Early Childhood Development Manager - Erbil OR Baghdad

The International Rescue Committee 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, IRC offers life-saving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in more than 40 countries and in 22 U.S. cities, IRC restores safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted by conflict or disaster. IRC leads the way from harm to home.

The IRC Iraq program was established in 2003 and is currently operating programs in 14 governorates in the Kurdistan Region and south central Iraq with an annual budget of over $30 million. Working in coordination with the humanitarian community, the IRC's assistance programs for Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq, includes both camp-based and urban-based refugee and IDP assistance. The IRC Iraq supports IDPs, returnees, host communities and Syrian refugees across 14 governorates in Iraq with activities focused on education, protection and rule of law, women’s protection and empowerment, child protection and livelihoods activities. The IRC Iraq’s country office is based in Erbil, with field offices in Mosul, Kirkuk, Ramadi, Duhok and Baghdad and program offices in Sulaymaniyah, Salah al-Din and Karbala governorates. 

In Iraq, high-quality Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs have the potential to provide the foundation for children future academic success, health, prosperity, and wellbeing. A large body of scientific evidence emphasizes the need for increased investment in early childhood, particularly for children experiencing conflict, crisis and displacement; these children are extremely vulnerable to the long-lasting effects that prolonged stress has on the developing brain.

In December 2017, Sesame Workshop and the IRC were awarded the MacArthur Foundation’s inaugural 100&Change grant to make real progress toward solving a critical problem of our time. With the extraordinary investment of $100 million, our partnership will transform the language, early reading, math, and social-emotional skills of a generation of children ages 0-8 affected by the Syrian war. Focusing on children in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria over the next five years, the plan combines the depth of in-person services, reaching 1.5 million children, with the breadth of mass media, reaching 9.4 million children. For more information, please visit: http://refugee.sesameinternational.org/.

Job Overview/Summary:

Reporting to the Early Childhood Development Coordinator (ECD Coordinator), the ECD Manager will lead the ECD program implementation at field level, managing and overseeing the activities associated with supporting, adapting and expanding the provision of ECD Sesame Seed Project in Iraq. This includes:

1. Ensure timely and quality implementation of ECD activities;
2. Provide management and technical support to field teams;
3. Liaise with sub-national governmental and non-governmental partners and stakeholders;
4. Support the ECD Coordinator in identifying programmatic opportunities and expandingstrategic priorities such as partnerships wherepossible;

The ECD Manager is responsible for overall management of ECD field staff, providing any and all support necessary to ensure successful implementation of ECD programming. The position plays a key role in ensuring programmatic strategies and best practices are shared across field teams, building the capacity of key National Staff. The ECD Manager will also support the ECD Coordinator in internal and external representation activities, communication and knowledge management initiatives, as well as donor reporting and program development opportunities as required.

Major Responsibilities:

Program Implementation

• Supervise field-based ECD teams, ensuring accountability to IRC policies and donor rules and regulations;
• Support the preparation of workplans with clear objectives and achievement benchmarks, long-term and short-term priorities, in line with programmatic vision and strategies;
• Work with the ECD Coordinator to ensure the vision and direction of the ECD program correspond to field realities and needs;
• Provide direct support to management of grants at the field-level – including financial planning and tracking, procurement planning, and reporting;
• Oversee implementation of ECD activites, services, and research components across governorates, in collaboration with the relevant team members;
• Oversee and harmonize work approaches and best practices across governorates and teams;
• Ensure that program initiatives address the needs adequately and cost-effectively;

Grants management and business development

• Work closely with the Grants section to achieve overall grant activities, deliverables, and budget compliance within donor guidelines;
• Support the ECD Coordinator in identify gaps in existing ECD programming and work with the team to develop innovative approaches and mechanisms to address them;
• Work closely with the ECD Coordinator in the design and development of new and potential funding opportunities for ECD programming in line with IRC Iraq’s Country Strategy;
• Support the ECD Coordinator in producing high quality donor reports and other materials as required;

Technical Quality

• In coordination with the ECD TU and the MEAL team, oversee the maintenance of a robust monitoring and evaluation framework, including quality control and reporting systems;
• Identify technical assistance needs of field implementing staff, and arrange for the provision of needed assistance;
• Work closely with the ECD Coordinator and ECD TU to provide clear technical support, supervision, training and mentoring to the ECD team, including training needed to build specialized skills;
• Ensure that ECD staff and services adhere to best practice, professional standards and principles;
• Stay well-informed of developments in the IRC ECD Technical Unit and global working groups related to new tools and guidelines;

Coordination, Representation and Advocacy

• Actively develop and maintain effective working relationships with key stakeholders, including donors, government actors, UN agencies, international and local NGOs, and other relevant actors;
• Develop strategic partnerships with local organizations, wherever possible;
• Maintain productive working relationship with ECD Coordination structures;
• Ensure key field concerns are brought to relevant stakeholders;

Human Resources and Staff Management and Development

• Coach, train, and mentor staff with the aim of strengthening their technical capacity, exchanging knowledge within the team and providing professional development guidance
• Supervise and mentor direct-report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting performance objectives, providing regular and timely performance feedback, and providing documented semi-annual performance reviews.
• Provide constructive feedback and counsel on appropriate career paths and professional development.
• Promote and monitor staff care and well-being; approve and manage all leave requests to ensure adequate coverage.
• Offer leadership support for successful adherence by staff to IRC’s Global HR Operating Policies and Procedures.
• In collaboration with the HR, support recruitment of program staff as needed;
• 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;
• Adhere to and act in accordance with the IRC Global HR Policies and Procedures;

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: ECD Coordinator 

Position directly supervises: ECD Field Officers 

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: Regional Technical Lead ECD (Sesame Seeds), Regional Research Lead (Sesame Seeds), other IRC programs and support departments

External:Partner NGOs and relevant Ministries

Preferred:

• Spoken Kurdish;
• Master Degree in early childhood development, education, or social sciences;
• Prior Iraq experience working in emergency settings or insecure environments

Working Environment:

The position will be based in Erbil, Iraq, and covers all operating areas in Iraq.  The security situation in Erbil remains broadly permissive with continued attention paid to the potential for growing instability due to the continual influx of displacement and proximity to insecure areas in other governorates within Iraq.  

Standards of Professional Conduct:

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct.  These are Integrity, Service, 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.

Gender Equality

IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including maternity leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowances. Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Attention Returning National Candidates:

IRC strives to attract, motivate and retain qualified national staff in our programs. We strongly encourage national or returning national candidates to apply for this position. If you are a national of the country in which this position is based and are currently located outside of your home country and possess over two years of international work experience, IRC has introduced an attractive remuneration package. The package includes competitive compensation, return flight to post, shipping allowance, temporary housing and a relocation allowance. Certain restrictions may apply.

''Given the nature of the contract , only Iraqi National will be considered as applicant''