The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC works with people forced to flee from war, conflict and disaster and the host communities that support them, as well as with those who remain within their homes and communities. 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. IRC leads the way from harm to home. Began work in Ethiopia, 1999 in response to severe drought that happened in Ethiopia’s Somali region. Currently, providing assistance in ten different regions implementing emergency and development programs in health, water and sanitation, economic recovery and development (ERD), women’s protection and empowerment, education, child protection, and multi-sectoral emergency response. 

The senior program manager (SPM) will be based in Addis Ababa with frequent travel for field support and responsible for the coordination and implementation of Nexus projects in different regions including the planning, organizing, directing, and implementing committed interventions of one or more projects to ensure they are completed on time, on budget, and within scope. The performance of the SPM will be evaluated on the ability to deliver the project/s/ according to the workplan, budget, and proposals, without underspend and without extensions. 

The SPM needs strong leadership qualities, excellent communication skills and interaction with sectors, functions, partners, and clients in the program delivery. The management needs to be guided by the project cycle management (PCM) approach, where each stage of the project such as startup is well planned and accomplished in the right quarters of the project life. 

Duties & Responsibilities:

Specific responsibilities include coordinating and leading the following key program management functions: 

Project plans: 

• the SPM needs to lead the production of up-to-date detailed implementation plans and revision so that workable plans are at the hands of the implementing staff (staffing plan, activity descriptions, DIP, work schedule, and other plans such as monitoring, procurement, and community engagement). Reviewing plans and taking corrective actions on time avoids repeated modification requests and activity interruptions. 

Implementation:

• ensure careful management of the different phases of the project/s/ against time. Quick project start-up is the first opportunity for a project leader to set the tone of the project and set expectations for each of the project team members. Furthermore, monitor the progress and detect delays in meeting expectations, milestones and deliverables, and ensure mitigation measures are taken on time. Engage with program team, field coordinators, finance, and SC at all stages of the project implementation to ensure participatory decisions and timely action.

Budget management: 

• lead responsibility to the right use of budgets according to budget plans and revise timely as and when needed to do so. Monitor spending status on a regular basis using BvA and other financial monitoring systems to avoid low or overspending. The budget monitoring must include in the entire budget plans such as support and staff lines in addition to program interventions. Furthermore, S/he should work closely with the finance team and TCs to avoid unnecessary delays. 

Program integration: 

• ensure important coordination activities within the IRC and other stakeholders and humanitarian actors are followed including representation on different platforms and networks. Furthermore, seek ways to ensure integration and synergy building among sectors and interventions are implemented to enhance project success.

Familiarization: 

• familiarizing and orienting the project/s/ framework, interventions, approaches and expected results to partners, government sectors, clients, and the IRC staff (including new employees) as needed. This will help to create a common understanding of the project details among implementing staff and stakeholders and share clear roles and responsibilities.

Project Implementation Meetings: 

• lead meetings in collaboration with GU and MEAL. Identifying meeting participants, scheduling meetings, developing meeting agendas, reviewing the preceding meeting action plans and their implementation status, completing/collecting prep work and sending pre-reads.  The main meetings include project opening meeting (POM), project implementation meetings (PIM), and project closing meeting (PCM).

Report production: 

• adhere to the donor and IRC’s reporting templates and timeline, collect relevant data from program staff, analyze and produce high quality and acceptable reports on agreed timeframe. 

Quality Assurance: 

• ensure humanitarian standards, protocols and the IRC program quality standards are incorporated to enhance quality programming. 

Compliance and Risk management: 

• ensure awareness and adherence/ compliance with government policies, the IRC and donor requirements. Furthermore, systematically identify, analyze, and respond to potential risks that could negatively impact project timeline and deliverables.

Safeguarding Responsibilities: - 

• Promote and actively participate in initiatives and efforts to build team engagement, inclusion and cohesion in IRC [team/office]

• Foster ongoing learning, honest dialogue and reflection to strengthen safeguarding and to promote IRC values and adherence to IRC policies 

Travel: -

• Required to travel 50% to field sites

Job Requirements

Educational Requirements:

• MA/MSA or BA/ BSC in project management, economics, engineering, development studies, public health, sociology, disaster risk management, rural development, and other relevant fields. 

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• 3 years’ relevant work experience in the field of humanitarian for MA/MSA holders and 4 years for BA/BSc holders. 

• Demonstrated experience in working with large, multi-sectoral grants and projects. Including supervising procurement, activity and spending plans, indicator track and devising timely course-correction strategies when required. 

• Strong organizational and time-management skills; proven track record to prioritize and deliver on time. 

• Ability to work both independently and in a dynamic, cross-functional distributed team structure. 

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with team members at all levels. 

• Ability to handle and work through change in a proactive and positive manner. 

• Must be able to function effectively in a complex work environment and to set appropriate priorities and deal effectively with competing priorities and pressure. 

Language Skills:

• Excellent verbal and written English communication skills as well as, an overall ability to be clear and concise in all communications. 

How to Apply

Candidates meeting the above qualifications are encouraged to apply only through the below IRC On-line recruitment website: 

IRC Career Site:- THIS LINK

Please include 3 references from current and former employers.

Applications will not be returned. IRC discourages phone calls or personal visits.

Only applicants meeting the minimum qualification will be short listed and contacted.Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

Your application letter/cover letter must include the following information. 

• Name of the position you have applied for 

• Date of application 

• Summary of your qualifications and experience 

• Motivation/objective of why you have applied for the job

• Permanent Address and present address (if different from permanent) and telephone number if possible also email address 

• Disclose any family relationships with existing IRC employees. 

Disclaimer: - Please note that IRC will never request applicants or candidates to make any form of payment at any stage of the recruitment process. 

IRC is an equal employment opportunity employer.  IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability. 

IRC strives to build a diverse and inclusive team at all levels who as individuals, and as a group, embody our culture statement creating a working environment characterized by critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity for us to achieve our aspirations as a team and deliver the best possible services to our clients. 

Professional Standards: The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, 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 Anti-Retaliation and Combating Trafficking in Persons. 

Gender Equality: IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols, and other supportive benefits and allowances.