Job Description

ROLE PURPOSE: Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In Sri Lanka and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share. Save the Children expects that anyone associated with it abides by its Safeguarding and other Zero Tolerance Policies.

The Technical Advisor – Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) provides specialist technical leadership and quality assurance across Save the Children's Disaster Risk Reduction portfolio in Sri Lanka, ensuring high-quality, evidence-based, child-centred, inclusive, and climate-risk-informed programming that strengthens the resilience of children, schools, communities, and institutions to disaster and climate-related risks.

The post holder provides specialist technical advice and leadership across programme design, implementation, technical oversight, quality assurance, technical risk management, and continuous improvement, while serving as Save the Children's technical focal point across three core thematic areas:

• Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR);
• Comprehensive School Safety (CSS) and Disaster Risk Reduction in School Settings; and
• Disaster Risk-Informed Programming.

Working closely with programme teams, implementing partners, government institutions, technical working groups, and humanitarian and development stakeholders, the Technical Advisor will ensure programmes are aligned with national priorities, international frameworks, and Save the Children's technical standards.

The role will provide technical guidance and quality assurance, identify and escalate significant technical risks, promote innovation, and ensure programme outcomes contribute to strengthening disaster resilience at community, school, and institutional levels. The Technical Advisor will play a key role in strengthening the capacities of local partners, schools, communities, and government counterparts through technical assistance, mentoring, and institutional strengthening.

The position will also contribute to programme design, resource mobilisation, donor engagement, technical reviews, research, knowledge management, and organisational learning, ensuring evidence and lessons learned inform programme improvement and future investments in disaster resilience.

As Save the Children's technical focal point for Disaster Risk Reduction, the role will represent Save the Children, as delegated, in relevant technical working groups and coordination mechanisms, and provide technical inputs to government-led systems, policy dialogue, and sector learning initiatives.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Deputy Team Leader – Humanitarian Operations

Staff reporting to this post: Project staff and technical consultants, as assigned, including technical supervision where applicable.

Budget Responsibilities: No direct budget management responsibility Provide technical oversight to support the effective utilisation of DRR programme budgets, ensuring resources are used in line with approved work plans, donor requirements, and organisational policies.

Role Dimensions: The Technical Advisor – Disaster Risk Reduction works across Save the Children's humanitarian, recovery, resilience, and disaster preparedness portfolio, providing portfolio-wide technical leadership and support to programmes implemented directly by Save the Children and through local partners.

The role provides technical support and quality assurance across multiple projects and initiatives, working closely with programme implementation teams to ensure quality delivery, integration of technical standards, management of technical risks, and achievement of programme objectives.

The post holder collaborates with a broad range of internal stakeholders, including Programme Operations, PDQ, Awards Management, MEAL, Supply Chain, Finance, Humanitarian Partnerships, Business Development, Communications, and Safeguarding teams. Externally, the role maintains strong working relationships with government agencies, local authorities, academic and technical institutions, UN agencies, INGOs, local partners, private sector organizations, and relevant coordination platforms.

The position requires regular travel to project locations to provide technical support, monitor programme quality, strengthen partner capacity, facilitate stakeholder engagement, and identify opportunities for programme improvement and innovation.

The role is also expected to contribute to organisational learning, technical resource development, proposal design, donor engagement, and strategic initiatives that strengthen Save the Children's Disaster Risk Reduction, preparedness, early action, and resilience portfolio in Sri Lanka.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Technical Leadership and Programme Quality

• Provide technical leadership and quality assurance across Save the Children's Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) portfolio, ensuring programmes are aligned with organisational standards, national policies, and internationally recognised frameworks.
• Contribute to the development, adaptation, and application of technical approaches, guidance, tools, and standards to improve programme quality and promote evidence-based, child-centred, inclusive, locally led, and climate-risk-informed DRR programming.
• Provide technical oversight throughout programme implementation, identifying and escalating significant technical risks and recommending corrective actions where required, while adapting interventions based on evidence, learning, and evolving risks.

• Promote the integration of disaster risk reduction, preparedness, early warning, anticipatory/early action, and resilience principles across humanitarian, recovery, and development programming.

  Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR)

• Provide technical guidance for the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) initiatives.
• Support communities and local partners to strengthen local disaster risk governance, preparedness, multi-hazard early warning, anticipatory/early action, contingency planning, and community resilience.
• Promote inclusive and participatory approaches that strengthen the leadership of children, women, persons with disabilities, and other at-risk groups in local disaster risk management.

• Support the development and implementation of community preparedness plans, simulation exercises, early warning and early action protocols, and locally led preparedness and response mechanisms.

  Comprehensive School Safety (CSS)

• Provide technical support for the integration of Comprehensive School Safety (CSS) approaches into Disaster Risk Reduction programmes, in collaboration with the Education technical team and relevant stakeholders.
• Support schools, local authorities, and implementing partners to strengthen school disaster preparedness, risk reduction planning, multi-hazard early warning, and school-community coordination mechanisms.
• Contribute technical inputs to the development and implementation of school disaster management plans, preparedness activities, and capacity strengthening initiatives aligned with national priorities and recognised technical guidance.

