Shelter Cluster Coordination Officer
The Shelter Cluster supports crisis-affected people to live in safe, dignified and appropriate shelter and settlements. The Shelter Cluster therefore collaborates with national response actors to support people affected by natural disasters and conflict with timely, effective and predictable shelter and settlement responses.
Where the Shelter Cluster has been activated, the Shelter Cluster Coordination Officer supports UNHCR’s representation in a specific country or region in implementing the agency’s role as cluster lead. The function advocates for the inclusion of shelter needs in humanitarian programmes.
The Shelter Cluster Coordination Officer performs a broad range of shelter-related tasks comprising, but not limited to, coordination, strategy development, information management, needs assessments, technical support, reporting and advocacy.
Providing coordination services is one of the main tasks. The Coordination Officer is responsible for convening shelter cluster coordination meetings with relevant stakeholders ensuring a consultative and results-oriented approach. The Coordination Officer furthermore liaises with the Global Shelter Cluster Coordinator.
Additionally, the Coordination Officer is responsible for the adequate representation of the cluster in humanitarian coordination fora like the Humanitarian Country Team, with the Humanitarian Coordinator/Resident Coordinator and in inter-cluster coordination mechanisms.
The coordination efforts shall lead to the timely and effective assessment of needs, the planning for shelter responses, prioritization of tasks, and inclusion of proposals in inter-agency funding appeals as well as implementation, reporting and evaluation of shelter programmes.
In order to inform the host government, cluster members, the humanitarian community and donors, the Cluster Coordination Officer provides information management products.
The close coordination with national and local governments as well as civil society and the affected population is key to the Coordination Officer’s role in advocating for shelter topics and in ensuring accountability. It is therefore imperative that the Coordination Officer maintains productive relationships with a large variety of actors.
The Coordination Officer furthermore advocates for the inclusion of cross-cutting topics like age, gender, diversity, HIV and environmental protection in the shelter response of agencies participating in shelter cluster coordination.
Apart from the coordination role, the Shelter Coordination Officer may offer advice to cluster members in planning and implementing shelter programmes. The function ensures that humanitarian standards and shelter-specific standards are adhered to and that contingency planning and emergency preparedness measures are developed in partnership with relevant stakeholders.
Shelter Cluster Coordination Officers are increasingly requested to plan and deliver shelter trainings for cluster members and partner agencies – an important task to support the localization of humanitarian shelter responses.
Specific profile requirements Shelter Cluster Coordination Officer
- University degree or technical college degree preferably but not limited to civil engineering, architecture or related field of study;
- Excellent knowledge of humanitarian coordination;
- Experience in the field of needs assessments;
- Experience in managing teams;
- Experience in project management;
- Sound knowledge of shelter-related technical guidelines and humanitarian standards;
- Expertise in planning and organizing as well as engaging others;
- Work experience in the context of displacement;
- Prior work experience as Shelter Officer is highly desirable;
- Prior experience in working with UNHCR is an asset;
- Experience in capacity-building is an asset.