STATEMENT OF DUTIES TO BE PERFORMED

The RD will be responsible for a complex portfolio—requiring oversight of multiple, concurrent humanitarian crises throughout the disaster cycle. The RD will manage a team of field-based staff responsible for the monitoring and assessment of humanitarian needs in the region of responsibility and developing, implementing, and monitoring humanitarian response, early recovery, disaster risk reduction, and resilience efforts. The RD will serve as the lead humanitarian advisor in the field and ensure BHA field-based perspectives are incorporated into BHA’s internal and external policy efforts and office-wide initiatives. The RD will be expected to travel throughout the assigned region and BHA’s headquarters

The RD’s responsibilities will include the following:

Contextual Specialty

• Serve as an authoritative expert on humanitarian issues, priorities, lessons learned, and opportunities in the region of responsibility.
• Use extensive experience and knowledge to guide BHA's Regional Humanitarian Advisors and support Country Leads in analyzing and determining the scale and scope of a wide range of challenges when information is limited or lacking, and provide support to continued efforts to establish creative solutions.
• Provide expert guidance on political, humanitarian, organizational, structural, and stakeholder interests specific to the region of responsibility.
• Prepare, or supervise the preparation of, regular strategic and analytical reports on current or anticipated emergencies, as well as comprehensive preparedness documentation on assigned countries.

Portfolio Management

• Lead, conduct, or oversee initial assessments to identify humanitarian needs or early recovery, disaster risk reduction, or resilience opportunities in current disaster sites or locations with high vulnerability.
• Ensure ongoing humanitarian response, early recovery, disaster risk reduction, and resilience activities are monitored to validate that objectives are met and beneficiaries are served.
• Lead the development of country-, issue-, or disaster- specific strategies across the region of responsibility, as well as timely revision of these strategies as contextual realities shift.
• Make authoritative recommendations on difficult resource and programmatic trade-offs within the region and provide expert advice to inform global prioritization.
• Ensure interventions within the region of responsibility align with appropriate strategies.
• Serve a primary role in the management of the approved annual budget for the region to include timely identification of the need for additional resources or the availability of surplus.

Representation

• Serve as the Regional Office’s lead representative and the primary point of contact on humanitarian issues in the area of responsibility.
• Serve as an expert advisor on humanitarian and disaster risk reduction issues to senior U.S. Government (USG) personnel in the region, including Ambassadors, Mission Directors, and other heads of agencies.
• Develop and maintain relationships with representatives of host governments, emergency or humanitarian government donors (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office; European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations; etc.), international emergency and humanitarian organizations (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; International Committee of the Red Cross; International Organization for Migration; etc.), emergency or humanitarian divisions of NGOs, and U.S. embassies and USAID missions to ensure efficient and coordinated humanitarian response and disaster risk reduction activities.
• Represent USAID in joint efforts to design, develop, and implement humanitarian strategies and interventions with local governments, donor, partner, and UN organizations, as appropriate.
• Advise regional officials, including host country authorities and other USAID officials, on disaster response, mitigation, and risk reduction efforts, including the review of sector disaster response and disaster risk management and disaster risk reduction plans.
• Work with local and regional institutions and private or public sector organizations to incorporate disaster risk reduction into appropriate programs.

Leadership

• Manage and prioritize daily activities of BHA’s Regional Office and support country offices in the region, as needed.
• Supervise emergency/humanitarian staff within the region (except staff in BHA country offices) to include provision of technical guidance and oversight, administrative approvals, and staff development and evaluation.
• Provide current and future strategic direction to the regional office to include programmatic, liaison, and representational prioritization, and human and financial resource requirements.
• Participate in a leadership role in office- and Bureau-wide policy initiatives to ensure field perspectives are well-represented.
• Serve as an early adopter of change through constructive engagement in policy, process, and management issues during development and implementation.

General Duties

• Ensure timely reporting of BHA’s activities in the region through written cables, analyses, strategies, and other requests for written information or oral briefings.
• Be on-call or serve in a leadership role, as needed, on Washington-based Response Management Teams (RMTs), which provide services and support to Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) deployed in response to disasters. The duties on RMTs will be varied. During deployment on DARTs (if required), and during site visits, there may be some additional physical exertion including long periods of standing, walking over rough terrain, or carrying of moderately heavy items (less than 50 pounds). Work is primarily performed in an office setting. During deployment on DARTs (if required), and during site visits, the work may additionally involve special safety and/or security precautions, wearing of protective equipment, and exposure to severe weather conditions.
• As needed, serve in a leadership role on DARTs which may require immediate (within 24 hours) deployment overseas for an extended period of time. During deployment on DARTs (if required), and during site visits, there may be some additional physical exertion including long periods of standing, walking over rough terrain, or carrying of moderately heavy items (less than 50 pounds). Work is primarily performed in an office setting. During deployment on DARTs (if required), and during site visits, the work may additionally involve special safety and/or security precautions, wearing of protective equipment, and exposure to severe weather conditions.
• As needed, serve on temporary detail within the bureau to meet operational needs during staff shortages. Duties performed while on detail will be aligned with the Team’s existing duties and responsibilities and will be directly related to the scope of work provided.

SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP:

The USPSC will take direction from and will report to the MENAE Office Director or his/her designee.

SUPERVISORY CONTROLS:

Supervisor provides administrative directions in terms of broadly defined missions or functions.  The USPSC independently plans, designs and carries out programs, projects, studies or other work.  Results are considered authoritative and are normally accepted without significant change.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

(Determines basic eligibility for the position. Applicants who do not meet all of the education and experience factors are considered NOT qualified for the position.)

Bachelor’s degree in any field plus eleven (11) years of progressively responsible experience working in emergency relief or international humanitarian assistance or disaster response, of which five (5) years were obtained overseas, including on-the-ground field experience in needs assessment, analysis, emergency relief program operations, or post-emergency rehabilitation.

OR

Master’s degree in any field and nine (9) years of progressively responsible experience working in emergency relief or international humanitarian assistance or disaster response. Five (5) years of this experience must be overseas field experience in humanitarian needs assessment, analysis, emergency relief program operations, or post-emergency rehabilitation.

SELECTION FACTORS

(Determines basic eligibility for the position. Applicants who do not meet all of the selection factors are considered NOT qualified for the position.)

• Offeror is a U.S. Citizen.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret level clearance. If there is a change in circumstances requiring access to National Security information classified at the Top-Secret level, the offeror may be asked to obtain and maintain a Secret up to Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level clearance after award .
• Ability to obtain a Department of State medical clearance.
• Satisfactory verification of academic credentials.