Senior Technical Advisor

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Job Description

The IRCs Emergency and Humanitarian Action Unit (EHAU) leads or oversees IRCs global emergency preparedness and response activities. The mission of the EHAU is to help meet the immediate survival needs and reduce suffering in conflict or disaster affected populations during the acute phase of an emergency, as well as enhancing the IRC’s emergency preparedness and readiness capacity. EHAU also works in protracted emergencies, where the risk to life may be reduced but the population is still subjected to rights abuses and a lack of basic services.

The IRC’s Quality in Emergency Team provides emergency-focused technical assistance to country programs and regions when adapting and/or starting up programming during acute emergencies or in response to significant contextual changes, deteriorations, or shocks that demand new strategies or responses. This support spans both direct IRC-led and partner-led programming. This emergency-focused technical assistance is an in-house resource and service available across the organization during classified emergencies. It complements IRC’s other existing technical assistance and support structures such as the Health Unit, which promotes the health (comprising of primary health care, nutrition and environmental health /WASH) of IRC’s beneficiaries from relief through post-conflict.

Scope of work

The Senior Technical Advisor, Emergency Health will be responsible for the strategic and technical delivery, quality and communication of emergency health work within the IRC; this includes primary (and some targeted secondary) health care (including child health, communicable and non-communicable diseases, maternal and newborn care, mental health and psychosocial support), sexual & reproductive health and rights, environmental health (including WASH), nutrition, and preparedness and response. Importantly, this role will steer strategic direction, technical resource development and overall leadership related to the IRC’s Emergency primary healthcare (PHC), Nutrition and WASH (EH) programming. The STA will additionally prioritize management and capacity development of the health Emergency Response Team (ERT), Emergency Surge Team (EST) and Global Surge Team (GST) through ongoing 1-1 support, mutual identification of areas and opportunities for professional development, and prompt recruitment of crucial emergency health positions.

This position reports to the IRC’s Senior Director for Quality in Emergencies in EHAU and the Deputy Director, Health in IRC’s Health Unit. The incumbent will work closely with the QiE leadership team, Health Unit deputy directors, Health Unit global and regional practice leads and technical advisors, and other IRC sector focal points engaged in emergency response.

Success in this position demands exceptional leadership skills and extensive expertise in designing and delivering high-quality public health programs during emergencies across diverse low-resource and complex contexts. Lived experience and a profound understanding of the cultural, societal, and political nuances in at least one of the regions where the IRC operates are highly desirable. The ideal candidate should embody a people-centered leadership style that fosters a performance-driven culture, engages team members, and prioritizes their well-being.

Responsibilities

Emergency Response (40%)

Provide solid technical and strategic leadership for the initiation and quality delivery of new classified emergencies and outbreaks per the QiE technical assistance model.
Provide response support, technical leadership, and strategic direction to the health ERT.
Ensure program quality, accountability, and consistency in emergency & outbreak response programming by providing remote and on the ground technical support for country program-led responses and ERT/EST and GST during deployments.
Directly supervise ERT & GST coordinators, providing ongoing mentoring and technical strengthening during and when not deployed for ERT.
As required, deploy to lead emergency health programming or outbreak response start-up in complex or large-scale emergencies (30% of time and maximum 6 weeks for single deployment). This is inclusive of, but not limited to, responsibilities such as:
Rapid needs assessments, evaluation efforts, or other accountability support functions;
Short-term Deputy Direct of Programs (DDP) or emergency leadership roles;
Technical coordination and strategic leadership within a complex response;
Provide technical coordination and strategic leadership within a complex response; and ensure a smooth transition of technical assistance for QiE Supported and EHAU-led responses to Health Unit Technical Advisors.
Liaise closely with other appropriate technical advisors and support IRC WatchList countries and countries where the IRC is starting new emergency response programming.
Champion a culture of effective and respectful partnerships. Promote partner-led programming in line with IRC’s “why not partner?” and “partner as equals” approach.
Work closely with the deployment team to identify appropriate emergency health staff to be deployed to support responses as needed.
Ensure all emergency health response tools and resources are current and available to response teams.

MEAL, Advocacy, and Strategy (30%)

Lead development and implementation of the emergency health strategy and framework, working closely with QiE and Health Unit leadership.
Support development of systems and processes to facilitate the measurement of the impact and quality of IRC emergency and outbreak responses.
Work with Monitoring Evaluation Accountability and Learning (MEAL) leads in EHAU and the Health Unit to ensure appropriate processes and tools are in place during health responses.
Support the development of integrated programming for emergencies and other more innovative programming areas identified by respective technical units and ERT/EST
Ensure IRC is represented in technical forums or networks within respective global sectors as needed and monitor the effectiveness of IRC’s participation.
Contribute to the annual QiE work plan and project prioritization in collaboration with the MEAL team and EHAU STAs which is driven by the EHAU strategic priorities and Implementation Plan.
Participate in the QiE Leadership Team to ensure cohesive decision-making and learning.
Lead cross-collaboration and coordination between EHAU QiE and the Health Unit.

