AAPA( Accountability to Affected Populations in Action Senior Program Manager

Job Description

Background:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

As part of the larger DfID-funded ULEARN Project, the IRC is conducting efforts to identify, suggest, and enact improvements to existing accountability mechanisms and referral systems for collecting and addressing client feedback used by DfID BRAER Downstream Partners (hereafter, ‘Partners’). In particular, this project aims at strengthening existing AAP mechanisms’ ability to ‘hold account’ by focusing on 1) engaging women and children, 2) ensuring that two-way communication mechanisms exist and are operating effectively, and 3) ensuring there is adequate and survivor-centred reporting, referral, and response to allegations of all forms of fraud, abuse, misconduct, corruption, or any other breaches of organisation Codes of Conduct in line with best practice (e.g. the IRC Guidelines for a Survivor-Centred Approach to Reporting Safeguarding Misconduct). To support ‘taking account’, the Consortium will also create a new Beneficiary Perception and Preferences Assessment (using both quantitative and qualitative data) that is specifically developed to take account on topics that are not well captured in existing AAP mechanisms and suggests and supports 1) the creation of other new mechanisms, and 2) technological improvements to existing mechanisms. From past experiences, the IRC knows that it is not enough to simply provide stakeholders with findings or suggestions about holding, giving, or taking account, but that true uptake of findings and suggestions will require a dedicated change management team.

Therefore, U-Learn will be implementing the AAP in Action (AAPA) program, which is a 3 months phased technical support program, designed to enable Organizations translate the AAP’s theoretical knowledge into practice to strengthen AAP in their programming, operations, and beyond. The AAPA programme, is a follow--up initiative of the AAP training that was conducted in collaboration with UNHCR and the AAP Task Force from May to November 2021. The main objective of AAP in Action Program is to help organizations put the AAP’s theoretical knowledge received from the AAP training into practice to enable them strengthen AAP in their programming, operations, and beyond.

AAP in Action (AAPA) program will be implemented in two cohorts across 3 regions (North, West Nile, and South-West) for 3 selected organizations, which will create a total of 3 actors in one cohort for a period of 3 months per cohort.

Scope of work:

The AAPA Senior Manager will be responsible for delivering technical support plans, guidance, trainings/refreshers, and tools/templates to achieve the AAPA program objectives. She/he will work collaboratively with the AAP Coordinator/ Program Coordinator for Quality and Learning, Deputy Coordinator and AAP Regional Managers to identify technical support and resource priorities to support interested organizations institutionalize AAP in their programming through one-on-one practical support in the three regions where U-Learn is present (North, West Nile, and South-West).

Job Responsibilities:

- Specifically, the AAPA Senior Manager will be responsible for providing technical support to AAP Managers and selected organizations to operationalize AAP by particularly integrating the following thematic areas into different organizations programmes:

- Identify and integrate AAP into proposal development through the project narrative, budget, and log frame touch points.

- Review current agency complaints and feedback mechanisms to assess and strengthen their functionality, and assess appropriate mechanisms that could be used for organizations where there are none in place (e.g. linkage to existing inter-agency feedback mechanisms, establishing mechanisms to fill gaps such as ensuring accessibility to specific groups, etc.)

- Set up or review Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for AAP and feedback registry.

- Review existing client data (e.g. FGD results), help interpret them, and turn them into actions to support data-driven decision-making based on client inputs.

- Set up indicators or review existing AAP indicators to assess their functionality, identify key gaps and develop a data collection strategy.

- Presenting to the AAP TF

- A success story blog / spotlight in the U-LEARN newsletter

- Social media posts

Any additional support as requested by the supervisor

Working Environment:

- Standard office working environment

- Some travel, especially in remote and volatile locations as needed up to 50%

Key working relationships:

- Reports to Program Coordinator for Quality and Learning - Works closely with the AAP Deputy Coordinator and the AAP Managers who are based in the field

Standards of Professional Conduct

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Harassment-Free Workplace, Fiscal Integrity, Anti-Retaliation, Combating Trafficking in Persons, and several others.

Gender Equality & Equal Opportunity

We are committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer generous benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowances. We welcome and strongly encourage qualified female professionals to apply.

IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants based on merit without regard to race, sex, colour, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Deadline for receiving applications is June 10th,2022

Qualifications

- Master’s Degree in humanitarian assistance, social work, human rights, international law, social science, or related field. Postgraduate degree preferred. - A minimum of 5 years of professional experience designing, implementing, evaluating, and supporting client feedback mechanisms and working on Accountability to Affected Population (AAP) / Client Responsiveness interventions within Humanitarian and/or Development programs.

- Extensive expertise in delivering accountability surveys, as well as capacity to support effective communication with refugee communities (with a specific focus on empowering women, children, and marginalized groups). - Demonstrated understanding of Core Humanitarian Standards, Grand Bargain Participation Revolution, and proven experience in setting up systems for meaningful participation of clients. - Excellent facilitation skills to design and implement trainings/refreshers, workshops, and webinars, and strong understanding of how to collect feedback safely and accurately from all members of a community regardless of their age, gender, or other diversity factors. - Experience with developing packages of tools, guidance, training materials, communication materials, and other capacity-building and dissemination resources for internal and external stakeholders. - Experience with data management, visualization, and interpretation

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

- Strong analytical, presentation, organizational and problem-solving skills

- Demonstrated expertise in program design, monitoring and evaluation and program adaptation - Experience in project management - Ability to work within a team with a track record of collaborating across disciplines. - Strong verbal and written communication skills in English - Ability to receive constructive feedback in a positive light - Active listening skills and ability to work with colleagues from different cultures and contexts. - Language Skills: Fluency in English is required. - Strong organizational and time-management skills; proven ability to prioritize and deliver on time - Strong analytic problem-solving skills - Ability to work both independently and in a dynamic, cross-functional team structure - Highly proficient in Microsoft Office suite, CommCare and Power BI is preferred and an asset - Demonstrated ability to work effectively with stakeholders at all levels - Ability to manage and work through change in a proactive and positive manner.