Civil society and government advocacy expert (PFM) 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 40 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 delivers 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 is seeking a Civil society and government advocacy expert (PFM) to lead its engagement in an upcoming FCDO-funded programme, the Technical Assistance and Civil Society Support Contract (TACS). This contract is the largest component of the overall FCDO-funded Programme d’Appui à la Redevabilité et l’Inclusion (PARI) programme. The duration of the programme will be three years, commencing in May 2024.

PARI-TACS aims to improve public financial management (PFM) and the governance of service delivery at a provincial level, by improving provincial and local government capacity to deliver services and improving the ability of civil society to hold provincial and local government accountable to deliver these services. Evidence shows that in order to support improvements in service delivery and PFM, it is necessary to support both supply (Government) and demand (Civil Society) side interventions. PARI-TACS will focus proactively on improving the inclusion of women and other marginalised groups in PFM and the governance of service delivery. It will focus on PFM in the health and education sectors, which are sectors already being supported by other FCDO programmes.

PARI-TACS will focus primarily on a decentral level in two regions, Kasai province in central DRC and South Kivu, and will also include a call-down facility in Kinshasa with national level institutions.
The programme is structured around the following three components, which will deliver three output objectives:

Component Output Objective

Component 1:
Technical assistance in PFM and service delivery governance for provincial government Output 1: improve public financial management and governance of service delivery capacity in Provincial government and provincial control and oversight institutions

Component 2:
Civil society capacity building and advocacy support Output 2: To enhance citizens and local community governance mechanisms including woman and other marginalized group’s participation in national, provincial and local financial management and
delivery systems.

Component 3:
Call down facility for Political Economy Analysis national level TA and funding for
strategic engagement Output 3: To support National government and international partners towards financial decentralization to improve effective and transparent service delivery.

The Civil Society and Government Expert will lead Component 2, the largest component of the programme. The component has three sub-output objectives:
1) Supporting civil society engagement to be more inclusive, coordinated, evidence based and citizen-informed in holding provincial government to account for improvements in service delivery and public financial management improvements in revenue collection, budget planning for sectors and budget oversight.
2) Supporting improvements to service delivery at a local government level through introducing problem driven iterative adaptation approaches (PDIA)
3) Supporting women’s inclusion in provincial and local PFM and service delivery systems.

The expert will be responsible for providing strategic oversight and technical direction for the component, representing IRC within the consortium, leading the IRC team delivering component activities and ensuring that deliverables are being met. S/He will lead engagement and coordination with the technical team, field teams, advisors, and other stakeholders to facilitate the delivery of a comprehensive and technical package of support. The expert will provide IRC and the consortium lead with project updates, discuss strategies, obstacles, performance plans, and oversee monitoring and evaluation.

This is a full-time position. The position holder will frequently travel to the intervention’s areas. This position is contingent on the IRC being awarded funding and is anticipated to begin in May 2024.

Job Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic and technical leadership and direction, define and implement activities to achieve project goals and objectives;
• Ensure timely submission of IRC deliverables to a high standard
• Report to the lead implementing partner through formal and informal debriefings, monthly, quarterly and annual progress reports;
• Maintain active and cooperative relationships with all key stakeholders, including government officials, consortium partners, other implementing agencies, and related institutions;
• Represent the project and IRC and ensure distribution of information about project achievements and lesson learned;
• Develop, review, and monitor in coordination with key project staff, annual work and performance plans to ensure long-term and short-term priorities are on track;
• Support project staff by creating and maintaining a work environment that promotes teamwork, trust, mutual respect, and empowers staff to take responsibility;
• Reinforce strong sense of cohesion within the consortium through consistent collaboration, communication, and strategizing with consortium partners.

Requirements:

• Significant experience of advocating for government accountability in DRC, through civil society and citizen engagement and support
• Expert understanding of the civil society landscape in the intervention geographies.
• Familiarity with problem driven iterative adaptation approaches (PDIA), issue mapping and local government or community-based solution building will be a plus
• Knowledge and understanding of the specific issues faced by women and ability to ensure the engagement and participation of women-led organisations
• Ability to conduct local-level political economy analysis
• Credibility to convene actors with various agendas around common issues, build trust and generate traction for reform by drawing on local knowledge, evidence and best practices
• Previous experience managing significant components of donor funded programmes
• Fluency in French and strong written/ spoken English skills are required.
• Significant previous experience working in DRC
• Significant leadership and management experience of large-scale programmes against deliverables
• Strong negotiation skills and the ability to develop relations with local counterparts, donors, and other stakeholders;
• Demonstrated innovation and success in staff capacity-building and in participatory, flexible, and gender-sensitive programming and implementation;
• Strong communication skills, both oral and written;

Standard of Professional Conduct:The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.

Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.