Regional Security Advisor – Middle East and Europe

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

Mercy Corps has had a presence in the Middle East and Europe since the 1980s with offices in Yemen, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Ukraine, Syria and Iraq. In response to acute and increasing humanitarian needs in the region, Mercy Corps has expanded operations in areas of conflict and activities in Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq are considered high to extreme risk.

Programming may differ from country to country but broadly covers emergency and recovery or development programming in the sectors of food security, economic development, logistics, protection and WASH. Mercy Corps works directly with beneficiaries and through partners, local businesses or other intermediaries carrying the same values and accountability.
Mercy Corps views security as three parts: a) operational safety b) access strategies and c) basic analysis and forecasting. While country program possesses its own security management plan and systems, the RSA supports Regional Management and Global Security team by assisting country teams achieve standards, strategy and crisis management.

General Position Summary

The Regional Security Advisor (RSA) will travel at least 40% to regional offices ensuring basic levels of security management are achieved. This includes minimum standards in planning, operational security and Duty of Care elements are integrated in to budgets, staff onboarding and training. Security plans must be up-to-date. It is expected that the RSA for the Middle East and Europe will communicate regularly with all Security focal Points and Security team members in the region and support with their onboarding, mentorship and development. This is done in coordination with the Country Directors who retain direct supervision over in-country security staff.

S/he will be on-call and available for one-off support such as assessments of new locations, security audits, crisis and incident management etc. The RSA is expected to have leadership-level communication with country and program management and ensure that advisories, planning and quality is at globally acceptable standards.

Essential Job Responsibilities

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g. Integrity Hotline and other options

OPERATIONAL SECURITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT

• Learn, monitor and stay abreast of the environment. Track the general security, humanitarian and political landscape in the region. Retain a familiarity with this and in the context of Mercy Corps programs, staffing and locations and provides regular regional trends analysis to the regional leadership.
•  Track and know general objectives and program activities in the region. Support Regional leadership in prioritizing risk management tasks and support.
• Monitor the security indicators of all countries in the Middle East & Europe region including Risk Ratings, Security Management Plans, Security Focal Points and orientation. Conduct annual security audits with each country and support improvements, where necessary and possible.
• Support the Security Focal Points (SFP) in achieving security management goals through reports and planning. This is a key planning and evaluation document with country and regional leadership.
•  Provide remote technical support to each country security team, be available to provide advice and guidance for daily and strategic operations. Encourage and support a Risk Approach to evaluating threat priorities (internal and to donor).
• Support Country Directors in understanding cross-border or regional risks. Where necessary, support in prioritization and strategy.
• Support Country Directors in implementing the risk management approach defined by the Enterprise Risk Management Committee, including through reviews and updates of country risk registers. Undertake strategic risk assessment when required.
• Support the Regional Director and the Country Directors in strengthening and expanding due diligence work in line with risk management best practices.
• Be available at short notice during critical incidents and provide management-level support to the resolution of incidents. Also be available to provide surge support at a strategic or operational level in response to developing situations as Mercy Corps requires
• Ensures the safety team contributes and maintains current tracking, mapping and automated reporting systems of security incidents and updates for a comprehensive view on events & trends in the region. Ensure reporting of critical security incidents to the regional and global security teams.
• Help create an environment where Mercy Corps all Mercy Corps programs, and team members and business are conducted with professionalism, impartiality, accountability and other core principles required as a humanitarian agency.

PROGRAM ACCESS & ANALYSIS

• Work closely with the Crisis Analysis teams in the region and utilize existing analysis. Contribute to analysis and support teams in linking this to operational safety.
• Maintains a strong understanding of the context in the region (political, legal, social / tribal and conflict). Identify access opportunities for Mercy Corps to reach civilians in need of humanitarian assistance.
• Follow program objectives and activities in conflict & high-risk areas closely. Collaborate with country and security leadership to find daily and long-term strategies in the evolving context, where possible. Contribute actively to the design and update or Country and Regional strategies.
• Ensure analysis trends and forecasting are brought into security and program planning. Support the overall continuation of a culture of a team, which is highly aware of the context.
• Support to other MC departments on a case-by-case basis to provide advice and input on security issues.
• Conduct and present detailed risk assessments specific to emerging crises (e.g., political instability, armed conflict, natural disasters) to the regional leadership team. Assess the potential impact on operations, staff safety, and humanitarian access.
• Offer strategic advice to the regional leadership team on crisis response measures, including evacuation plans, relocation of staff, scaling back operations, or initiating emergency protocols.

