Senior Investigator

Geneva | London | New York City

Organization: IRC - International Rescue Committee
Location: Geneva | London | New York City
Grade: Level not specified - Level not specified
Occupational Groups:
- Internal audit, Investigation and Inspection
Closing Date: Closed

The International Rescue Committee is among the world’s leading humanitarian relief and development organizations. The IRC has been at the forefront of virtually every major humanitarian initiative to assist people uprooted by war, persecution, or civil conflict for the last 80 years. And, more than 80 years after Albert Einstein helped create the IRC, the number and intensity of humanitarian crises across the globe warrant a dose of Einstein-inspired innovation.

The world’s more than 50 million displaced people, the most since World War II, require more than “aid as usual.” Their growing and increasingly complex needs mandate a transformation—a creative rethinking—in the global humanitarian response. The beneficiaries of its programs deserve evidence-based interventions that bring real change to their lives. That is what the IRC is determined to deliver. The IRC has grown because its teams have gone to the toughest places, done cutting-edge research, developed in-depth knowledge, and forged vital relationships with local governments. Today its more than 16,000 employees and 13,000 incentive workers work in 170 field offices in 40 crisis-torn countries are helping communities rebuild after Ebola, survive terrorist insurgencies, and recover from war. From health care to education to protection for women and girls, the IRC is there. And unlike any other humanitarian organization, it is also here, in 26 U.S. cities, helping newly arrived refugees adjust to life in America and make a contribution to their new country.

Job Overview

The Senior Investigator is responsible for managing a significant portfolio of ECU Investigations across multiple regions on a global basis. These investigations include complex and sensitive matters involving fraud, waste, abuse, corruption, exploitation and abuse, client Safeguarding, and other misconduct. This role supports IRC Programs to ensure continued vigilance with regard to the risks associated with violations of the IRC Way, IRC’s Code of Professional Conduct; policies and procedures; and local and national laws and regulations.

The Senior investigator is responsible for supervising a team of ECU Investigators, Country Program Compliance Coordinators, and consultants and other local IRC staff (on an ad-hoc basis) in order to conduct comprehensive investigations within their regions of responsibility.

The Senior Investigator position is a role that requires regular engagement with ECU leadership as well as CRRD and RAI senior management and leaders, including Regional Vice Presidents (RVPs), Country Directors, and other Senior Management Team (SMT) members. The Senior Investigator is also responsible for the engagement and building of working relationships with IRC key functional areas in both programs and operations on a global basis, such as Global Human Resources, Global Supply Chain, Finance, Internal Audit, Partnerships, Grants, and relevant Program(s) leadership. The Senior Investigator is also required to engage and build critical relationships with third parties to IRC, including our donors, implementing partners and sub-grantees, vendors, and other agencies in furtherance of our investigations work and building a culture of ethics and compliance.

The Senior Investigator is responsible for capacity building and training initiatives within the ECU department and wider organization to further develop IRC’s complaints mechanism, ECU processes and procedures, ECU Safeguarding center of excellence, and investigation capacity building of staff we work with globally across numerous Country Programs and RAI offices. The Senior Investigator will also develop strategies in conjunction with ECU leadership and CRRD, RAI, and HQ leadership to raise awareness of IRC policies/procedures and ECU’s work in order to increase the reporting of misconduct across the organization.

Finally, the Senior Investigator supports ECU leadership (both Senior Director of Investigations and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer) with ECU annual and quarterly reporting to donors and internal stakeholders, identification of misconduct trends and themes, identification of emerging risk areas, identification of areas of departmental efficiencies, and other ad-hoc management requests.

Two commitments lie at the foundation of the IRC’s work: 1) our unceasing quest to serve the needs of our beneficiaries; and 2) our determination to meet the requirements of our donors as trusted stewards of their resources. This position will play a key role in meeting these challenges by furthering a critical mission of the Ethics and Compliance Unit - to safeguard our employees, beneficiaries, staff and resources from misconduct and abuse in complex and high-risk operating environments through investigating allegations of fraud, collusion, and corruption in the use of the grant funds. Given the nature of our work, the position requires extensive travel on field missions to conduct investigations at IRC locations globally.

This is a global position, working from an IRC office or remote work environment, depending on specific ECU leadership requirements, including IRC Region(s) to be covered by the Senior Investigator.

Key Responsibilities

• Case Portfolio Management: Provide leadership and supervisory management over a significant portfolio of ECU investigations on a regional basis, including one or more regions where IRC operates, and the multiple Country Programs within.

• Supervision: Supervise and mentor ECU Investigators, Compliance Coordinators (management and partnership), Consultants, and other staff in all phases of the investigation process and other ECU initiatives, including the development and oversight of investigation plans; investigation steps; and final investigation reports. Provide timely feedback and guidance including annual performance reviews and periodic performance check-ins.

