Humanitarian Access and Safety Specialist , Bamenda, Cameroon
Organization: Danish Refugee Council (DRC)
📍 Bamenda, Cameroon| 💼 Full Time
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Date Posted: January 11, 2026
Background
DRC has been present in West and Central Africa since 1998. DRC's HQ Hub for West Africa and Americas is based in Dakar, Senegal, and covers twelve countries outside Senegal.
The Cameroon country office opened in 2018 and currently comprises a coordination office in the capital Yaoundé, a base in Bamenda covering the Northwest region, a base in Garoua Boulaï covering the Adamaoua and East regions, and a base in Maroua (sub-base in Mokolo) for the Far North. DRC's interventions in these areas include providing assistance to vulnerable populations, especially IDPs and refugees to enable them to meet their basic needs and protection, providing durable solutions to the ultrapoor while rendering them resilient to shocks via resilience and peacebuilding activities. Due to the lack of emergency response services to the newly displaced in the NWSW regions, the DRC has stepped in with emergency protection and multipurpose cash in the NW region in collaboration with three national organizations as partners.
2. Overall purpose of the role: Under the authority of the Country Director, the Humanitarian Access and Safety Specialist will provide advice and technical support on the four stages (Assess, Decide, Plan, Act) of the DRC Safety Risk Management system (SRMS) in Cameroon, ensuring compliance with DRC Global Safety and Global Access policies. A detailed description of DRC SRMS can be found here Chapter 20 - DRC SRMS; the areas of competence of the Humanitarian Access and Safety Specialist are detailed in chapters 20.4 to 20.7.
The Humanitarian Access and Safety Specialist will be based in Bamenda, but is expected to travel approximately up to 40% of the working time through the country (NWSW, Adamaoua/Est, Far north, not limited to these regions) to ensure the implementation of the Security Risk Management System and provide technical support to DRC partners. Examples of such responsibilities include but are not limited to, training delivery, how to plan and conduct field movements, how to correctly do a Safety Risk Assessment, and how to select, monitor, update contingency plans, indicators, context monitoring, and ensuring safe and holistic humanitarian access in implementation areas.
This position requires previous experience in safety and humanitarian access, strong communication and analysis skills to feed informed decision-making regarding DRC operations.,
Responsibilities
The Humanitarian Access and Safety Specialist will support the Country Director in maintaining the mentioned aspects of the DRC Safety Risk Management system (SRMS) in the country, for all regions with DRC operations. Under the direct management of the Country Director, he /she is expected to pursue the following objectives and duties in his/her daily work: Overall objectives
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Oversee the development and implementation of the Danish Refugee Council's (DRC's) Safety Risk Management System (SRMS)
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Support the Country Director and the Country Offices in ensuring compliance with DRC safety policy as stated in Chapters 19 and 20 of the DRC Operations Handbook
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To develop and update policies and procedures (SOPs), in coordination with project staff, for the safe delivery of program activities
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Visit offices in the Centre, Far North and Adamaoua/Est regions regularly to ensure compliance with DRC's SRMS and provide recommendations where required. Regularly monitor safety/security dynamics across areas of operation and provide advisories and recommendations to the Senior Management Team.
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Work closely with DRC's local partners, assess their needs and build their capacity in terms of safety and access, while incorporating any best practices and lessons learnt from their experience and mastery of the local context.
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Lead on & Equitable Partnership for Hard to Reach" component of the FLASH project, including the joint development of an access and security roadmap and action plan with DRC partners in the NW region.
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