Job Title: Technical Advisor, Cash – East Africa Region
Location: Nairobi, IHUB, Kenya
Job Description:
Background/IRC Summary:
The International Rescue Committee (IRC), responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people survive, recover and gain control of their future. The IRC is working to improve the safety, health, education, economic well-being, and power of people in crisis affected places.
The Economic Recovery and Development Technical Unit (ERD TU) is responsible for supporting the development, implementation, and monitoring of client-centered programs such as, but not limited to, cash and voucher assistance (CVA), rural & agricultural livelihoods, and enterprise development and employment promotion. The TU’s technical assistance to this wide variety of programs ensures quality and use of evidence-based practices; promotes innovation, diversity, equity, and inclusion; and drives data-based management and decision making.
Job Overview/Summary:
The Cash Technical Advisor (TA) will provide technical support in the design and development of cash and voucher assistance (CVA) activities in support of ERD programs in the East Africa Region to ensure the most appropriate, effective, and safe delivery of assistance for affected populations. The position will also support, and lead select global and country-led initiatives to support the scale-up of CVA activities across the IRC’s strategic CVA ambitions. The selected candidate should also have familiarity with the operational aspects of CVA, including supply chain and finance; as well as with supporting social protection systems in fragile contexts.
Specific Responsibilities:
The Cash TA will spend at least 80% of their time delivering technical assistance in-person and remotely to program colleagues focused on programming, CVA program model development across sectors as well as general economic program design, implementation and learning support. This is a primarily programs-focused position with the central responsibility concentrated on program quality. It is expected that approximately 40% of the total time will be deployed to country programs under the TAs area of responsibility, to support program quality in person. This may also mean deployments in emergency response, where crisis occur in the TAs focal or backstop country programs and may be on short notice. The remaining 0-20% is spent on influence, advocacy, research, and internal strategic design related to cash program quality and operations, at the discretion of their supervisors. The Technical Advisors’ specific responsibilities are as follows:
A. Ensure program quality:
Participate in the design, development, and implementation of high-quality ERD programs, including operational aspects of CVA activities within other sectors (health, education, protection, and governance). Ensure that these programs are:
• Aligned with organizational strategies, which includes supporting staff with contextualizing outcomes and theories of change, and selecting interventions based on the best available evidence, the local context analysis and the country program’s Strategic Action Plan.
• Responsive to clients’ needs and preferences, as well as incorporating a strong component of promoting equality, inclusion, and local partnership.
• Support assessments on basic needs, food security, livelihoods, labor markets, CVA feasibility, including financial services providers availability.
• Provide inputs on the design of theories of change, monitoring plans and log frames, including indicator selection.
• Aligned with IRC’s cash ambitions, including the use of digital payments, strong operational support systems, and alignment of CVA programs with social protection systems.
B. Engaging in business development to add to high quality concept notes and proposals by:
• Review technical quality of ERD project proposals and other sectors proposals with CVA and/or livelihoods components.
• Input into go / no go decisions on proposals and on budgets required for project delivery.
• When necessary, write technical narratives of proposals and provide support on monitoring and evaluation aspects of ERD projects.
• Engage with donors, participate to donors’ meetings, and do outreach in support of country programs.
• Ensure sound analysis of context, capacity, and opportunities to input into country Strategy Action Plans (SAPs).
C. Building resources for technical sharing to encourage cross-learning and innovation:
• Share cross-context learning globally and across the region, including on IRC organizational outcomes, theories of change, evidence base for interventions and standard indicators.
• Develop, review, and share program-specific tools, resources (internal and external); and work with Technical Unit specialists, coordinators, and other colleagues to contextualize and adapt global and country-specific materials or to assist with periodic review.
• Keep up to date with contextual analyses, crisis data, and other sector and country trends related to CVA within the assigned country portfolio.
D. Support or lead cash strategic projects to improve IRC global cash programming implementation, including operations:
• Work closely with other cash team members on relevant strategic projects centered around improving the IRC’s ability to scale and implement high quality CVA programming.