• Investigations: Supervise and ensure quality control over all aspects of ECU investigations, which includes complex investigations into alleged fraud, corruption, waste, safeguarding, and other types of misconduct, while demonstrating objectivity, impartiality, and fairness throughout the investigative process and in accordance with generally recognized international investigative standards and IRC guidelines. Oversee and contribute to critical elements of the investigation life cycle including, but not limited to:

o Case Intake Committee: Participate in weekly case intake meetings to evaluate new concerns reported to the ECU and present point of view for committee consideration

o Donor Disclosures: Perform timely evaluation of new reports of misconduct, donor implications, and draft and/or review donor disclosures before issuance to the donor

o Investigation Planning: Formulate investigation plans for review by Senior Director of Investigations at commencement of new investigations

o Investigative Reports: Deliver high-quality investigation reports and ad hoc briefs pertaining to investigations in coordination with the Senior Director of Investigations, and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer

o Recommendations: In consultation with Country Program senior leaders, review and prepare recommendations for corrective action and improved controls and effectiveness or efficiency of IRC operations

• ECU Leadership Support: Lead in the prioritization of investigative work in consultation with Ethics and Compliance Unit leadership. Appropriately escalate high-risk matters to the Senior Director of Investigations as required. Support leadership in presentations to IRC senior leaders and donors.

• Regional, High-Risk, and Safeguarding Case Reviews: Undertake regular regional, high-risk, and Safeguarding investigative case reviews to ensure most critical cases are being addressed and prioritized accordingly, and any trends are identified for communication to senior leadership

• Stakeholder Engagement: Engage, build, and maintain working relationships with key senior leaders in CRRD and RAI globally, including Regional Vice Presidents, Country Directors, and key programmatic and operational units (Human Resources, Supply Chain, Finance, Internal Audit, Partnerships, Grants, etc.), and collaboratively develop strategies to improve staff understanding of the reporting of misconduct to ECU and the investigations process

• Training, Awareness, and Capacity Building: Lead, supervise and or contribute in ECU departmental and global investigations capacity building, including but not limited to the following:

o Best Practices: Lead in developing and revising compliance-related best practices and lessons learned from investigative work.

o Training: Prepare and deliver investigation training for Country Program staff and other stakeholders supporting investigations.

o Awareness Building: Develop and/or build ECU Investigations awareness trainings during field missions, online, or via other methods to further build and foster CRRD and RAI understanding of the Investigation Life Cycle, including reporting and investigation of incidents

Reporting Lines and Working Relationships

• Position Reports to: Senior Director of Investigations

• Position directly supervises: Investigator(s); Compliance Coordinators (management in partnership supervision); and consultants (ad-hoc)

• Other Internal and/or external contacts (globally)

o Internal: HQ, CRRD, and RAI senior leadership, SMT, middle management, and staff; and program and functional areas (as noted above)

o External: International representatives, donors, implementing partners, vendors, service providers, volunteers, external auditors, etc.

Job Requirements

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree required in business, forensics, accounting/finance law, international relations, criminal justice, or related field. Certificates, licenses or advanced degrees in law, accounting/finance, or computer forensics an advantage: (CFE/CFF/CPA/CA/CCEP)

• Work Experience:

• 7+ years of progressively responsible experience in the field of investigations, with at least 4+ years in an international or global environment;

• Experience in the nonprofit, NGO sectors or grant-supported organizations, regional and international organizations, or the inspector general function within a large government organization;

• Experience conducting fraud, collusion, corruption, vendor and supplier collusion, safeguarding and other types of investigations in challenging environments, and preferably in the locations where the IRC operates;

• Experience working with investigation teams in remote locations and insecure environments;

• Experience examining forensic, financial, and electronic evidence;

• Extensive experience conducting interviews of witnesses and subjects in multicultural environments;

• Previous management experience a significant plus;

• Travel to insecure environments required.

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

• Ability to work effectively in English is a requirement;

• Fraud Investigation Principles and Techniques, including Procurement Fraud, Bribery, Collusion and Corruption;

• Sexual Exploitation and Abuse investigation and interviewing experience preferred;

• Excellent Judgement, Honesty and Integrity to the highest degree;

• Interviewing skills and the ability to interview both witnesses and subjects;

• Experience with computer and accounting forensic specialists (having such expertise a plus);

• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing, including the preparation of clear and concise reports;

• Demonstrated ability to build relationships and work successfully with internal functional units and operations;

• Data Analysis;

• MS Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint and VISIO

• Demonstrated experience and a successful track record working with minimal direct supervision

Working Environment:

• Position will either be remote working from home or in an IRC office environment in any country where IRC is registered and the applicant resides.

• Travel up to 25-30% to developing countries including insecure environments (post Covid-19 travel restrictions)

US Benefits: We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days (depending on role and tenure), medical insurance starting at $145 per month, dental starting at $7 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus a 3-7% base IRC contribution (3 year vesting), disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement: In accordance with IRC’s duty to provide and maintain a workplace that is free of known hazards and our commitment to safeguard the health of our employees, clients, and communities, IRC requires new hires to furnish proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in order to be considered for any in-office or hybrid positions. All IRC US offices require full vaccination to attend any in-office functions (e.g., meetings, trainings).

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity: IRC is committed to building a diverse organization and a climate of inclusivity. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who can demonstrate that they can contribute to this goal.

Equal Opportunity Employer: We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

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.

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