REGIONAL CO-ORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT

• Serve as the central point for overseeing travel security and access across the MENA/Europe region, ensuring country teams align with regional security protocols and standards.
• Regularly review and update country-specific travel and access plans, ensuring they comply with regional and global security frameworks and reflect the latest developments.
• Work with Security Focal Points to aggregate country-specific risk assessments, providing a regional perspective on travel risks and access constraints.
• Monitor and ensure the consistent application of global and regional travel safety protocols by country teams, working with Security Focal Points and Travel Managers to adapt these to local contexts without compromising safety standards.
• Act as the focal point for consolidating and disseminating travel security information and best practices across the region, sharing updates on trends, incidents, or changes in travel risk environments.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT & CAPACITY BUILDING

• Coach and mentor local team to fulfill their roles in safety & security management, conducting assessments and other required work.
•  Orient new Country Directors and regional staff.
• Support with regional and global security training initiatives, either by coordinating training from external providers or supporting delivering of internal Mercy Corps safety and security training courses. We are looking for an individual who is comfortable training across a different variety of security related topics.

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.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO BENEFICIARIES

• 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 – No direct reports.

Accountability

•  Reports directly to: Deputy Director – Global Security; Deputy Regional Director – Operations (Dual Management structure)
• Works directly with: Country Directors, Security Focal Points, Regional Leadership, Global Security team.

Knowledge and Experience

•  Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline, Master’s degree or equivalent in experience
• 5-10 years total security experience, including 3-5 years’ experience in safety and security with a humanitarian or development non-governmental organization. Experience in security management in conflict setting is desired.
• Formal security qualifications or advanced security management, medical training, or other relevant training qualifications are an advantage.
• Demonstrated understanding of complex emergencies, related security concerns, and appropriate responses to such emergencies. Good context analysis skills.
•  Experience of incident reporting, incident mapping, intelligence collation and analysis functions, set up and execution of an incident warning system (warden system), compilation of security reports and assessments
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching and ability to work in with team from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
•  Excellent planning, coordination and reporting skills, with the ability to organize a substantial workload comprised of complex, diverse tasks and responsibilities, and present complex information in succinct and compelling manner
• Competency in Internet and Microsoft Office systems including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and other database/mapping systems
• Experience living and working in the Middle East region and Ukraine, preferred.
• English proficiency required, knowledge of Arabic language strongly preferred.

Success Factors

The Regional Security Advisor will support the Mercy Corps country programs to design and implement programs operations that are safety conscious and designed with the nuances inherent in the region. S/he will help create and maintain common understanding of risk management, risk thresholds and effective mitigation. S/he will help nourish a regional team of proud and diligent security managers. Regional offices will display a culture of security awareness and programs that integrate thoughtful analysis of the environment and appropriate measures. A successful candidate will be able to follow and read the quickly changing conflict and understand the political landscape to better plan and forecast with coordination with others including the Humanitarian Access Teams. S/he will help Regional Leadership create an environment of a well-trained staff with a strong, contextual awareness amongst its country teams. The Mercy Corps regional team will be fit for purpose and with a culture of safety-mindedness across departments. S/he will network and communicate frequently with counterparts in the region for a comprehensive portrayal of security and access.

Living/Environmental Conditions

This position is based in Jordan. Amman is an accompanied post with adequate medical care and amenities. Amman does have some security threats and require diligence. This position requires up to 40% travel to the field where living conditions may be exceptionally rugged or be in volatile environments where security protocols will need to be followed. Team members must be ready to deploy to field environments on short notice in response to any emergency or crisis. When in the field the team members must be able to work in remote settings and possible over weekends and/or evenings as required by the schedule.
Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours and as such staff are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reach their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborate to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal-opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.
We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination based on race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. By applying for this role an applicant confirms that they have not previously violated an employer’s sexual misconduct, sexual exploitation and abuse, child safeguarding or trafficking policy. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline (integrityhotline@mercycorps.org).