Job Description
IRC is one of the first humanitarian organizations to bring together specific disciplines involved in violence prevention and response (VPR) in conflict affected settings to ensure collaborative and still specialized support to survivors and those at risk of violence. Over the past 16 years, IRC has pioneered and implemented programs that prevent and respond to violence against women and children, as well as other vulnerable groups in refugee settings and in other conflict-affected contexts, making the IRC a global leader in this field. IRC presently implements VPR programs in 26 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, with funding from governments, the UN, foundations, and private donors.
As a Senior Technical Advisor (STA) within the Violence Prevention and Response Technical Unit (VPRU), you will oversee a team focused on advancing participation and inclusion of children, adolescents and women, and women’s movement building. This includes working with Child Protection and Protection/Rule of Law technical teams to identify opportunities to advance women’s participation and leadership in those specializations, such as within access to justice efforts, women’s peacebuilding efforts, and community-based protection work.
You will work in close partnership with the STA for Risk Mitigation and Inclusion to build out a strategy around VPRU’s leadership on participation, inclusion and localization, and to support business development in these inter-connected areas, with the long-term view of bringing this work under one coherent umbrella within VPRU.
As a member of the Technical Innovations and Emergency Response (TIER) Team, you will collaborate with the TIER Deputy Director and Senior Technical Advisors across VPRU to ensure resource and information sharing, informed business planning, adequate uptake and dissemination of all resources developed and facilitation of coordination across teams as needed.
Your specific portfolio currently includes projects aimed at promoting locally-led programs that are inclusive of diverse women and girls, and at pushing forward innovative approaches to women and girls’ participation and accountability in humanitarian settings. You will be responsible for ensuring the timely implementation, coordination and adherence to high technical standards of work within projects that sit within this portfolio.
As the STA for Participation and Women’s Movement Building you will provide direct supervision to the technical specialist leading on the Building Local, Thinking Global project. You will travel up to 35% time to support field-based and partner-led activities.
Main responsibilities include:
Technical assistance and oversight
Provide technical support as required where the IRC is implementing programming that promotes participation and women’s movement building, in collaboration with VPRU country-facing technical advisors. This includes but is not limited to the Listen Up and Building Local, Thinking Global (BLTG) projects.
Coordinate and collaborate with Gender Equality, Policy and Advocacy, and other relevant departments at the IRC, to collectively advance the innovative design and implementation work that promotes women’s movement building.
Plan for and ensure technical assistance to women’s rights organizations and networks that are IRC partners in participation and movement-building efforts.
Ensure strong monitoring and evaluation approaches to capture robust learning, in partnership with VPRU M&E specialists and IRC partners.
Contribute to identifying strategic technical priorities, in collaboration with Child Protection, Protection / Rule of Law and Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE) STAs, for further work to advance participation and inclusion of children, adolescents and women, and women’s leadership and movement building.
Leadership and representation
In close collaboration with the STA for Risk Mitigation and Inclusion, and the broader VPRU Leadership Team, contribute to strategic planning and the strategic direction of the VPRU, with a specific focus on how to promote and ensure effective child and adolescent participation in VPR programming, women’s participation and leadership, and women’s movement building.
Contribute to the cohesive functioning of the team by ensuring strong communication within the team, across the Technical Innovations & Emergency Response team, and with VPRU Country Support colleagues.
Advance the IRC/VPRU as a thought leader in thematic areas of a cross-cutting nature including disability, age, gender and inclusion in humanitarian action, risk mitigation, and centrality of protection through strategic participation in workshops, panels, and conferences.
Provide representation in key internal and inter-agency fora to influence policy and practice and support the IRC Uganda Learning Advisor to promote uptake of Listen Up learning within national fora.
Resource development and learning uptake
Review and finalize all resources, learning documents and external-facing communications that stem from the VPRU’s participation, inclusion and movement building portfolio.
Support the development of dissemination plans to highlight new resources and to ensure practitioners are aware of and utilizing resources and learning.
Capture and disseminate learning from across the Listen Up project in annual technical learning briefs, highlighting advancements in women’s movement building to address sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse within humanitarian response.
Support the development of internal and external communication products related to projects in your portfolio. This may include writing stories for online publication, developing content for social media, podcasts or other media, engaging with high profile public figures, and producing regular activity updates to share with external partners.
Partner coordination and event support
Ensure continued strong partner relationships, promoting work in line with feminist partnership principles outlined through Listen Up. This includes partnership with multiple WROs, Raising Voices, Voice, Sonjara, and resource development consultants (e.g. translators, designers, etc.).
Work with the Grants Officer, who is responsible for the coordination and operationalization of these partners, in order to ensure timely and informed communication.
Coordinate and support facilitation of external advisory group working with the Listen Up project and strengthen adherence to the advisory group principles.
Coordinate with a sister-project led by the Global Women’s Institute, Empowered Aid, to ensure activities are coordinated and share learning.
Oversee the planning of all major events, internal and external meetings, project workshops, and travel, in coordination with the VPRU
Program Assistant and Operations.
Business development and grants management
Build funding for new areas of investment in VPRU, with a focus on leading business development for women’s participation, child and adolescent participation, and women’s movement building.
Support preparation of, review and sign-off on high-quality narrative donor reports for all projects in your portfolio.
Work closely with the VPRU grants manager to monitor project spending and to ensure timely financial reporting.
Work with relevant project team members and grants managers to ensure budgets are managed effectively. This includes managing communication with field programs receiving budget allocations from TU-led grants.
Human resources
Provide regular supervision, guidance and mentoring to direct reports
Identify development needs of direct reports and support them to access professional growth opportunities appropriate to their needs and aspirations.
Maintain open and professional relations with team members, encouraging them to collaborate effectively, promoting team cohesion, and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions.
Lead with commitment, integrity and accountability to the IRC’s global standards for professional conduct.
Qualifications
MA in social work, gender equality, women’s rights or other related field, or equivalent and relevant experience.
8-10 years’ experience in humanitarian, development or similar organizations with direct experience working on VAWG response and prevention programming, including but not limited to the response and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse.
Active member of feminist movements and networks in the global south with substantial expertise in advancing women’s rights and feminist movement building.
Experience in child and adolescent participation is a strength.
Excellent oral and written communication, including proven success communicating in challenging and cross-cultural contexts
Highly organized and self-motivated, able to work efficiently on his/her own
