Humanitarian Advisor (DRR & Climate Change) (100%)

Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe provides humanitarian aid worldwide and supports people who have been affected by natural disasters or war and displacement. In humanitarian crises, people need support to meet their most basic needs. However, in situations of violence or hardship, they also need special support to maintain their personal safety and dignity. The aim is to prevent, minimise and respond appropriately to people’s need in humanitarian crises. The position is part of the new Technical Unit created as part of our restructure. The aim of the unit is to provide technical advice and expertise to DKH and its partners in order to support our work worldwide. This position ensures the quality of our projects in the areas of DRR (Disaster Risk Reduction) and Climate Change and thus makes a valuable contribution to the operationalisation of the strategy. This also includes a focus on (locally led) anticipatory action as well as greening of humanitarian aid (environmental sustainability of our work).

Areas of responsibility:

Technical guidance and qualification of DKH/ partners (40%)

• Regular analysis of DKH/partner practices and capacities to identify programmatic strengths and gaps
• Identify and close existing discrepancies between donor guidelines on greening humanitarian aid and current DKH (EWDE) practices and standards
• Champion environmental sustainability and avoiding/ minimizing/ managing damage caused
• Support offces and partners to systematically consider environmental risks, environmental impacts of a crisis and the potential environmental impacts of our work
• Implementation of DKH strategy on the topic, input for follow-up strategy, revision of country strategies
• Review of project proposals and reports to ensure that projects comply with relevant technical standards, (donor) guidelines and best practice
• Participatory consultation with partners and offices on project ideas and annual planning
• Identify funding opportunities and provide guidance/ accompaniment to DKH/ partners in accessing them
• Supports DKH/ partners in routine disaster and climate/ environmental risk analyses and methodologies
• Supports development of emergency preparedness plans, assessments, analyses and early action plans
• Regular visits to projects/ partners/ DKH office for capacity strengthening, exchange or technical support
• Qualification of DKH and partners through training, coaching, mentoring, training of trainers (ToT), workshops, trainings and coordination of external opportunities
• Technical orientation and support for DRR focal points worldwide and external consultants

Procedures, guidelines and instruments (30%)

• Analsye existing procedures and practices within EWDE regarding DRR, climate, greening , sustainability
• Integration of disaster risk reduction and climate change into DKH procedures and standards
• Revision/ update of existing policies, guidelines and instruments on climate, greening of aid, DRR based on best practices, international standards and donor compliance
• Rollout of developed materials to ensure that staff are well informed, skilled and supported in their use
• Cooperation with DKH MEAL consultant in the development of procedures and guidelines
• Collaboration with colleagues in the Technical Unit to ensure harmonized approaches and methods including on cross-cutting issues, e.g. resilience, gender, nexus

Learning and knowledge management (15%)

• Systematic collection/ analysis /dissemination of learning and good practices
• Support M&E through drafting ToRs for evaluations/ studies, carry out internal evaluations/ learning events
• Maintenance of DKH evidence database for DRR- and climate change-related measures and approaches
• Facilitate knowledge exchange and learning through communities of practice and other formats
• Dissemination of trends/ new approaches and accompaniment of pilots
• Supports monitoring of the current strategy, in collaboration with other stakeholders
• Support development of publications, brochures, website etc. together with the relevant stakeholders
• Further the knowledge exchange and learning between DKH and BftW

External representation, networking, advocacy, communication (15%)

• Internal/ external focal point for DRR, anticipatory action and climate change
• External representation of DKH on the topic within and outside Germany, e.g. with donors (e.g. AA, ECHO), networks and working groups e.g. VENRO, ACT EU, Anticipation Hub, Start Fund
• Increased cooperation/ coordination with BfdW through working groups and bilateral exchanges
• Supporting the DKH management in the preparation of meetings, conferences, etc.
• Organisation or facilitation of events within DKH on the topic
• Networking and relationship building with other NGOs, networks, alliances (Anticipation Hub, REAP, GNDR, AHA, VOICE, WAHAFA, Caritas, etc.)
• Collaboration with relevant departments for lobby/advocacy or media-related purposes

Qualifications

Technical qualifications:

• University degree in DRR, climate change or comparable field
• Experience in the management of DRR and climate change projects, ideally in humanitarian aid
• Technical expertise in e.g. anticipatory action, DRR, preparedness, SCLR, locally led/ owned approaches, resilience, climate change adaptation and mitigation, sustainability, greening of humanitarian aid
• Demonstrated experience in capacity building through training, mentoring, coaching
• Experience in external representation (third-party donors, clusters, thematic events, etc.)
• Familiar with humanitarian coordination structures, technical working groups, mandates from donors, UN and other NGOs in the field
• Up to date on current trends and developments and best practices
• Excellent language and communication skills in English and ideally German (further languages an asset)
• MS Office skills as well as use of digital technologies applied on project level

Personal qualifications

• Good organizational skills, ability to prioritize tasks
• Works independently and reliably, but also well as part of a team
• Intercultural and interpersonal skills
• Commitment to delivering quality and innovation
• Ability to build trust and successful relationships (in person and from a distance);
• Positive and engaging attitude, ability to inspire others
• Affinity for localization, locally led approaches and work with local partners
• Flexibility, ability to work under pressure, perseverance;
• Willingness to travel on assignments, ability to work in tropical regions;
• Excellent communication skills that can adapt to different target audiences

What we offer

• Role based in Berlin, Germany (permission to work here is a pre-requisite)
• Flexible working hours and family-friendly working conditions
• Company pension scheme
• Opportunities for further professional development
• Annual leave of 30 days/year as well as special leave models
• Possibility of working from home
• Opportunity to become part of a highly dynamic and motivated team