Deputy Director of Programs

The IRC Yemen began its programs in October 2012. Since establishing its presence in the South of Yemen, in the Red Sea Coastal city of Aden, the organization has grown from just an implementing small project to handling large scale emergency and relief operations. Following the war which broke out in Yemen in March of 2015 and the humanitarian disaster, which was crafted by the same, IRC launched one an emergency response program in the southern governorates of Aden, Lahj, Abyan, Shabwah and Aldalea. Currently IRC Yemen is operating in eight governorates in the south and north of Yemen and Sana’a and Hodeidah in the North through direct programming and through local partnerships, in Health, WASH, Nutrition, Economic Recovery Development, Education, Child Protection, Gender and Women Protection and Empowerment

Scope of work

The Deputy Director of Programs (DDP) provides leadership, decision-making and coordination on programmatic issues, overseeing effective implementation and technical quality of IRC’s programs in Yemen. Based in Aden, with regular travel to Sana’a, the position reports to the Country Director (CD) and is a member of the Senior Management Team. The DDP directly supervises Technical Coordinators implementing health, nutrition, WASH, education, protection, cash & livelihoods, and emergency response programs. This position has close working relationships with the Deputy Regional Director and other members of the regional support team, and Technical Advisors who support the Yemen country program.

Responsibilties:

Strategic Planning

• Together with the CD, lead in the implementation of the IRC Yemen Strategy Action Plan (SAP) and achieve its commitments.

• Provide overall leadership and management to IRC Yemen programs, maintaining and enforcing strategic program direction and growth.

• Ensure programming is aligned with SAP priorities and IRC’s Outcomes and Evidence Framework (OEF) and best practices, including program planning, project design, and communications with staff.

• Coordinate with Technical Coordinators and Technical Advisors in strategic program design processes and the development of sector strategies

• Together with the CD, participate and provide input for advocacy and media strategies and identify networks for enabling better coordination with humanitarian community inside Yemen.

• In collaboration with the Deputy Director of Grants and Accountability (DDGA), ensure program compliance with donor regulations, local government regulations and IRC internal control procedures.

Program Development and Fundraising

• In coordination with the CD, closely cooperate with the DDGA to design fundraising and donor engagement strategies incorporating donor mapping and communication plans.

• Support Technical Coordinators to provide high quality and needs-based inputs for project concept notes and proposals in line with IRC and donor regulations and within the parameters of the Yemen SAP, adhering to internal schedules for delivering their contributions.

• Ensure IRC Yemen’s commitment to gender equality is factored into program design and implementation.

Program Implementation

• Maintain a sound understanding of the IRC programs, sector strategies, and activity plans. Ensure continued oversight of implementation progress for project activities.

• Support Technical Coordinators to ensure each program sector has an updated annual activity plan and master budget in line with the sector strategy.

• Support Technical Coordinators to ensure that project delivery is guided by structured workplans and approved monitoring plans based on project proposals.

• Support the Emergency Coordinator to ensure a country-wide emergency preparedness and response mechanism is functional, responsive, and enabling of timely emergency responses.

• Ensure program teams develop, implement, and revise as required, detailed workplans, procurement plans, spending plans and staffing plans. Ensure cooperation with Field Management and Operations teams.

• Liaise with IRC’s Technical Units and ensure Technical Coordinators apply technical guidance and best practices in new program design and implementation.

• Monitor program delivery through regular field visits and review sessions. Ensure senior program staff are frequently visiting project sites to monitor implementation.

• Actively contribute to and/or chair project implementation meetings as required to review progress of programs, including but not limited, to progress indicators, workplans and spending. When required, coordinate the development of corrective measures to ensure projects finish on time and on target, ensure timely follow up on any agreed actions.

• Ensure regular technical program support and guidance to partners, in accordance with partnership agreements.

• Encourage constructive and productive communication between program and operations departments to ensure timely and quality service for program implementation.

• Provide the CD with accurate updates on developments and opportunities in program implementation, together with any necessary recommendations for course correction.

Coordination with Grants and Accountability

• Closely coordinate with DDGA to deliver on the country M&E strategy and ensure information collected through M&E and client feedback mechanisms is used to inform all stages of the project life cycle.

• Ensure that program teams are submitting timely and high-quality donor reports to the grants team per IRC and donor guidelines.

• In coordination with DDGA and technical staff, identify viable, active local NGO partners; support to develop and oversee implementation of capacity-building protocols for the transfer of IRC skills and experience to local government and local NGO/CSO partners.

