Regional Program Manager, MENA

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 over 25 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.

CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND

IRC’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) portfolio is comprised of programs supporting crisis affected persons in five countries: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, and Syria.

The Syria crisis is often described as the worst humanitarian catastrophe since the end of the Cold War. Inside Syria, 6.2 million people are internally displaced and 11.7 million are in need of humanitarian assistance. There are 5.6 million Syrian refugees in neighboring countries. March 2021 marks 10 years since the conflict in Syria began. Iraq is emerging from over three years of fighting against the Islamic State, and the devastating human consequences will endure for decades and the destruction of communities, livelihoods, homes and infrastructure will take years to repair. Over 4.5 million Iraqis have returned in the past years, but 1.4 million remain displaced. In Libya, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated since the 2011 revolution. According to the United Nations Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2020, 1.8 million people have been affected by the crisis, and more than 893,000 people are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance, a nine percent increase on 2018.

In response to emerging and ongoing crises in the MENA region, IRC delivers programming supporting clients’ health, protection, education, livelihoods, and cash assistance needs. Programming is rooted in best practice, tailored to address needs identified by crisis affected community members, and, increasingly, delivered in partnership with local civil society organizations throughout the region.

Job Overview/Summary:The Regional Program Manager, MENA (RPM) is a New York-based member of MENA’s Regional Program Support Team. The Regional Program Manager will be responsible for providing business development, grants management, and operational support to country programs as well as to the regional unit. This role reports to the Regional Program Officer and partners with a second Regional Program Manager to provide a range of administrative and programmatic HQ support services. The position entails limited field travel.

Major Responsibilities:

Grants & Partnerships Management and Proposal Development

§Participate in country office grants and partnerships calls;

§Review, edit, and provide substantive feedback on grant reports prior to donor submission and submit reports in a timely manner;

§Support Program Officer in the preparation and review of grant proposals/modifications and submissions, including liaising with various departments to obtain signed approvals and helping to complete proposal packages;

§Review sub-award proposal packages, sub-award agreements and modifications, ensuring compliance with donor requirements and IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS);

§Maintain an accurate record of grant deliverables, and assist in communicating to country program grants teams, on a monthly basis, upcoming deliverables to be supported by the NY team;

§Maintain the region’s grant filing system at HQ and update, on a monthly basis, the region’s grant tracker, a detailed list of the region’s active grants by country;

§Work with Program Officer to ensure complete documentation is obtained for a variety of grant actions, and ensure reviews are completed in a timely manner and internal approvals are obtained;

§Work with country office grants staff to ensure OTIS (internal web-based grants management system) is up to date;

§Liaise with country programs and the Finance Department to process source code requests from the field and relay proper documentation back to the country programs;

§Support country program onboarding and roll-out of IRC’s Project Cycle Meeting (PCM) guidance, as necessary;       

Internal and External Communications

§Respond to day-to-day internal and external requests for information, draft content for internal or external use;

Administrative (as necessary)

§Obtain Delegations of Authority, Powers of Attorney, and other documents as needed to facilitate field office operations;

§Process payment requests and vouchers;

§Organize logistics and meetings for field staff visiting HQ;

Other

§Travel to MENA country offices to provide ad hoc support or to gap fill for country office grants staff vacancies as needed;

§Cover additional responsibilities when teammates are out of the office;

§Participate in special projects as needed.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to:  Regional Program Officer, Middle East and North Africa
Position directly supervises:  N/A

Indirect Reporting: N/A
Other Internal and/or external contacts: Regional Program Manager; Regional Grants Director; Regional Grants Advisor(s) (UK and Berlin); Regional Grants Assistant (UK); Country Office Grants and Partnerships Coordinators, Managers, and Officers; NY Finance Department; IRC Award Management Unit; NY Crisis Response, Recovery & Development (CRRD) Department; Office of General Counsel.

Qualifications:

You have excellent interpersonal and communication skills; the ability to effectively collaborate closely with people within and across departments in a multi-cultural environment. You are both a strong teammate and an independent performer in a fast-paced environment. You have strong administrative skills, and the solid ability to prioritize projects with attention to detail.

§Minimum 2 years related non-profit, grants and/or administrative work experience; experience working on awards issued by major humanitarian donors (e.g. BHA, BPRM, UN, ECHO, FCDO) a plus;

§Experience working in the MENA region is desirable, particularly in one of the countries in which the IRC is currently operating: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya and Syria;

§Excellent writing and editing skills: the ability to draft and edit documents for internal and external audiences;

§Understanding of United States Government donors and their requirements preferred;

§Ability and willingness to travel;

§Bachelor’s degree in a related field (Education, Public Health, Public Policy, International Affairs, Social Work, etc.) or equivalent work experience. Master’s degree not required, but is desirable.

Working Environment:

Standard office work environment; must be willing to travel to the region. This role may require working remotely full or part time, and part time remote employees may be required to share workspace.

Standards of Professional Conduct: The IRC and IRC workers adhere to the values and principles outlined in The 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.

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 parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowances.