Senior Director, Quality in Emergencies At International Rescue Committee

IRC’s Emergencies & Humanitarian Action Unit

The IRC’s Emergencies & Humanitarian Action Unit (EHAU) oversees IRC’s global emergency preparedness and response activities. The mission of the EHAU is to expand and improve IRC’s ability to help affected communities survive in acute emergencies and hard to reach contexts by investing in people, systems, and solutions to complex humanitarian challenges. The EHAU team achieves this mission through ongoing rigorous risk analysis, investing in capacity strengthening of frontline humanitarians, partnership with local actors, offering collaborative support and technical assistance to teams working in emergencies and hard to reach places, and deploying and supporting world class emergency response staff as they help people affected by acute crisis situations.

Job Overview

The Senior Director, Quality in Emergencies (SD/QIE), is a central role within EHAU and Technical Excellence, strengthening the strategic impact of emergency work at the IRC by improving technical quality and applying best practice. They will provide technical strategic guidance, capacity building and targeted technical support in the areas of emergency health, violence prevention and response, cash/basic needs, education, and MEAL, throughout the emergency or outbreak cycle of preparedness, readiness, response, and transition. They will lead on a comprehensive effort to measure the IRC’s performance to prepare for and respond to emergencies around the world; ensuring that lessons are learned, and a continual cycle of improvement is fostered. They will work in close collaboration with Technical Excellence, across EHAU teams and Global Supply Chain, and in support of IRC Regional and Country teams. Reporting to both the Vice President EHAU and the Vice President and Head of Technical Excellence, the SD/QIE is a member of the EHAU Senior Management Team (SMT), the Technical Excellence SMT, and a member of IRC’s global Senior Leaders Group. The SD/QiE will manage, in partnership with TUs, the Senior Technical advisors for the Emergency Health, Violence Protection and Response, Cash/Basic Needs, and MEAL. Maintain collaborative relationship with Education in Emergencies Coordinator. S/he will also supervise a Program Manager/QiE.

Major Responsibilities

1. Strategy Action Planning and Implementation

• Working in close collaboration with the VP EHAU and Senior Management Team colleagues, align the Quality Section’s effort toward the realization of the EHAU Strategy Action Plan. Play a leading role in the development and routine maintenance of both the EHAU SAP and the detailed SAP Implementation Plan. Socialize and promote the centrality of the EHAU SAP as both a functional and unifying tool to the Quality Section team, and Technical Excellence leadership team.

• Working in collaboration with Strategy 100 program ambition leads, ensure that the overall strategy and the EHAU SAP are cross-infused and developed in an ongoing and coordinated fashion.

2. Technical Policy & Strategy Development

• Provide leadership across the EHAU and CRRD on emergency Technical Policy and Strategy Development

• Provide best practice and learning, including in collaboration with interagency partners for Health, Protection and Cash in emergencies

• Engage in and represent the IRC in interagency interventions, initiatives and networks relating to emergencies (i.e. Education in Emergencies).

• Work with Technical Excellence leadership group to ensure new tools and frameworks (e.g. IMPACT, OEF, Quality Assurance processes) are grounded in and relevant to IRC’s emergency work.

• Oversight of emergency technical capacity strengthening, through a creation of a multi-dimensional learning delivery platform including training, mentorship, coaching, for IRC country program, Technical Advisors, Emergency Rosters and IRC partner organizations

• Technical support to Technical Advisors, and IRC country programs in emergency readiness and response

3. Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning

• Working closely with the STA/MEAL in emergencies and other STAs, oversee efforts that will ensure that IRC fulfills its commitment to place affected populations at the center of all IRC’s emergency responses. This will entail the development and refinement of Technical Guidelines & Tools for emergency assessment and accountability, program design, implementation, supervision, and measurement of impact.

• Lead on ensuring best practice and learning in emergency responses both country and ERT-led, including collaboration with interagency partners.

• Occasional remote or Field deployments for readiness, accountability & response in support of regional team or country program, for red classified emergencies.

4. Leadership and Management

• Serve as a member of the EHAU & Technical Excellence SMTs offering strategic leadership across EHAU, and the Technical Units.

• Serve as a member of IRC’s Senior Leaders group

• Lead the development, maintenance, and management of the annual budget for the Quality Section.

• Build and maintain strong working relationships with CRRD colleagues and continually promote a culture of partnership and collaboration.

• Cultivate and maintain a positive, collaborative, safe and protective work environment, while additionally setting an example of ‘One IRC’-way of working within the team, EHAU and the wider organization.

• Committed to managing and building teams according to IRC’s Leadership Standards.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: Vice President, EHAU & Vice President and Head of Technical Excellence

Position directly supervises: Senior Technical Advisers for Health, Violence Prevention & Response, and MEAL in Emergencies, as well as Program Manager, Quality in Emergencies.

Indirectly supervises in partnership with Technical Unit Leadership: Senior Technical Advisers for Cash/Basic Needs.

Works closely with: EHAU Section Leads / Directors, ERT staff, Technical Excellence teams, Global Supply Chain, Education in Emergencies Coordinator.

Requirements:

• Significant experience managing complex humanitarian programs in the field, as well as large institutional systems/programs at senior HQ level

• Proven ability to identify, recommend and implement best practice program strategies and approaches that deliver rapid, consistent, high-quality service provision in an emergency environment

• Excellent skills in providing strategic oversight and leadership in project and budget management

• Very strong ability to establish and maintain lasting professional relationships both internally and externally.

• Substantial exposure to strategy formulation and wide range of strategic decision-making processes.

• Demonstrate high-energy and a proactive nature, have a positive can-do attitude, be results-driven, have exceptional problem-solving skills, and work comfortably in a group/collaborative setting.

• Strong collaborator with effective interpersonal and analytical skills who can work seamlessly across countries, cultures, and organizational units.

• Demonstrated ability to work, lead, and meet competing deadlines in a fast-paced, high-volume environment and on deadline; aptitude for problem-solving and decision-making needed

• Superb written and verbal communication skills required.

• Multiple language skills highly preferred.

EHAU strives to build a diverse and inclusive team at all levels who as individuals, and as a group, embody our culture statement creating a working environment characterized by critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity for us to achieve our aspirations as a unit and deliver the best possible services to our clients.

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in 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

Narrowing the Gender Gap: The International Rescue Committee is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including flexible hours (when possible), maternity leave, transportation support, and gender-sensitive security protocols