Technical Advisor II – Emergency Response and Recovery (East & Southern Africa)

About the role

The Technical Advisor II – Emergency Response and Recovery supports Catholic Relief Services (CRS) country programs across East and Southern Africa during sudden‑onset and protracted crises. Embedded in the Emergency Program Response Team, the advisor provides rapid‑deployment leadership, program‑quality guidance, and technical solutions to ensure effective humanitarian action.

Key responsibilities

• Deliver surge support to country programs, offering on‑the‑ground and remote program‑quality accompaniment.
• Assume acting emergency program management roles, helping set up and run field offices and relief operations.
• Provide technical guidance for program planning, start‑up, implementation, and close‑out, aligning with CRS standards, donor requirements, and best practices.
• Lead high‑quality project design using project‑management standards and MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, Learning) methods.
• Contribute to regional strategies, tools, and standards for emergency response and recovery.
• Integrate gender‑sensitive, safe, dignified programming and disaster‑risk reduction into interventions.
• Document lessons learned, promising practices, and innovations, sharing them with regional and HRD stakeholders.
• Support capacity‑strengthening initiatives for staff and partners through training, mentorship, and policy development.
• Represent CRS and partners at cluster, donor, and coordination meetings as needed.

Required profile

• Proven experience in emergency response and recovery programming within East and Southern Africa.
• Strong background in program management, project design, and MEAL approaches.
• Ability to work under pressure, provide leadership in field deployments, and collaborate with diverse partners.
• Familiarity with donor guidelines, humanitarian best practices, and cross‑sectoral integration of gender and disaster‑risk reduction.

Required skills

What we offer

• Opportunity to lead high‑impact humanitarian programs across a dynamic region.
• Professional development through regional knowledge sharing and capacity‑building activities.
• Collaboration with a global humanitarian network committed to saving lives and restoring livelihoods.