Economic Recovery and Development (ERD) Manager

Job Description

Background

The International Rescue Committee 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, IRC offers life-saving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in more than 40 countries and in 22 U.S. cities, IRC restores safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted by conflict or disaster. IRC leads the way from harm to home.

Returning to Latin America recently following a 40-year history in the region in order to support Central American migration issues and address political and economic instability in South America, IRC is uniquely placed to facilitate the protection, livelihoods, and integration of mixed-migrants within and across borders. IRC established a long-term office in Mexico in 2019 to serve migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers, anchored by strong understanding of the local context by locally recruited staff; coordination with key stakeholders such as UNICEF, IOM, ICRC, and local NGOs and governments; and application of sound technical capacity and global best practices. IRC has an ongoing gender-based violence prevention, livelihoods and basic needs assistance, mental health and psychosocial support and InfoDigna migrant information provision response in Mexico.

The IRC Mexico team is currently implementing Economic Recovery and Development (ERD) programming across the country, spanning provision of cash assistance for basic needs to refugees and asylum seekers to livelihoods training and job placement support for migrants. IRC Mexico recently received funding from the Ensamble funding consortium led by Citi Banamex and focused on addressing migrant challenges. As part of Ensamble’s PROYECTO PILOTO FAMILIAS MIGRANTES, IRC will support financial access for targeted migrant families for an initial 6 months, ensuring that interventions integrate particularly with work integration activities and are in support of additional workstreams focused on legal support, education, and psychosocial support. IRC joins a network of local NGOs and partners supporting implementation across workstreams.

The Economic Recovery and Development (ERD) Manager, Citi Ensamble Monterrey, will lead project activity implementation and partnership coordination, ensuring application of best practices in financial inclusion and employment support, contextual relevance, and collaboration with both implementing project peers and local partners in private sector and government.

Job Overview/Summary: The ERD Manager - Monterrey, will be responsible for overseeing activity implementation and monitoring for IRC’s activities within the PROYECTO PILOTO FAMILIAS MIGRANTES alongside peer NGOs, which will include mapping of the financial inclusion ecosystem in Monterrey, identification and cultivation of financial service providers (FSPs) to serve migrant clients with appropriate financial services, support of client financial education training and orientation to FSP products/services alongside project partners, facilitation of client-FSP linkage and account registration, and monitoring and support of client account usage and project-FSP relationships.

The ERD Manager – Monterrey is part of a project team including five NGO implementation partners. S/he will report to the ERD Coordinator, be part of a broader team including the UNHCR project ERD Manager and six ERD Officers, and the Citi CDMX ERD Officer and ERD Assistant.

Responsibilities

Project Implementation

- Lead the financial services and financial inclusion assessment collection of data, analysis, and report/recommendation writing to inform project activities; - Design financial inclusion and education activities to be implemented based on the assessment conducted; - Prepare and maintain/update a detailed work-plan that supports the overall grant timeline and achieves the project objective of facilitating formal financial inclusion of targeted migrant families; - Lead implementation of activities in the work plan and ensure quality of these technical activities, share relevant project information and progress with ERD Coordinator and agree on direction and adaptations to improve quality and achieve timelines. - Manage/monitor monthly expenditures and track budgets to ensure that all spending is in line with approved budget and timelines, including developing procurement and spending plans and monitoring budget vs. actual reports and raise issues with the ERD Coordinator.

Partner Management and Coordination

- Develop strong relationships with other NGOs involved in project and ensure understanding and support of their objectives and overall project outcome(s); - Contribute to regular project coordination meetings across partners; - Lead identification and cultivation of relevant financial service provider (FSP) partners, to include leading development of and agreement on Memorandum(s) of Understanding with relevant partner(s); - If necessary, liaise with partner bank agents and staff to adapt financial service products or instructional materials to client needs; - Collaborate with NGO partner and bank partner staff to facilitate migrant client training on financial products and ensure account establishment and proper usage; - Ongoing FSP partner relationship management, to include verifying client account usage patterns and collecting and disseminating feedback from clients and banking partners to ensure strong program goal achievement.

Program Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting

- Capture and monitor project implementation data, collaborating with M&E Manager and staff, to meet reporting requirements and deadlines; - Produce/contribute to IRC and donor reports led by Grants Coordinator as per set schedules specified on grant agreements, covering topics including grant activities, indicators and achievements; - Document lessons learnt during implementation to inform future projects as well as to advise on improvements to be made while implementing current projects.

Business Development

- Alongside ERD Coordinator and Senior Management Team, liaise as desired with donor to provide narrative updates. - Contribute to concept/proposal/budget development for prospective continuation, add-on, or expansion funding.

Professional Standards

- All IRC staff are required to adhere to THE IRC Way Standards for Professional Conduct and the IRC country employment policies.

Key Working Relationships:

Reports to: ERD Coordinator, based in Ciudad de Mexico

Qualifications

Job Requirements

Education

At least Bachelor of Arts or Science in Social Science, Business Administration, Economics, Finance, Human Rights, or related field.

Work Experience

- 3-5 years of professional/technical experience implementing livelihoods/economic development/financial inclusion programming at an NGO; private sector experience preferable and/or experience in related programming such as protection or human rights; - Experience conducting project inception assessments; - Business skills or employment support program experience a plus.

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies

- Experience facilitating technical trainings and workshops related to livelihoods or financial inclusion; - Prior experience in developing program implementation work plans, data collection and analysis, and program reporting; - Prior experience in consortium-based project or multi-sectoral team working with partners; - Familiarity working with private sector partners, the financial and/or private sector, and/or migrant populations preferred; - Experience with conducting project assessments, data analysis, and report writing; - Strong ability to organize work, meet deadlines, maintain composure, prioritize work under pressure, coordinate multiple tasks and maintain attention to detail; - Excellent interpersonal and problem-solving skills, creativity and flexibility; - Personal qualities: Works well in and promotes teamwork, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment, flexible and able to handle pressure well.

Language Skills

- Fluency in Spanish Language both written and spoken is required;

- Professional-level English competency preferred.

Standards for Professional Conduct

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way-Standards for Professional 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, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

Working Environment: The position will be based in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico and may require limited travel to Ciudad de Mexico.

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional 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, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.