HUMANITARIAN ACCESS AND SAFETY ADVISOR - PALESTINE

Job Description

ABOUT CARE PALESTINE

CARE Palestine works across Gaza, the West Bank, and Jordan to deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance and resilience-building programmes, directly and through partners. Operating in one of the world’s most complex humanitarian contexts, CARE is committed to principled action, staff wellbeing, and enabling safe, sustained humanitarian access.

THE ROLE

CARE Palestine is seeking an experienced Humanitarian Access & Safety Advisor to provide strategic and operational leadership on humanitarian access, safety, and security risk management.

Reporting to the Country Director and working closely with the Safety & Security, Programs, Risk & Compliance, and Senior Management teams, the role supports CARE’s leadership in navigating complex risk environments while enabling effective humanitarian delivery. This includes security risks, access constraints and broader enterprise risks that may affect CARE’s operations.

Based primarily in Amman (with up to 30% travel to Palenstine) as part of CARE Palestine’s hub, the Advisor will provide oversight and hands-on support across Gaza, the West Bank, and Jordan.

This includes ensuring the preparedness for, protection from, response to, and recovery from all threats, hazards, vulnerabilities that are foreseeable/identifiable, and assist in the development Primary, Alternative, Contingency, and Emergency (PACE) proactive and reactive risk management activities, including: 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Humanitarian & Operational Access, Security Risk Management

• Lead the development, maintenance, and implementation of CARE Palestine’s security frameworks, including Security Risk Assessments (SRAs), Security Management Plans (SMPs), SOPs, and Incident & Crisis Management systems.
• Conduct context and actor analysis, identifying emerging threats, trends, and barriers to humanitarian and operational access, and develop mitigation and community acceptance strategies.
• Advise on risk management strategies to avoid, accept, transfer, or mitigate risks, including support to programme expansion decisions.
• Conduct regular field visits to advise staff, visitors, and partners on PACE risk management.
• Lead emergency and crisis response, including Suspension, Hibernation, Relocation, Evacuation, and Recovery (SHRER) of staff and operations.
• Ensure CARE Palestine meets the highest standards of safety, security, duty of care, and compliance with CARE principles.
  

Internal Coordination, Information Sharing and Analysis

• Collection, assessment, analysis, reporting, and sharing of information, data, and products related to safety, security, risk management, operational access and liaison, Incident/Crisis Management Teams (IMT/CMT), and SHRER.
• Produce high-quality analytical reports and briefings for Senior Management on contextual developments and humanitarian access risks.
• Promote a positive, inclusive security culture that balances risk appetite with operational criticality.
• Support staff wellbeing in coordination with HR and the Staff Committee.

External Coordination & Capacity Building

• Deliver security orientations, training, and capacity-building sessions for new CARE staff, visitors, consultants, and partners in the assigned AoO, including IMT/CMT, SRT and Trauma Medical Awareness Training (TMAT),and associated thematic training and awareness;
• Coordinate with partners on security risk management capacity, compliance, and corrective actions.
• Engage with external stakeholders, including UN agencies and security coordination mechanisms (e.g. Saving Lives Together, International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO), regional access and security forums).
• Support community engagement and acceptance approaches, including outreach and grievance handling related to safety and access.

Required Qualifications:

- college/university degree in associated field, or sufficient experience, training, or education equivalent to degree, or where education interrupted, sufficient experience aligned with the role of humanitarian INGOs. Military and/or Police service alone are not sufficient;
- sufficient practical experience, education, training specifically in the delivery and supervision of security risk management of humanitarian activities, humanitarian access, and/or analysis;
- experience working with refugees, returnees, and internally displaced persons desirable;
- excellent communication and interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, empathy, and the capacity to remain organised, resilient, and task-oriented when confronted by ambiguity, obstacles, or challenges;
- motivated to grow, proactive, results-oriented, with positive attitude to staff, partners, beneficiaries, and communities;
- ability to receive constructive feedback and adapt behaviors and/or communication style, and/or implementation of tasks;
- ability to foster a positive working environment, mainstream diversity and inclusivity into communication, implementation and influencing stakeholders, staff, visitors, consultants, partners, communities, and beneficiaries;
- professional knowledge of written and spoken English
- have fulfilled sufficient education or training specific to humanitarian access, civ-mil coordination, analysis and/or security risk management, e.g. degrees, diplomas, certifications, or participation in courses, employment record. Military and/or Police service alone is not sufficient.
- have sufficient IT competence across Microsoft applications;
- have sufficient presentation/communication skills and remote management experience;
- willingness to relocate, undertake short and long term deployments, TDYs, and travel outside of the host country for required training.
- five years of experience of managing security operations for humanitarian organizations, encompassing previous experience of managing operations in Palestine.
- proven experience in the mentoring and coaching of national staff.
- three years of experience of working for a humanitarian NGO in a conflict context managing challenging operational dynamics.

Preferred Qualifications:

- further regional languages would represent an added benefit, specifically a knowledge of written and spoken Arabic;
- women are underrepresented in CARE Security roles and are strongly encouraged to apply.
- GIS, and/or graphic design training, education, experience;
- experience as a trainer to adults;
- experience and/or certified trainer in driving, e.g. Rospa/TGS, medical, e.g. FPOS/FREC3, security, access, telecommunications