Project Director At International Rescue Committee

The IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and, most crucially, accountability to those we serve. The IRC is a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable.

The IRC Asia Regional team oversees all IRC activities across Asia and supports country offices in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan and Thailand, and partner-led implementation in a number of other countries across Asia, including Philippines and Malaysia. The Strengthening Inclusive Disaster Risk Governance for Climate Resilience in Asia project is a SIDA-funded 4.5 year consortium program with IRC as the project lead in collaboration with two regional networks of CSO partners and one local implementing partner. The project will focus on increasing the adaptability and resilience of communities at risk of climate change and disasters across Asia by working towards three mutually-reinforcing outcomes over the life of project:

1. Strengthen two regional networks of local CSOs to become powerful advocates and to influence duty bearers at the regional and national levels to fulfil commitments on inclusive climate change and DRR actions;

2. Address the power imbalances that exacerbate climate and disaster risks facing particulary vulnerable populations with intersecting needs – particularly women and girls and excluded populations;

3. Strengthen sustainable local-level adaptative actions to mitigate the effects of climate change and to strengthen risk governance.

The purpose of the role

Project director is the overall responsible for the successful implementation of the Strengthening Inclusive Disaster Risk Governance for Climate Resilience in Asia project. He / she will supervise a dynamic 4-person Project Management Unit responsible for leading the effective delivery of the project, including negotiations with authorities and key stakeholders, activities implemented by partners in the selected countries, coordination with SIDA, IRC regional team and technical advisors. The Project Director will assure strong collaborative and proactive planning with consortium partners , strong systems for monitoring and learning across all project activities, as well as overall grant management to ensure an impactful and efficient program. Critical to this project will be cross-organizational learning and organizational capacity building, and the Project Director will facilitate a strong culture of continuous learning and growth across the project staff and partners, celebrate successes and failures, and assure that the consortium partners are well positioned to be powerful change makers at a regional level on inclusive DRR, Climate Change, Resilience and strengthening the resilience of at-risk populations across Asia. The Project Director will work closely with the leadership of partner organizations to stand-up an effective governance structure, to align specialist technical support for the project’s needs and activities, and to assure clear and open communication between partners and stakeholders engaged in the project activities. Project Director will report to the Asia Regional Emergency Director, with close regular collaboration with Deputy Regional Director, Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor, HQ Technical Advisors and regional grants and operations support.

Responsibilities

Project management and delivery

• Lead the IRC’s overall project implementation by establishing an inclusive coordination and project governance structure, a shared vision and program approach amongst all partners, and clear procedures for information sharing, learning and technical support across all implementing partners.

• Ensure the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all activities are in accordance with the IRC and SIDA standards and meet the goals and objectives of the target communities, in collaboration with the technical advisors and regional team.

• Lead the consortium partners in participatory and transparent development of detailed project workplans, advocacy and influencing plan, and budget planning are in place to assure aligned delivery of all project activities. Conduct regular reviews of project activity and spending progress (BVA) with participation of IRC Project team and partners. Identify and proactively address risks to project implementation with stakeholder partners and in coordination with regional support team and senior management.

• Collaborate and engage proactively with authorities, key stakeholders and partners to proactively position the consortium and partners are key advocates and influencers at national and gregional levels, and to ensure access and safe delivery of project activities in areas of implementation.

• Ensure internal and external visibility of the project by monthly updates, planned communication activities, and advocacy actions as needed and close collaboration with Regional and headquarters Communications and Advocacy teams.

• Support project staff by creating and maintaining a work environment that promotes teamwork, trust, mutual respect, and empowers staff and partners to take responsibility.

Partner Management

• Establish and foster the continued growth of strong collaborative partner relationships – based on principles of mutual trust and respect, mutual accountability, inclusion, transparency and partnership as equals – with all project partners throughout the life of the project.

• Manage relations with implementing partners to assure well-coordinated field-level delivery, manage risks, and assure appropriate complementarity between the activities of all partners to assure the best outcomes for clients.

• Ensure partner management activities are implemented in line with IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS), and ensure effective and inclusive communications with all partners, including assuring aligned project delivery and budget across partners, implementations timelines, challenges and risks, sharing of learning, and project updates.

• In collaboration and close engagement with the partners, develop and coordinate the implementation of partner capacity building and sharing plans to strengthen partners’ organizational processes, skills and systems, and work closely with IRC’s operational and technical teams to assure the appropriate technical support to meet partners’ needs.

• Assure partners have in place effective systems for the management and stewardship project activities,

Project governance

• At the onset of the project, establish an effective project governance body / steering committee with the representation of partners to make strategic decision about the project. Prepare agendas and necessarily inputs to governance activities, in collaboration with the rotational SC Chair, and participate in quarterly steering committee meeting and ensure to follow up on the agreed action points.

• Animate an impactful Technical Working Group which is aligned to the priority needs of the project activities and the partners, and assure active engagement throughout project delivery of the IRC and/or partner organizations’ technical specialists.

• Coordinate and organize technical reviews with technical leads from IRC and partners, assure strong technical learning and capacity sharing across the consortium, and regularly follow up on technical quality of project activities.

Donor and external engagement

• Provide technical, grant and financial management in coordination with partners to ensure the best use of resources by preparing sound budgets, monitoring project activities and expenses, and ensuring timely communications with donor, including financial and narrative reports.

• Assure the strong coordination across consortium partners to support a rigorous advocacy and influencing agenda, including assuring strong coordination for the project’s representation in key regional or national forums and for the proactive engagement with external stakeholders. As needed, represent on behalf of the consortium at policy meetings, conferences, networking events and stakeholder meetings.

• Assure the regular flow of external-facing communications to support the project’s advocacy and influencing goals, particularly the development and dissemination of communications materials, info sheets, research briefs, learning reports, newsletters, press releases and/or any other external facing content, and take the lead to produce these materials as needed to support project goals.

• Responsible for transparent day to day communications with the donor and with consortium partners, including proactively flagging learnings, reports and sharing out from the project, as well as communicating challenges and implementation risks in a manner that builds donor confidence and trust.

Requirements

• Graduate or post-graduate degree or similar work experience in humanitarian assistance, gender, civil society development, community development, or other related field;

• Minimum of five years’ experience in leading DRR/ humanitarian, development assistance programs, and/or capacity building programs;

• Demonstrated expertise in managing a complex project in Asia (preferably a consortium project) and Demonstrated ability to foster strong collaborative partner relationships, with an ability to foster a common project vision among a wide array of diverse partner organizations;

• Technical expertise in one or more sectors relevant to the project, including: DRR, climate change and resilience building, policy and advocacy, research, or protection and inclusion.

• Proven experience animating a high-performing team, motivated by delivering project outcomes, and with a culture of openness, collaboration and continuous learning and growth.

• Demonstrated ability to ensure appropriate monitoring and evaluation of diverse activities within a single project across multiple project sites.

• In-depth experience, knowledge and lived experience of the Southeast Asia Context, in particular the dynamics of climate change, conflict and peace throughout the region.

• Strong strategic planning, monitoring, management, supervision, and budgeting expertise;

• Strong English communication skills, both interpersonal and written; Strong writing skills in English is essential; knowledge of southeast Asian language is a plus.

• Strong MS Office skills, including Word and Excel.

• Willingness to travel within the region on a regular basis.