The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

BACKGROUND:  The IRCs EPRU and Emergency Response Team (ERT) 

The IRCs Emergency Preparedness and Response Unit (EPRU) leads and 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.

Reproductive Health Programming at IRC

The IRC has been among the leaders in the field of Reproductive Health (RH) in conflict-affected settings for over fifteen years during which time enormous strides have been made in integrating and prioritizing RH in humanitarian responses.  IRC is a founding member of the RH Response in Conflict Consortium and an active participant in the Interagency Working Group on RH in Refugee Situations. RH programs constitute the largest portion of IRC’s health programs.

IRC’s RH services are geared towards addressing the most critical needs of conflict-affected people and are respectful of their cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds. IRC strives to ensure that RH services, in accordance with the MISP+, are made available to all populations affected by acute crises.

SCOPE OF WORK: The IRC ERT staff is expected to be deployed in the field, either in an emergency or roving capacity, for up to 75% of the time (9 months a year) and must be able to deploy to the site of an emergency within 72 hours of notification. In between emergency deployments, the ERT Senior RH Coordinator is responsible for supporting RH programs in countries where IRC conducts long term health programs. The support would be provided in collaboration with the Senior Technical Adviser – Reproductive Health (STA-RH), the Emergency RH Manager and S/TAs supporting health programs in the given countries.

The ERT Senior RH Coordinator will be based in Nairobi and be deployed in case of emergencies that require a comprehensive RH response. When deployed, s/he will report to the ERT Field Director, and in between deployments, to the STA-RH. The ERT Senior RH Coordinator, when deployed to an emergency setting, is expected to rapidly initiate a quality RH response including securing a base of operations, recruiting staff, managing the emergency RH stock once it is on the ground, and liaising with other agencies on the ground. S/he will ensure that RH services, in accordance with the MISP+ model, would be made available to the populations affected by the crises.  The length of stay of the ERT Senior RH Coordinator in the emergency setting would vary widely in accordance of the evolution of the situation and could last for up to 3 months at times.

S/he will be responsible for keeping abreast with best practices. The ERT Senior RH Coordinator will document IRC’s emergency RH responses and present data and lessons learned at relevant professional meetings and other forums, and will participate in RH related relevant inter-agency initiatives.

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 and provide prioritized recommendations for RH program interventions to the ERT Field Director/emergency lead;
• Design RH program responses and strategy, including geographic areas of intervention, in coordination with internal  and external actors;
• Develop technical proposals and budgets for international donors, work in close collaboration  with IRC grants and finance staff to finalize proposals and respond to any requests for additional information;
• Ensure the proper maintenance and management of the emergency RH stock by the Emergency RH program manager and ensure the proper mobilization of relevant components of the stock in case of emergencies;
• Coordinate the IRC’s emergency RH responses with the local government, agencies, donors, and other stakeholders, and represent the IRC in relevant forums in locations where mobilized;
• Directly manage and/or supervise Coordinators in managing grant/program implementation including staff recruitment and training, workplan development, procurement and inventory planning, and budget management;
• Prepare high quality and timely donor and management reports on grants and RH activities;
• Design and implement appropriate RH 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;
• 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 RH 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 RH emergency response programming; act as IRC representative in related RH inter-agency and global forums and initiatives;
• Work with EPRU and HQ program technical staff to lead the development of RH 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 RH emergency preparedness and response in selected IRC countries;
• Contribute to the continual development of appropriate and cost-effective RH contingency stocks, revising the stock list in accordance with lessons learned in the field and monitoring replenishment.

Non-emergency

• Support RH programs in countries other than DRC, Pakistan and Chad with a strong emphasis on the implementation of the FP and PAC services and emergency RH preparedness through regular contact and field visits in collaboration with RH TAs/STA;
• Identify programmatic gaps in the above country programs and make recommendations on addressing them;
• Collaborate with other Health Unit colleagues in the development and refinement of the IRC RH strategy, RH policy and RH technical resources;
• Take on other special projects as negotiated with supervisor.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Demonstrable technical expertise and working knowledge of RH in developing countries with a strong emphasis on emergency/conflict settings;
• At least 6 years progressive public health related international field experience in RH in developing countries with a strong knowledge of the MISP/MISP+ and family planning;
• Fluency in written and spoken English. Spoken French ability is a must;
• A medical/nursing/midwifery degree is a strong plus;
• Excellent capability to represent the IRC in forums in emergency settings and excellent communication skills including the ability to deliver presentations to professional, lay and donor audiences;
• Proven writing and editing skills, including the ability to effectively write and edit grant proposals and reports;
• Effective people and program management skills in acute emergency contexts: the ability to train, lead and manage staff productively under stressful circumstances;
• Flexible work attitude: Be flexible and yet focused & reliable in an environment of changing demands;
• Availability and willingness to travel 60-80% of the time to regional and international locations (at extreme short notice (within 72 hours) in case of emergencies);
• Good computer skills: facility with MS Word, Excel, and email/internet software.

Please apply online: http://ch.tbe.taleo.net/CH02/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=IRC&am... .