Senior Humanitarian Advisor

THE IMPACT YOU WILL MAKE:

Reporting to the Senior Advisor, Partnerships and Technical Quality, the Senior Humanitarian Advisor is responsible for providing high-quality technical support to humanitarian projects and emergency responses, ensuring alignment with quality and accountability standards. The role involves actively pursuing new humanitarian funding opportunities, cultivating relationships with Canadian humanitarian donors, demonstrating contextual knowledge of crises, and providing thought leadership on best practices. The Senior Humanitarian Advisor will also engage in humanitarian networks in Canada and within SCI to promote program quality and innovation, and offer targeted support for public engagement, communications, and advocacy efforts related to Children in Crisis.

Responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

Advisory and Technical Quality Assurance 

Provide high-quality technical input to program teams, ensuring alignment with humanitarian best practices and quality standards. 
In coordination with SCI, develop and promote tools to strengthen program quality; contribute technical expertise to evaluations and reviews. 
Develop and maintain effective relationships with the Global Team, Country Offices and  
key SCI focal points. 
Support humanitarian responses by reviewing related policies and procedures through a rights-based and gender-sensitive lens. 
Represent Save the Children Canada as a subject matter expert in domestic and international humanitarian forums and working groups, as appropriate, contributing contextual analysis and technical insights. 

Humanitarian Business Development 

Monitor emerging crises and provide timely analysis to inform programmatic and donor decisions. 
Engage with institutional and non-institutional donors to pursue humanitarian funding aligned with organizational strategy. 
Together with Country Office Technical Advisors, lead technical design of humanitarian projects, including logical frameworks and contextual inputs. 
Collaborate with the Resources Development and Business Development teams to ensure timely, high-quality humanitarian proposals that meet donor requirements. 
Cultivate relationships with key donors, peer agencies, partners, and sector leaders. Together with Country Offices and relevant Save the Children Canada teams, proactively lead on prepositioning efforts. 
Support development of emergency appeals and drawdown funding mechanisms, such as the Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund (CHAF). 

Operational 

Implement response protocols for new emergencies in line with Save the Children Canada’s Humanitarian SOPs including review of the process, crisis interest holder coordination, post- response evaluation.  
Represent Save the Children Canada in Canadian humanitarian networks, public engagement  
Acts as a media spokesperson for Save the Children on relevant humanitarian contexts and crises, as required 
Contribute to the development and execution of advocacy plans by producing thought leadership and representing Save the Children at external events 
As required, perform tasks related to SCC and sector humanitarian capacity building 
Ensure regular and transparent communication on strategy and policies, uphold SCC’s Code of Conduct, Policies, Leadership Charter, Reconciliation, Equity, Anti-Racism,  Diversity, Inclusion (READI), Health and Safety standards, integrates Child Safeguarding practices, models competencies, and professional and ethical behavior. 

Qualifications include (but are not limited to):

Post-secondary education in a relevant field or equivalent experience  
Minimum 5-7 years of experience in International Development, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO/INGO), or other not-for-profit sectors is required. 
Advanced knowledge and understanding of humanitarian principles, practices, and coordination architecture. 
Technical expertise in one or more of Save the Children’s priority sectors: Nutrition, Health, Child Protection, Food Security & Livelihoods, WASH, Cash Transfer Programming, or Education. 
Knowledge of Canadian foreign policy and Global Affairs Canada policies and procedures. 
Demonstrated experience integrating gender equality, child-safe programming, protection mainstreaming, resilience building, and conflict analysis in humanitarian contexts. 
Advanced communication, interpersonal, and teamwork skills for diverse audiences to build strong working relationships across cultural and organizational settings, both internally and externally. French/Spanish/Arabic language skills is an asset. 
Demonstrated project management experience for task execution of assigned objectives supported by proficiency with MS Office tools and relevant technologies. Ability to work under pressure within tight timelines to achieve SCC objectives.  
Displays analytical and problem-solving skills to support initiatives with demonstrated adaptability to support change management for successful task implementation. 
Applies judgment and make sound decisions that are accountable, justifiable, and in adherence to policies and procedures.  
Considers organizational strategy and thinks creatively to support innovative initiatives and collaborations that deliver benefits for the children and families we serve.  
Ability to occasionally travel locally, nationally and internationally (less than 10%) as required.