Emergency Preparedness (10%)

Work closely with Health Unit and Regional Emergency Directors to identify areas of technical capacity building, operational and systems set up in preparedness for health emergencies in Watchlist Countries.
Support the emergency response capacity strengthening for members of IRC Country Programs/Regional technical advisors as needed.
Provide remote and on the ground technical and systems support to watchlist countries, classified country programs/regions for preparedness/readiness/contingency planning, and as needed, deploy for strategic support, including on-site mentoring and technical assistance.
Reinforce program quality through regular (+/- remote) capacity strengthening and skills-deepening for members of the ERT, EST as well as Technical Unit Advisers, ensuring the ability to operationalize the IRC’s emergency strategy and response package.
Ensure that IRC program models and emergency strategies advance organizational commitments to gender equality outcomes.
Collaborate with the EHAU to maintain deployment capacity on the ERT and GST.
Lead design and development of integrated/joint program models and approaches in emergencies with relevant STAs for Emergencies within the QiE multi-sector team.
Manage and maintain current emergency response tools and update them according to industry standards and best practices while also supporting iterative and adaptive learning from ongoing responses.
Orient all new ERT/EST/GST to Emergency Health in emergencies.

Business Development and Grant management (10%)

Provide technical support for development of emergency response proposals, working closely with other EHAU colleagues, ERT and GST.
Lead the development, review, and submission of strategic proposals and concept notes around IRC’s programming related to health in emergencies.
Provide technical quality assurance for the Crisis Response Fund in coordination with relevant Technical Advisors and EHAU Sections.
Provide oversight of TU-led emergency response and preparedness grants as needed.
Ensure appropriate budget allocation for IRC to support partners in alignment with the overall response / program design.

People Management and Development (10%)

Provide day to day line management to members of the health ERT as well as GST when they deploy for emergencies (working in close collaboration with their deployment managers).
Ensure that ERT and GST teams maintain high performance, collaborate effectively and are accountable for quality of work.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: Senior Director, Quality in Emergencies (management in partnership with Deputy Director, Health)
Position directly supervises: Emergency Health TA, Health, Nutrition, WASH and Reproductive Health Coordinators,
Works closely with: EHAU Section Directors, Deputy Directors and STAs, TU global and regional practice leads/TAs, country and regional staff

Requirements

Work Experience: 8-10 years of experience in emergency public health programs including outbreak response implementation in low resource settings, and emergency (conflict, disaster/crisis and outbreak) settings. Field experience in emergency public health and outbreak response strategy development, program design and implementation, working across sectors or disciplines, and in coordination/team leadership roles is required. Field experience in leading strategy and implementation for conflict and/or outbreak preparedness & response is required. Proven skills in development of operational guidelines and tools, delivery of training/on-the-job mentorship, and in program monitoring and evaluation. Proven experience in representation, advocacy, communications, and resource mobilization.

Master’s degree in public health, global health, health service management or equivalent is required; First degree in health care (eg. Doctor, Nurse, Midwife) is desirable. Additional experience may substitute for advanced qualifications in public health.
Demonstrated expertise in humanitarian emergency health, nutrition and WASH assessments, strategy development, program design, operational planning, proposal development, implementation, and in monitoring.
Demonstrated expertise in bridging conceptual frameworks and operational guidance, ability to turn concepts and strategy into measurable action.
Demonstrated ability to lead, motivate and supervise teams; Ability to provide technical assistance and transfer knowledge and skills, either through formal/informal training, on the job coaching and mentoring, adapting to needs and level.
Highly organized, with excellent skills in prioritization and multi-tasking. Proven project management experience.
Outstanding capacity to understand country and emergency contexts.
Demonstrated success in working with donors, partners, and media, at global and field level.
Demonstrated abilities to build consensus among and facilitate decision making across multiple stakeholders
Strong interpersonal skills and ability to facilitate effective collaboration, communication and teamwork
Ability to work with multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary teams and proven ability to develop positive relationships with global, local and remote team members.
Structured thinking, excellence in oral and written communication.
Proven ability to deliver results under the pressure and tight deadlines.
Language Skills: Fluency in English required; and working knowledge of at least one additional language, French, Spanish or Arabic, desirable.