Senior Associate, Africa SMU

Chemonincs seeks a Senior Associate, Africa Security Management Unit for the U.S. Government (USG) Business Line Management Team. This is a professional position responsible for ensuring that sound management principles and tools are employed in the operations of the security management unit and in the implementation of its work. In this capacity the associate will address needs related to supporting the regional project management units, liaise with external clients and contractors, and handle internal operational issues to include backstopping and support of field security staff. We are looking for individuals who have a passion for making a difference in the lives of people around the world.

Responsibilities Include:

• Works to achieve operational objectives within safety and security and contributes to identified strategy with limited supervision
• Executes day-to-day security management responsibilities by following standard practices and procedures and ensuring accurate documentation and reporting of all identified processes
• Responsible for adjusting or enhancing safety and security systems and processes to solve problems and improve effectiveness of field security practices
• Undertakes short-term technical assignments to the region in support of safety and security strategy, policy, and procedures
• Develops a strong subject matter expertise on safety and security risks and vulnerabilities throughout the designated region
• Monitors and assesses regional security trends through open-source reporting and field security engagement and shares this knowledge with designated field and home office departments, projects, and external stakeholders
• Provides regular updates on regional safety and security risks or emerging issues to project leadership, staff, support units, and field staff and maintains thorough background knowledge to answer ad hoc questions about trends in each country in the region
• Facilitates the security management response to regional emergencies and crises by gathering relevant security information, accountability of project staff, and response options to reduce the impact on staff, operations, and reputation
• Liaises with field staff to ensure all regional safety and security incidents are reported accurately and timely and existing guidance is communicated to prevent incident recurrence
• Possesses in-depth knowledge of all regional project's security platform and supports the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of designated security measures
• Liaises with relevant departments, units, stakeholders, and individuals to support the compliance of projects and personnel to designated safety and security procedures in accordance with client and Chemonics policies
• Conducts technical review for completeness, accuracy, and application of all relevant project security assessments, action plans, recommended mitigation measures, and evaluation material and recommends appropriate changes to field security staff
• Reviews assigned new business opportunities to identify key regional risks, access limitations, complex technical areas, including clarifying all staffing and budgetary requirements
• Delivers pre-departure briefings to designated regional locations
• Liaises with regional staff on travel and fielding processes and staff tracking through internal tools and resources and engaging with external partners
• Liaises with safety and security focal points and field security staff to insure access to all relevant technical and administrative resources
• Serves as acting security management unit manager, as needed
• Liaises with home office and field counterparts in security subcontract procurement, management, and administration for new and ongoing projects and new business development needs
• Delivers relevant safety and security trainings for regional staff through one-on-one mentoring, small group trainings, and information dissemination
• Support the security management of Chemonics-occupied work space and actively serve as a floor warden
• Participates in internal or external professional associations and represents company at conferences, educational workshops, industry meetings, and through personal networking in the security industry

Qualifications:

• Requires practical knowledge within project management typically obtained through advanced education combined with experience.
• Minimum 2-3 years of technically relevant work experience.
• Relevant university degree (BA/BS) is preferred.
• Strong administrative skills, word processing abilities, and attention to detail.
• Demonstrated ability to follow standard practices and procedures, receive general instruction and supervision on work progress, and make significant contribution to end results.
• Knowledge of and previous working experience with development projects under USAID, DFID, FCO, and/or Global Fund preferred.
• Experience living, working, researching, or implementing projects in the relevant region is preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to manage and supervise department staff, multiple project teams, and other initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly and concisely both orally and in writing.
• Willingness to work overseas for up to 4-8 weeks per year.
• Strong knowledge of MS Office applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel, Planner, and PowerBI.
• Knowledge of the sub-Saharan Africa region highly preferred
• Demonstrate leadership, versatility and integrity
• Secondary language proficiency in French required and Portuguese or Swahili beneficial.

Application Instructions:

Apply by July 1st, 2021. No telephone inquiries, please. Finalists will be contacted.