Senior Technical Advisor, Education in Emergencies at International Rescue Committee

Job Overview

The STA for Education in Emergencies will support strategic resource development and thought leadership related to the IRC’s emergency education programming. S/he will lead projects that advance education strategic priorities, including increasing the profile and attention to education in emergencies, and advancing the IRC’s work on education in emergencies. S/he will also be called upon to supervise emergency education experts in large scale acute emergencies to assure the provision of immediate, scaled and quality education programs. This position reports to the IRC’s Senior Director for Quality in Emergencies and works closely with education senior technical advisors and technical advisors, and other IRC sector focal points engaged in emergency response.

Responsibilities

Emergency preparedness (20%)

• Support the IRC Emergency and Humanitarian Action Unit to resource and provide capacity strengthening for members of IRC Country Programs/Regional emergency response capacity.
• Provide remote technical support to country programs/regions for preparedness/readiness/contingency planning, and as needed, deploy for strategic support, including on-site mentoring and technical assistance and coordinate with relevant Technical Advisors as appropriate.
• Reinforce program quality through regular, (+/- remote) capacity strengthening and skills-deepening for members of the IRC Emergency Response Team (ERT), External Emergency Roster (EER), as well as Technical Unit Advisers (TAs), ensuring ability to operationalize the IRC’s emergency strategy and response package.
• Ensure that IRC program models and emergency strategies advance organizational commitments to gender equality outcomes.
• Collaborate with the IRC Emergency and Humanitarian Action Unit to maintain deployment capacity, both on the ERT, the EER, and Internal Emergency Roster (IER) and through partnerships with, but not limited to, universities and technical institutions.
• Lead design and development of integrated/joint program models and approaches in emergencies with other relevant STAs for Emergencies within the QiE multi-sector team.
• Manage and maintain current emergency response tools and update according to industry standards and best practices, while also supporting iterative and adaptive learning from ongoing responses.
• Orient all new EER/ERT to education programming in emergencies.

Emergency response (40%)

• Ensure program quality, accountability and consistency in emergency & outbreak response programming by providing remote technical support for country program led responses and IER/EER/ERT during deployments. For country program led responses, coordinate with existing TAs to ensure consistency, complementarity and continuity.
• Directly supervise ERT/ EER coordinators, providing ongoing mentoring and technical strengthening both during deployments and when not deployed for ERT.
• As required, deploy to lead emergency education programming or outbreak response start-up in complex or large scale emergencies (30% of time and maximum 6 weeks for single deployment). This is inclusive of but not limited to responsibilities such as:
• Rapid needs assessments, evaluation efforts, or other accountability support functions;
• Short-term DDP or emergency leadership roles, including scoping missions;
• Technical coordination and strategic leadership within a complex response;
• Support the transition of technical assistance for new country program start-ups to TU Technical Advisors.
• Liaise closely with other appropriate QiE and Technical Excellence technical advisors, provide support to IRC WatchList countries and countries where the IRC is starting up new emergency response programming.

Learning, advocacy and strategy (30%)

• Support the development of integrated programming for emergencies and other more innovative programming areas identified by respective technical units and ERT/EER.
• Support the measurement of impact and quality of IRC emergency and outbreak responses.
• Generate research, learning and evidence of operational models and approaches that are effective in acute emergencies within and across specific sectors.
• As needed, represent IRC in technical forums or networks within respective sectors globally.
• Provide response support, technical leadership and strategic direction to education roster members
• Contribute to the annual QiE work plan and project prioritization in collaboration with the MEAL team and EHAU STAs that is driven by the EHAU SAP ambitions and Implementation Plan.
• Participate in the QiE Leadership Team to ensure cohesive decision making and learning
• Lead cross collaboration and coordination between EHAU QiE and the Education Technical Unit

Resource development and grant management (10%)

• Lead the development, review and submission of strategic proposals and concept notes around IRC’s innovative programming related to education in emergencies and in coordination with the Education Technical Unit as appropriate.
• Provide technical quality assurance for Crisis Response Fund in coordination with relevant TAs and EHAU Sections.
• Provide oversight of joint EHAU/TU-led emergency response and preparedness grants (maximum 1 per year).

Requirements

Work Experience: 8-10 years of experience in both education program implementation in low resource settings and at least 5 years in emergency (conflict, disaster/crisis and outbreak) settings. Field experience in education strategy development, program design and implementation, working across sectors or disciplines, and in coordination/team leadership roles. Field experience in leading strategy and implementation for conflict and/or outbreak preparedness & response. Proven skills in development of operational guidelines and tools, delivery of training/on-the-job mentorship, and in program monitoring and evaluation. Proven experience in representation, advocacy, communications, and resource mobilization.

• Demonstrated expertise in humanitarian emergency education in assessment, strategy development, program design, operational planning, proposal development, implementation, and in monitoring.
• Master’s degree, in a related field such as international/humanitarian programming/public health/ social work or equivalent experience preferable. Additional experience may substitute for some education.
• Demonstrated expertise in bridging conceptual frameworks and operational guidance, ability to turn concepts and strategy into measurable action
• Expertise in climate-related anticipatory action and response preferred
• Demonstrated ability to lead and supervise teams
• Ability to provide technical assistance and transfer knowledge and skills, either through formal/informal training, on the job coaching and mentoring, adapting to needs and level
• Extremely organized, with excellent skills in prioritization and multi-tasking. Proven project management experience.
• Outstanding capacity to understand country and emergency contexts
• Demonstrated success in working with donors, partners, and media, at global and field level
• Demonstrated abilities to build consensus among and facilitate decision making across multiple stakeholders.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to facilitate effective collaboration, communication and team work
• Ability to work with multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary teams and proven ability to develop positive relationships with global, local and remote team members
• Structured thinking, excellence in oral and written communication
• Proven ability to deliver results under the pressure and tight deadlines