Deputy Director , ERD

at  International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world’s largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 50 countries and more than 25 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you’re a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Deputy Director, ERD will play a critical role in the ERD Senior Management Team (SMT). Primary areas of responsibility include:

• Lead: Thought partner to the Senior Director (SD) and engaged member of SMT, cultivating a kind, supportive team culture that reduces bureaucracy and anchors strategic decisions in evidence and good practice.
• Manage: of a team of highly skilled regional leaders to ensure the delivery of high-quality EWB programming across IRC country programs.
• Oversee: the development and implementation of IRC processes and policies across the ERD TU e.g. budget allocation, strategic workforce planning, wider people and culture goals and policies.
• Champion: and support the implementation of the ERD TU’s strategic plan. Providing strategic leadership to the design of programs that are evidence-based and evidence-generating, supporting focused advocacy efforts in close collaboration with the Senior Director and Global Practice Leads as well as with key stakeholders within and outside of the ERD TU.
• Resolve: operational problems to ensure program challenges are promptly addressed and staff are supported.
• Promote: cross-functional collaboration and a ‘One IRC’ way of working both within the ERD TU and between the Technical Excellence, CRRD and the wider organization.

Management of technical support functions: The Deputy Director will ensure that high quality, effective technical assistance is delivered to IRC’s Country and Regional programs by translating technical norms and standards to practice and elevating examples of good practice as accelerators of quality, scale and impact.

WORK EXPERIENCE DESIRED:

• Substantial and all-round relevant experience, including programmatic experience in a service delivery NGO or international organization.
• Experience and familiarity with cash and livelihoods donors, peer agencies and national contexts required, preferably in humanitarian and transitional, post-crisis contexts, with familiarity with development programming strategies.
• Leadership and management experience in complex global organizations at regional/global levels.
• Experience and expertise raising funds from bilateral, multilateral, and private donors, and leading teams to design winning bids.
• Experience undertaking strategic planning and leading teams through change.

DEMONSTRATED SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES:

• Deep expertise in cash and livelihoods programming and hands-on experience (preferably in 1 or more of the ERD TU’s practice areas – Cash & Markets; Resilient Food Systems; and Economic Inclusion.
• Understanding of the humanitarian/development sectors and effective practices used by aid organizations to design, implement and measure the progress of interventions.
• Fluency in the relevance and use of empirical evidence to know what works best to achieve meaningful program outcomes.
• Excellent analytical skills and a demonstrated ability and comfort in effectively managing and using data and evidence to inform program design, adaptation and monitoring and learning.
• Demonstrated leadership and management proficiencies including the ability to build a diverse team, foster an inclusive team culture, encourage confidence and trust and lead team in a unified vision and strategy.
• Commitment to creating a learning culture and supporting internal learning within and beyond the team.
• Communicates effectively with IRC program leadership, technical peers, and colleagues in fundraising, communications, and advocacy.
• Demonstrated ability to navigate a large multi-national organization.
• An established and collaborative professional network in humanitarian and development communities.
• Excellent public speaking and writing skills in the English language are essential.
  Education: Masters’ degree in economics, business management, international development or any other relevant fields or an equivalent professional experience of background is required. Sound training on the use of data and research evidence for programmatic decision making and rigorous analytic skills are an advantage.
  Language Skills: Excellent spoken and written English essential. Proficiency in French or additional IRC relevant languages (Arabic, Spanish) strongly preferred.
  Working Environment: Travel up to 30% of time. Preferably based in one of our international hubs in London, Nairobi, or New York. Other IRC locations may be possible.

• Lead: Thought partner to the Senior Director (SD) and engaged member of SMT, cultivating a kind, supportive team culture that reduces bureaucracy and anchors strategic decisions in evidence and good practice.
• Manage: of a team of highly skilled regional leaders to ensure the delivery of high-quality EWB programming across IRC country programs.
• Oversee: the development and implementation of IRC processes and policies across the ERD TU e.g. budget allocation, strategic workforce planning, wider people and culture goals and policies.
• Champion: and support the implementation of the ERD TU’s strategic plan. Providing strategic leadership to the design of programs that are evidence-based and evidence-generating, supporting focused advocacy efforts in close collaboration with the Senior Director and Global Practice Leads as well as with key stakeholders within and outside of the ERD TU.
• Resolve: operational problems to ensure program challenges are promptly addressed and staff are supported.
• Promote: cross-functional collaboration and a ‘One IRC’ way of working both within the ERD TU and between the Technical Excellence, CRRD and the wider organization