Central African Republic: Safety and Security Consultant, Central Africa

Job Title

DRC & CAR Security Consultant

Target Country/Countries

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic (CAR)

Duty Station

Remote, with field travel to: Kinshasa, Dungu, Ango (DRC) & Bangui, Obo, Zemio, Bria (CAR)

Role Synopsis

Invisible Children operates multiple projects throughout DRC, CAR and South Sudan. With a growing staff, an expanding footprint of offices and an increased program presence in remote and austere locations, IC is commissioning a redevelopment and examination of its security policies, procedures and practices as well as an earnest attempt to ensure its working culture is prioritizing staff, asset and partner protection. Operations in DRC and CAR are inherently complicated by poor infrastructure, politically instability and proliferate armed groups. In order to develop tools to assess the collective risks in the region and to ensure staff have the resources, policies and practices to limit exposure to these risks, Invisible Children is hiring a consultant to overhaul its security practices.

Objectives, Activities and Deliverables

1. Conduct a review of Invisible Children’s security policies and procedures (2 weeks)

Utilizing IC’s current policies, procedures and security plans, and other information and data that the consultant may collect or ask IC to collect (such as questionnaires to staff), conduct a review of IC’s security infrastructure identifying key risk points, strengths and weaknesses to inform a more detailed work plan for delivery of the subsequent tasks 2 to 5. This review will include:

• Review IC’s current security policies, procedures, manuals and other components of its security infrastructure such as assets, information sources and service contracts in place;

• Receive a briefing on regional security dynamics from IC’s Director of Research and Policy;

• Review IC’s Crisis Tracker to understand regional security threats, armed groups and security trends;

• Conduct interviews with IC’s HQ staff to understand IC’s key risk points, IC’s expectations regarding safety and security for its staff and partners, staff understanding of security policies and staff culture around risk, as well as with IC's CoP and DCoP to understand IC's footprint, risk profile and risk management needs;

• Conduct a review of IC’s current evacuation and security services

• Any other preparatory tasks that the consultant will deem required at this stage, upon approval by IC's CoP or DCoP;

• Within two weeks from start date, produce a first draft of the updated IC global security policy, security management policy, HQ-based crisis management setup, hibernation policy, and evacuation policy;

• Produce interim guidelines, and provide a briefing to a separate contractor team that will undertake a foundational research rural assessment in January-February 2018;

• Present this process and the outputs to IC leadership prior to commencing field work;

• Conduct an on-site security assessment at each of IC's offices (9 weeks)

Visit each of IC’s field office locations in DRC and CAR to assess the security environment in each location (to be understood as that of the location where the office is located, and for the offices that have direct programmatic function, of the geographic area of the program served from that office) to update/create site-specific safety and security plans and inform the finalization of IC's global security documents:

• Visit each field office location conducting a survey of the local security situation and of IC's local security assets;

• Build a detailed understanding of local threats, security assets, office risks, personnel risks and local travel risks;

• Where physical premises for the field office have not yet been selected, make recommendations for the selection of a suitable location / building.

• Interview local staff and partners to further understand the risks, attitudes and local sentiments towards risk and insecurity;

• Interview NGOs, UN agencies and security forces and medical providers to understand safety and security resources, local best practices and usable evacuation routes;

• Any other tasks that the consultant will deem necessary for the production of the local plans, upon approval by IC's CoP or DCoP;

• Produce a site-specific safety and security management plan, hibernation plan and security plan for each office (those may be produced on site or when back to home-based);

• Plans are expected to be complete, with for example:

• Security management plan including completed security information management systems and security communication systems, and detailed building security upgrade plans, if required;

• Hibernation plans including detailed practical arrangements for IC to prepare for being able to execute the plans;

• And evacuations plan including the mapping of airfields, roads and footpaths that could be used in varying levels of threat;

• Debrief each office-specific field visit with IC leadership; Finalize IC Regional Security system (1 month)

Upon returning to home base, finalize the IC global security policy, security management policy, hibernation policy and evacuation policy, finalizing the first draft based on the additional information gathered during the field visits. This should also include, at a minimum:

• A risk assessment tool that enables IC's leadership together with senior staff to monitor daily security incidents and trends and translate that into an appropriate daily risk level and actions for IC; Global security policies that frame and drive any potential future evolution of IC's footprint

• Provide presentation of those documents and a debriefing to IC leadership.

• Assist with IC security officers’ recruitment and with security-related procurements (7 weeks)

If and when the timeframe of the security consultant’s consultancy matches with that of the ongoing IC processes, support IC in that process by:

• Making recommendations on staff structure, reviewing job description and participating in recruitment processes for key security-related positions;

• Contributing to procurement (including specifications definition) and deployment processes for security-related equipment;

• Conduct a training with IC’s operation and program leadership after the completion of the security documents

Return to each IC office location and conduct a training on the manuals and systems as applicable to that office, and general security management:

• Design training from a distance and present it to IC leadership before finalization;

• Conduct a training with all programs and operations staff in each office location;

• Training in some or all locations may include different modules, with some modules for all staff and partners and specific additional modules for leadership or security personnel, as relevant;

• In each location, conduct a very brief review of the roll out of the manuals and systems since their finalization, and report to IC leadership on any gaps or challenges in that process. Write a concise final report focusing on that analysis

Profile:

1. The consultant must have extensive safety and security experience (analysis, management and training) however it is not required to have a direct experience as a full-time security director, manager or director. Former Country Directors or CoP/DCoP with extensive security management experience are welcome to apply;

2. Extensive, recent experience of CAR and/or DRC, ideally with direct experience in North-Eastern DRC and/or Eastern CRA is strongly preferred;

3. Experience with humanitarian or development organizations is required and experience with INGOs strongly preferred;

4. Consultant must be fluent in French (all documents to be produced in French), however a good level of English is required as IC current documents are in English and all briefings and interactions with IC’s HQ must be provided in English;

5. A strong ability to quickly understand an organization, a project and local context and to produce recommendations and documents that are realistic on that basis;

6. An ability to work independently to deliver final, complete outputs, while closely engaging with IC leadership to ensure outputs meet the needs of the project;

7. Willingness to travel extensively to remote CAR and DRC where living conditions can be basic at times. **

Please email a cover letter and your CV to jobs@invisiblechildren.com