Economic Recovery and Development Coordinator, Emergency Response Team

Location: U.S.A, Global
Employer: UN

Description

The IRCs Emergency Preparedness and Response Unit (EPRU) leads or oversees IRCs global emergency preparedness and response activities. The mission of the EPRU is to help meet the immediate survival needs and reduce suffering in conflict or disaster affected populations during the acute phase of an emergency. The EPRU also works in protracted emergencies, where the risk to life may be reduced but the population is still subjected to rights abuses and a lack of basic services. The EPRU is also charged with enhancing the IRCs global and country level emergency preparedness capacity. The Emergency Response Team serves as the standing team of specialized professionals ready to deploy to an emergency within 72 hours.

The Economic Recovery and Development Unit (ERD) is responsible for providing dynamic, innovative support to IRC's field offices for their economic and livelihoods programming. This unit provides technical assistance, ensures innovation, promotes best practices, and helps to improve data collection and analysis for economic and livelihoods programming within the organization. Recently, ERD has taken a leading role in developing resources to address economic recovery issues within a few weeks of a crisis. This ensures that emergency responses are designed with a good understanding of critical market systems, and local economies and livelihoods are supported, not undermined during the emergency phase. In addition to a strong market-based approach, the IRC's economic responses in emergencies are increasingly focused on the populations most acutely affected by crisis – women, girls, youth and ultra-poor households with children. To that end, the IRC is seeking an ERT ERD Coordinator who is able to design sound emergency economic programs with a view to specific vulnerable populations.

SCOPE OF WORK:

The IRC ERT ERD Coordinator is expected to be deployed in the field, either in an emergency or roving capacity, for up to 70% of the time and must be able to deploy to the site of an emergency within 72 hours of notification.

Members of the Emergency Response Team are deployed to either support existing country programs in their emergency response, or to initiate a new program in the crisis zone. The overall responsibility of the team is to rapidly and effectively design, develop and manage the IRC's on-site humanitarian response to met the immediate needs of the affected population. The ERT is also responsible for supporting the transfer of responsibilities and knowledge to the long-term staff to ensure the continuity of IRC programming and operations.

S/he is a member of the Economic Recovery and Development Technical Unit and the Emergency Response and Preparedness Unit (EPRU). During emergency deployments ERT staff will work under the direction of IRC's Emergency Field Director or designated country emergency lead. During times with no acute emergency deployment the Coordinator will report to the Director of the Economic Recovery and Development Technical Unit.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Emergency Response

• Be prepared to be deployed within 72 hours; emergency deployments take precedence over other duties;
• Ensure high quality and timely assessments of the humanitarian needs in large scale/complex emergences using EMMA, MIFIRA, EFSA, the EPRU's STEP toolkit, or other appropriate methodologies, and provide prioritized recommendations for program interventions to the ERT Field Director/emergency lead; be prepared to undertake multi-sectoral assessments with other ERT sectors should it be deemed appropriate;
• Design program responses and strategy, including geographic areas of intervention, in coordination with internal and external actors and utilizing the Minimum Standards for Economic Recovery, LEGS, Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Emergencies, IASC Guidelines for GBV Interventions in Humanitarian Settings, and other resources for economic recovery programming in emergencies
• Develop technical proposals and budgets for international donors, working in close collaboration with IRC grants and finance staff to finalize proposals and respond to any requests for additional information, and ensuring that proposals are in line with the Minimum Standards for Economic Recovery
• Directly manage and/or supervise field-based staff in managing grant/program implementation, including staff recruitment and training, work plan development, procurement and inventory planning, and budget management;
• Prepare high quality and timely donor and management reports on grants and sector activities
• Design and implement appropriate monitoring and evaluation systems ; ensure consistent reporting and analysis of results to enhance program effectiveness and quality
• Ensure compliance with IRC policy and procedures throughout the program team and activities
• Represent and coordinate with other members of the emergency response (ERT Coordinators, IER, country program staff, etc.) agencies, local government , donors and other stakeholders to promote deliver of best practice humanitarian assistance;
• In close collaboration with country management and global advocacy units, Identify, develop and implement strategies to address IRC advocacy priorities
• Support media and communications activities as requested by the ERT Field Director/CD/in-county emergency lead.
• Assess and provide input on post emergency strategies and transition plans for IRC programming.
• Provide a comprehensive handover to successor, including ensuring transfer of all related documentation, program monitoring data and staff performance information

Emergency Preparedness

• Research and communicate new approaches and best practices in emergency response programming; act as IRC representative in related inter-agency and global forums and initiatives
• Working with EPRU and HQ program technical staffs, lead the development of emergency preparedness and response strategies and tools;
• Lead or participate in the development and management of global funding proposals to support emergency preparedness
• Work with country programs to implement emergency preparedness and response in selected IRC countries;
• Contribute to the continual development of appropriate and cost-effective contingency stocks, revising the stock list in accordance with lessons learned in the field and monitoring replenishment.

Non-emergency

• Build IRC staff capacity in the utilization of economic recovery methodologies and resources, including cash transfer programming, the Minimum Standards for Economic Recovery in Emergencies, and the Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS).
• Network and build relationships with other actors working in economic recovery in emergencies to strengthen the existing resource base for response and impact evaluations
• Undertake technical assessments or evaluations of large scale-complex programs
• Provide technical support as needed to existing country programs remotely and through in-country visits or short-term deployments
• Assist in the development and launch of new technical policy, procedures and training materials
• Contribute to the design and implementation of emergency components of the ERD Unit strategic plan

REQUIREMENTS:

• University degree in a related field, and technical accreditation or equivalent
• 6+ years experience developing and managing technical projects including 3 years in emergency/conflict areas
• Demonstrated experience in programming for specific vulnerable populations (women, youth, children)
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with peer agencies, local businesses, governments and community leaders and develop multi-stakeholder support for humanitarian priorities and advocacy initiatives
• Demonstrated ability to identify, recommend and adopt new or changes in technical standards and best practice approaches to ensure rapid, consistent, high quality emergency response strategies and programs
• Experience managing large, complex donor funded programs and grants; including staff management, budget oversight, monitoring and evaluation systems, and technical input to proposal-budget development and donor reports.