• Promote child-centred and inclusive approaches that strengthen disaster preparedness and resilience within school communities.

  Disaster Risk-Informed Programming

• Provide technical advice to strengthen the integration of disaster risk analysis into programme design, implementation, monitoring, and decision-making.
• Support programme teams to identify disaster and climate-related risks and incorporate appropriate mitigation, preparedness, early warning, and anticipatory/early action measures across sector programmes.
• Promote the use of risk information, hazard assessments, vulnerability analysis, climate information, and evidence to inform programme planning and investment decisions.

• Contribute to organisational efforts to strengthen Disaster Risk-Informed Programming and organisational preparedness through the implementation and continuous improvement of Save the Children's Emergency Preparedness and Response Readiness (EPRR) framework across humanitarian and development programmes.

  Partnership, Capacity Strengthening and Technical Support

• Provide technical advice, mentoring, coaching, and capacity strengthening to implementing partners, government institutions, schools, and community structures.
• Support partners and government counterparts to apply technical standards, improve programme quality, and strengthen institutional systems related to Disaster Risk Reduction, preparedness, and resilience.

• Facilitate technical learning events, training programmes, and peer learning initiatives to strengthen organisational and partner capacity

  Programme Development, Innovation and Learning

• Contribute technical inputs to assessments, programme design, concept notes, proposals, donor engagement, and resource mobilisation processes.
• Support the development of technical guidance, implementation tools, monitoring frameworks, and knowledge products.
• Promote innovation, operational research, documentation of good practices, and learning to continuously improve programme quality and influence future programming.
• Work closely with MEAL teams to ensure evidence and lessons learned inform programme adaptation and organisational learning.
• Coordination, Representation and Advocacy
• Represent Save the Children, as delegated, in relevant national and sub-national technical working groups, government-led coordination mechanisms, and stakeholder platforms related to Disaster Risk Reduction and resilience.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with government agencies, UN organisations, NGOs, academic institutions, private sector partners, and technical networks.
• Support technical advocacy initiatives that promote child-centred, inclusive, and locally led approaches to Disaster Risk Reduction and resilience.

• Provide technical inputs to national technical discussions, government systems and standards, sector learning initiatives, and policy development processes, as appropriate.

  Organisational Compliance and Risk Management

• Ensure all technical interventions are implemented in accordance with Save the Children's policies, technical standards, safeguarding principles, and donor requirements.
• Support effective monitoring of programme quality, technical risks, and implementation challenges, recommending corrective actions and escalating material technical risks where required.
• Contribute technical inputs to donor reports, evaluations, audits, and programme reviews.
• Promote a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and technical excellence across the Disaster Risk Reduction portfolio.

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
• values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

The post holder must commit to work in an international agency that respects racial diversity and fights racism in all forms; and to model positive behaviours and respect to all colleagues, partners and communities.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's degree in Disaster Risk Reduction, Disaster Management, Environmental Management, Climate Change, Geography, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Public Administration, or another relevant discipline. Or a Bachelor's degree with significant relevant experience may be considered.
• Professional training or certification in Disaster Risk Reduction, Comprehensive School Safety, Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction, Humanitarian Action, or Emergency Preparedness is an asset.

Skills and Expertise Required:

• Minimum 5 years of progressively responsible professional experience in Disaster Risk Reduction, Disaster Management, Humanitarian Preparedness, Resilience Programming, or a related field, including demonstrated technical leadership or advisory responsibility.
• Demonstrated experience designing and providing technical oversight and quality assurance for Disaster Risk Reduction programmes funded by institutional donors.
• Proven experience in one or more of the following technical areas:
• Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR);
• Comprehensive School Safety (CSS);
• Disaster Risk-Informed Programming;
• Emergency Preparedness, Multi-Hazard Early Warning, Anticipatory/Early Action, and/or Emergency Readiness.
• Experience working with national and local government institutions, local organisations, communities, and multi-stakeholder coordination mechanisms.
• Experience strengthening the capacity of partners, government counterparts, and community structures through training, coaching, mentoring, or technical assistance.
• Demonstrated experience contributing to programme design, proposal development, resource mobilisation, technical reviews, donor engagement, and donor reporting.
• Experience working in complex humanitarian and/or disaster-prone contexts.
• Strong written and spoken English, with proficiency in Sinhala and/or Tamil highly desirable.

Desirable

• Experience supporting localisation, partner-led programming, and institutional capacity strengthening.
• Experience working with education-sector disaster risk reduction, Comprehensive School Safety, and school preparedness initiatives.
• Experience integrating Disaster Risk Reduction, climate risk, preparedness, and resilience into multi-sector programmes.
• Experience in operational research, learning, documentation of good practices, and knowledge management.
• Previous experience with Save the Children or another international NGO.

Generic Competencies

• Being the Voice of Children Utilises being part of a global movement to promote change in the policy and public sphere on child-related issues
• Advancing Equality & Inclusion Drives an enabling environment for gender equality and inclusion, and prioritising the most deprived and marginalised children
• Builds & Strengthens Partnerships Inspires others to embrace the values and principles that underpin partnerships and the localisation agenda
• Child Rights: Promotes the rights of children in own work and in work with colleagues and peers

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.