Governance and Peacebuilding Coordinator

The IRC is seeking a skilled and dynamic Governance and Peacebuilding Coordinator who will provide overall leadership and oversight to the governance portfolio in Iraq under the supervision of the Deputy Director for Programs. The coordinator will lead the implementation and development of the governance program and will benefit from the support of the IRC’s global Governance Technical Unit. The ideal candidate for this position should have strong knowledge and experience in governance, peacebuilding and social cohesion, climate change as well as programs targeting community-driven development as well as civic engagement of citizens in the public sphere.

Major Responsibilities:

Program Development, Management and Coordination

• Business development: Lead and oversee proposals development within the Governance sector, including through designing and writing quality proposals, while supporting program development within other sectors and through partners by integrating governance approaches in proposals and projects where relevant.

• Technical Supervision: Lead and oversee the implementation of governance projects as well as all governance activities following implementation strategies, procedures, work plans and donor requirements in order to achieve project deliverables.

• Team Management and implementation: Manage and provide technical support to Governance program staff, including through regular field visits, and develop their capacity through adequate mentoring, performance management (setting of objectives, appraisals and development plans) and training as required.

• Financial and compliance management: Assist in the development of annual program budgets and spending plans; be ultimately responsible for the program’s budget management; ensure implementation of governance activities are in line with approved budgets and spending plans; work with the Grants Unit to ensure all program activities are implemented in compliance with IRC and donor requirements.

• Representation: Represent IRC Iraq in external governance related forums; actively develop and maintain effective working relationships with key stakeholders in Iraq including government actors, donors, UN agencies, international and local NGOs; identify governance related advocacy issues in consultation with the country management.

• Coordination: Coordinate with other program (e.g. ERD, PRoL, WPE) to strengthen joint planning and implementation of projects, ensure integration across sectors, and enhance program implementation”

• Coordinate with the Feedback and accountability (FARM) team to strengthen quality of implementation and eventually client feedback and responsiveness.

Technical Leadership and Support

• Support in the design of the IRC S100 strategy for the governance program and take active part in the strategy development and reporting.

• Support the various IRC Iraq programs in conducting context and conflict analysis to identify promising entry points and better inform program design and implementation.

• Provide technical leadership and oversee the design and implementation of governance, social cohesion, peacebuilding and community driven development projects.

• Contribute to development of knowledge and capacity in the country office around decentralization, social accountability, institution strengthening and other related governance themes and support the integration of those themes into other sectoral programs.

• Liaise regularly with technical advisors from the Governance Unit on proposal development, programming and implementation approaches.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: Iraq Deputy Director of Programs.

Position technically supervised by: Technical Advisor, Governance.

Position directly supervises: Governance/Peacebuilding Managers and Officers.

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: HQ Technical Advisors, other IRC programs and support departments.

External: all relevant donors, NGOS, DPOs, partners, ministries, stakeholders, and government agencies.

Job Requirements:

• University Degree in Development, Economics, Public Administration, Business Administration, Law or Social Science. Master’s Degree preferred.

• Over 5 years of experience in developing, managing, and coordinating governance, social cohesion, peacebuilding, climate change community-driven development, and stakeholders/civic engagement programs in conflict, post-conflict, or development settings.

• Previous experience and capacity to conduct Political Economy and Conflict Analysis

• Strong program management skills, including assessment, planning, budgeting, and monitoring skills.

• Previous demonstrated experience in working with local partners.

• Demonstrated strong proposal and report writing skills.

• Ability to work in a very demanding and fast-paced environment managing conflicting priorities and deadlines.

• Good organizational, interpersonal, time, and people management skills.

• Strong communication, presentation, and training skills.

• Must be comfortable working in a complex, fluid, and very demanding management environment.

• Ability to travel frequently to project sites for monitoring visits.

• Fluency in written and spoken English, Arabic is an asset.

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

• Demonstrated creativity, ability to apply innovative thinking and problem-solving skills.

• Excellent analytical, communication and representation skills.

• Ability to navigate interpersonal and inter-departmental organizational dynamics to keep focus on goals and products.

• Ability to work well in unstable security environments, and under significant administrative and programmatic pressures.

• Flexible to adapt to changing requirements.

• Culturally sensitive, able and interested in working with a multi-ethnic team.

• Strong commitment to the IRC’s mission, purpose and values.

• Must be able to work independently while being a team player.