Technical Advisor: Protection & Anti-Trafficking

BACKGROUND

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, the IRC works in over 40 countries. The IRC’s Resettlement, Asylum and Integration department (RAI) operates 30+ offices across Germany, Greece, Italy, the Balkans, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with new offices and programming anticipated in response to the Ukraine crisis. RAI serves clients and communities through a diverse portfolio of programs aimed at five core outcomes: Health, Safety, Economic Wellbeing, Education and Power. RAI’s Anti-Trafficking work helps ensure that all victims and survivors of labor trafficking receive the supports and services they need to be safe and stable and have opportunities to thrive. IRC accomplishes this work through collaboration with trafficking victims and survivors, direct services and supports, interagency collaboration, advocacy, and partnerships with formal and non-formal systems.  

Job Overview:  

The Technical Advisor (TA) for Protection & Anti-Trafficking provides technical assistance and coordination for anti-trafficking work across RAI, with a focus on Europe. The TA sits within the Safety, Education & Wellness (SEW) team, which is a part of RAI Program Quality & Innovation (PQI) department. PQI provides thought and practice leadership and technical support that helps IRC and partners grow and sustain high quality, evidence-based, impactful, and cost-effective programs. The SEW team focuses on Education & Youth, Health Promotion, Mental Health and Psychosocial Well-being, Child Protection, Women’s Protection & Empowerment, and Anti-Trafficking. The TA partners with RAI offices to enhance and grow their protection and anti-trafficking programming portfolio; develop and support programming based on best practices; and provides training and technical assistance to increase staff capacity to deliver high-quality services. The TA helps identify emerging issues, liaises with internal and external stakeholders, and participates in program development to enhance protection and anti-trafficking efforts in RAI. The TA helps ensures that programming is trauma-informed, strengths-based, client- and survivor-centered, operates from a gender, equity, and inclusion stance. The TA also helps coordinate and align RAI anti- or counter-trafficking efforts and robustly contributes to business development. The TA’s central responsibility is program quality, with about 80% of their time spent on delivering technical assistance, and 20% on influence, advocacy, research, coordination, and liaising with stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities:

Technical Support

·       In collaboration with colleagues from the respective country offices as well as partners and beneficiaries, develop and adapt culturally and linguistically appropriate trauma-informed, evidenced based services and materials that are aligned with IRC’s Outcomes to Evidence framework, best and promising practices with the field, and donor requirements and mandates.

·       Develop, support, and maintain relationships with various RAI office teams and external service agencies to best support forcibly displaced individuals and families.

·       Ensure services and supports are responsive to client needs and preferences, congruent with the context, and based on a gender, equity, diversity and inclusion analysis.

·       Support dissemination and replication of protection and anti-trafficking programming frameworks, methodologies and practices.

·       Provide technical assistance to RAI offices and other service agencies on best practices in protection and anti-trafficking services and supports, capacity building, and community engagement.

·       Develop, adapt, review and disseminate guidance and resources for community outreach and education on protection and trafficking in human beings with forcibly displaced communities.

Strategy, Policy and Institutional Capacity

·       Participate and advise on strategic and joint initiatives with other IRC technical units.

·       Build a diverse protection and anti-trafficking workforce by contributing to hiring and mentoring of new staff and developing the capacity of staff to deliver quality anti-trafficking services.

·       Identify where protection and anti-trafficking efforts intersect and/or duplicate other efforts in an aim to explore where programming could create collective impact.

·       Educate IRC leadership about trends, political consideration and traditional sources of funding to help shape IRC’s protection and THB approach, including strategic partnerships and alliances.

·       Represent IRC in academic fora, donor meetings, inter-agency working groups, and various global/regional/transnational networks to share best practices, collectively advocate, increase visibility and establish relationships with partners working in the same sector.

Business Development

·       Identify and pursue financial and technical resources towards the achievement of RAI protection and anti-trafficking outcomes.

·       Cultivate partnerships that increase the reach and impact of IRC protection and anti-trafficking programming.

·       Support business development efforts, including technical review of proposals, writing of proposals, developing measurement and evaluation plans, including selecting indicators, providing budgetary inputs, and liaising with donors.

Assessment and Evaluation

·       Coordinate tracking, compilation and analysis of key indicators and outcomes for protection and anti-trafficking programming.

·       Provide ongoing analysis of protection and anti-trafficking program activities, including supporting monitoring and evaluation of efforts to determine and adjust approaches as needed.

·       Build partnerships with academic institutions and other organizations to support research projects and overall, the protection and anti-trafficking work.

·       Strengthen and expand partnerships with RAI office teams and external service providers to solicit and integrate feedback to continually inform the development of needed resources.

Job Requirements:

·       Master’s degree in human/social sciences or related field.

·       At least five years of protection and/or anti-trafficking work experience with forcibly displaced people.

·       A strong understanding of European context and frameworks, including asylum/Dublin legal framework in Europe and those relating to trafficking in human beings, with established relationships in the Anti-trafficking sector.

·       Experience in project design, proposal development and monitoring and evaluation with the ability to turn concepts and strategy into measurable action.

·       Outstanding capacity to understand the country context, portfolio, and overall programmatic needs, and coordinate the relevant technical assistance needed to make a project successful.

·       Knowledge of key legal frameworks such as the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive and the Common European Asylum System.

·       Experience in strategy development and working across disciplines and sectors.

·       Self-starter with excellent project management skills, including the proven ability to prioritize and effectively manage competing demands and complete project tasks on time.

·       Ability to effectively communicate and work as a team member with collaborative partners, the community, and clients in a cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary environment.

·       Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to turn complex topics into practical and understandable educational products.

·       Computer proficiency, including MS Office, internet applications and case management databases.

Language Skills: English fluency and another European language where IRC offices are located required (Greek, German, Italian, Serbian)

Key Working Relationships

Position Reports to: Senior Technical Advisor: Protection

Position Directly Supervises: N/A

Other Internal/External Contacts:

·       Internal: Regular collaboration with RAI teams implementing protection and anti-trafficking programming, RAI’s Safety, Education and Wellness Technical Unit, communication with other members of PQI, RAI Europe leadership, CRRD.

·       External: Serve as IRC program representative in outside regional meetings and global meetings and academic forums with donors, non-governmental organizations, foundations, and inter-agency groups

Working Environment:

Regular office environment. 20%-40% travel.

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.

#LI-GR1