• In coordination with DDGA and MEAL Coordinator, support the development of measurement tools to assess program impact and involvement of client groups in program design. Ensure the alignment of the IRC Yemen programs with the MEAL Handbook and the use of established stringent monitoring and evaluation systems.

• Collaborate with the DDGA on the rollout and continuous use of IMPACT program quality standards.

Human Resources and Staff Development

• Ensure IRC Yemen HR policies and procedures are implemented at all times.

• Set clear performance objectives for direct reports

• Provide supportive mentorship and supervision to direct reports.

• Ensure that regular and quality staff evaluations are conducted for all program staff.

• Ensure IRC Yemen guidance on team meetings and regular, predictable and actionable meetings for staff are adhered to.

• Ensure that all direct reports develop and implement Capacity Building Plans for their teams.

Liaison/Representation and Coordination

• Actively, systematically, and regularly communicate with various partners in country.

• Ensure that IRC Yemen’s interventions are planned and coordinated within the broader humanitarian effort.

• Ensure IRC is represented at sector coordination groups, including the clusters.

• Help maintain a positive relationship with donors / government counterparts, participate in donors calls providing program updates.

• Serve as an active member of the Senior Management Team.

Strategy and Program Approach

• Direct responsibility for ensuring that the Strategy Action Plan (SAP) and each program design defines IRC’s program approach based on how we can best support, reinforce and complement local civil society, government and private sector actors, based on robust stakeholder analysis.

• Drive IRC’s efforts to foster a network of local civil society, government and private sector partners, empowering those entities to lead key decision making and service delivery, and positioning IRC as the partner of choice.

• Identify, engage with and build long term Strategic Partnerships with local actors, fostering collaborating on strategy, program design and development, and capacity sharing, with regular senior management engagement.

• Drive IRC’s progress toward its Strategy100 partnership spending and Strategic Partnerships targets.

• Effective engagement with donors to resource the SAP partnership component.

Building Blocks of Partnership Success

• Work with SMT colleagues to establish and promote IRC’s internal capacity to partner, including by establishing the six core building blocks for partnership success: self-assessment; defined and resourced roles across all departments; partnership working group; partnership training; stakeholder analysis; and collaborative design.

• Ensure the office consistently promotes and effectively uses IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS) and that partnership decision-making and action is driven by IRC’s partnership principles.

• Direct oversight of and accountability for the Partnership Working Group, ensuring the PWG drives cross departmental collaboration and the effective and efficient management of partnerships.

Program Leadership

• Participation in collaborative partnership risk management, in particular through effective due diligence, mitigation and monitoring.

• Oversight responsibility for effective, timely partnership project support and other capacity sharing commitments as they relate to program components.

• Oversight of partner feedback systems, ensuring that IRC consistently addresses partners’ concerns and recommendations in a timely manner.

Staffing

• Ensure IRC’s structuring, recruitment, staff development, and performance management processes for program partnership roles are guided by PEERS and IRC’s principles, skills and approaches.

Requirements

Education, Knowledge & Experience

• Graduate degree in a relevant subject

• Excellent professional track record with at least 8 years of experience in a conflict/post-conflict environment with significant program leadership responsibilities. Successful experience working within a complex security environment is preferred.

• Proven ability to think strategically, prioritize and meet deadlines in a complex and challenging environment

• Excellent leadership, people management, interpersonal and negotiation skills and a demonstrated ability to develop harmonious teams in a multi-ethnic context; must demonstrate cultural sensitivity.

• Demonstrated experience in program design; experience developing and monitoring budgets, work plans and other program management tools.

• Demonstrated coordination, networking and relationship building skills with key partners including government, donors, INGOs, national and local organizations, UN agencies.

• Good interpersonal and team building skills and knowledge of participatory approaches

• Fluency in English – excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to write and edit complex technical documents for external submission with minimal oversight. Working knowledge of Arabic preferred.

• Excellent MS Office (MS Word, MS Excel and MS PowerPoint) skills.

• Self-motivated, honest, highly responsible.

• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.

• Highly resilient and comfortable working in an insecure setting with restricted personal freedoms. Willingness to travel in remote and conflict-affected areas.

• Flexibility, adaptability

Work Environment: There is active conflict in parts of the country and a possibility for further escalation and expansion of the conflict and violence into other areas. Sana’a is sometimes subject to airstrikes, while security situation in Aden remains unpredictable. Security will be thoroughly discussed during the interview process.

Housing: Lodging in Aden and Sana’a is in shared IRC guesthouses. All IRC sites have electricity and internet all day through. Food is the individual’s responsibility.