Department Manager– Mass Markets

BACKGROUND
Over the past 90 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-changingassistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. The IRC is on the ground in more than 40 countries, providing emergency relief, relocating refugees and rebuilding lives in the wake of disaster.

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

IRC UK
IRC UK is part of the IRC global network, which has its headquarters in New York and London. Our team in the UK works to raise profile, deliver policy and practice change, and increase funding to help restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Since 2021, IRC UK has also provided integration services directly to refugees in England, a programme that is rapidly growing.

In Europe, the IRC also has offices in Berlin, Bonn, Brussels, Geneva and Stockholm.

External Relations

The External Relations (ER) department is comprised of four complementary functions: Private fundraising, Mobilisation & Marketing, Policy & Advocacy and Operations & Analytics. To enable IRC to deliver our Strategy100 commitments, the ER department has established a bold new approach that will enhance our ability to raise diverse and flexible funding aligned with IRC’s top priorities, while raising our profile and influence. The ER team is an international team, with colleagues in more than 10 offices globally.

The Purpose of the Role

The Department Manager, Mass Markets is a critical member of the team and is responsible for providing high quality, process, operations, and administrative support to ensure the smooth running of the global team.

The role is varied in what it covers and will suit somebody good at prioritising effectively, multi-tasking, working autonomously and combining an eye for detail with interest in supporting the Project Manager. The right candidate can make judgements on what is strategically important, will have the ability to problem solve, be efficient, diplomatic and have the inter-personal skills to deal with senior staff, colleagues and networks internationally.

Scope and Authority

Authority

This role has the authority to make routine decisions within the remit and about day-to-day team matters. The role has delegated authority as specified by the Vice President, Mass Markets and the Project Manager, Mass Markets. Where escalation is required, matters should be referred to the line manager or relevant senior stakeholder depending on the circumstances.

Responsibility for Resources

• No direct reports
• No budgetary responsibility

Key Working Relationships

Position Reports to: Project Manager – Mass Markets

Position directly supervises: N/A

Internal contacts: Works closely with other departments across the organization, Mass Markets senior team and the External Relations support team

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Support to Vice President – Mass Markets (20%)

• Lead the daily workflow of the Vice President – Mass Markets, including scheduling, handling appointments, and streamlining emails
• Coordinate international travel as needed, including travel briefs, flights, accommodation, visa application and ground transportation
• Act as central communications point to ensure a cohesive department culture by designing, developing and implementing effective communication strategies and communicating regularly with relevant staff
• Coordinate with other HQ departments to plan internal leadership meetings and organization-wide activities to promote a positive work culture and encourage interaction within and across teams

Department Administration and Coordination (30%)

• Schedule department/team meetings, record actions and ensure follow-up of action items to completion
• Lead and manage all MM onboarding materials for new staff (includes onboarding experience, integra training admin paperwork, maintaining docs, email distribution lists, internal newsletter, and IRC policy and process) and help support Mass Markets team with recruitment logistics
• Develop collaborative relationships with the Mass Market teams and Department Managers of the External Relations Senior Leadership Team.
• Maintain teams time off tracking system and support department wide roll out

Budget Support and Expenses (20%)

• Collate and submit expense reports, purchase orders, contract payments and other finance transactions for approval. Support department-wide rollout of systems and processes related to expensing
• Analyze the monthly budget vs. actual reports for the department in a timely manner and work with the finance department to resolve problems;
• Act as budget coordinator during budget season. Coordinate closely with finance and business operations.

Support to Project Manager – Mass Markets (30%)

• Assist in the preparation of meeting materials and reports (including for CEO and IRC Board of Directors), including research, data collection, preparation, and assembly of materials
• Work with the Project Manager on team offsites; coordinate logistics – venue, attendees travel, meetings and prepare agendas, pre-reads, presentations and any additional materials required
• Collect KPI data across Mass Markets and synthesize for decision making;
• Prepare quarterly reports on KPI data for leadership.
• Liaise with other staff from the department on feeding data into the Quarterly Strategic Review.
• Track and document key internal and external meetings and proactively ensure that key action points are communicated and follow up occurs
• Perform other job-related duties, as reasonable and requested by Project Manager – Mass Markets assigned.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications

• Ability to organize, plan, schedule, determine/balance priorities and meet deadlines
• Excellent presentation and meeting arrangement skills – a good understanding of how to build high impact settings
• Experience working with budgets and accounting as well as handling travel arrangements
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills, ability to maintain positive working relationships at all organizational levels
• Ability to communicate and collaborate with tact and diplomacy, both orally and in writing
• Strong computer proficiency in Google Suite, Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook. Adept at learning new technology platforms
• Ability to take initiative, function independently and navigate ambiguity
• Strong attention to detail, excellent discretion, judgment, tact, initiative, creativity, critical thinking, organizational skills, and self-motivation
• Demonstrated interest in the humanitarian sector and the IRC’s mission
• Service-orientation and flexibility, dedication to help and support in a fast-paced, constantly evolving environment

Experience

• Demonstrable professional work experience in a similar role as Department Manager or Executive Assistant to senior leadership or in a comparable role

Preferred

• Familiarity with fundraising
• Experience working across global markets and collaborators