Openings at International Rescue Committee

Job Overview: 

The IRC is setting up a new People and Culture department to draw together Human Resources (HR), Safeguarding and Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (GEDI) to integrate our shared objectives into all aspects of our decision making and strategy. More than a joining of distinct teams, the People & Culture Department will help to formulate how employees experience IRC as an organization, and how that experience translates into impact to our clients – those whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered by conflict or disaster. As the Leader of Organization Development and Transformation, you will be instrumental in designing and driving successful organization development and transformation efforts aligned with Strategy 100, including enabling delivery on the end-to-end employee lifecycle to attract, recruit, develop, engage, and retain a top performing workforce. Reporting to the SVP of People and Culture, you will collaborate with stakeholders to inspire change leadership, enhance employee experience, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. This newly created position requires you to work closely with cross-functional teams, aligning resources and solutions to achieve our strategic goals.

Key Responsibilities:

•  Lead, shape and oversee organization development, business process changes and transformation strategies.
•  Develop and implement a multi-year organization transformation strategy: Create a detailed and actionable plan to drive transformation initiatives across multiple departments, ensuring alignment with Strategy 100.  This plan should encompass long-term strategies, solutions, and process improvements.
•  Lead and manage transformation initiatives: Oversee the execution of transformation projects, ensuring they are delivered on time and on budget.  Ensure business readiness is achieved, and employees are well-prepared for the changes to achieve desired outcomes.  
•  Create a comprehensive future of work strategy: Develop a forward-looking plan that anticipates trends and potential disruptions in the humanitarian sector.  This strategy will enable the organization to adapt and thrive in the changing landscape.
•  Design and execute employee experience strategy: Develop and implement an employee experience strategy that aligns with the organization’s mission and values.  This should result in a differentiated workplace experience that reinforces our employee value proposition and drives high levels of employee engagement and retention,
•  Established a new organization development and transformation team: Build a dedicated team focused on driving transformation initiatives, this team should cover various aspects of organization development, culture, and change management.
•  Implement a P&C shared service model: Create a shared service model for People & Culture teams across the organization that emphasizes accountability, service delivery, integration, risk and compliance management, data strategy, and vendor management.
•  Establish capabilities in workforce planning: Develop the ability to analyze and predict workforce needs, identify risks and compliance requirements, and use data insights to drive transparency and informed decision making.

Experience:

•  15+ years relevant professional experience in a senior role, preferably within medium and large, high-growth, complex global organizations.
•  Demonstrate expertise in business transformation, organization development, process improvement, program management, change management, and engagement models aligned with organizational strategies.
•  Have a proven track record of initiating and implementing organization wide change, driving process improvements and leading organization development initiatives in a global matrixed organization.
•  Exhibit proficiency in providing active consulting and collaborative problem solving, tailoring partnering and influencing strategies to drive the desired change, while challenging the status quo.
•  Ability to work across geographical boundaries with a high level of cultural sensitivity.
•  Track record of career progression.

Language Skills: 

•  Excellent spoken and written English 
•  Proficiency in at least one other relevant language (French, Arabic, Spanish, etc.) desirable

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Position Summary

IRC is seeking a Deputy Project Director (DPD) for TeachWell, a private foundation-funded five-year project that will start in September 2023 and aims at strengthening children’s holistic skill development through improvement of teacher professional development in refugee counties in Kenya. The DPD will be responsible for supporting the project Director (PD) in project management, consortium management, and operations. S/he will support the PD in strategic and annual work planning, management, and monitoring of project operations and key deliverables, and s/he will liaise with relevant stakeholders from different sectors. S/he will coordinate with the project Technical Lead and the MEAL Advisor to ensure the Crisis Modifier activities are well integrated with the other components of the project. The DPD will be directly responsible for management of partners and their performance, and s/he will closely collaborate with the IRC Kenya partnerships and grants teams. S/he will deputize for the PD.

Job Responsibilities:

•  Support the PD and the Technical Lead in defining and implementing activities to achieve the greatest impact toward project goals and objectives; serve as Acting PD in the PD’s absence.
•  Support the PD in strategic and annual work planning, management, and monitoring of project operations and key deliverables.
•  Closely monitor spending and deliverables and ensure timely achievement of objectives.
•  Oversee partnerships’ management in full compliance with IRC policies and in cooperation with the Kenya’s partnership team. Maintain collaborative partner relations, ensuring that all partners are aware of the project’s expectations and are actively involved in achieving the objectives.
•  Actively cooperate with the Technical Lead and the MEAL Advisor to ensure the project is implemented organically and the different components are well integrated.
•  Support reporting to donors through both formal and informal debriefings and reports; lead review of periodic programmatic reports and their ensure timely submission to the PD.
•  Assist PD in maintaining active and cooperative relationships with all key stakeholders, including government officials, project partners, other implementing agencies, and related institutions.
•  Work closely with project staff and partners to identify, document and disseminate best practices.
•  Recruit and onboard staff as required by the project and based on workplan.
•  Support and mentor project staff by creating and maintaining a work environment that promotes teamwork, trust, mutual respect, and empowers staff to take responsibility.
•  Represent the project and the organization in public, as assigned, and support the distribution of information about project achievements and lesson learned.
•  Conduct other activities as assigned by the PD.

Requirements:

•  Advanced degree from an accredited university in education, international development, or related field.
•  6 to 8 years of experience managing programs and partnerships portfolios for refugees or crisis-affected populations.
•  Experience managing large-scale, complex, multi-partners portfolios; substantial experience managing diverse sub-grantees/sub-contractors. Experience with IRC PEERS is an asset.
•  Grants and partnership technical background preferred. Experience with private donors and foundations
•  Strong negotiation skills and the ability to develop relations with local counterparts, donors, and other stakeholders.
•  Supervisory experience and demonstrated success in staff capacity-building and in participatory, flexible, and gender-sensitive people management 
•  Demonstrated innovation and success in staff capacity-building and in participatory, flexible, and gender-sensitive programming and implementation
•  Strong communication skills, both oral and written.
•  Fluency in English required.