DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS

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.

Program Brief

The humanitarian crisis in Venezuela continues to intensify. Venezuelans face hyperinflation, which puts them out of reach of basic goods and services, including health care and food. A shortage of medical supplies means that it is difficult to diagnose and treat communicable diseases and sexual and reproductive health needs, among other services. The lack of food has resulted in hunger and malnutrition. From 2015-2018, over three million Venezuelans left to seek goods and services in primarily neighboring countries.

The IRC has responded to the crisis by supporting Venezuelans who cross the border into Colombia, as well as within Venezuela, via partnerships with local organizations. In 2019, the IRC will expand these partnerships and work across three states in Venezuela in the areas of sexual and reproductive health, nutrition, and protection.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

DDP is one of the very exciting role in IRC.The DDP will provide a leadership, decision-making and coordinating role on programmatic issues, fundraising  and responsible for the quality and timeliness of both proposal development as well as the effective implementation of projects . The Deputy Director of Programs (herein DDP), Venezuela, will manage all programming in Venezuela, including staff based in and traveling to the country.

This position will report to the Country Director VCR (Venezuela crisis response), who is also responsible for Venezuela. You will closely coordinate with the Deputy Director, Operations (DDO), Finance (DDF) – both based in Colombia, and the Technical Advisors of the above mentioned programs.

As a senior member of the SMT, the Deputy Director Programs leads on the formulation of strategies and implementation of programming. All functions of this position adhere to the IRC strategy, the VCR  Program strategy and strive for program excellence, gender equality, maximum beneficiary support, and client voice and choice. This role will require the highest level of discretion, with special attention to security protocol, to protect staff, partner organizations, and beneficiaries. Additionally, the DDP will need to consistently adapt to scenarios as the context evolves, to ensure both security and program delivery.

Specific Responsibilities

• Lead the scale up of programming in Venezuela, through partnerships.
• Work through the IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS), a comprehensive set of compliance tools to set up, manage, and close out partnerships and sub-awards.
• When delegated, represent the IRC for Venezuela, including internal requests, as well as with external humanitarian stakeholders such as donors, UN, and other international and national organizations. Representation will be in close collaboration with the VCR Country Director as well as any staff based in Venezuela, to ensure messages are aligned.
• Liaise with partner organizations, by supporting the Partnership Manager, to ensure that all partners are clear about objectives, next steps, reporting requirements, and any feedback they have to improve their services and the relationship with the IRC.
• Identify, recruit, and orient new staff to the IRC, including operations (HR, admin, security, and supply chain), programs, compliance, finance, and partnership management. Orientation will be supported by focal points within the IRC.
• Manage all staff terms of reference, objectives, outputs and performance, including staff based in Venezuela and traveling to Venezuela.
• Manage all aspects of project workplans, including adaptations, mitigating risks and scenarios to deliver services to the affected population, and completion of results within each grant.
• Create the monitoring plan and ensure all aspects of monitoring are completed. This will be done in collaboration with the program staff and partners, as well as the Partnership Manager.
• In coordination with IRC/VCR DDF, oversee preparation of monthly financial reports, sub-grant financial monitoring and reporting and any other finance related tasks.
• Ensure compliance, including donor requirements, spending and financial reporting, and writing narrative reports per donor compliance.
• Contribute to fundraising efforts, including speaking with donors, and take the lead on writing proposal narratives, logframes, and drafting budgets and budget narratives.
• Work with Global Supply Chain, in collaboration with the Deputy Director of Operations, to ensure appropriate procurement for partners and/or guide partners in procurement procedures that need to be adhered to as part of funding agreements, or to comply with IRC or donor requirements.
• Support partners’ efforts to seek their own funding as a mechanism to transition.
• If possible (security permitting), conduct any further assessments (either sector-specific, or a multi-sector needs assessment) to gather data from beneficiaries as well as the affected population. This will be done in conjunction with the IRC’s Accountability Team and Technical Advisors to ensure appropriate quality and standards.
• Continue ensuring feedback mechanisms on behalf of partners so that beneficiaries and partners can contact the IRC and the IRC can improve services.
• Collaborate with the Safety and Security VCR Coordinatorto ensure appropriate security protocols and adaptations as required.

Collaboration within Venezuela

• Program and operations staff: including the Partnership Manager, and program focal points
• Partnership organizations to support the Partnership Manager with monitoring, reporting, compliance, and feedback
• Humanitarian organizations, including INGOs, IGOs (e.g. Red Cross), UN, and local organizations

Collaboration within the IRC

• Country Director VCR
• Other Colombia-based staff, including operations, security, finance, and grants
• Technical Advisors (based globally) and any roster staff required to support program staff inside Venezuela
• Awards Management Unit to support all compliance and reporting for partners, as well as proposals
• Communications and Advocacy units to support any key messages at external meetings
• Global Security to support any risk analysis and mitigation