Regional Safety & Security Director (Asia)

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world’s largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you’re a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

The Asia Region supports effective, efficient, and high-quality programming by strengthening capacity around client outcomes, program quality, strategic positioning, and business development. It addresses overlapping humanitarian and development challenges – conflict, governance, and environmental issues – through integrated, impactful approaches.

The region prioritizes cross-learning, innovation, and harmonized technical strategies, especially in high-need areas. It ensures continuity of care and coordinated service delivery for clients on the move and the host population, while advancing strategic donor engagement through cohesive fundraising and regional collaboration.

The region responds swiftly to country program needs, filling critical gaps and navigating access constraints, emergencies, and security shifts. It amplifies client and frontline voices to inform global advocacy and fosters strong team cohesion to enhance program delivery. Asia focuses on cost-efficient and adaptive approaches to the evolving humanitarian and donor landscape, with a clear focus on resourcing country programs.

The Asia region operates country programs in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Myanmar, with a presence in Malaysia.

Position Summary

The Regional Safety and Security Director (RSSD) for Asia provides strategic leadership for safety, security, and humanitarian access across the region. They set and drive the implementation of a comprehensive strategy to anticipate, analyze, and mitigate risks, safeguard staff and assets, enable principled humanitarian access, and ensure continuity of operations and programs in complex and high-risk environments.

Serving as the principal advisor to the Regional Vice President (RVP) and a member of both the regional management team and IRC’s global safety and security (S&S) team, the RSSD brings expertise in geo-political awareness and analyses, security risk management, humanitarian access, and community engagement. They integrate gender-inclusive security risk analysis into strategic, operational, programmatic, and partnership decisions, ensuring that security considerations are embedded in all aspects of IRC’s work.

Reporting jointly to the RVP and the Senior Director for Safety and Security (SDSS), the RSSD operates with significant autonomy and influence. They ensure that each country program has robust, context-appropriate protocols, systems, and capacities in place to address unique threats and challenges, while remaining agile to adapt to shifting environments.

The RSSD maintains in-depth knowledge of geo-political and security dynamics across all Asia countries, monitors early warning indicators, and deploys regularly, including at short notice, to support teams on the ground. They play a central role in mentoring and building the capabilities of IRC staff and leaders to operate safely and effectively, thereby strengthening IRC’s ability to reach and serve the most affected and underserved populations.

Responsibilities

Security Risk Management

•    Lead and supervise the identification, analysis, and mitigation of S&S risks across the region, ensuring alignment with IRC’s global standards.
•    Guide and support Country Directors and field leaders to adapt and implement context-specific security risk management strategies ensuring proactive risk identification, mitigation, and emergency preparedness.
•    Review, monitor, and encourage compliance with the Security Minimum Standards (SMS) in all country programs providing follow-up and technical guidance where gaps are identified.
•    Drive and champion the development, adaptation, and roll-out of global and regional initiatives on duty of care and safeguarding, embedding these into operational culture and practice.
•    Shape and strengthen safety and security policies, procedures, and practices that fully integrate Gender Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (GEDI) principles as well as Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS) commitments.
•    Extend IRC’s security capacity to partners, ensuring they receive tailored risk management support, access to systems, and benefit from IRC’s standards relevant to their operational contexts.
•    Build and maintain an active network of IRC security focal points across country programs and cultivate strong external relationships with professional contacts, peer agencies, and security counterparts to enhance collective risk management.

Humanitarian Access Management

•    Provide the leadership with necessary geo-political trends and analyses to better understand the potential implications and better preparedness.
•    Enable and safeguard principled, secure, and sustained humanitarian access across country programs, ensuring communities can be reached and served in line with IRC’s country Strategy Action Plans (SAP).
•    Strengthen and expand humanitarian access teams and capabilities across the region, building skills, systems, and approaches that enhance operational reach and acceptance.
•    Develop, adapt, and implement context-specific guidelines for humanitarian access and engagement with state and non-state actors, ensuring alignment with IRC policy, international humanitarian law, and standards.
•    Advise and guide country programs in the design of operational and programmatic contingency plans ensuring preparedness for sudden shifts in political, security, or conflict dynamics.
•    Collaborate with relevant IRC units to ensure prompt and appropriate follow-up to violations of IRC’s Code of Conduct and breaches of humanitarian principles, reinforcing accountability and ethical operations.

Performance Management and Development

•    Lead and actively contribute to the recruitment and selection of key positions with S&S responsibilities, ensuring high-caliber talent and diverse representation.
•    Co-manage and mentor direct-report staff (under the Management in Partnership (MiP) model with Country Directors), setting clear expectations, defining performance objectives, providing regular, timely feedback, and conducting documented performance reviews that drive accountability and growth.
•    Promote and safeguard staff well-being, monitoring staff care across the region and supporting appropriate interventions to address the needs of both national and international staff.
•    Directly supervise and develop the Regional Humanitarian Access and Safety Coordinators, ensuring progressive and forward-looking S&S plans that align with regional priorities and organizational strategy.

Learning & Development

•    Design, support, and supervise the implementation of regional capacity-building plans, ensuring effective delivery of IRC’s global S&S training programs across Asia country programs.
•    Embed gender-sensitive approaches into all capacity development and learning initiatives, addressing gender-specific risks and ensuring inclusivity in staff preparedness.
•    Lead and facilitate critical incident management trainings and simulations, in close coordination with the global S&S unit to strengthen preparedness and response capacities across the region.

Incident management
•    Support country programs to ensure timely, accurate, and high-quality incident notification, reporting, analysis, and dissemination of lessons learned.
•    Serve as a member of the Regional Incident Management Team actively supporting the RVP in the management and resolution of Tier 2 and Tier 3 incidents.
•    Facilitate After-Action Reviews ensuring that corrective measures are clearly defined, documented, and systematically implemented in line with established incident protocols.
•    Oversee and monitor the SHIELD incident database producing quarterly trend analyses to inform strategic decision-making and strengthen regional risk mitigation.

Qualifications & Requirements

•    At least 10 years’ experience in international humanitarian assistance, with proven ability to plan, organize, and lead security management operations.
•    Prior experience in Asia with strong knowledge of regional and country dynamics is preferred.
•    Fluency in English required.
•    Demonstrated grounding in humanitarian principles, codes of conduct, NGO culture, and proven success in gender-sensitive security management and gender equality.
•    Skilled at influencing without authority and building effective relationships across multinational teams, partners, and stakeholders.
•    Demonstrated ability to transfer knowledge through mentoring, coaching, and non-formal methods.
•    Strong capacity to analyze and present complex security dynamics and incidents clearly and on short notice, highlighting implications for operations.
•    Willingness and ability to travel up to 40% of the time.

Work Environment
The position may be based in in one IRC’s regional or international hubs as identified in the job posting. The security situation in stable and living conditions allow family setting.

PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

All International Rescue Committee workers must adhere to the core values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. Our Standards are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Safeguarding, Conflicts of Interest, Fiscal Integrity, and Reporting Wrongdoing and Protection from Retaliation. IRC is committed to take all necessary preventive measures and create an environment where people feel safe, and to take all necessary actions and corrective measures when harm occurs. IRC builds teams of professionals who promote critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity to deliver the best possible services to our clients.