Central African Republic: Director*, HF radio network management

Reports to CRCA project Chief of Party

Based in Kinshasa, DRC or Bangui, CAR – or any other location including home-based, preferably in a time zone close to those of DRC. Extensive field travel throughout DRC and CAR required. If home based, the incumbent must be able to install an HF radio at home.

*The assignment may be made at a lower level depending on the skills and experience of the final candidate selected.

Background – Community Resilience in Central Africa (CRCA) is a 5-year, USD 25 million USAID-funded project that operates a network of nearly 200 HF radios (primarily Codan, and some Barrett) in North-Eastern DRC and Eastern CAR as an early warning system (EWS) for community protection against the violence of armed groups. CRCA builds on a pre-existing HF network set up by Invisible Children, the INGO that operates CRCA.

The network is comprised of:

• Currently 164 HF radios located in communities/villages and operated by volunteer community HF radio operators, as an early warning system. A smaller number of additional new HF radios will be installed in additional villages;

• 6 HF radios located in CRCA offices and operated by CRCA personnel as hubs to operate the early warning system. Those HF radios are also used for the security management of the project. In CAR, additional offices have their own HF radio for security management;

• 5 HF radios located in field offices of natural parks, and operated by park personnel, that link with the CRCA EWS to exchange protection information, since there are extensive linkages between poaching and armed groups’ violence against civilians;

• 12 HF radios mounted on CRCA vehicles, to link CRCA field missions with offices and the EWS network, for security management of field missions;

• In a limited number of additional locations, the EWS also operates through other communications means, such as satellite phones, regular mobile phones, and hand-written letters.

Position objective and role overview – the Director of HF radio network management is in charge of improving the management, maintenance and sustainability of the HF network.

Key tasks:

• Supervise a network of two EWS managers (one per country), 6+ HF operators (in CRCA offices) and 6+ HF technicians with a focus on capacity building and standardization;

• Incrementally improve the quality, security and resilience of the network of HF radios by rolling out technologies and features such as use of written messages over HF, use of low-grade signal scrambling capabilities, features that allow to locate and disable HF radios from a distance, and features that allow to optimize connectivity and sound quality, amongst other;

• Review, improve and roll out protocols for communications over HF, including training personnel and, through training-of-trainers, training community volunteer radios operators in the field;

• Forecast the network requirements in terms of maintenance, repairs and replacement and ensure a sound stockpile and supply chain. This includes the HF radios themselves as well as their power supply, which is all solar;

• Develop standards for HF radio protection, maintenance and repair. Set up maintenance and repair workshops, train HF technicians on maintenance and repair, and through training-of-trainers, train community volunteer HF radio operators on basic preventive maintenance and defect identification and reporting;

• Develop standardized protocols for the security management of each HF radio and for its annual assessment, review draft plans before technicians’ field missions to communities, and review, finalize and approve actual plans and assessment upon technicians’ return from the field;

• Oversee the long-term sustainability and technological soundness of the EWS network, including through integration and consideration of other communications technologies. Work strategically with the CRCA CoP and DCoP on the integration of other technologies where HF is not suitable (armed groups acceptance, nomadic populations, etc.);

• Expand, maintain and manage a database of all HF items in the network and in storage;

• Work with the CRCA security managers on the effective use of the HF radio network for CRCA own security management, and integration with other communications technologies use for security management including mobile phones, satellite phones and locators;

• Contribute to the management of legal and regulatory issues that arise from importing, procuring, owning, donating and operating HF radios;

• Where offices are also equipped with VHF radios, assist with installation, training of users and network management (none at present);

• Provide technical assistance to CRCA IT officers and to community FM radio station partners on technological aspects, where relevant and to the extent that the skills of the incumbent allow.

Profile:

• At the absolute least three years of extensive experience and expertise with HF radios (installation, operation, maintenance and repair), including with Codan models. More experience desired;

• Extensive experience with ‘large’ (+/- 200 or more units) networks of HF radios, preferably used beyond just organizational security;

• Enthusiasm and true interest for HF radios, but willingness and interest in integrating other technologies as well;

• Dedication to training, capacity building and skills transfer;

• French speaking and writing skills absolutely required;

• Extensive computer skills;

• Some electronics skills strongly desired;

• Willingness to travel extensively to remote locations in relatively insecure areas. **

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Please send electronic submissions of your CV and cover letter to jobs@invisiblechildren.com. Please include “Director of HF Radio Management” in the subject line. No telephone inquiries. Finalists will be contacted.