Job Vacancies at International Rescue Committee

Terms of Reference

Background

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their lives. The IRC operates in more than 40 countries and has operated in Kenya since 1992, providing health care, women’s protection and empowerment, governance and rights, and nutrition services to hundreds of thousands of refugees and the Kenyan communities in Garissa, Turkana and Nairobi counties.

IRC is the leading in the implementation of the project entitled Refugees in East Africa: Boosting Urban Innovations for Livelihoods Development (RE:BUILD) which is funded by the IKEA Foundation. The project being implemented in Kampala and Nairobi seeks to support refugee and host communities to achieve economic self-reliance through supporting 1) Access to sustainable livelihoods and 2) Ensuring that strong markets and effective and responsive city services are accessible to all. RE:BUILD aims to enable change at varying levels, from better access to livelihoods opportunities and inclusive services within communities, to improved refugee-related policies and more targeted and effective service delivery from national, regional and global actors. RE:BUILD will assemble a wide range of different players including respective city Governments, the private sector, refugee and host communities and other market actors in at least 2 or three high impact value chains in each city through which the support and interventions from RE:BUILD will be anchored.

Purpose of the Consultancy/objectives.

IRC seeks a consultant to complete an Urban Context Analysis in Nairobi drawing on IRC’s Urban Context Analysis and Stakeholder Analysis Toolkits. The Analysis will provide a strong understanding of the context including who, with, and where RE:BUILD may work and support the development of activities that are both contextually appropriate and build upon and support existing local processes. The assessment will include a desk review of essential documents including existing reports, assessments, and government policies/strategies. Other documents to consider include donor country profiles and annual reports, NGOs reports and case studies, and UN agency reports, case studies and strategies. Key Informant Interviews and Focus Group Discussions (COVID-dependent) will also be conducted to gather additional insight and intel from actors including city officials, government authorities, NGO, service providers, and community members.

Deliverables

Urban Context Analysis Report, with a gender sensitive lens, that includes

• Stakeholder and Social Network analysis of key stakeholders at the 1) city and 2) selected neighborhood level to identify who are the key stakeholders and what are the connections, power dynamics, and levels of influence between and among them? Who does RE:BUILD need to collaborate with and how should that collaboration happen?
• Spatial analysis, to understand the distribution of urban refugees . This will draw on open source data, that focuses on neighborhoods with high numbers of refugee communities and includes the spatial and demographic characteristics of each
• Service delivery and social cohesion analyses to identify existing city- and community-led service delivery providers and assesses their level of inclusivity, responsiveness and efficiency and identify connectors and dividers between different types of communities and how to best leverage connections while mitigating risks associated with dividers.

Methodology

In developing the assessment, the consultant should consider the following:

1. Desk review of essential documents
2. Primary data collection including: key informant interviews (KIIs), and focus-group discussions (FGDs) with government officials (county and national), non-government stakeholders, private sector, and the community
3. The consultant must ensure informed consent is provided for all interviews, focus group discussions and photographs.
4. The consultant will specifically have briefing and debriefing meetings with the IRC at the commencement, mid-point and conclusion of methodological implementation.

The consultant is expected to take into consideration the new working realities of conducting some of the interviews virtually and adhering to the Ministry of Health and World Health Organization guidelines on COVID 19

Reports

• Inception meeting report that will include training/briefing on methodology by HQ/RE: BUILD Team, study report outline and assessment data collection tools for the study, work plan and budget.
• 1st draft report and a professionally edited final report that includes a stakeholder analysis, social network analysis
• Copies of original and cleaned data sets including field notes.

Duration of the consultancy

The assignment is expected to be undertaken for a maximum of 30 consultancy days which includes tools review, desk reviews, development of the inception report and approval by the IRC, data collection, report-writing and validation meeting (detailed work plan, with clear timeline to be developed).

