Deputy Director of Programs

Job Description

This role is only open to current IRC employees.

Program brief

The humanitarian crisis in Venezuela continues to intensify. Venezuelans face hyperinflation, which puts them out of reach of basic goods and services, including health care and food. A shortage of medical supplies means that it is difficult to diagnose and treat communicable diseases and sexual and reproductive health needs, among other services. The lack of food has resulted in hunger and malnutrition. From 2015-2018, over three million Venezuelans left to seek goods and services in primarily neighboring countries.

IRC has responded to the crisis by supporting Venezuelans crossing the arc of the migration pattern, including Peru. In Peru, IRC works in the areas of health, protection (including GBV and Child Protection), shelter, and multipurpose cash assistance in La Libertad, Lima, Piura, and Tumbes. IRC works to strengthen the capacity of local partners to provide access to quality services for the migrant population.

Purpose of the role:

DDP is one of the very exciting roles in IRC that combines program strategy, design and leadership. The DDP will provide a leadership, decision-making and coordinating role on programmatic issues, fundraising, business development and responsible for the quality and timeliness of both proposal development as well as the effective implementation of projects. The Deputy Director of Programs (herein DDP), Perú, will manage all programming in Perú, including staff based in and traveling to the country. This position will report to the Country Director, who is also responsible for Ecuador. This role will closely coordinate with the Operations Coordinator, Finance Coordinator, and the Technical Advisors of the above-mentioned programs and have a technical support line with the Deputy Regional Director.

As a key member of the Senior Leadership and Management Team and under the supervision of the Country Director, the Deputy Director of Programs (DDP) main role is to provide strategic and operational leadership in the management of the Program, focusing on its development, quality, advocacy, and IRC's influence at the national level. The DDP has direct responsibility for the effectiveness and efficiency of support to all units of the Program Team in the country program. The DDP ensures the implementation of the country strategic plan through the development of Program, high-quality project, innovative and delivering results rapid and sustainable impacts for the benefit of the populations we serve. Additionally, the DDP will need to consistently adapt to scenarios as the context evolves, to ensure both security and program delivery.

The DDP directly and indirectly supervises the national staff of the Program team, including the technical coordination teams, the Grant and Partnership Team and the Monitoring and Evaluation, and Learning teams.

Main responsibilities:

• Program strategy design and development

• Team management

• Implementation of quality programming that ensures best practices

• Lead grant management teams

• Business development

• Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting

• Documentation, Communication and Learning

Specific Responsibilities

• Lead the scale up of programming in Peru, with partnerships or other modalities to implement IRC programs.

• Take leadership on strategic development, action plans with clear objectives and clear results evaluation steps, long-term and short-term priorities, implementation plans, financial projections, and assessment tools.

• Lead business development, including speaking with donors, and take the lead on writing proposal narratives, log frames, and drafting budgets and budget narratives.

• Manage Program staff terms of reference, objectives, outputs, and performance.

• Manage all aspects of project workplans, including adaptations, mitigating risks and scenarios to deliver services to the affected population, and completion of results and compliance within each grant.

• Create the monitoring plan and ensure all aspects of monitoring are completed. This will be done in collaboration with the program staff and partners.

• Work through the IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS), a comprehensive set of compliance tools to set up, manage, and close out partnerships and sub-awards.

• Coordinate with partner organizations, by supporting the Partnership Senior Officer, to ensure that all partners are clear about objectives, next steps, reporting requirements, and any feedback they have to improve their services and the relationship with the IRC.

• When delegated, represent the IRC for Peru, including internal requests, as well as with external humanitarian stakeholders such as donors, UN, and other organizations. Representation will be in close collaboration with the Country Director as well as any staff based in Peru.

• In coordination with Finance Coordinator, oversee preparation of monthly financial reports, sub-grant financial monitoring and reporting and any other finance related tasks.

• Ensure compliance, including donor requirements, spending, and financial reporting, and writing narrative reports per donor compliance.

• Work with Global Supply Chain, in collaboration with the Operations Coordinator, to ensure appropriate procurement for partners and/or guide partners in procurement procedures that need to be adhered to as part of funding agreements, or to comply with IRC or donor requirements.

• Lead assessments (either sector-specific, or a multi-sector needs assessment) to gather data from beneficiaries as well as the affected population. This will be done in conjunction with the Program team and Technical Advisors to ensure appropriate quality and standards.

• Continue ensuring feedback mechanisms on behalf of partners so that beneficiaries and partners can contact the IRC and the IRC can improve services.

• Collaborate with the Safety and Security Coordinator to ensure appropriate security protocols and adaptations as required.

Job requirements:

Strong leadership abilities and interpersonal skills, and be able to deploy strong communications effectively, both internally and externally; enjoy developing networks to build partnerships and diversify program resources. Previous experience performing roles that are similar to this one in Peru.

Education and experience:

• Graduate degree in a relevant field.

• At least 7 to 10 years of experience in humanitarian/development sectpr, with an excellent understanding of the Peru context.

• Experience working in humanitarian, development, conflict/post-conflict or disaster response situation.

Demonstrated Technical Skills:

• Experience managing security in a complex and rapidly changing security context.

• Confirmed ability to negotiate and work with partner organizations. Experience with organizational capacity strengthening and partnership building is helpful.

• Strong budget and fiscal oversight capacities.

• Demonstrated representation and fundraising success, including prior experience with European, US, private and other international donors.

• Established capacity to handle stressful situations in a healthy, constructive manner.

• Ability to respond to multiple priorities in a timely manner, producing high-quality outcomes.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, especially Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

• Experience using technology for response in humanitarian or development context a plus.

• Professional fluency in written and spoken Spanish and English.

Demonstrated Managerial/Leadership Competencies:

• Experience building personal networks at a senior level, resulting in securing new opportunities for the organization.

• Demonstrated successful leadership and management experience with a multi-disciplinary team in cross-cultural settings, including active mentoring and coaching.

• Effective in developing high-potential staff to achieve career growth and maximum contribution.

• Confirmed experience delivering suitable levels of oversight of a portfolio consisting of a variety of complex, high-value donor-funded projects.

• Opportunity-awareness. A successful innovative approach to unpredictable programming, operational, and funding contexts.

• Ability to represent program context, constraints, and successes to media, government, and other senior audiences.

Qualifications