As an important member of the Program Delivery pillar of the Crisis Response, Recovery & Development (CRRD) department, the Program Officer, Strategy will be required to develop broad familiarity with the span of IRC programs and operations around the world. The Program Officer will support country, regional, and HQ leadership through project management, planning and communications support related to IRC’s strategy and performance processes. Reporting to the Senior Director, Strategy & Performance, the Program Officer will provide project management support to select strategic projects, usually in a cross-departmental effort and scope. S/he will need to quickly break down problems and iterate rapidly towards effective solutions, creating buy-in and building partnerships. This position will also support coordination and communication within the Program Delivery pillar, and with other parts of the IRC. This is a challenging position which requires strong strategic problem-solving skills, excellent interpersonal skills, a high level of personal initiative and the ability to work well in a distributed, multicultural, fast-paced environment. Comfort with ambiguity and complexity, and being driven by impact are critical requirements.

Major Responsibilities:

Strategy Coordination: Support effective coordination of the delivery of IRC’s Strategy100 by:

• Providing project support for the Strategy Action Plan (SAP) Steering Committee including: preparation of meeting agendas and presentations; follow-up on keys actions; engagement with and communication to members as needed;

• Supporting CRRD leadership to track progress towards achievement of Strategy100 objectives, and provide timely analysis to inform departmental priorities;

• Support annual SAP-Informed Planning process ahead of the budget cycle to ensure departmental priorities are informed by country and regional priorities, as outlined in country SAPs;

• Supporting effective CRRD Program Delivery pillar representation in key coordination mechanisms with other departments.

Strategy Action Plans (SAPs): Support with the design and development of new processes/products, oversight and delivery for the full cycle of country Strategy Action Plans (SAPs), including:

• Support and manage the continuous improvement of ongoing SAP processes, including SAP progress reporting, updating strategic priorities and implementation planning;

• Support new countries to create a SAP, external SAP and SAP Implementation Plan, or to conduct a review of their SAP

• Develop and deliver onboarding sessions / trainings and other presentations as needed on SAP processes rolling out or requiring refreshers for country, regional and HQ staff

• Maintain SAP database (Excel workbook) and prepare summary presentations on related information for various internal audiences;

• Coordinate the development of budgetary investment requests to support country SAP delivery;

• Prepare CRRD Newsletter inputs and Senior Leadership Group (SLG) updates, and other regular and ad hoc internal communications as needed;

• Compile a draft of the bi-annual Global SAP Summary Report to keep the organization informed of countries’ progress towards strategic goals.

Planning, learning, & communications: Support CRRD Program Delivery leadership in effective strategic planning processes, sharing learning and communications:

• Support the sharing of insights and experiences from CRRD leaders and country staff across the department, the wider organization and to external audiences, including via developing and administering survey questionnaires and preparing lessons learned summaries that may be widely shared for continuous learning;

• As part of SAP-Informed Planning process, promote an organizational culture of data-driven decision-making by providing clear and relevant analyses of SAP data across the organization;

• Maintain a standard set of products to be used to orient new audiences (new hires, board members, donors, others) to the work of CRRD with a particular focus on strategy delivery & SAPs;

• Manage a communications plan for SAP processes, and support the maintenance of engaging and accurate strategy/CRRD-related content on RescueNet and Rescue.org;

• Supporting the management of regular and ad hoc department meetings (agenda development, presentation support, action follow-up);

• Supporting additional CRRD management tasks as required.

Support to other strategic projects: Provide limited project management or technical support to projects supporting key initiatives related to delivering our strategy. This could include:

• Support the advancement of IRC’s Project Cycle Meetings (PCM) approach

• Support the continuous improvement of data & performance routines at the country and regional levels

• Support other teams involved in developing tools to deliver specific aspects of Strategy100

Job Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in humanitarian, development or related field required;

• Demonstrated project management expertise and fluency in core project management concepts and tools, such as work planning, roles and responsibilities definition, project budgeting and budget management;

• At least five years’ experience working in a humanitarian or development context and carrying out responsibilities including coordination, strategic planning, administration, and communications within an international organization required.

• Strong organizational skills; ability to manage time efficiently, meet deadlines, and work independently;

• Critical thinking skills; proven ability to problem solve and follow up appropriately; calm, adaptable and resourceful, able to deliver under pressure;

• Excellent oral and written communication skills; able to quickly gather, synthesize and summarize information in a clear manner;

• Ability to multi-task and work in a fast paced, multi-cultural environment;

• Must exercise good judgment and ability to maintain confidential information

• Highly proficient with MS Office applications;

• Knowledge of Arabic, French or Spanish strongly preferred, other languages will be an advantage.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: Senior Director for Strategy & Performance

Key stakeholders: CRRD leadership & country teams; Strategy Unit; Internal Communications

Working Environment:

Standard office work environment

Occasional travel to IRC headquarters and country program offices will be required, including possible travel to high-risk environments to support IRC’s field teams.

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

How to apply

https://rescue.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/29670?c=rescue