Program Officer, Economic Empowerment

Job Description

BACKGROUND: The IRC is one of the leading providers of high-quality programming for refugees resettling to the United States. The mission of the IRC’s Resettlement, Asylum, and Integration Programs (RAI) Department is to create opportunities for refugees to survive and thrive. The IRC’s RAI Department currently provides services in 28 U.S. cities and around the world. The RAI portfolio has grown to encompass a spectrum of support in five program outcome areas with numerous local partners, hundreds of corporate, foundation, and government donors, and thousands of individual givers. The IRC resettles thousands of refugees on an annual basis and has over 1,000 staff and 3,500 volunteers.

SCOPE: The Program Officer, Economic Empowerment (PO) at the New Jersey Office for Refugees (NJOR) leads oversight of a portfolio of awards dedicated to Economic Empowerment, setting the direction for NJOR’s strategic initiatives in these areas. The awards portfolio encompasses Refugee Support Services Employment, Financial Coaching, Career Pathways, and Refugee Cash Assistance. The PO ensures that NJOR’s suite of Economic Empowerment programs is best in class through strategic oversight in three main pillars: sub-award management, technical guidance, and business development.

The PO shapes the implementation of Economic Empowerment-related programs, orchestrates stakeholder outreach and education, and networks extensively to advance the Economic Empowerment objectives and strategies of NJOR. The PO reports to the Senior Program Officer and manages the Economic Empowerment Manager and RCA Specialist. This position collaborates closely with NJOR senior leadership and staff, project leads at sub-award agencies, and other key stakeholders to ensure seamless program execution and progress towards strategic goals.

**ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

*Sub-Award Management***

- Develop strategic responses to new policy releases from ORR and lead the process to update guideline and procedure documents for sub-award agencies concerning all NJOR Economic Empowerment related grant programs, which includes RSS Employment Services, Career Pathways, Financial Coaching and Refugee Cash Assistance. - Supervise and guide the review and development of all Economic Empowerment related sub-award agreements' scope of work, ensuring alignment with NJOR’s strategic action plan. - Spearhead sub-award management initiatives, directing all aspects of Economic Empowerment programs' pre-award assessments, program review meetings, monitoring, and program opening and closing processes. - Direct all Economic Empowerment related report development, and oversee submission to donors, ensuring accuracy and timeliness. - Support the Senior Program Officer to manage the development and implementation of comprehensive monitoring and evaluation tools and systems for sub-award partners, ensuring effective and efficient evaluation of Economic Empowerment programs. - Supervise the collection, validation, and analysis of data for all Economic Empowerment programs, confirming regulations compliance, and driving evidence-based decisions. - Provide strategic oversight to the review of partner sub-award budget submissions, monthly financial reports, and budget vs actual reports, and formulate recommendations to ensure project and compliance goals are met.

Refugee Cash Assistance

- Oversee the development and updating of the RCA Manual of Policy and Procedures, ensuring accuracy and compliance. - Manage the maintenance of all RCA program related forms, including translated documents, ensuring proper organization and availability. - Supervise the monthly quality assurance of RCA data submitted by sub-award agencies, ensuring a thorough reconciliation of programmatic and financial data. - Work with the Finance and Data team leads to analyze major trends in programmatic and financial data and develop enrollment and spending projections for upcoming fiscal years. - Oversee the review of client documentation and provides guidance to respond to complex queries from sub-award agencies on RCA client eligibility, as required. - Lead the development of training resources and materials for sub-award agencies implementing the RCA program, ensuring their effectiveness and relevance. - Oversee the RCA Specialist’s management of all aspects of logistics for meetings, training, and conferences, ensuring smooth and efficient execution. - Support the Senior Program Officer in supervising the review and compilation of RCA data and narrative reports submitted by sub-award agencies for ORR Semi-Annual Reports; ensure the accuracy and comprehensiveness of reports. - Guide the planning and drafting of reports from annual monitoring of sub-awardees, ensuring timely and quality reporting.

Technical Support

- Support the Senior Program Officer to evaluate and strategize technical support needs of sub-award partners implementing Economic Empowerment programs. - Direct the creation of training resources and materials, ensuring they meet the needs and enhance the effectiveness of sub-award partners implementing Economic Empowerment programs. - Oversee the organization and facilitation of Economic Empowerment focused training for sub-award partners, ensuring they are both effective and aligned with strategic goals. - Supervise the development of technical support materials and manage the implementation of regular technical support visits and training to guarantee the continual advancement of technical expertise. - Provide leadership and guidance in the identification and dissemination of relevant training, webinars, and resources, enhancing the knowledge base and capacity of partner agencies.

Staff Management

- Supervises the Economic Empowerment Manager and RCA Specialist. - Supports the Senior Program Officer in the development of relevant terms of references for, and the subsequent management of, all consultants and service contracts for technical support related initiatives.

Business Development

- Leads in the identification of potential business development and funding opportunities for Economic Empowerment programming. - Supports the Senior Program Officer in proposal development, program design and submission for Economic Empowerment related business development opportunities. - Formulate and provide strategic leadership for the implementation of interventions that enhance statewide systems supporting refugee Economic Empowerment, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and standards. - Other duties as assigned by supervisor.

REQUIREMENTS:

- Graduate degree preferred, ideally in Economics, Management, Public Administration, or similar field of study. - 5-7+ years of relevant work experience in the refugee resettlement field and refugee workforce development a plus - Experience and expertise in leading support group facilitation and adult education techniques. - Prior management experiences working in refugee/immigrant employment related services strongly preferred. - Demonstrated success in leading diverse teams and communicating effectively in a multi-cultural and multi-lingual environment. - Proven ability to lead initiatives independently as well as effectively manage team projects. - Self- starter with excellent problem-solving skills combined with the proven ability to multi-task, prioritize duties, and manage the time of direct reports effectively. - Fluent in English, both spoken and written, required. - Proficient in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Outlook). - Excellent verbal and written communication skills - Superior analytical skills: experience with data systems development and analysis strongly preferred. - Entrepreneurial spirit, with the ability to self-start and work in a fluid context. - Excellent diplomatic and cross-cultural skills, with a demonstrated ability to lead and foster collaboration with a variety of stakeholders across multiple teams.

Working Environment:

This is a remote role with 10% - 15% expected travel within the state of New Jersey.

Compensation: Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirement.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity: IRC is committed to building a diverse organization and a climate of inclusivity. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who can demonstrate that they can contribute to this goal.

Equal Opportunity Employer: We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

US Benefits: We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days (depending on role and tenure), medical insurance starting at $145 per month, dental starting at $7 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus a 3-7% base IRC contribution (3 year vesting), disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.

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Qualifications Update