TA II – Shelter and Settlements- Venezuela

CRS JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Summary  

EMPOWER (Empowering Partner Organizations Working in Emergency Response) is a CRS program under the Humanitarian Response Department (HRD) that strengthens local humanitarian actors’ leadership, coordination, institutional capacity, and access to humanitarian funding. In Venezuela, EMPOWER will support a six-month, DHR-funded emergency response led by CRS and Cáritas Venezuela following the June 2026 earthquakes, which caused significant damage, displacement, and urgent needs across affected areas. The response will provide life-saving assistance in WASH, food assistance, Shelter, and protection/MHPSS, while building on CRS and Cáritas Venezuela’s existing partnership, parish-based structures, volunteer networks, and emergency response systems. The Technical Advisor II provides technical advice, guidance, and support to a wide range of program design and implementation issues with a focus on larger projects in the area of Shelter and Settlements in line with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices to CRS and Caritas Venezuela teams as part of the Venezuela Earthquake Emergency response to advance the delivery of high-quality programming to the poor and vulnerable. The incumbent’s technical knowledge, advice and guidance will contribute to determining how effective, adaptive and innovative CRS and Caritas’ Shelter and Settlements programming is across the globe.

Roles and Key Responsibilities 

• Contribute to the development and implementation of response-wide strategies, standards, tools, and best practices in Shelter and Settlements that effectively engage partners, Cluster, donors and governments. Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach integrating gender, protection mainstreaming, and disaster risk reduction.
• Provide technical solutions to CRS and Caritas Venezuela teams, , for strategic planning and how to best apply program design and implementation standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools, and M&E, ensuring high-quality implementation.
• Contribute to EMPOWER and Venezuela response efforts to pre-position CRS for growth opportunities in Shelter and Settlements. Lead or contribute to the development of the technical design for large and/or complex proposals, including defining appropriate monitoring systems and indicators. Advise project teams on integrating donor strategies, priorities and technical requirements into CRS’ approach.
• Contribute to capacity strengthening initiatives in Shelter and Settlements programming for Caritas Venezuela through helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and mentoring and coaching to partner staff. 
• Support Caritas Venezuela’s overall shelter, settlements and WASH/Infrastructure response, including assessments, development of  designs and BoQs, program planning, implementation follow-up, and technical quality assurance.
• Provide close accompaniment to Caritas Venezuela staff and, when needed, temporarily support day-to-day sector coordination and project management functions to ensure timely and high-quality delivery. Contribute to knowledge management and learning through collecting and analyzing program data, evaluating strategic projects, assisting with measuring program impact, capturing and sharing lessons learned and best practices, and research and internal reports.
• Establish and maintain relationships with donors, peer organizations, research and other institutions. Participate in forums in the area of Shelter and Settlements to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work. Participate in and contribute to the Shelter, Land and Site Coordination Cluster, including actively supporting technical working groups. 

• Be the focal point for CRS Shelter and Settlements scale and system change initiatives. 

  
  

Basic Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Architecture or related field.
• Minimum of eight years’ relevant international working experience in an advisory or management role with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO. Experience in humanitarian or rapid-onset emergency response is highly relevant.
• Minimum of three years working for programming interventions in Shelter and Settlements.
• Experience providing technical assistance and developing successful proposals for external donor funding is required.
• Experience in business development, project design and proposal development in Shelter and Settlements, including technical writing.

• Experience with program monitoring and evaluation, including applying data collection tools and methodologies, data analysis, and data presentation.

  
  

Preferred Qualifications 

• Master's Degree in Engineering, Architecture or a related field. 
• Experience working with local partners and/or the Caritas network is an advantage.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities  

• Demonstrated ability to apply technical principles and concepts in Shelter and Settlements. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure a proper cross-sectoral approach.
• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, knowledge-sharing networks.
• Strong presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills.
• Ability to leverage networking skills and develop relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based civil society partners. Knowledge and understanding of partnership principles.
• Excellent relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings.
• Strong strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills. Ability to see the big picture and make sound judgments.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to demonstrate a proactive, resourceful and results-oriented mindset.

Required Languages: Professional fluency in Spanish and English is required.

Travel: Must be willing and able to travel up to 50% within Venezuela and internationally as needed. 

Supervisory Responsibilities: No

Key Working Relationships: Internal: EMPOWER LACRO Team, HRD Shelter and Settlements Team, CRS Venezuela response team. External: Cáritas Venezuela, peer agencies involved in emergency and recovery shelter support, donors, local authorities, and relevant coordination mechanisms.

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Catholic Relief Services works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality.  Catholic Relief Services’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance, and peacebuilding.  We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.

CRS is committed to safeguarding program participants, community members, staff and volunteers from all forms of exploitation and abuse.  The successful candidate is expected to sign and adhere to CRS´ Code of Conduct.

CRS talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people - especially children and vulnerable adults - to live free from abuse and harm.

Disclaimer:  This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position. 

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

General Requirements

CRS offers are contingent on the selected candidate’s ability to legally work where the position is to be performed. Every government has a unique set of work permit eligibility requirements.  All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside a home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical clearance; some work permit processes require clearing a separate government administered medical examination.

CRS prioritizes candidates who are citizens/ permanent residents of the countries where we have CRS offices.