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 40 countries and 29 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.
IRC UK is part of the IRC global network, which has its global headquarters in New York. Our team in the UK works to raise profile, deliver policy and practice change, and increase funding to help restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. The IRC UK has been delivering Resettlement Asylum and Integration (RAI) programmes in the UK since 2021, working in partnership with local councils, providing integration support to resettled refugees across England.
In Europe, the IRC also has offices in Berlin, Bonn, Brussels, Geneva and Stockholm.
The Purpose of the Role
The Client Voice Officer will support RAI UK’s client engagement and participation agenda, ensuring that refugees and people seeking asylum meaningfully influence programme design, delivery, advocacy, and strategy.
The role will implement client voice related projects and strengthen RAI UK’s client voice systems, including structured feedback mechanisms and the Client Advisory Board (CAB).
The role will support the development of client-led research and evidence generation initiatives to inform programmes and policy positions. The role will also build relationships with migrant-led and grassroots organisations to ensure lived experience meaningfully shapes services, advocacy priorities, and external engagement. This role centres direct lived experience of forced displacement as a form of expertise.
Key Working Relationships:
The postholder will report to the Integration Lead Advisor and work in close collaboration with the Head of Programmes, RAI Director, Programme Managers, Senior Programme Development Advisor, Senior Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer, Senior Programme and Awards Officer, Advocacy and Policy Managers, Communication team and other IRC UK teams.
Scope and Authority
National remit across all RAI UK programmes.
Functional leadership for client voice and engagement across teams.
Matrix working with Programme Managers, Advocacy Manager, M&E colleagues, and the Technical Unit.
Coordination of project delivery staff on the Pinterest project (without formal line management responsibility).
Key Accountabilities
Project Coordination
• Work in collaboration with the Senior Community Engagement and Volunteer Officer to coordinate a new psychosocial education and photography programme for refugee young people (aged 16–19).
• Support the delivery and facilitation of this programme as required.
• Develop the participant outreach plan and support the day-to-day communication with the participants of the project in coordination with the session facilitators.
• Work in collaboration with the Integration Lead Advisor, Technical Advisor for Women and Child Protection and other relevant programme colleagues to ensure that the project curriculum is adapted and delivered to be contextually appropriate, developmentally suitable, and aligned with RAI UK technical standards, with an emphasis on ensuring client voice is strengthened through a person-centred and strengths-based approach.
• Work with the Safeguarding Advisor to ensure full compliance with safeguarding, consent, data protection, and ethical storytelling requirements throughout project delivery.
• Work in collaboration with the Senior Community Engagement and Volunteer Officer and clients to co-create and coordinate two dissemination events showcasing youth photography and lived experience outputs.
• Ensure robust monitoring of outcomes and timely, high-quality donor reporting in line with IRC and funder requirements.
Community Engagement
• Strengthen and coordinate the Community Advisory Board (CAB).
• Provide support and training to CAB members, including organising external trainings as needed.
• Undertake associated administrative and coordination responsibilities related to client, community and CAB work, including meeting organisation, coordination and record-keeping of travel and expenses logistics, documentation including sensitive data management cross-departmentally including facilitation of DBS checks, client communication, and tracking actions to ensure accountability and follow-through.
• Proactively engage migrant-led and grassroots organisations to share best practices.
• Collaborate with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning team to track quantitative outputs and qualitative outcomes of engagement with community, clients and CAB.
• Ensure engagement approaches are accessible and inclusive to reduce barriers to participation.
Client Voice to strengthen Programme Development and Internal Learning
• Develop and implement a Client Voice framework for RAI UK to embed participatory approaches into every stage of programming from design to delivery.
• Embed client voice into early stages of programming, including needs assessments, service design, and proposals.
• Work alongside colleagues to embed client voice and continuously improve participatory engagement approaches across RAI UK programme delivery.
• Contribute to internal and donor monitoring, evaluation and reporting requirements.
• Collaborate with the MEL team to design tools to capture client voice in our programming and to measure client influence and participation.
• Pilot innovative approaches and build RAI UK evidence base on client and community participatory engagement.
• Contribute to IRC global client & community engagement communities of practice.
• Support delivery of RAI UK capacity building work, delivering trainings as requested to ensure client and community voice is represented, such as Healing Spaces trainings or employer engagement sessions.
External Communications and Advocacy
• Summarise client and CAB insights into briefings to be used in RAI and cross-departmentally, including by Senior Management Team and IRC UK Board of Trustees.
• Collaborate with Advocacy Manager and Policy Manager to reflect and include client and CAB insights and experiences into policy and advocacy calls for action.
• Support initiatives equipping refugees to share lived experiences in collaboration with Communications team, promoting trauma-informed ethical storytelling aligned with safeguarding principles.
Person Specification
• Solid experience working with refugees or migrant communities.
• Experience working with young people, including on wellbeing or psychosocial topics.
• Experience facilitating participatory engagement methods.
• Strong safeguarding knowledge and trauma-informed practice.
• Excellent communication and organisational skills.
• Commitment to refugee rights and GEDI principles.
• Experience supporting advocacy initiatives.
• Experience with monitoring and evaluation systems.
• Lived experience of forced displacement/ the UK asylum system is recognised as valuable expertise and will be considered alongside professional experience.
The salary for this role would be 33,756.76 GBP per annum.
You must have the right to work in the UK.
IRC UK strives to be an equal opportunities employer. IRC UK is committed to equality of opportunity and to non-discrimination for all job applicants and employees, and we seek to ensure diversity in our workforce regardless of gender, race, religious beliefs, nationality, ethnic/national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.
IRC UK welcomes applications from all candidates, including underrepresented groups and refugees who have the right to work in the UK. We particularly welcome applications from individuals with lived experience of forced displacement.
IRC UK will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable adjustments to participate in the job application and/or interview process, and for essential job functions if appointed to a role. Please contact us if you may need such adjustments.
If you have any questions or need assistance with the online recruitment process, please contact the IRC UK HR team at applications@rescue-uk.org
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
All International Rescue Committee workers must adhere to the core values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. Our Standards are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Safeguarding, Conflicts of Interest, Fiscal Integrity, and Reporting Wrongdoing and Protection from Retaliation. IRC is committed to take all necessary preventive measures and create an environment where people feel safe, and to take all necessary actions and corrective measures when harm occurs. IRC builds teams of professionals who promote critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity to deliver the best possible services to our clients.
How to apply
https://theirc.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/External_Careers/job/London-UK/Client-Voice-Officer_JR00002982