Security Manager – Sudan & Ethiopia

Location: Sudan & Ethiopia

Organization: Chemonics International

Deadline: March 4, 2026

Job Description

Introduction

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) is an integrated set of activities funded by the United States Government (USG) and is intended to provide timely, accurate, evidence-based, and transparent food insecurity early warning information and analysis. Created in 1985 in response to famines in East and West Africa, FEWS NET provides global coverage of acute food insecurity. FEWS NET’s work is implemented across several mechanisms by a team of partners that includes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the University of California-Santa Barbara’s Climate Hazards Center (UCSB-CHC), University of Maryland’s Department of Geographical Sciences, American Institutes for Research (AIR), and Chemonics International (Chemonics).

Chemonics implements FEWS NET’s Decision Support Team (DST), which is charged with providing integrated monitoring and analyses of current and forecast acute food insecurity in countries worldwide to support the United States Government’s (USG) policy and programmatic decisions. The DST operates through a Washington-based technical office, regional FEWS NET offices, and national staff presence in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and eastern Europe.

FEWS NET’s objective is to produce timely, evidence-based decision support to enable the efficient allocation of humanitarian assistance on the basis of need.

Based on an in-depth understanding of local livelihoods, FEWS NET monitors information and data on factors that affect food security, such as conflict, weather and agroclimatology, crops, pasture, markets and trade, and nutrition. The FEWS NET DST produces regular reports, including Food Security Outlooks and Outlook Updates, emergency alerts, market and price updates, and targeted analyses. FEWS NET makes reports available at www.fews.net and distributes them globally to governments, relief agencies, and other organizations engaged in humanitarian response and development programs.

The eighth phase of FEWS NET began in 2024. The work of the FEWS NET DST relies on close collaboration with international, regional, and national partners on food security-related data and information gathering and analysis. Major activities include joint monitoring and assessments, data sharing and exchanges, collaborative analysis and reporting, and support of local and regional food security networks.

Position Description

The Security Manager will serve as the primary safety and security lead for FEWS NET 8 Decision Support project operations in Sudan and Ethiopia, overseeing all aspects of risk management, field security coordination, operational preparedness, and crisis response. The Security Manager will play a critical role in safeguarding project personnel, assets, and activities, while ensuring compliance with FEWS NET DS’ and Chemonics’ security policies and duty of care standards.

The Security Manager will work under the technical supervision of the Security and Conflict (S/C) Advisor, based in Washington, D.C., with administrative management provided by the Country Technical Lead (CTL).

Responsibilities

The main responsibilities of the Security Manager include, but are not limited to:

Situational Awareness, Threat & Risk analysis, Access Management

• Compiling and dispersing timely and accurate security updates, recommendations for changes in posture, and other relevant information to project staff in person or via e-mail, phone, WhatsApp, or SMS. Overseeing the writing and transmission of security alerts for emerging situations and reporting all security-related incidents involving Chemonics staff. Providing reports as requested that capture major events and any impact on staff or project activities. Preparing information deliverables such as reports and briefings for regular or ad hoc distribution for local staff, as well as any international travelers.
• Advising on best approaches for navigating government policies/procedures/regulations for project activities and general operations. This includes identifying required and/or relevant government personnel with whom to engage and building and maintaining these relationships. Advising on any local cultural issues as they relate to security policies and procedures.
• Developing and maintaining strong collaborative national and sub-national relations, both formal and informal, with government counterparts, law enforcement, civil authorities, and development organizations. In coordination with the project’s leadership, actively liaising and networking with appropriate international security sources, other donors, and their projects, cultivating strategic relationships to maintain the flow of timely and actionable information to ensure the project is well-informed of risks and best practices to support the safety and security of staff and to resolve security-related regulatory or operational issues as they arise.
• Contributing to the development of in-depth risk assessments and scenario-based briefings as needed.
• Monitoring, assessing, and analyzing evolving political, security, economic, and social dynamics, identifying risks to project personnel and operations.
• Helping establish and/or maintain systematic, timely, high-quality, and efficient data and information collection and management processes related to security.
• Regularly reviewing the consistency and accuracy of security projections and other security-related forecasting and incorporating associated learning into methods, responses, and preparedness.

Security Management & Incident Response

• Updating, as appropriate, key security deliverables such as project emergency action plans, contact lists, phone trees, and business continuity plans to ensure a fail-safe emergency communications system; clear emergency duties and responsibilities; and systems that foster fast, deliberate, and coordinated responses. Conducting scenario training and test exercises, and ensuring emergency continuity.
• Overseeing the movements of staff and vehicles and ensuring compliance with journey management protocols, providing guidance and instructions for trips based on the security environment and staff requests.
• Completing physical site assessments to ensure compliance with security requirements at project sites, hotels, and workshop locations to support event security and staff safety.
• Overseeing subcontracted security service providers as necessary, ensuring compliance with requirements defined in the subcontract and optimizing subcontractor performance.
• Advising and supporting the development of the project’s safety and security policy and procedures in Sudan and Ethiopia, supervising the implementation of these policies and procedures, continuously reviewing these policies, and updating as necessary.
• Conducting pre-travel briefings and supporting journey management planning for all staff and visitors.
• Conducting periodic drills and simulations to test emergency preparedness and security protocols.
• Leading the immediate response to security or medical emergencies and providing on-site coordination.
• Acting as a conduit between country teams and D.C.-based senior management during incidents.
• Supporting the Incident Management Team (IMT) by maintaining communication logs, documenting incident timelines, and coordinating response activities.
• Ensuring all incident reports, debriefs, and lessons-learned summaries are completed and submitted promptly.

Qualifications

• Minimum five (5) years of professional experience in security risk management, ideally within international development, stabilization, or humanitarian programming.
• Certifications or accreditations in security management are desirable.
• Proven operational experience in high-risk or conflict-affected environments.
• Strong analytical and report writing skills. Ability to leverage and synthesize information from in-country networks, media reports, social media, and paid information sources.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing, and lead presentations, training courses, and effective meetings is required.
• Ability to work independently under pressure, prioritize tasks, and manage competing demands.
• Strong knowledge of MS Office applications, including Outlook, Word, and Excel, is required. GIS and mapping skills are desirable.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build trust across diverse teams and stakeholders.
• Knowledge of and previous working experience with USG-funded development and/or humanitarian projects is preferred.
• Ability to solve complex technical, managerial, and/or operational problems and evaluate options based on relevant information, resources, well-rounded experience, and knowledge is highly preferred.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English is required; other local language skills relevant to the country are desirable.
• Commitment to confidentiality, integrity, and ethical standards in all professional activities.
• Unrestricted work authorization in either Sudan or Ethiopia.

Location and Reporting

The Security Manager will be based in either Port Sudan (Sudan) or Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and work under the technical direction and supervision of the Washington D.C.-based Security and Conflict (S/C) Advisor, with administrative supervision provided by the Country Technical Lead (CTL), in coordination with the S/C Advisor.

The Security Manager will also collaborate closely with Chemonics’ regional Security Management Unit (SMU) to ensure compliance with FEWS NET 8 DS’ and Chemonics’ security policies and duty of care standards.

HOW TO APPLY

Application Instructions

Please apply using the following: LINK by March 4, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET. No telephone inquiries, please. Chemonics will contact short-listed candidates.

Chemonics is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factors.

Chemonics values the protection of your personal data. If you are in the European Union, please read our EU Recruiting Data Privacy Notice to learn how we process personal data. You may access the notice via the following link: https://chemonics.com/eu-recruiting-data-privacy-notice/.