Senior Technical Advisor, Cash and Emergencies

Job Description

IRC’s Emergencies & Humanitarian Action Unit

The IRC’s Emergencies & Humanitarian Action Unit (EHAU) oversees IRC’s global emergency preparedness and response activities. The mission of the EHAU is to expand and improve IRC’s ability to help affected communities survive in acute emergencies and hard to reach contexts by investing in people, systems, and solutions to complex humanitarian challenges. The EHAU team achieves this mission through ongoing rigorous risk analysis, investing in capacity strengthening of frontline humanitarians, partnership with local actors, offering collaborative support and technical assistance to teams working in emergencies and hard to reach places, and deploying and supporting world class emergency response staff as they help people affected by acute crisis situations.

Job Overview

This position is responsible for leading technical support and program quality efforts for the Quality in Emergencies pillar of the IRC’s Emergency and Humanitarian Action Unit (EHAU) and the Economic Recovery and Development (ERD) technical unit’s emergency preparedness and response programming. The Senior Technical Advisor (STA) develops and implements global programming standards and provides advice on strategic emergency or preparedness projects. This position guides and informs IRC on strategic design for emergency programming, supports the technical assistance and ERT team and ensures the quality and consistency in delivery of emergency programs. The STA serves as a spokesperson and technical expert on specific programs in context of IRC’s humanitarian programs, either directly in new country operations or in conjunction with IRC’s ERD technical advisors for emergency response in existing country program operations.

This position reports to the IRC’s Senior Director for Quality in Emergencies in EHAU and works in close partnership with the Deputy Director for Cash and Emergencies in ERD. The position also works closely with other ERD Technical Unit deputy directors, senior technical advisors and country-facing technical advisors; and other IRC ERD focal points engaged in emergency response.

Qualified candidates residing in any location where the IRC operates are encouraged to apply.

Major Responsibilities:

Emergency Preparedness (20%)

1. Lead the development and implementation of global program quality tools to guide high quality emergency cash assistance response programing of the IRC.

2. Support the emergency preparedness and response team through mentorship, training, and serving as a repository of program resources, including implementation guides, training packages and technical work papers.

3. Manage the IRC’s Global Payment Toolkit and ensure it is fit for purpose for delivering cash assistance in emergencies in a timely manner after a crisis, particularly in IRC’s Watchlist countries.

4. With IRC’s partnership staff, pre-position relationships and agreements with implementing partners for cash assistance in emergencies in strategic locations on IRC’s Watchlist.

Emergency Response (40%)

5. Supervise the delivery of emergency response programming and assuring compliance with contract provisions, IRC quality standards and its overall global cash in emergencies strategy.

6. Deploy for emergency responses where needed, particularly in large-scale emergencies and/or in places where IRC does not have an existing presence.

7. Coordinate with other STAs and TAs to ensure coordination of programming between emergency, recovery and development phases.

Learning, Advocacy and Strategy (30%)

8. Represent cash and livelihoods emergency preparedness and response programming across the organization, serving as a key resource to IRC staff seeking information about program activities, including external relations and advocacy departments. Respond to field queries regarding program activities.

9. Represent assigned program area and the IRC in outside meetings of importance with donors, other non-governmental organizations, inter-agency working groups, foundations and other practitioners in the field. Share and learn best practices to support more robust evidence-based programming within IRC.

10. Establish and implement learning agenda related to IRC’s cash and livelihoods emergency preparedness and response programming

Resource Development and Grant Management (10%)

11. Provide leadership and technical review in the development of proposals for EHAU or TU-led emergency cash grants, relating to global technical support projects.

12. Interact with IRC’s Business Development Unit, ERD TU, and country programs to assess opportunities and evaluate which are most needed to address humanitarian needs in context of IRC’s strategic priorities and how to best leverage available resources.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: Senior Director, Quality in Emergencies (EHAU); with management in partnership to Deputy Director, Cash and Emergencies (ERD TU)

Position directly supervises: ERT Coordinator and external emergency roster personnel; as well as other consultants who may be hired for emergency cash programs

Works closely with: Internal: EHAU, ERD technical advisors, Business Development Unit, external relations and advocacy departments and country programs; External: Represent emergency cash and livelihoods programming and the IRC in outside meetings of importance with donors, other non-governmental organizations, inter-agency working groups, foundations and other practitioners in the field.

Requirements:

Work Experience: A minimum of 8-10 years of work in economic programming in low resource settings and at least 5 years in emergency (conflict, disaster/crisis and outbreak) settings. Field experience in basic needs and/or food security response strategy development, program design and implementation, working across sectors or disciplines, and in coordination/team leadership roles. Field experience in leading strategy and implementation for disaster preparedness & response. Proven skills in development of operational guidelines and tools, delivery of training/on-the-job mentorship, and in program monitoring and evaluation. Proven experience in representation, advocacy, communications, and resource mobilization.

• Demonstrated expertise in humanitarian basic needs and food security assessment, strategy development, program design, operational planning, proposal development, implementation, and in monitoring.

• Master’s degree, a related field such as economics or related field. Additional experience may substitute for some education.

• Demonstrated expertise in bridging conceptual frameworks and operational guidance, ability to turn concepts and strategy into measurable action

• Demonstrated ability to lead and supervise teams

• Ability to provide technical assistance and transfer knowledge and skills, either through formal/informal training, on the job coaching and mentoring, adapting to needs and level

• Extremely organized, with excellent skills in prioritization and multi-tasking. Proven project management experience.

• Outstanding capacity to understand country and emergency contexts

• Demonstrated success in working with donors, partners, and media, at global and field level

• Demonstrated abilities to build consensus among and facilitate decision making across multiple stakeholders.

• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to facilitate effective collaboration, communication and team work

• Ability to work with multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary teams and proven ability to develop positive relationships with global, local and remote team members

• Structured thinking, excellence in oral and written communication

• Proven ability to deliver results under the pressure and tight deadlines

Language Skills: Fluency in English required; French and/or Spanish desirable

Working Environment: Travel approximately 30% of the time, potentially for a maximum of 6 weeks for a single deployment in new country operation where IRC does not have an existing presence or in countries with large-scale crises.

EHAU strives to build a diverse and inclusive team at all levels who as individuals, and as a group, embody our culture statement creating a working environment characterized by critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity for us to achieve our aspirations as a unit and deliver the best possible services to our clients.

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Equality 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

Narrowing the Gender Gap: The International Rescue Committee is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including flexible hours (when possible), maternity leave, transportation support, and gender-sensitive security protocols.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement: In accordance with IRC’s duty to provide and maintain a workplace that is free of known hazards and our commitment to safeguard the health of our employees, clients, and communities, IRC requires new hires to furnish proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in order to be considered for any in-office or hybrid positions. All IRC US offices require full vaccination to attend any in-office functions (e.g., meetings, trainings).

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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