Qualifications

• A post-graduate degree in social sciences, urban planning, or another relevant field:
• Over 10 years’ experience conducting Context, Political Economy, Conflict or Urban Context Analyses.
• Familiarity with the livelihoods, humanitarian, international development actors/sectors, and city government structure in Kenya with an emphasis on Nairobi
• Knowledge of MS Office
• Strong oral and written communications skills

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Terms of Reference

Background

​The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their lives. The IRC operates in more than 40 countries and has operated in Kenya since 1992, providing health care, women’s protection and empowerment, governance and rights, and nutrition services to hundreds of thousands of refugees and the Kenyan communities in Garissa, Turkana and Nairobi counties.

IRC is the leading in the implementation of the project entitled Refugees in East Africa: Boosting Urban Innovations for Livelihoods Development (RE:BUILD) which is ​funded by the IKEA Foundation. The project being implemented in Kampala and Nairobi seeks to support refugee and host communities to achieve economic self-reliance through supporting 1) Access to sustainable livelihoods and 2) Ensuring that strong markets and effective and responsive city services are accessible to all. RE:BUILD aims ​to enable change at varying levels, from better access to livelihoods opportunities and inclusive services within communities, to improved refugee-related policies and more targeted and effective service delivery from national, regional and global actors. ​RE:BUILD will assemble a wide range of different players including respective city Governments, the private sector, refugee and host communities and other market actors in at least 2 or three high impact value chains in each city through which the support and interventions from RE:BUILD will be anchored.

Purpose of the Consultancy/Objectives.

IRC seeks a consultant to complete a labor market assessment, focusing specifically on skills assessment for refugee and host communities in Nairobi and Kampala. The analysis should provide detailed understanding of the skills and capacities of target clients, as well as their desired market-relevant skills set. ​The assessment should also cover the key training opportunities available in institutions such as technical training and vocational institutions, government-run training centers, and CBOs, along with information on skills certification and accreditation required for entry into the labor market. Finally, the assessment should cover legal framework surrounding business registration and employment for select value chains.

The assessment will include a desk review of essential documents including existing reports, assessments, and government policies/strategies. Key Informant Interviews and Focus Group Discussions (COVID-dependent) will also be conducted to gather additional insight and intel from actors including city officials, government authorities, NGO, service providers, and community members.

The assessment seeks to answer the following key questions:

• What market-relevant skills do refugees in each city currently have? How do these skills differ among social groups (women, men, youth, refugees; and geographic differences within city neighbourhoods)
• What skills do refugees and host communities aspire to learn? How does this differ by gender and age? Why are these groups/ communities interested in these skills?
• What kind of training is available and accessible to communities for market-relevant skills?
• Who are the key stakeholders (institutions, CBOs, government service providers) providing relevant skills training opportunities & certification in each city?
• What are the requirements for entry into the selected priority value chains for Re:Build?
• What certifications/accreditations are required for employment and self-employment in these value chains?
• What are the legal requirements for entering into the selected priority value chains (including work permit, business registration, permits, or associated fees)?
• What barriers (legal, education, experience, and also informal social norms) do women and youth face in entering the selected priority value chains (especially male-dominated value chains)? What support is required?

Deliverables:

Labor Market Analysis report covering:

• Skills assessment of key target client groups (in pre-determined neighborhoods), including refugees, host communities, women and youth
• Skills and training summary of market-relevant skills building opportunities, the institutions where they are available, and barriers for target client groups
• Legal framework overview of requirements and barriers to obtaining skills certifications, business registration, and employment documentation for selected value chains

Methodology

In developing the assessment, the consultant should consider the following:

1. Desk review of essential documents
2. Primary data collection including:- key informant interviews (KIIs), and focus-group discussions (FGDs) with government officials (county and national), non-government stakeholders, private sector, and the community
3. The consultant must ensure informed consent is provided for all interviews, focus group discussions and photographs.
4. The consultant will specifically have briefing and debriefing meetings with the IRC at the commencement, mid-point, and conclusion of methodological implementation.

