Regional Safety & Security Director

The International Rescue Committee is a global humanitarian aid, relief and development nongovernmental organization.

Regional Safety & Security Director

Position Summary

• The Regional Safety and Security Director (RSSD) is one of the most senior leadership roles in the East Africa region and provides strategic leadership for safety, security, and humanitarian access across the region. They set and drive the implementation of a comprehensive strategy to anticipate, analyze, and mitigate risks, safeguard staff and assets, enable principled humanitarian access, and ensure the continuity of IRC’s operations and programs in complex and high-risk environments.

• As the principal safety and security advisor to, and close partner of, the Regional Vice President (RVP), the RSSD works alongside the RVP on the decisions that shape IRC’s presence, access, and continuity across the region. They are a full member of the Regional Management Team and of IRC’s global safety and security (S&S) team. Within the Regional Management Team, the RSSD contributes as a senior leader to regional strategy, priorities, and decision-making, not only as the safety and security function, bringing a risk-informed perspective to program, operational, and resourcing choices. They integrate Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) informed security risk analysis into strategic, operational, programmatic, and partnership decisions so that security considerations are embedded across IRC’s work.

• Reporting jointly to the RVP and the Senior Director for Safety and Security (SDSS), the RSSD operates with significant autonomy and influence. Working in close partnership with Country Directors, they ensure that each country program has robust, context-appropriate protocols, systems, and capacities in place to address unique threats and challenges, while remaining agile to adapt to shifting environments.

• The RSSD maintains in-depth knowledge of security dynamics across all EA countries, monitors early warning indicators, and deploys regularly, including at short notice, to support local teams. They play a central role in mentoring and building the capabilities of IRC staff and leaders to operate safely and effectively, thereby strengthening IRC’s ability to reach and serve the most affected and underserved populations.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Regional Management

• As a member of the Regional Management Team, contribute as a senior leader to regional strategy, priority-setting, and decision-making, bringing a risk-informed perspective to program, operational, and resourcing choices across the region rather than representing the safety and security function alone.

• Serve as the principal safety and security advisor to, and close partner of, the RVP, enabling timely, risk-informed decisions on humanitarian access, operational continuity, and duty of care, and jointly activating and leading crisis management when required.

• Partner with Country Directors to align safety, security, and humanitarian access with country Strategy Action Plans (SAPs) and operational priorities, supporting their decision-making and accountability for risk.

Security Risk Management

• Lead and supervise the identification, analysis, and mitigation of S&S risks across the region, ensuring alignment with IRC’s global standards.

• Guide and support Country Directors and field leaders to adapt and implement context-specific security risk management strategies ensuring proactive risk identification, mitigation, and emergency preparedness.

• Review, monitor, and encourage compliance with the Security Minimum Standards (SMS) in all country programs providing follow-up and technical guidance where gaps are identified.

• Drive and champion the development, adaptation, and roll-out of global and regional initiatives on duty of care and safeguarding, embedding these into operational culture and practice.

• Shape and strengthen safety and security policies, procedures, and practices that fully integrate Gender Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (GEDI) principles as well as Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS) commitments.

• Extend IRC’s security capacity to partners, ensuring they receive tailored risk management support, access to systems, and benefit from IRC’s standards relevant to their operational contexts.

• Build and maintain an active network of IRC security focal points across country programs and cultivate strong external relationships with professional contacts, peer agencies, and security counterparts to enhance collective risk management.

Humanitarian Access Management

• Enable and safeguard principled, secure, and sustained humanitarian access across country programs, ensuring communities can be reached and served in line with IRC’s country Strategy Action Plans (SAP).

• Strengthen and expand humanitarian access teams and capabilities across the region, building skills, systems, and approaches that enhance operational reach and acceptance.

• Develop, adapt, and implement context-specific guidelines for humanitarian access and engagement with state and non-state actors, ensuring alignment with IRC policy, international humanitarian law, and standards.