Global Family Reunification Coordinator

Position description

Title: Global Family Reunification Coordinator

Reports To: Director, Third Country Solutions

Location: Global Remote (due to the nature of the position, preference will be given to candidates in time zones overlapping with Africa, Central and South Asia, Europe and the Middle East)

Classification: Full-time Exempt

Grade: 6

Starting Salary: $112,582

 

 

About RefugePoint

 

Founded in 2005, RefugePoint partners with refugees to access life-changing solutions and transform how the world supports them. For those who can safely remain in the country to which they have fled, we help them reach stability and work towards self-reliance so they can meet their own needs. Unfortunately, many refugees can’t go home and can’t safely stay in the country to which they have fled. We help these people relocate to a safe, new country through resettlement or other pathways so that they can begin to rebuild their lives. RefugePoint helps refugees access these solutions using three tactics: direct services, field building, and systems change. Through this three-pronged approach we provide direct services to thousands of refugees each year, strengthen the capacity of other organizations to better serve refugees, and influence global policy and practice to transform refugee response systems.

 

Lasting solutions work. Directly, we’ve referred more than 140,000 refugees for resettlement or other pathways to a safe, third country. We’ve also equipped thousands of refugees with the tools to support themselves and their families in the country to which they’ve fled. Through innovation, collaboration, and influence, we’re helping to lead the sector in expanding long-lasting, refugee-centered solutions, and instigated major sea changes in global practice.

 

 

You will be joining a growing organization (115+ staff globally) that is spearheading new initiatives that are changing the face of humanitarian response, and we would be excited to have you as part of our team!

 

 

Position Overview

 

The Global Family Reunification Coordinator plays an essential role in advancing RefugePoint’s family reunification strategy, leading its broader collective work that aims to realize a functioning global system of family reunification for refugees. Acting as the Secretariat for the Global Family Reunification Network (FRUN), this position coordinates the activities of the FRUN and serves as the primary liaison between the FRUN and the FRUN Advisory Group (FRUN AG, which includes UNHCR) as well as the FRUN States-only group. In addition, the Coordinator leads RefugePoint’s role as a pillar co-lead under the Multistakeholder Pledge on Family Reunification and supports the FRUN AG to play its role as a pledge co-convener alongside UNHCR. 

 

Within RefugePoint’s family reunification activities, the Global Family Reunification Coordinator guides efforts to prioritize and engage refugee-led organizations (RLOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) as partners, promotes strong linkages between RefugePoint’s work on systems change and its direct service and field building activities, and helps to shape RefugePoint’s role as an independent leader in family reunification.

 

 

Responsibilities and Duties

 

The Global Family Reunification Coordinator’s major responsibilities and duties include the following: 

 

Family Reunification Network (FRUN) Coordination

 

• Serves as the NGO Secretariat for the FRUN, working closely with the UNHCR family reunification team, the FRUN AG, and FRUN States-only group to carry out the function of the Secretariat.

• Represents the FRUN at events and coordinates with the FRUN AG to arrange other representation.

• Liaises with the FRUN and its AG to develop agendas for regular virtual and/or in-person FRUN meetings and plans and convenes related events, including an annual in-person FRUN gathering.

• Prepares reports on FRUN activities and identifies follow-up plans, including organizing site visits and preparing related materials where appropriate.

• Analyzes trends, conducts research on legislative and administrative frameworks, maps promising practices, and monitors related developments on refugee family reunification.

• Develops relevant advocacy and general informational materials to support the FRUN’s objectives.

• Coordinates with FRUN members to identify and engage new partners with practical relevance to family reunification and strives to increase RLO participation and leadership in the FRUN and its AG.

• Develops and implements strategies to support meaningful refugee participation in the FRUN and its AG. 

• Works with the FRUN AG and UNHCR to maintain and develop new content for the FRUN website.

• Maintains written and oral communications of the FRUN.

