Technical advisor I – disaster risk reduction and anticipatory action

CRS is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. We work to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. Our relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

About the role

You will support the integration of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Anticipatory Action (AA) across all RAPID program interventions, providing technical guidance in line with CRS program quality standards, donor requirements, and industry best practices. Through your expertise, advice, and influence, you will help ensure that DRR and Anticipatory Action approaches are effective, adaptive, and innovative, ultimately strengthening the quality and impact of programming for vulnerable populations.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools, and best practices in DRR/AA in humanitarian response, effectively engaging partners, donors and governments.
• Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach integrating gender, inclusion, protection mainstreaming, and disaster risk reduction.
• Provide technical solutions to regional and Country Program teams, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply program design and implementation standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools, and M&E, ensuring high-quality implementation.
• Contribute to the development of the technical design for proposals. Support the process of preparation, design, submission and approval of project concepts and full-fledged proposals. As needed, act as a technical writer on proposal development teams.
• Advise project teams on integrating donor strategies, priorities and technical requirements into CRS’ approach.
• Support capacity strengthening initiatives in DRR/AA programming for staff and partners through developing learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and coaching.
• Collect and analyze program data, capture and share lessons learned and best practices for specific projects to facilitate improvements in decision-making and contribute to the DRR/AA learning agenda.
• Contribute to maintaining relationships with donors, peer organizations, research and other institutions, participate in forums in DRR/AA to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in studies related to DRR/R such as Disaster Management, Environmental Management, Climate Risk Management, preparedness, or humanitarian aid.
• Minimum of five to eight years of relevant work experience with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, including at least two years of relevant field-based experience in DRR/AA.
• Master’s degree in a related field (e.g., Disaster Management, Environmental Management, Climate Risk Management) is an advantage.
• English and French proficiency required. Professional proficiency in at least one additional CRS working language (Arabic, Spanish, or Portuguese) is an advantage.
• Travel is expected to be up to 50% for this position.

Skills

• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, and knowledge-sharing networks.
• Knowledge of technical principles and concepts in DRR/AA.
• General knowledge of related disciplines to ensure a proper cross-sectoral approach.
• Experience in project design and proposal development, including writing content for proposals.
• Knowledge of capacity-strengthening best practices.
• Experience with program monitoring, evaluation, and analysis.
• Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based civil society partners.
• Understanding of partnership principles.
• Strong relationship management skills with the ability to influence and gain buy-in from individuals not under direct supervision, and to work with people in diverse geographical and cultural settings.
• Good strategic, analytical, problem-solving, and systems thinking skills with the capacity to see the big picture and make sound judgments.
• Strong technical writing skills.
• Presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills.
• Proactive, resourceful, and results-oriented.

Benefits

CRS offers U.S.-based staff a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, life insurance, vision, and a generous retirement savings plan. Salary and benefits packages for successful candidates employed outside the U.S. are based on the country of employment/in-country office where the candidate will perform the role.

Key Working Relationships

• Internal: Anticipatory Action Lead, Team Lead for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience, other HRD Team Members (Technical Advisors in DRR/R, Cash/Markets, Food Security/Livelihoods, Shelter, WASH, Safe and Dignified Programming, Emergency Program Quality and Management, Operations, and EMPOWER), Regional and Country Program Teams.
• External: Caritas International Member Organization representatives, representatives of other INGOs, UN and International Agencies, donor organization representatives (e.g., BHA, ECHO), local government authorities.

Agency Competencies

• For All CRS Staff:
  • Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility for one’s own actions.
  • Acts with Integrity – Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission.
  • Builds and Maintains Trust – Shows consistency between words and actions.
  • Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams.
  • Open to Learn – Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.
• Agency Leadership Competencies:
  • Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
  • Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance.
  • Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities.