Unit Assistant

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world’s largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you’re a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

The IRC Emergencies and Humanitarian Action Unit (EHAU) leads or oversees the IRC’s global emergency preparedness, response, and humanitarian 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. The 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.

Job Overview:

The Department Assistant provides high-level administrative and information management support, with a particular focus on support to the Vice President (VP) of Emergencies and Humanitarian Action. The primary focus of this role is managing the VP’s calendar, assisting with communication coordination, handling key administrative tasks to ensure smooth operations within the unit and in delivery of the Emergencies and Humanitarian Action Strategic Plan. This role requires excellent organizational skills, the ability to manage multiple priorities, and strong interpersonal skills.

This position is ideal for someone with an administrative background who thrives in a fast-paced, global environment and is looking to support humanitarian action worldwide.

Main Responsibilities:

Administrative Support

• Coordinate the daily workflow of the VP, including calendar management, arranging meeting materials, and coordinating with counterparts across functions to effectively schedule internal and external meetings. Provide meeting scheduling support for other EHAU Senior Management at times as needed.

• Liaise inter and intra-departmentally to develop and coordinate VP, EHAU’s media and advocacy requests.

• Coordinate VP travel logistics including booking flights, accommodation, and ground transportation, and prepare travel itineraries; support the Unit and Strategic Initiatives Officer with travel requests as they pertain to cross-unit events.

• Prepare, track, and submit expense reports and raise purchase requests/orders in Integra in compliance with IRC policies for VP and unit related expenses.

• Serve as the main point of contact for administrative inquiries related to the VP, directing requests to the appropriate resources.

• Assist with scheduling and organizing EHAU Senior Management Team (SMT) meetings as well as cross-section meetings as necessary. This includes preparing and sharing agendas, meeting materials in advance, taking minutes, managing meeting recordings, and circulating post-meeting action items.

• Work closely with Unit and Strategic Initiatives Officer to ensure forward planning of bi-weekly SMT meetings and maintaining an up-to-date planning calendar.

Communications and Information Management:

• Maintain EHAU all-staff email distribution lists, Teams channel, and update team organizational charts as staff join and leave the unit to support cross-unit communications and information sharing.

• Maintain EHAU’s RescueNet page in coordination with relevant focal points within each EHAU section.

• Prepare materials for meetings and presentations, ensuring timely and accurate distribution of documents; e.g., Response Management Calls, Board Meetings, and SMT calls as needed.

• Maintain project management tools for Strategy Team and support with routine status report updates of progress against the Emergencies and Humanitarian Action Strategy implementation plan.

• Support with developing presentation materials for meetings (PowerPoint or other).

• Coordinate VP’s contributions to the EHAU Newsletter.

Operational Assistance

• Assist VP with general administrative tasks, including managing conference rooms, coordinating with ihub services, and helping staff with IT, facilities, and office-related inquiries.

• Provide logistical support for unit-wide events, including coordinating conference calls, workshops, and small internal events, in collaboration with the Unit and Strategic Initiatives Officer.

• Other tasks, as required.

Key Working Relationships

Position reports to: Unit and Strategic Initiatives Officer

Position directory supervises: N/A

Works closely with: Unit and Strategic Initiatives Officer, VP EHAU, EHAU SMT, P&C

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, with at least 2 years relevant experience

• Proven organizational skills; detail-oriented; ability to multi-task and prioritize tasks in a fast-paced environment

• Experience interacting and communicating effectively with members of a complex organization at multiple levels and managing internal/external relationships

• Experience in a humanitarian or development organization

• Good judgement and ability to manage confidential information

• High level of comfort with MS Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Outlook, and MS Teams

Preferred Additional Requirements:

• Multi-lingual skills advantageous – with priority placed on French and Arabic

Working Environment: Standard office work environment.

**Standard of Professional Conduct:**The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.

Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.