 

Multistakeholder Pledge on Family Reunification

 

• Within RefugePoint’s family reunification pledge, ensures that RefugePoint is an exemplary pledge partner in its reporting,  information-sharing, and coordination with other pledge partners and peers.  

• Specific to RefugePoint’s role as a pillar co-lead, assists other pledging organizations as needed to ensure strong implementation of and reporting on their pledges, together with other pillar co-leads.

• In RefugePoint’s role as the FRUN Secretariat, supports the FRUN AG to play its role as a pledge co-convener, in conjunction with UNHCR, including:

  • Supporting general coordination and information-sharing among pledge partners;

  • Facilitating connections among stakeholders to support a community of practice that contributes to fulfillment of pledge commitments; and

  • Helping to plan and convene an annual in-person gathering of pledge stakeholders.

 

Refugee Centeredness, Engagement, and Leadership

 

• Leads RefugePoint’s efforts to engage RLO partners in family reunification work, in close coordination and consultation with RefugePoint’s RLO engagement team, including:

  • Issues an Expression of Interest to identify RLOs that wish to partner with RefugePoint on family reunification, reviews responses to gauge potential impact within the context of RefugePoint’s Family Reunification Initiative and the Multistakeholder Pledge on Family Reunification (where applicable) and presents recommendations for review and approval. 

  • Contributes to resource mapping, capacity assessments, program design, technical assistance, sustainability planning, and other efforts to bolster RLO partners’ family reunification capacity.

  • Facilitates ongoing collaboration and consultation to guide RLO engagement and promotes refugee leadership in family reunification, establishing linkages with RefugePoint’s broader RLO engagement work, fostering mutual learning, and advancing efforts to increase opportunities for refugee leadership in third country solutions programs and policy making.

  • Drafts guidelines to define a refugee-centered approach to family reunification.

 

Internal Coordination, Strategy, and Thought Leadership

 

• In close coordination with the Director, 3CS, liaises with the RefugePoint Family Reunification team, Kenya 3CS team, and the Deployment Program on an ongoing basis to inform program development, focus countries, and partner selection, including but not limited to selecting RLO partners.

• Engages RefugePoint staff in field building and systems change work related to family reunification.

• Consults with the Policy, Practice, and Strategy team to identify areas of focus, document gaps, and formulate policy recommendations for amplification through external relations and advocacy efforts. 

• Collaborates with MEL colleagues to define a learning agenda and develop meaningful indicators that reflect RefugePoint’s priorities and measure its contributions to global family reunification. 

• Participates in RefugePoint’s efforts to highlight family reunification in its communications, helping to create systems to document family reunifications, developing a roster of speakers willing to share their lived experiences of family separation, and tracking and sharing relevant content from other sources.

• Works with partners to map global needs, contextualize data, and promote meaningful use of data. 

• Routinely participates in RefugePoint staff and Family Reunification Initiative program team meetings.

• Represents RefugePoint in external meetings and fora as requested.

• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Qualifications

• Minimum of five years of experience in a relevant field (e.g., case advocacy, legal aid provision to asylum seekers, refugee protection and durable solutions, community-based protection, case management, communication with affected populations, etc.), with at least two years of experience in refugee or asylum advocacy (ideally focused on family reunification in an international setting).

• Demonstrated ability to understand and apply principles of refugee, asylum, and human rights law.

• Understanding of family reunification challenges and legal procedures as experienced by refugees.

• Substantial experience coordinating with and serving as a liaison to multiple, diverse stakeholders.

• Experience liaising and building relationships with governments and non-governmental organizations.

• Strong research, drafting, and analytical skills.

• Excellent communication skills with the ability to craft clear, coherent messages for a variety of audiences and formats (facilitating FRUN meetings, writing talking points, speaking at high-level fora). 

• Outstanding interpersonal skills, able to work effectively in teams across cultures and geographies.

• Professional level proficiency in English (written and oral).

• Excellent proficiency with relevant technology, including Google suite, MS Office suite, internet applications, and relational databases (such as proGres, Salesforce, etc.).