The consultant is expected to take into consideration the new working realities of conducting some of the interviews virtually and adhering to the Ministry of Health and World Health Organisation guidelines on COVID 19

Reports

• Inception meeting report that will include training/briefing on methodology by HQ/RE:BUILD Team, study report outline and assessment data collection tools for the study, work plan and budget.
• 1st draft report and a professionally edited final report covering skills/labor assessment ​and legal framework summary findings
• Copies of original and cleaned data sets including field notes.

Duration of the consultancy

The assignment is expected to be undertaken in November and December 2020 for a maximum of 30 consultancy days which includes tools review, desk reviews, development of the inception report and approval by the IRC, data collection, report-writing and validation meeting (detailed work plan, with clear timeline to be developed).

Key details

The position will be managed remotely through Re:Build Project Management team.

• A post-graduate degree in social sciences, economics, international development, or other related field.
• Over 10 years’ experience conducting gender-sensitive labor market assessments
• Expert familiarity with methodologies including focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and market data analysis
• Familiarity with the livelihoods, humanitarian, international development actors/sectors, and city government structure in Kenya (Nairobi) and Uganda (Kampala)
• Knowledge of MS Office and qualitative data analysis tools
• Strong oral and written communications skills

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Sector: Awards Management

Employment Category: Regular

Employment Type: Full-Time

Open to Expatriates: Yes

Location: Nairobi, IHUB, Kenya

Job Description

 THE AWARDS MANAGEMENT UNIT

Established in 2015, the Global Awards Management Unit (AMU) is a global unit spanning New York, Washington DC, London, Berlin, Bonn, Geneva, Nairobi and Amman. It has responsibility for identifying, securing and managing all funding from statutory donors, and was designed as an end-to-end business process owner and support structure for IRC’s grant lifecycle. The Unit is organized into five teams, called ‘pillars’: Strategic Partnerships & Analytics; Program & Grants Support; Compliance & Policy; Business/Program Development; and Training & Curriculum Development.

The Global AMU is a bridge between donors and program teams: providing expert technical advice to program teams, while maintaining portfolio-level visibility to ensure consistency and compliance, and manage risk. This unit ensures that donor compliance policies and procedures are implemented consistently, and supports all staff working across the grants management cycle for all restricted funding from global government sources. The unit operates within a matrix management system across the teams in the US, Germany, the UK and based in our global programs, driving functional integration between all relevant units and staff.

THE PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The Senior Business Development Advisor – Capture & Engagement will support IRC’s efforts to strengthen our positioning, engagement and capture efforts to support IRC’s growth strategy for public donors, particularly for longer term and development funding.  The Sr. Advisor will be responsible for leading successful capture planning on a portfolio of opportunities in coordination with regional, country, and technical teams.

