United States of America: Senior Project Officer

Organization: International Rescue Committee
Country: United States of America
Closing date: 09 Feb 2015

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

SCOPE

The IRC is implementing a large scale United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded reading project in Pakistan, the Pakistan Reading Project (PRP). The Senior Project Officer (SPO), based in New York, will report to the Regional Director (RD) and work directly with the Chief of Party (COP) of the PRP to ensure that the project benefits from lessons learned, promising practices, and resources developed globally in similar education programs as well as ensuring that IRC captures and applies globally what is learned and developed within the project. Leveraging support across IRC's technical units, regional unit, support units, and global programs, partner organizations, the SPO will help the project's senior management provide appropriate technical, coordination, and operational support to the project staff working in all aspects of the project to meet desired outcomes. The SPO will be the HQ liaison for all international partners: managing partner relationships, coordinating HQ communications and providing sub-grants management support.

In addition, the SPO will assist in identifying external expertise (i.e. consultants or service contract agencies) when needed, represent the project in inter-agency and donor meetings outside of Pakistan, help navigate administrative processes at HQ, assist with reporting to USAID, and work with the COP and DCOP to identify and address challenges that put the project at risk of not meetings its deliverables.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Support the DCOPs and COP to troubleshoot and coordinate HQ technical, regional and support resources that can contribute to the solution;
• Work with the DCOP-P and Child and Youth Protection and Development Technical Advisor (CYPD TA) to assess external technical assistance needs and identify external consultants or service contract agencies for the provision of assistance as well as other matters;
• Act as the HQ liaison focal point for all international partners and coordinate all HQ communications with the field and all partners;
• Support all aspects of the project's partners sub-grant management, in coordination with the COP, IRC NY Grants Unit, Legal Counsel, etc.;
• Ensure the distribution of information about project achievements, lessons learned, and resources developed across IRC technical units, particularly across IRC's global education programs;
• Support external relations of the project and the organization at public for a in the USA or Europe as suitable and ensuring the appropriate distribution of information about project achievements and lessons learned;
• Support the COP to put into place monitoring and quality oversight systems at field and HQ levels to ensure the project is meeting established deliverables and reporting requirements (including the HQ and field review of the yearly work and performance plans under the direction of the COP);
• Jointly work with the DCOP-Operations to leverage IRC HQ financial, logistical, HR, and regional resources as needed;
• Assist the COP to identify and recruit project staff as needed in cooperation with ACME HR focal pointAssist COP to respond to USAID informational, data, and monitoring requirements;
• Assist the COP in compiling and finalizing all USAID reports, including the annual and semi-annual USAID reports;
• Work with the DCOP and relevant technical staff to access WPE, governance, health, and ERD technical unit expertise in ensuring that the cross-cutting components of gender sensitivity, local ownership, sustainability, flexibility of scale, partnering and coordination is reflected;
• Adhere to and act in accordance with the IRC Global HR Policies and Procedures;
• Adhere to and serve as a champion of the IRC Way Standards for Professional Conduct and the IRC country employment policies.

REQUIREMENTS

• Advanced university degree in education or a related field, Masters degreed preferred;
• Six years of professional experience, including in emergency or post-conflict project management;
• Understanding of policy issues and technical experience in areas of primary reading education and teacher training preferred;
• Substantive grants management oversight experience on complex USAID cooperative agreements;
• Strong strategic thinking, proposal and report writing skills, and sub-grants management;
• Excellent communication skills, cultural sensitivity, flexibility, ability to improvise, team player;
• Fine-tuned sense of diplomacy and ability to establish good working relationships with partners, donors and other stakeholders in a sensitive environment;
• Ability to travel internationally, including to Pakistan (provisionally set at 20%, but to be confirmed).

How to apply:

Please follow this link to apply: http://www.aplitrak.com/?adid=YW5nZWxhdi43MTcwMi4zODMwQGlyYy5hcGxpdHJhay5jb20