The Centre for Disaster Protection was launched by the UK Prime Minister in July 2017 to strengthen resilience in developing countries through better preparedness and planning backed by risk-based financing arrangements. The Centre is funded with UK aid from the UK government.
The Centre for Disaster Protection works to change how the world prepares and pays for disasters. Identifying, planning for and financing disasters before they strike saves lives, reduces suffering and protects livelihoods and economies, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable communities. The Centre brings countries together with international development, humanitarian and private sector organisations to find solutions and advocate for change. We find ways to stop disasters devastating lives by supporting countries and the international system to better manage risks. To do this, the Centre provides advisory services, builds knowledge, catalyses innovation and creates partnerships across the development, humanitarian and financial sectors.
With Covid-19, the world is more aware than ever of the importance of being prepared and working together to address risks. The Centre’s work has never been more crucial. With a recent funding uplift from the UK government to mid-2025, the Centre is entering a new period of organisational growth, evolving beyond its start-up phase to tackle the increasingly urgent impact of climate change and frequency of disasters around the world.
The Centre’s technical work is focused on cross-cutting goals as set out in our five-year strategy (2019-2024):
- Advice – quality assurance and advisory services and training: We will have a respected and widely used quality assurance function that has increased the quantity and quality of risk financing products and services. Our effective technical assistance and capacity building will have supported high risk, vulnerable countries to make better disaster risk management decisions through knowledge exchange and genuine skills transfer.
- Evidence and Learning: We will be internationally recognised as driving change through evidence, experimentation and learning which will strengthen the global evidence base on disaster risk financing.
- Advocacy and Influencing: Through advocacy and influencing and being a positive disrupter, we will have improved the quality and quantity of disaster risk financing through the multilateral system.
Additionally, we are focused on building effective systems and processes on people and operations to support the Centre to rapidly yet strategically scale and grow in a way that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion and ensures the organisation is a great place to work.
The roles
As part of our organisational growth plan, we are expanding our operations team to recruit a Projects & Communications Officer to support the delivery of the Centre’s ambitious workplan.
The Centre works directly with countries and organisations to support them to own, plan and finance the risks they face. Our advisory services provide potential clients and partners with advice, training and quality assurance services to support them to finance disaster risks differently, often through exploring links to other technical areas such as shock-responsive social protection and effective public financial management. The advisory work is complemented by research and evidence generation to contribute to global understanding of what works (and what does not) and filling the evidence gap, for example through commissioning and supporting impact evaluations of anticipatory action, as well as using learning to adapt approaches and inform scaling up. Our advocacy and influencing work, in turn, supports the communication and dissemination of evidence to advocate for changes in the international system.
The Projects & Communications Officer will be responsible for providing cross-cutting support to the Centre’s multi-disciplinary team, for example: providing first-class administrative support to help plan and deliver key project activities; support the Senior Leadership Team and Centre Board in their roles to set strategic direction and drive the organisation forward; and supporting the Head of Communications on core communications activities e.g. including managing the publication process, liaising with colleagues and consultants, managing the communications calendar, managing the image library and basic web publishing, updates and amends.
In addition, the Projects and Communications Officer will be required to:
- Uphold the organisation’s values and contribute to a positive organisational culture.
- Help to build the Centre’s external reputation through professional and effective engagement with stakeholders and clients, including at senior levels.
- Contribute to working creatively and collaboratively across teams to solve issues and get things done.
The Projects & Communications Officer will be required to work effectively as part of a multi-disciplinary team of Centre staff and consultants, working closely with the operations team, Senior Leadership Team, the Centre Board and Function Leads on MEL, Evidence and Learning, Advice, Training, Communication, and Advocacy and Influencing.
Skills and experience
Successful candidates will be able to demonstrate the following skills and experience:
- Project planning and delivery, including using project management tools to plan inputs and resources and monitor progress towards milestones and deadlines.
- Utilising effective administration tools and processes to manage stakeholder communications, organise meetings, events and logistics, and coordinate briefings and reports.
- Ability to build project budgets, monitor expenditure and interpret financial data.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in English with the ability to tailor communications to a range of audiences, including at senior levels.
- High standard of proofreading and editing with a keen eye for detail.
- Ability to work enthusiastically as a valued team member across multiple teams in parallel, with a proactive, problem-solving attitude.
- Excellent working level of computer literacy with MS Office packages.
Person specification
Successful candidates should:
- Demonstrated interest in communications and willingness to learn, with confidence in social media management.
- Demonstrate a passion for building resilience and reducing vulnerability in low and middle-income countries and thinking creatively to evidence harder to measure change at systems level.
- Show a clear understanding of and belief in the Centre’s values and mission.
- Strong commitment to ongoing learning, including technical and non-technical skills.
- Be willing to occasionally travel to Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and other international locations as needed, including lower income and fragile, conflict-affected contexts (only if restrictions due to Covid-19 allow).
The offer
After a successful probation period, the contract will be until the end of June 2025, renewable if project funding is extended. The roles will be contracted by DAI Global UK, who are the Centre’s managing agent.
A competitive salary in the region of £25-30,000 depending on experience.
A generous benefits package including 25 days annual leave (plus public holidays) and a contributory pension scheme.
We have an office in the City of London, but we are open to considering flexible, part-time and remote working arrangements.
For contracting purposes, candidates must be resident in and have the right to live and work in one of the following countries: UK, Belgium, Austria, Serbia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Croatia, Pakistan, Nigeria, USA.
The Centre is committed to building a diverse workplace and so we particularly encourage applications from diverse backgrounds that are typically under-represented in this sector.
DAI is a global development company with corporate offices in the USA, the UK, the EU, Nigeria, and Pakistan, and project operations worldwide. DAI tackles fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governance, and instability; it works on the frontlines of global development, transforming ideas into action—action into impact. DAI is committed to shaping a more liveable world.
Application process
Interested applicants should apply, including a cover letter (no more than one page) and CV, via DAI’s recruitment portal. (Via the link below)
Any questions about the role or the recruitment process should be sent to: jobs_CDP@disasterprotection.org (please do not send applications to this email address).
We are recruiting for these vacancies on a rolling basis, meaning there is no fixed deadline and applications will be assessed as they are received, and the vacancies will remain open until they are filled. We are posting these vacancies in mid-December 2021 with an aim to make all appointments by the end of March 2022, preferably sooner.
How to apply:
https://phf.tbe.taleo.net/phf04/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=DAINC&cws=1&rid=6637