HMA Mechanical Technical Advisor

Overall Context

Danish Demining Group (today known as the Humanitarian Disarmament and Peacebuilding, HDP, sector of DRC) Afghanistan was established in Kandahar in 1998 during the Taliban regime and since May 2000 conducted operations in Central, Northern and Eastern regions of Afghanistan. HDP has trained a large number of professional Afghan national mine action personnel across a wide range of disciplines and has built a solid reputation as an implementing partner (IP) of Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan (MAPA) with a strong focus on integrated activities as well as quality and safety.

As of January 2022, HDP alone has 230 staff, including 17 women. To date, HDP has found and destroyed over 26,803 Anti-Personnel and Anti-Vehicle mines, and 1,167,755 items of ERW, releasing 68,614,623 m2 of safe land to impacted communities. Over three million Afghans in 3,294 at-risk communities have also benefited from receiving EORE from HDP’s teams.

Currently the DRC HDP programme is in possession of the following mechanical assets:

• 2x Mini Mine Wolf 240 (MMW), tiller and flail attachments,
• 2x Armoured excavators,
• 1x Armor Front-End Loader (FEL),
• 1x Armtrac, A75T, rotary mine comb attachment

HDP Afghanistan is looking for a dedicated HMA Mechanical Technical Advisor (HMA MTA) to support in the development and improvement across Mine Action operations utilizing mechanical assets.

The HMA MTA has the primary function of assessing and suggesting improvements to the deployment and use of mechanical assets in DRC’s MA operations. The HMA MTA is also expected to train national staff involved in the management and deployment of these assets.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Review and revise country-specific Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) with the consultation of Mine Action Manager (MAM)/Operations Manager and Quality Assurance Manager (QAM) for mechanical assets in accordance with HQ Generic Operating Procedures (GOP), Afghanistan Mine Action Standards (AMAS) and International Mine Action Standards (IMAS)
• Provide recommendation to the Head of HDP and MAM/Operations Manager on capacity gaps related to use of mechanical assets
• Develop and assist in the delivery of specific trainings for members of the HDP team in mechanical assets and support
• Assess current use of mechanical assets and suggest improvements, such as introduction of new attachments, including the feasibility and approach for deploying mechanical assets in support of Abandoned Improvised Mine (AIM) clearance
• Design and conduct trails to assess any modifications to mechanical assets
• Define the needed spare part stock and provide input to the procurement process
• Participate in QA activities of mechanical assets
• Identify and recommend any new technologies/methodologies that will contribute to increased operational efficiency and safety
• Seek and liaise with MAPA and other humanitarian MA IPs in the country to develop and improve DRC-HDP mechanical operation in terms of machines modifications or use in multiple systems (Gail, flails, Tiller, ripper, cultivator, magnetic system)

Reporting Lines

The HMA MTA direct reporting line will be to the Head of HDP Afghanistan and cooperate directly with the MAM/Operations Manager on a daily basis. The HMA MTA will also have a technical line to the Senior Technical Advisor and Global Operations Advisor in HDP HQ.

Qualifications

• A minimum of 4 years of relevant working experience at a senior international level with humanitarian international NGOs or similar international body, within the Mine Action sector is required
• Advanced technical/mechanical background and specialised in mine clearance machines: Mini Mine wolf 240, flail and tiller system – Armtrac, A75T, rotary mine comb system – Armoured Front-End Loader and Excavator.
• International managerial experience from mechanical maintenance and repair
• An understanding of integrated HMA projects – incorporating mechanical equipment with manual demining operations
• Hands-on experience of training, managing and deploying mechanical demining teams
• Experience in drafting SOPs is required as well as knowledge on IMAS/National Standards
• Experience in designing (including TMPs) and delivering technical training is required
• Fluency in written and spoken English with excellent writing skills required
• A high degree of computer literacy is required
• Work experience from within the region is desirable

Personal competencies

• Strong leadership skills.
• Capacity to work independently

• Managerial courage and integrity

• A problem-solving attitude and ability to get things done in spite of a challenging political environment

• Innovative and creative thinking with strong analytical and reporting skills

• Political and cultural sensitivity, as well as a diplomatic, tactful, and flexible interpersonal style

• Proven ability to function well in a potentially volatile and sometimes stressful environment

Conditions

Duty station: Kabul, with regular travel to other regions. The position is unaccompanied and the candidate must be prepared to live and work in an isolated environment for longer periods of time with limited recreational and social facilities. Simple accommodation is provided for the duration of the contract.

Contract: 6 months.

Salary and conditions in accordance with Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for Expatriates; please refer to www.drc.dk under Vacancies. This position is placed at salary level F.

Start date: 01 June 2022 or as soon as possible thereafter

Further information

For information about our work and organisation, please visit our website http://www.danishdemininggroup.dk/ and http://www.drc.dk/.