Deputy Project Director, Ahlan Simsim (This is open to current IRC employees only)

Background/IRC Summary:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC works with people forced to flee from war, conflict and disaster and the host communities that support them, as well as with those who remain within their homes and communities. 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. IRC reaches over a million children annually with education and child protection programs in 25 countries around the world.

Years of war in Syria have pushed millions from their homes and into poverty, and millions more have become refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and further afield. Equally complex is the emergency in Iraq, where waves of fighting and displacement have overwhelmed infrastructure and services and pushed communities to the brink. The COVID-19 pandemic deepened these crises, bringing new health, economic, and social challenges throughout the Middle East, as well as interrupting access to all types of services and support. The effects of these crises have changed the entire region. In the Middle East (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen) IRC responds to displaced people’s acute and longer-term needs with integrated programs that improve health and safety, prioritize children’s education, foster economic wellbeing, and empower communities to regain control over their lives.

After winning the inaugural MacArthur Foundation 100&Change competition for a $100 million grant to make measurable progress toward solving a significant problem from 2018-2023, the IRC and Sesame Workshop are continuing into the next phase of the Ahlan Simsim project. In the next phase of the project Ahlan Simsim will expand and deepen its interventions to bring vital early learning and nurturing care to more than nine million children and families affected by crisis and conflict in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, while also starting work in new parts of the Middle East. The program seeks to reach children and families where they are with effective, scalable, and sustainable interventions to support child development, including NGO and government-delivered early education for children and support and training for caregivers using engaging multimedia content. Ahlan Simsim has developed and will continue to co-design and support partner-led interventions with key public and private stakeholders working across the many sectors that serve children and families, including health, protection, and livelihoods. For more information, please visit: https://www.rescue.org/ahlansimsim.

Reporting to the Regional Project Director of Ahlan Simsim, the Deputy Project Director will provide support and accountability oversight for all Country-led Ahlan Simsim programming. The DPD is responsible for the execution of fundraising and growth efforts and strategy in collaboration with regional, TU, Country and HQ colleagues. The DPD will work closely with the ECD Technical Lead, the Research Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (RMEL) Technical Lead and the ECD Advocacy Advisor to ensure that content creation, RMEL and policy work go hand-in-hand with program delivery as well as growth and fundraising efforts. The DPD will work in close collaboration with the Deputy Director for Programs in each Country Program to ensure adequate support and oversight of all project sites. Specifically, the DPD is responsible for the following objectives:

• Strategic Leadership and Program Oversight - Country Liaising and Support: Provide support, guidance and oversight for ECD program design and field implementation in the region, ensuring that programs are responsive and of high quality, inclusive, evidence-based, cost-effective and scalable.
• Fundraising and Growth: the DPD will lead the executive of the Fundraising and Growth strategy with support from and in collaboration with relevant actors from the IRC and Sesame Workshop.
•  Project Management: the DPD will manage the Project Management team that oversees reporting, administration and financial accountability. 

RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Leadership and Program Oversight – Country Liaising and Support

·Provide cohesive leadership to IRC’s ECD program teams in all countries, ensuring that priorities and opportunities identified are in line with and contribute to achievement of IRC’s objectives for the Ahlan Simsim project.

·Provide guidance to the program teams regarding tools and strategies to ensure that programming is based on input from communities, a thorough understanding of the context, and technical best practices.

·Work in close collaboration with the ECD Technical Lead and country teams to ensure content and program models are relevant for users across MENA

·Analyze data from country implementation in collaboration with the RMEL Technical Lead to inform decisions and report, at a strategic level, different metrics of success in ECD

·Work in close collaboration with the ECD and RMEL Technical Leads to ensure any research planning and implementation are aligned with IRC program parameters and operational dynamics, and that monitoring tools and processes optimize data collection and analysis efficiencies, where appropriate

·In coordination with the Regional Project Director, Country ECD Coordinators and the ECD Technical Lead foster and maintain purposeful regional partnerships to improve the quality and reach of our programs and to reform ECD national policies

Fundraising and Growth

·Execute on the Ahlan Simsim fundraising and growth strategy in collaboration with relevant regional, TU and HQ actors; serve as Sesame Workshop liaison for growth and fundraising.

·Work with colleagues in current Ahlan Simsim country programs and new geographies, region and HQ to identify funding opportunities and develop competitive, responsive proposals.

·Assist in the writing and development of proposals, including liaising with country teams on program design and delivery approaches

·Lead on execution and operationalization of pooled fund mechanisms with relevant colleagues in collaboration with IPP

Project and Grants Management

·Oversee all PM and Admin functions for the Ahlan Simsim project ensuring that reporting, financial management and administrative needs are supported and sound

·Serve as the primary budget holder for all Ahlan Simsim budgets; in collaboration with the RPD make investment recommendations for new financing that comes in as a result of growth workstreams

·Collaborate with relevant HQ functions to ensure that PM functions are in line with IRC procedures

Staff Management and Human Resources

·Supervise and mentor direct-report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting performance objectives, establishing a supportive environment while emphasizing accountability, providing regular and timely constructive performance feedback, and leading documented semi-annual performance reviews.

·Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions.

·Promote and monitor staff care and well-being. Model healthy work-life balance practices. Support appropriate interventions in response to identified staff care needs of both national and international staff.

·Work with regional HR staff to identify and implement recruitment and retention strategies.

·Model and encourage active practice of the principles of the “IRC Way – Global Standards for Professional Conduct”.

·Maintain open communications with regional management staff, regional technical advisors, and HQ departmental staff.

Key Working Relationships:

·Position Reports to: Regional Project Director, Ahlan Simsim
Position directly supervises[1]: All Project Management, Grants, Reporting and Admin Functions, Growth and Fundraising Support Functions

·Indirect Reporting: N/A

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

·Internal: Ahlan Simsim Regional team members, IRC ECD Coordinators and ECD staff, DDPs for all country programs; other technical units within IRC (Research Learning and Evaluation, Health, Violence Prevention and Response, Economic Recovery and Development, Governance, Gender Equality)

·External: Senior Director, Education, Sesame Workshop staff