Emergency Cash Technical Advisor at International Rescue Committee

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

Response-Centered Support (50%) 

• In select Orange and Red classifications, provide emergency technical support and backstopping to partner-led and country team-led responses to ensure timely, robust technical support to emergency responses, as requested and in line with the QiE Technical Assistance model.  
• Provide emergency-focused technical support to Basic Needs and Food Security interventions and Group Cash Transfer programming across different emergency contexts (conflict, food security, natural hazards, and outbreaks), including ensuring quality program deliver that is compliant with IRC and donor standards and policies.
• Following emergency responses, collaborate with emergency Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) and deployed staff to analyze emergency response metrics, support learning and After Action Reviews, and support subsequent actions to implement lessons learned and address identified gaps.  
• Work closely with the regional ERD technical teams and the Emergency Cash Preparedness and Anticipatory Action Specialist to support existing country teams be ready to respond to emergencies with quality, timely, and scaled cash and voucher assistance, particularly in Watchlist countries. 
• Ensure that partnership is considered in cash and basic needs emergency programming, that partners are proactively engaged in program design and proposal development and that implementation of CVA programs follow IRC’s principals in terms of fair and equal partnerships, as well as comply with minimum standards.
• Conduct technical support visits to country programs in support of continued program quality assurance improvements, new program area design, compliance checks and audit readiness, and staff trainings.
• When needed, deploy to emergency responses for up to 2 months at a time (estimated 15-20% travel) to strengthen on the ground capacity and provide targeted surge support for key workstreams (e.g, assessments, financial service provider set up, partner workshops, etc.).

Strategic Objectives (30%) 

• In close collaboration with Cash and Emergencies team members including the internal and external Emergency Cash Coordinators, lead the development, implementation, and improvement of key strategic resources for cash and basic needs in emergencies including Technical Frameworks and user-friendly program implementation tools (IRC’s STEP toolkits).
• Champion a culture of effective and respective partnerships and promote partner-led emergency programming in line with IRC’s “why not partner?” and ‘cash-first’ approach
• Support adaptation of IRC direct implementation emergency cash tools and guidance for partner use in line with identified needs and requests.
• Lead recruitment and management of Emergency Surge Teams for cash and basic needs, and facilitating capacity building and team building.
• Socialize wider understand of Global Emergency Service Offerings, and support improvement of program design, theory of changes.
• In collaboration with the STA for cash and emergencies, support IRC’s Impact at Scale ambitions for cash programming, supporting strategic direction and enabling IRC’s ability to scale CVA during emergencies.

Data Management Systems and Learning (10%)

• Support set up and standardization of emergency cash and basic needs M&E systems/practices including adopting the IRC’s Cash App toolkit by partnering with Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEAL) teams in EMU, the ERD Technical Unit, and IRC’s Measurement Unit.
• Support quantitative data collection, analysis, and centralized management of IRC’s emergency responses to trend analyze and visualize speed, scale, and quality components of implementation of cash and basic needs programming in emergencies.
• Gather qualitative data and analysis for key emergency responses including writing ‘case studies’ to support knowledge management, the sharing of lessons learned and ‘what works’, to further strategic direction for emergency cash responses at IRC.
• Draft technical and capacity ‘briefs’ and other communication medium (videos, blogs, etc.) to highlight the IRC’s value add for cash and basic needs in emergencies for external and internal dissemination.

Resource Development and Grant Management (10%)

• Provide leadership and technical review in the development of proposals for EmU or TU-led emergency cash grants, relating to global technical support projects.  
• Interact with IRC’s Business Development Unit, ERD TU, and country programs to assess opportunities and evaluate which are most needed to address humanitarian needs in context of IRC’s strategic priorities and how to best leverage available resources.

Team Culture

• Build and maintain strong working relationships with EmU, the Economic Recovery & Development (ERD) TU and other Technical Units within Technical Excellence, Anticipatory Action team, and regional 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, EmU and the wider organization.
• Contribute to efforts across EmU to promote gender equality, diversity and more inclusive practice across our programming and our ways of working.

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:

• Position Reports to: the Senior Technical Advisor, Cash and Emergencies with management in partnership with the Deputy Director of the ERD Technical Unit
• Position directly supervises:  External emergency roster personnel; when required, temporarily supervise country team personnel

Other contacts:

• Works closely with Cash and Emergencies team members, including the Emergency Cash Preparedness and Anticipatory Action Specialist, the ERT Emergency Cash Coordinator, and the Cash and Operations Specialist.
• Engages with other technical sectors in the EmU’s Quality in Emergencies (QiE) team (Health, Protection, Education, Partnerships),  and the Director of Program Quality and Performance in Emergencies; operations staff across EmU (especially Finance and Supply Chain); the ERD Technical Unit (including Regionally aligned Cash TAs).

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Education:  Masters’ degree, a related field such as economics or related field. A Bachelor degree and additional experience may substitute for some education
• Work Experience: At least 7 years of experience in CVA, basic needs, and/or food security-related program development and implementation, including in emergency and complex crisis settings. Significant expertise in CVA programming. Experience starting-up emergency responses is required, and experience of at least two country contexts is strongly preferred.