Role Overview
The Disaster Risk Management Specialist (DRMS) will lead the implementation of emergency management and disaster risk reduction programs in Jamaica under the RDAP contract. Reporting to the Sub-Regional Manager for the East Caribbean, the specialist ensures alignment with U.S. Government (USG) goals through comprehensive risk analysis, capacity development, and coordinated response efforts.
Key Responsibilities
- Evaluate hazards, vulnerabilities, and existing response capacities to identify critical gaps in disaster preparedness and response systems.
- Lead strategic planning at the country level to strengthen resilience by addressing identified capability shortfalls.
- Design, deliver, and manage training and technical assistance programs focused on emergency management, disaster preparedness, and risk reduction as directed by the USG.
- Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders including national agencies, UN bodies, humanitarian organizations, and other USG entities.
- Transition training ownership to local institutions through structured hand-over workshops.
- Develop and supervise national and regional training curricula in line with USG requirements.
- Offer expert guidance to the USG on all aspects of disaster risk management programming.
- Coordinate regularly with Mission Disaster Response Officers (MDROs) and other designated personnel within U.S. Missions.
- Support the development, implementation, and evaluation of annual and country-specific work plans.
- Maintain a roster of qualified surge consultants and manage their deployment and training compliance.
- Identify and support procurement of emergency relief supplies in coordination with USG partners.
- Submit regular written activity reports at scheduled intervals throughout the year.
- Participate fully in disaster response operations and provide on-the-ground support when activated.
- Collaborate with local partners to create tailored strategic and operational plans for disaster risk management.
- Respond to requests from the RDAP leadership as needed.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree or higher in Business, International Development, Emergency Management, or a related field.
- Proven experience delivering or supporting emergency management and disaster preparedness training and technical programs.
- Strong understanding of capacity assessment methods and best practices in capacity building.
- Effective project management abilities with experience in planning, executing, and reporting on complex initiatives.
- Native or near-native proficiency (Level 5) in the local language; strong writing skills in that language and functional English proficiency.
- Familiarity with the social, political, and geographic context of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
- Knowledge of procurement processes, information management systems, and communication technologies.
- Ability to deploy rapidly for up to 45 days anywhere in the LAC region, including in challenging environments.
- Experience with donor-funded projects and compliance requirements.
- Strong organizational, communication, and coordination skills.
- Self-motivated with the ability to work independently or remotely as part of a diverse team.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications.
- Capable of managing multiple tasks under tight deadlines and delivering results efficiently.
- Skilled in managing stakeholder expectations across cultural contexts.
- Willingness to share local networks of vendors, suppliers, and authorities to support program initiation.
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior involvement in disaster relief operations or humanitarian response programs.
- Technical knowledge in areas such as food security, nutrition, health, WASH, shelter, gender, protection, inclusion, and logistics.
- Ability to assess cross-cutting issues in programming.
- Familiarity with U.S. Government rules and regulations governing international assistance.
