Job Overview:

Beginning in January 2024, the IRC will provide transitional case management services to asylum seekers in New York City under a contract with New York City’s Health & Hospitals (H+H). In 2022, in response to an increase in asylum seekers arriving in New York after having recently arrived via the southern US border, H+H launched several Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers (HERRCs) to provide humanitarian reception and supportive services to asylum seekers while they stabilize and organize plans to reach their final destination.

The IRC believes that coordinated, client-centered humanitarian reception can serve as a gateway to a safe and dignified asylum system in the US. With this new program, IRC staff will work with families in HERRC facilities to identify strategies to remove barriers to stability, facilitate safe connections to US ties and communities, and provide basic information on the immigration process to ensure they understand their rights and have access to available legal services in the community, provide referrals to legal and social services in final destinations, and provide more intensive case management for families and individuals with heightened needs. We will leverage our strong infrastructure and technical and emergency expertise to ramp up transitional case management capacity while coordinating closely with agencies providing legal and social services to asylum seekers in New York City (the City).

The IRC will also implement an innovative model to support asylum seekers interested in relocating by leveraging its proven and award-winning virtual case management model and infrastructure. Through this model, trained case managers will provide virtual navigation of resources and information for asylum seekers interested and willing to relocate outside of the City. These virtual services will include cash assistance, guidance on navigating the new community of resettlement, and ongoing virtual case management, including referrals to legal service providers and community-based organizations for up to five months post-resettlement. This virtual case management model endeavors to empower asylum-seekers who wish to resettle outside of the City but lack the resources, information, and support network needed to make the move.

Safeguarding is at the core of IRC’s mission – to do no harm and ensure that the IRC’s clients and staff are protected from violence, exploitation, and abuse by the IRC or its associates. Safeguarding includes both staff and client-facing protection from exploitation and abuse. It sets out deliberate action to ensure the safety, dignity, and protection of clients receiving aid and workers delivering it.

Reporting to the Deputy Director, the Safeguarding Manager will support prevention and response-related safeguarding efforts. They will collaborate closely with various colleagues, including senior program managers, the Safeguarding technical unit, the Safety Health and Education technical unit, the Asylum & Legal Protection unit, other project Safeguarding, HR, Duty of Care, and others.

Major Responsibilities:

• Ensure IRC’s Safeguarding Minimum Standards are upheld at the HERRC.
• Regularly assess potential safeguarding risks and work with the Deputy Director and Senior Program Managers to address them.
• Provide training to casework and supervisory staff on safeguarding in line with standards and policies.
• Develop and maintain strong relations with referral pathways partners at the sites and beyond.
• Ensure information and systems are in place at sites that inform all clients – irrespective of their origin, age, gender, or other characteristics – of their rights and responsibilities, as well as channels for reporting and redress in close collaboration with colleagues.
• Engage and assist clients and workers when there is suspicion or disclosure of safeguarding violations in line with standards and in close coordination with casework staff, program managers, and IRC specialist teams.
• Ensure timely, confidential, and appropriate support for adult and child clients facing safeguarding concerns as well as workers facing safeguarding concerns in line with policies and following established referral pathways; engage directly with individual clients/workers (or support caseworkers to do so appropriately) and make necessary referrals as needed.
• Ensure appropriate reporting of safeguarding violations upholding IRC’s survivor-centered approach in collaboration with colleagues, partners, and H&H on-site management.
• Work closely with peers on the project to overcome common challenges and to share/act upon best practices.
• Uphold and comply with all IRC policies, procedures, and protocols, including adherence to the IRC Way and IRC’s Safeguarding policies.
• Other related duties as assigned.

Job Requirements:

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field such as social work, gender/child studies, international studies, law, etc. required.
• Graduate degree or commensurate professional experience preferred.

Work Experience:

• Five or more years of related professional experience in protection and/or safeguarding; preferably in crisis case management with a non-profit or social service organization.
• Experience with providing direct support (for example – basic counselling, case management, psychosocial support) including for survivors of gender-based violence and/or previous training in these areas strongly preferred.

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

• Excellent command of client- and staff-facing safeguarding – spanning prevention, mitigation, response, and protection-related prevention/response interventions.
• Strong capacity-building and knowledge-sharing skills – for example, via training, workshops, and mentoring.
• Experience working with asylum-seekers and migrants.
• Clear understanding of and ability to uphold confidentiality and respect for clients/beneficiaries without discrimination.
• Experience coordinating with different stakeholders, including from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, in a dynamic and challenging operating environment.
• Self-motivated, flexible, and independent while being a team player.
• Highly developed interpersonal skills including active listening, emotional de-escalation, patience, and compassion.
• Detail-oriented with the ability to prioritize and manage time effectively.
• Strong cross-cultural understanding and excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.

Language Skills:

• Fluency in written and spoken English.
• Bilingual ability is preferred in Spanish French, Portuguese, Mandarin, Russian, Arabic, Turkish, Dari, Georgian, or other New York City refugee/immigrant language.

Working Environment:

• Regular on-site presence at the HERRCs, which are 24-hour/7-day facilities, where the IRC is expected to operate on a two-shift schedule. Flexible or hybrid work schedule available.

Compensation: Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

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.

Equal Opportunity Employer: We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. 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.

US Benefits: The IRC offers a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. All US employees are eligible for sick time, a 403b retirement savings plans: up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus an 3-7% additional IRC contribution, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support in times of crisis and mental health struggles.

In addition, full-time employees are eligible for 10 US paid holidays, 20-25 paid time off days, disability & life insurance, medical, dental, and vision insurance (employee contribution starting at $135, $7, and $5 per month respectively) and FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs. Part-time employees are eligible for a proportionate amount of paid time off. These additional benefits apply to employees who work at least 6 months within a 12 month time period.