The Senior BD Advisor is responsible for identifying and qualifying leads for multi-year complex funding opportunities with bilateral and multi-lateral public donors.  This position works with IRC Regional and Country Offices and technical experts to maintain donor mapping, outline long-term positioning strategies, identify and qualify leads and complete capture milestones. The Sr. Advisor will support Country Offices in expanding their networks with key donor representatives, country and regional partners, national development professionals, as well as international candidates and peer organizations.  This position plays a key role in the adoption of IRC’s best practice capture and engagement processes and tools as well as coaching and formal training to IRC staff.  The ideal candidate will have a successful track record of working on new business efforts in international development with USAID, FCDO, and/or other multilateral and bilateral donors.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide leadership in working with country and technical teams to identify, assess, and co-lead with country and technical teams positioning, engagement and capture management and planning for specific USG, FCDO, and other competitive bids.
• Collaborates with regional, country and technical teams to develop and implement long-term positioning strategies, raising IRC’s profile key national and global stakeholders including donors, peers, local organizations, national government ministries, and other key national stakeholders.
• Manage capture process on select opportunities with country and technical teams utilizing industry practices and IRC processes and tools, bringing in a deep understanding of donor preferences and interests, geographic stakeholder knowledge, and competitive partnerships into IRC’s win strategies.
• In coordination with other AMU staff, maintain up to date knowledge of USG, FCDO, EU, and other donor funding priorities in geographical interests relevant to IRC’s area of work and provide guidance to country, regional, and technical teams.
• Evaluate effectiveness of capture and proposal processes and tools; recommend revisions to ensure continuous improvement.
• Facilitate and support relationship building with key global, national, and local stakeholders including assisting countries and technical units to develop plans, pitch documents, and other materials to support raising IRC’s profile.
• Coordinate the evaluation and assessment of opportunities including the development of competitive analysis, conduct SWOT analysis, and identify win themes and risk mitigation plans.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field, including international relations, political science, public administration, and communications or other related field.
• Five years plus of experience leading positioning, engagement, and capture work and/or developing proposals.
• Experience working with USAID, FCDO, EU institutions, and/or other European donors.
• Experience and a successful track record leading capture process within complex subject, multi-year, multi-partner proposals with minimal supervision.
• Subject-matter expertise and experience in a sector relevant to IRC is a plus (e.g. health, education, governance, WASH, etc.) is a plus.
• Excellent written and oral communication; able to convey complex concepts clearly and concisely in writing and orally.  
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate equally effectively with colleagues in ‘remote’ and diverse teams, including as team leader for proposals; outstanding interpersonal skills, including the ability to effectively manage a variety of relationships in a multicultural environment;
• The ability to work productively and accurately while under pressure in a fast-paced, demanding environment;
• Flexible work attitude: the ability to work in a team environment and independently and ability to meet unexpected demands, prioritize and multi-task;
• Ability to travel internationally (up to 20% of time);
• Fluency in English.  Proficiency in at least one other language (French, Arabic, and/or Spanish) is a plus.

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Sector: Emergency Response

Employment Category: Fixed Term

Open to Expatriates: Yes

Location: Dakar, Senegal

Job Description

Open to other suitable IRC locations.

Humanitarian crises are becoming longer and more complex, stretching humanitarian actors’ abilities to provide assistance and protection. In collaboration with Stichting Vluchteling (Netherlands Refugee Foundation), the IRC has established Project Frontline to provide operational assistance and strengthen learning on humanitarian access. Within the Humanitarian Action section of the Emergencies and Humanitarian Action Unit, the project team provides hands-on strategy, planning and technical support to country programs, emergency teams and other partners and ensures the collection, development and dissemination of knowledge and learning more broadly. This role will partner with teams and colleagues to develop and deliver strategies to reach people in need, deploying regularly, and with a particular focus on crises in West Africa.

Major Responsibilities:

• Facilitate and support the analysis, development and delivery of strategies and plans to advance humanitarian access in close collaboration with Project Frontline partners and colleagues
• Advise and support access partners on key subject areas such as humanitarian principles, humanitarian negotiation, humanitarian-military relations and engagement with armed groups
• Support capacity development through training and/or coaching for key colleagues
• Develop partnerships and networks to support humanitarian access goals
• Support the development and uptake of global guidance and tools for humanitarian access
• Share learning with colleagues and partners, and contribute to a community of practice and culture of learning and reflection
• Maintain currency with methods, approaches and professional developments in humanitarian access and related topics

Qualifications

Work Experience:

• Significant experience leading or supporting humanitarian programs in complex crises
• Experience in strategy development, planning, project management, operations and/or external relations

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

• Knowledge of legal and normative frameworks for humanitarian action
• Advanced proficiency in applying humanitarian principles in practice
• Strategy, analysis, planning, project management and operational skills
• Proficiency in humanitarian negotiation, humanitarian-military relations and/or engagement with armed groups
• Proficiency in delivering training and coaching support to individuals, teams and/or partners
• Excellent communication, diplomatic and interpersonal skills
• Ability to summarize sophisticated topics and information clearly and succinctly

Language Skills: Proficiency in French required (bilingual French/English preferred).

Working Environment:

Up to 60% international travel may be required, including extended field missions. Dakar is a remote/self-supporting work environment. Candidates must have or be able to obtain the right to work in Dakar.