Deputy Regional Director, Latin America At International Rescue Committee

Fluency in both written, spoken, Spanish & English required.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is among the world’s leading nonprofit humanitarian relief and development organizations. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC’s mission is to assist those whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control over their lives. The organization has been at the forefront of virtually every major humanitarian initiative for the last 80 years. At work today in over 40 countries and 26 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

The Deputy Regional Director (DRD), Latin American region (LATAM) will have significant management and international experience, a passion for humanitarian relief and development work, relevant language skills, and be capable of thoroughly understanding and successfully overseeing program design and delivery in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia and Venezuela. The DRD will ensure the quality of IRC’s programs, develop new program opportunities, and drive performance and results in the region. S/he is expected to be an outstanding communicator and team leader, and a committed humanitarian.

Job Overview/Summary:

The LATAM Deputy Regional Director plays a key leadership role in delivering IRC’s growing portfolio of programs in Latin America. The DRD serves as a trusted partner of the Regional Vice President and Regional Senior Management Team and actively participates in the management and representation of IRC in LATAM, shaping an organizational culture that is fit for future and harnesses the extraordinary engagement, diversity, talent and commitment of IRC’s people.

Exercising the delegated authority of the Regional Vice President, the DRD provides a range of strategic, programmatic and operational management support to country programs and regional colleagues, with a particular focus on programming in LATAM. A key function of the role is to navigate the organization on behalf of the country programs. The DRD will travel regularly to field offices to provide management support and to monitor program quality. A significant portion of the DRD’s time will be spent on program management, quality and activities that speak to IRC’s added value in the region, in coordination with the Program leads and Regional Vice President.

Locations: El Salvador, Colombia, Mexico & U.S. (must have work authorization for both U.S. & Mexico already)

Key responsibilities

Strategy & Programs

• Work closely with the Regional Vice President to ensure that the IRC’s global strategy is understood and guides decision-making throughout the region.

• Drive institutionalization of the Outcomes and Evidence Framework, IRC’s program design tools.

• Support creation and delivery of country-level strategy action plans (SAPs).

• Facilitate and coordinate regional participation in global strategy discussions, initiatives and pilots.

• Oversee implementation of SAP monitoring mechanism and review process, including leading annual SAP reviews and reporting.

• Build consensus around a common vision of what shared success in Latin America looks like, including developing and tracking appropriate indicators.

• Drive seamless coordination between programming and operations and across sectors and outcomes, with the objective of improving the quality of IRC programs and impact on the people IRC serves. Lead quarterly in-person meetings at program level and, as relevant, multi-country grant management meetings.

• Build consensus around priorities to improve the delivery of programs in LATAM and to make business processes more consistent within the region and between country programs

• Ensure that programs are designed and implemented in support of IRC’s vision of cost-effective, outcomes-driven and evidence-based interventions that are responsive to the local context and the priorities of our beneficiaries.

• Regularly assess IRC’s program portfolio in LATAM, as well as the operational modalities and partnerships through which it is delivered.

• Strengthen the region’s readiness to respond to new emergencies in line with global IRC emergency response and preparedness guidelines as well as entry and exit criteria

• Engage the regional team and country programs in on-going context analysis to ensure IRC programs are continually adapted to the evolving contexts across the region.

• Manage the region’s relationships with Technical Units, and support TU-country program collaboration to optimize impact on program quality within and across country programs.

• Facilitate sharing and learning across countries and programs, and support programs to incorporate learning from LATAM, the US and other regions into project design and operations management.

Team Leadership & Development

• Supervise and mentor direct-report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting performance objectives, providing regular and timely performance feedback, and leading documented semi-annual performance reviews.

• Support the Regional Vice President to foster an environment of cross-functional collaboration and a ‘One IRC’ way of working both within the region and between the region and the wider organization. Act as a champion for collaborative ‘Management in Partnership’ demonstrated through joint planning, shared commitments to outcomes, mutual accountability, alignment of resources and quality assessment.

• Facilitate close and efficient coordination of regional staff’s support to the country programs, and with headquarters departments on common programming, operational and funding issues.

• Support the Regional Vice President to cultivate a safe and protective working environment for all staff, combining locally-led initiatives with wider organizational efforts related to Diversity, Inclusion & Equality; Safeguarding; Duty of Care; and Safety & Security.

Business Development & Partnerships

• In coordination with colleagues, engage in strong regional-level representation with donors, international and local NGOs, and networks.

• Support teams on timely submission of competitive, responsive and high-quality proposals that align with Country level SAP and Strategy 100, and support country program colleagues in negotiations with donors.

• Oversee the design and implementation of IRC’s work in partnership to support and build capacities of local civil society and other key stakeholders, positioning IRC as a valued INGO partner.

• Lead the region’s engagement with the Awards Management Unit on matters above the individual project level.

• Participate in shaping policy positions and advocacy messages pertaining to the overall humanitarian situation and IRC operations in LATAM.

• Advise country programs in networking and alliance-building activities, promoting cross-sectoral engagement with the private sector, universities, research institutions, corporations and the private sector, and other potential “non-traditional” partners.

Supervisory responsibilities:

Regional Measurement Action Advisor, Regional Program Assistant

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

Internal: Regional Vice President Latin America; Latin America Country Directors and staff; other LATAM regional staff; HQ and UK colleagues in various departments

External: Donors; NGO representatives; UN officials; and Media

Qualifications and experience

• 7-10 years in senior program management roles, with several of these being in an international NGO in Latin America.

• Post-graduate qualification or equivalent relevant experience in a relevant discipline.

• A diverse background in programs, with strong understanding of M&E, strong analytical skills, and experience leading strategic planning processes

• Demonstrated ability to influence peer agencies, local government and community leaders to work effectively towards a common and agreed upon result.

• Demonstrated ability to evaluate and implement best practices and processes affecting multiple technical specialties to achieve rapid, consistent and high quality outcomes.

• Demonstrated expertise in representation and negotiations, resulting in securing significant new opportunities for the organization

• Highly-developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching. Must be able to give direction from a variety of management styles and roles.

• Demonstrated ability to work independently with limited supervision

• Strong commitment to the IRC’s mission, purpose and values

• Previous experience with IRC is desirable

• Fluency in Spanish and English required.

Other Information: This position is based in a mutually agreed upon location either in the region and will require up to 40% of time spent traveling within the region.

IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability.

Professional standards: IRC and IRC staff must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality. 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.

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.

Compensation: Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.