VP, Global Policy & Solutions at International Rescue Committee

Job Overview: 

The International Rescue Committee has recently redesigned its approach to policy and advocacy, placing even greater focus on robust policy and solution development. This is an exciting moment to join the team and, as the Vice President, Policy, become a senior leader at the epicentre of IRCs idea marketplace: the solution network. You will be responsible for developing scalable, high-impact and pragmatic solutions. You seek to make the most of IRC’s knowledge across teams and look for new and creative partnerships outside the organization. You have a network of policy analysts and policy makers that enable you to rapidly test new ideas. Working closely with the Vice President, Advocacy, your teams are clear communicators that distil the complexity of policy for a range of audiences. You will be somebody who wants to lead a team of innovators, change makers and policy networkers. You will inspire bringing together the brain trust that can unlock solutions for our clients. This team is bold, quick moving, open to new ideas, and collaborative, working in lockstep with IRC’s broader External Relations Department to deliver on shared policy, profile and funding objectives.

Major Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Launch and lead a new Global Policy and Solutions team. Inspire and model collaboration and problem-solving between IRC’s Global Policy and Solutions team and teams from across IRC to use the power of our ideas to create bold policy solutions.
• Build alongside the VP, Advocacy & Influence vibrant new ways of working on a flexible, project basis to make meaningful change for our clients
• Work with IRC’s Leadership Board and cross-functional counterparts to set IRC’s Policy Agenda. Equally, enable IRC’s emergency response by assessing opportunities to proactively shift agenda to unlock urgent policy changes, while maintaining sustained focus on long-term policy shifts that can bring the largest impact to our clients.
• Together with External Relations Department Leaders, partner with IRC CEO, Leadership Board, Board of Director and Advisors, and Program Leaders (e.g., Executive Directors, Country Directors) to develop influence strategies that advance IRC’s profile, funding and fundraising goals.
• Design and develop department’s long-term vision and specific policy and policy innovation goals that activate internal partners across the IRC on common solutions as well as policy makers, key opinion formers and publics
• Steward Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion both in the culture of IRC, as well as in the policy solutions we develop and ways we wield influence.

Policy and Solutions

• Create open and adaptive ways of working with IRC teams (especially programs, technical and research teams) to continually assess the biggest challenges facing IRC's clients, IRC’s most effective solutions, and corresponding barriers to scale. Be the foremost expert on assessing relevance of policy solutions to unlocking these barriers.
• Apply deep knowledge of political and power systems to co-develop surgical, specific and creative solutions in IRC’s priority policy areas. Develop partnerships and relationships that advance and refine solutions and influence opportunities.
• Lead cross-functional development of IRC’s signature annual policy products. Oversee analysis of quantitative and qualitative data to build a rigorous annual analysis of accelerators and decelerators of conflict and resettlement. Identify corresponding solutions to unlock impact at scale. Partner with Advocacy and Marketing & Mobilization leaders to translate analysis into best-in-class report to guide both policy makers and IRC’s internal priorities.
• Brief IRC staff and leaders, including the CEO and leadership board on key policy areas, while building a culture of lifting other policy voices as appropriate and relevant.
• Support and partner with the VP, Advocacy and Influence in developing influence strategies that translate policy goals to achievable advocacy strategies. Serve as IRC spokesperson with media and at other external engagements

Innovation & Change

• Lead the development of a “solutions network” of IRC staff and external experts and a “Solutions Roundtable Model” to continuously push IRC’s policy and solutions development and client-centered problem-solving.
• Launch “Testing Lab” to test, measure and assess new innovations in policy, advocacy and influence that could be scaled by the IRC and partners.

Key Working Relationships

• Position reports to: Senior Vice President, External Relations
• Position directly supervises: Manages policy teams, solutions network, testing lab and globally strategy & planning teams
• Internal contacts: Technical Excellence leads; International Programs leads; Communications; Awards Management; President’s Office
• External contacts: Key experts in academic, research/think-tanks, multi-laterals, governments, INGOs and beyond

Job Requirements

Education

• Graduate degree in Public Policy, Law, International Relations or related field

Work Experience, Skills And Competencies

• 15 years of experience working on sophisticated humanitarian and/or development issues, preferably in the area of conflict, forced displacement and humanitarian financing.
• Demonstrated experience leading highly cross-functional teams and integrating perspectives from diverse team members to ideate and problem solve
• Demonstrated experience in policy analysis and policy strategy and development and familiarity with institutions that can be targeted to achieve policy change objectives
• Outstanding interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills with a demonstrated capacity to translate complex material and data into coherent narratives that resonate with diverse groups of policymakers, business leaders and influencers.
• Fluency with key parts of the IRC’s strategy and existing policy strategy
• Demonstrated dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion and a strong passion for our mission!