Senior Advisor, UN

IRC strives to be an equal opportunities employer. IRC is committed to equality of opportunity and to non-discrimination for all job applicants and employees, and we seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce regardless of gender, race, religious beliefs, nationality, ethnic/national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.

Over the past 80 years, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has developed unparalleled expertise in responding to emergencies and helping uprooted communities to rebuild. 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. The IRC responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and is on the ground in more than 40 countries providing emergency relief, relocating refugees and rebuilding lives.

The IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of work, creative partnerships and, most crucially, accountability to those served. The IRC is a dedicated advocate for the most vulnerable.

The Awards Management Unit (AMU)

Established in 2016, the global Awards Management Unit (AMU) is an international unit spanning across the world. The AMU is responsible for identifying, securing and managing all funding from statutory donors, and was designed as an end-to-end business process owner and support structure for IRC’s grant lifecycle. The Unit is organised into five ‘pillars’: Strategic Partnerships; Programme & Grants Support; Compliance & Policy; Business/Programme Development; and Training & Curriculum Development. The AMU is a bridge between donors and the field: providing expert technical advice to the field, while maintaining portfolio-level visibility to ensure consistency and compliance and manage risk. This unit ensures that donor compliance policies and procedures are implemented consistently and supports all staff working across the grants management cycle for all restricted funding from global government sources. The unit operates within a matrix management system across the teams, driving functional integration between all relevant units and staff, in collaboration with the Senior Vice President of the Global AMU and the Senior Vice President for Europe in relation to overarching issues with European donors.

The Senior Advisor, UN is part of the Strategic Partnerships Team, which has responsibility for relationship management of IRC’s key institutional donors.

Purpose of the Role

UN agencies are long-standing and strategically important partners for the IRC. The Senior Advisor will lead, guide and coordinate IRC’s funding focused engagement with key UN agencies and partners, with a specific focus on UNHCR, UNICEF and OCHA. The Senior Advisor will provide an internal and external account management function to support engagement with our UN partners. The role is responsible for providing expertise and leadership on donor and partner relations, and acknowledging the needs, interests and time constraints of colleagues in the delivery of that content.

Scope and Authority

The Senior Advisor will, in consultation with IRC teams, develop and implement strategies for maintaining and further developing proactive and positive relationships with key UN agencies. The Senior Advisor is also expected to create and maintain positive working relationships and standards of collaboration with colleagues across IRC, AMU Programme Development, Programme & Grants Support, Compliance & Policy, Country Teams, Technical Units, Policy and Advocacy, and IRC’s Senior Management.

Authority

• Advises on and implements engagement strategies for key UN agencies.
• Informs Senior Management in the AMU, IRC in Geneva & Washington DC, and globally, on UN engagement priorities.
• Initiates and coordinates engagement as well as develop positive relationships with UN agencies and partners.
• Represents IRC in external meetings with key UN officials, partners, etc.
• Coordinates with IRC leadership and the Geneva Policy & Advocacy team, which leads on relationships with UN agency leadership.

Responsibility for Resources

This role will not have staff management or budget responsibilities.

Key working relationships

• Reports to the Deputy Director – New/Growth Donors, Strategic Partnerships
• Works closely with the Senior Advisors in the Strategic Partnerships Team
• Coordinates closely with the Senior UN Compliance Officer to keep track of compliance and operational funding issues and identify related advocacy actions.
• Close co-ordination and working with other units within the AMU including Senior Management, and other senior IRC staff on UN relationships.
• Engages with other IRC teams including the Geneva-based Policy & Advocacy Director and Policy & Advocacy Officer, as well as other Policy and Advocacy colleagues.
• Collaborates closely with the President’s Office on engagement with priority UN agencies for Strategic Partnerships and delivery of briefings.
• Supports other teams to understand relationship management (structures and processes) within the global organisation.

Key accountabilities and major responsibilities

Information and Knowledge Management (60%)

• Proactively identify and broker relationships with key UN representatives;
• Maintain up to date knowledge of IRC’s position relevant to UN agencies, including portfolio, pipeline, implementation and compliance issues, advocacy aims and the status of senior level HQ-HQ engagement;
• Maintain up to date knowledge of UN strategies and policies relevant to IRC’s areas of work, such as funding priorities, geographical interests and political climate, providing analyses and synopses of press releases and other announcements, and disseminating this information internally;
• Manage and input information on the contact management database and Intranet, and contribute to the development/update of tools and resources to support IRC’s donor engagement;
• Lead on the implementation of Multi-Year Donor Engagement Strategies for UNHCR, OCHA and UNICEF;
• Work with key regional and PGS staff to support business development planning as it relates to UN agencies and partners;
• Coordinate internally with AMU, Policy and Advocacy and CRRD colleagues to ensure consistency, accuracy and timeliness of messaging for UN agencies, and appropriate representation at consultation meetings and other engagements.

External Representation (40%)

• Undertake (virtual) direct representation with UN officials, and support the development of IRC’s UN relationships, including brokering meetings between key UN agencies Regional and Technical Leadership, Country Directors, etc.
• Participate in meetings with key UN agencies, including Director/equivalent, Heads of Unit, advisors and other UN officials.
• Represent the IRC in external meetings, events, and forums including delivering presentations/briefings to senior donor representatives, forums and sector groups.

Person specification

Essential

Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications

• Knowledge of and relationships with key UN agencies (UNHCR, UNICEF, OCHA) or partners.
• Excellent written, verbal and presentation skills, including preparing briefings for senior colleagues and representing with external stakeholders and donors.
• Ability to lead and manage projects, including working as part of remote/virtual teams.
• Good analytical skills and outstanding attention to detail.
• Strong organisational and time management skills.
• Proficient working-level French is a plus.

Experience

• Significant experience of business development, programme management, advocacy or other similar HQ-HQ relationship with UN agencies.
• Extensive experience of building and maintaining networks with influencers and decision makers.
• Experience undertaking reviews of policies, datasets and reports, and producing written and verbal guidance relevant to senior and operational staff.
• Experience of working in developing countries, preferably in the context of an NGO, donor or International Organisation is beneficial.
• Proven track record of working supportively and successfully with virtual teams.

Applications to be received by 16.00 GMT on Monday 21st February 2022.

Interviews will be held on the 28th February via Teams.

In order to minimise administrative costs, IRC will only contact short-listed candidates.

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

IRC et les employés de IRC doivent adhérer aux valeurs et principes contenus dans le IRC WAY (normes de conduite professionnelle). Ce sont l’Intégrité, Egalite, le Service, et la Responsabilité. En conformité avec ces valeurs, IRC opère et fait respecter les politiques sur la protection des bénéficiaires contre l’exploitation et les abus, la protection de l’enfant, le harcèlement sur les lieux de travail, l’intégrité financière, et les représailles.