• Cultivate relationships with the supply chain and finance departments in country program portfolio, to inform operational aspects of CVA such as contracting new financial service providers and troubleshooting procurement or payment issues.
• Support the rollout of IRC’s Global Payment Toolbox and pre-positioned data management platforms.
• Participate in ongoing training courses and share knowledge and skill sets within the unit.
Key Working Relationships:
Position Reports to: Deputy Director – Cash & Markets (located in London, UK)
Position directly supervises: N/A
Other Internal and/or external contacts:
Internal: Close, regular relationships with regional and country program coordinators, managers, and teams; as well as with colleagues in the ERD Technical Unit. Regular communication with education, violence prevention and response, health, governance, research, evaluation and learning, internal cash working group, and gender equality technical unit teams. Interacts with IRC internal departments, including business development, procurement, and finance, external relations, and advocacy departments.
External: Serve as IRC program representative in outside regional and global meetings and academic forums with donors, online forums, other non-governmental organizations, inter-agency groups and foundations.
Job Qualifications:
a. Education:
Master’s/post-graduate degree in development, humanitarian affairs, economics, business administration or relevant field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
b. Work Experience:
• A minimum of 8 years implementing and/or managing cash-based humanitarian programming in diverse crisis or post-crisis field settings, preferably adopting markets-based approaches.
• Experience providing technical support and guidance to a diverse team towards strategic goals, including an ability to oversee staff in cross-cultural settings and at a distance.
• Experience in design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of CVA programming to meet basic needs, food security, NFIs, and/or shelter program activities as well as technical tools and materials development.
• Experience navigating financial systems, familiar with supply chain procedures and data management.
• Experience in women and/or youth-focused livelihoods programming considered a plus
• Experience aligning CVA with social protections systems highly preferred.
c. Demonstrated Skills and Proficiencies:
• Knowledge of global trends in CVA
• Experience navigating the humanitarian architecture, including cash working groups (country and regional) and global models for CVA delivery
• Demonstrated assessment, data collection and analysis skills, including needs assessments, market assessments and incorporation of gender, age, and disability analysis into assessments.
• Knowledge of guidelines and compliance regulations of institutional donors.
• Proven track record in developing funding proposals and reports for a range of institutional and private donors.
• Demonstrated ability to work across departments, functions, and sectors to build strong working relationships with colleagues, and external partners.
• Strong program/technical, project design, proposal development and budget management skills, planning, reporting, monitoring, and evaluation skills.
• Strong project planning, budget management, reporting, monitoring, and evaluation and learning skills.
• Flexibility to work adjusted hours, as appropriate to accommodate for different time zones.
• Proficiency in working productively and proactively under remote team and management structures.
• Proficiency with Windows-based software, knowledge management tools, remote and face-to-face training, facilitation and engagement tools, and familiarity with mobile monitoring tools.
• Demonstrated dedication to a Do No Harm approach, gender equality, diversity, and inclusion.
• Excellent social skills involving listening to, interacting with, and communicating clearly with people from diverse nationalities and backgrounds, and senior level internal and external partners, with a high degree of integrity.
• Strong analytical and conceptual skills, with the ability to think and plan strategically.
• A proven understanding of broader ERD programming e.g., resilience building, gender-sensitive rural livelihoods, climate resilient agriculture, employment, and entrepreneurship promotion and VSLA.
d. Language Skills:
Fluency in English is required; Arabic or French preferred; other spoken languages in East Africa a huge advantage.
f. Working Environment:
Up to 40% travel is expected, Covid-19 restrictions permitting.
Standards for professional conduct and commitment to equality:
The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Equality, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.
IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants based on merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability.
We offer benefits that help promote an empowering work environment, including parental leave, medical insurance, counseling services, gender-sensitive security protocols, and more, depending on the country where the selected candidate will be based.
We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.
Language preference and/or interpretation to interview for the role can are available upon request for the IRC’s working languages.
