Regional Security Officer, Africa

Applications opened: 05 Aug 2013 | Close: 16 Aug 2013

Location: In one of VSO's Africa-based offices
Contract: 1 year fixed term; renewable
Competitive salary and benefits package

VSO
VSO works through its volunteers and partners to fight poverty around the world and in fact, believe we’re the leading organisation in the field. For more than 50 years we have worked in almost 50 countries and we’re constantly exploring new ways to use the time, energy and skills of people to make a difference. Through them, we harness the talents, enthusiasm and skills of ordinary people to bring about lasting change. It is an exciting time for VSO as we implement an ambitious global strategy People First.
Underpinning our strategy is a commitment to ensuring that our people are able to live and work safely alongside the communities we work in. In recent years we have developed new security systems and tools and we need to embed these firmly in our 15 rapidly developing African country operations.
 
The job
As the Regional Security Officer for Africa, you’ll be working alongside our Country Programmes across Africa – from fragile environments like South Sudan, DRC and Zimbabwe to some of Africa’s more stable countries such as Ghana and South Africa.
You will be ensuring our offices are managing security effectively, and you’ll be a crucial link in the chain of security management with our Global Security Manager, based in London. While your focus will be supporting our Africa operations, we also expect you to contribute at all levels, bringing your skills and expertise to work with colleagues in other regions and to shape VSO’s global security approach.
This role will involve regional and international travel. We intend the first 3 months of the role to be in South Sudan, supporting our team there. After that you will be based in one of our regional hubs as highlighted above under location.

You
You will have a solid background in security management, ideally gained in working in a development or humanitarian context. Accompanying your technical skills in risk assessment and security planning, you will be providing expert security advice and effectively sharing your skills with our colleagues across the continent clearly and simply. You will be an approachable expert who can quickly translate security jargon into ordinary English and deliver on projects with a pragmatic and practical approach. You will also be prepared to take on new roles and cover for our Global Security Manager.
Being able to work in French and Portuguese would be an additional advantage.
To view the full job description, please click here. 
 
Ready to apply?
Please submit a CV and supporting statement addressing the criteria and outline your current salary, benefits package and your salary expectations to HR at recruitment.international@vsoint.org.
Please quote the job title on the subject line.
Please include telephone and email contact details and the details of two referees (one of whom should be your current or most recent line manager).
 
VSO is an equal opportunity employer, values inclusion and seeks to have a diverse workforce. We welcome applicants from all sections of the community. VSO’s resourcing strategy is to find skills closest to where we work. We aim to find the right fit in one of the countries we work in Africa and work on competitive local contracting. Due to anticipated interest in this post, only short-listed candidates will receive a response.

Job Description: http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/24930960