the Global Minimum Standards on Safety & Security for the office. This requires outreach and proactive engagement with incoming and existing staff.
• Support the Response Security Manager on implementing a risk assessment for all areas where MC may operate or travel in Ukraine and develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) appropriate for risk mitigation.
• Ensure that all necessary measures are taken to provide MC employees with a safe working environment as detailed in existing guidelines, including responsibility of fire regulation procedures.
• Is responsible for staff tracking of team members during travel within and outside the city according to the SOPs. S/he will coordinate with the SSOs in other offices to ensure coordination for intercity movements & the entirety of journey management.
• Will conduct site-assessments on each premises and support all the occupants on the specific SOPs for each location. S/he will coordinate with the Operations Team on training drivers and any security / administration staff on contingency planning and safety SOPs specific to their team.
• S/he will support the Head of Office in facilitating Security Management Team (SMT) meetings and ensure relevant information is disseminated to all senior staff, as required.
• Coordinate with Operations to ensure a process of accepting of visitor and vehicles to MC premises. Receiving of mail, etc.
• Will participate in daily go / no-go decisions for movements and activities.

Training & Orientations:

• Provide a security briefing and orientation to all guest, new hires, and visitors within the first 24 hours of being onsite in Kyiv or other locations.
• S/he will conduct basic trainings on Mercy Corps including the facilitation of the Security Essentials.
• S/he Will liaise with organizations (such as Mine Action or Halo Trust) on supplementary trainings appropriate for the context,

Information Management

• Will provide regular verbal briefings in all staff meetings which are concise and include topline points relevant to the context and security management goals.
• Will disseminate security information to all staff in the Mercy Corps offices regularly (at least weekly) under the guidance of the country Security Manager and will be done within the larger country context.
• S/he will brief guards and drivers daily, on any immediate security threats and provide training/translation.
• Ensure every incident is reported and documented to standard. Maintain a filing system of incidents, the incident log, trainings, templates and other documents at standard.
• Represent Mercy Corps, as advised by supervisor, to local governments and authorities and at routine security meetings/briefings.
• In coordination with the Security Manager, will maintain the security bulletin board in the office and share information with heads of office.

Representation

• Will act as Mercy Corps security focal point and represent Mercy Corps at external security meetings.

• Participate in the external working groups, cluster system and other operational coordinating bodies as needed.

Organizational Learning: As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

Accountabilities: Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Supervisory Responsibility: None

Reports Directly To: The country Security Manager

Works Directly With: Operations team, the Senior Management Team – Program Departments, Finance actors in Ukraine, IT/Information Security Coordinator

Accountability: Accountable to Mercy Corps Procurement Policy and Procedures. Maintains accurate electronic and hardcopy files of procurement file and other relevant files.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• Must have a professional and approachable demeanor.
• Must have the ability to troubleshoot bureaucratic hurdles and problem solve so as to facilitate Mercy Corps program activities throughout the country.
• Must be diplomatic and follow Mercy Corps protocols on representation and reporting.
• Fluency in Ukrainian and English is required. Fluency in Russian is desired.
• Must be able to work independently and show initiative.
• Good organizational skills are necessary
• Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive environment.

Success Factors

The successful Security Officer will be a calm and approachable person that earns the trust of the entire team with professionalism, confidentiality and no judgement. S/he must understand programming modalities and priorities. S/he will be a team player that works closely with the Operations team and Crisis Analytics amongst other departments. She or he will be able to manage a very tight top-down go/no-go process on a daily basis and implement this without fail. While military experience is useful in some aspects, this role also values curiosity and interest in understanding the program objectives.

2022-10-27T15:40:23.000 2022-11-07T23:59:59.000 Full time TELECOMMUTE Ukraine Mercy Corps