United States of America: Technical Advisor, Women's Protection and Empowerment

Background/IRC Summary:

Founded in 1933, 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. The IRC serves people forced to flee from war, conflict and disaster and the host communities that support them, as well as those who remain within their homes and communities. Our success is measured by our ability to help people to survive, recover and gain control of their future.

The IRC has a long tradition of offering refuge to those fleeing persecution and war , and is unique in that we support refugees both abroad and in the U.S. as they seek to build new lives, through our International and US Programs department. IRC's US Programs (USP) is on the ground in 26 US cities, where it serves more than 30,000 individuals each year, including 10,000 newly arrived refugees, as well as asylees, victims of human trafficking and other vulnerable immigrants. Through a diverse portfolio of programs aimed at five core outcomes: Health, Safety, Economic Wellbeing, Education, and Power. The IRC creates opportunities for these clients to thrive in America. Technical support for USP is provided through the Program Quality and Innovation Unit, which supports program quality, development and evaluation for IRC's US Programs.

Refugee and immigrant women face particularly high risks of gender-based violence, including domestic violence and sexual assault, during and after conflict, flight, displacement, and resettlement. To better meet the needs of refugee women survivors of gender-based violence, the IRC has developed the Bridge to Safety project (B2S), which aims to create safe space for refugee women to disclose violence to IRC staff; to equip staff to respond to disclosures with effective follow-up support, including safety and service planning; and to connect clients to appropriate specialized services through effective local partnerships. Currently, eight of IRC's US offices are implementing B2S.

IRC is one of the only humanitarian organizations to have a team of experts focused full-time on women's protection and empowerment (WPE). This team of experts ensures that IRC's programs adhere to the principles of best practice and promote the ongoing evolution of knowledge and practice in the prevention of and response to violence against women and girls. Together, the WPE team supports nearly 30 country programs working in partnership with communities and institutions to promote and protect women's and girls' human rights through gender equality and to meet the safety, health, psychosocial and justice needs of gender-based violence survivors.

IRC is recruiting a WPE Technical Advisor (TA) to provide technical support to US Programs to strengthen capacity to ensure effective response to women survivors of violence including the promotion of women's empowerment. This position with work with and partner with our international programs to inform and contribute to strengthening service delivery for women and girls at IRC.

Job Overview/Summary:

This position will work within IRC's US Programs (USP) Program Quality & Innovation team and the WPE team on programs preventing and responding to violence against women and girls, with a specific focus on quality service delivery. Within IRC's US Programs, which operates in 26 cities and serves women and girls every day, the TA will support technical quality, sustainability, expansion, and depth of USP's Bridge to Safety project, as well as other programs on preventing and responding to violence against women including the promotion of women's social and economic empowerment. The TA will work with US Programs staff to identify strategic entry points to work with women, girls, families, and communities, and identify current successful models within US Programs to be replicated. Within the scope of IRC's WPE's broader programming on violence against women and girls, the TA will also be involved in the development of a toolkit that will set global standards for case management of gender-based violence in humanitarian settings.

Technical support will be conducted through remote and on-site assistance. This position will spend up to 30% of their time traveling to IRC USP offices, with the potential of travel internationally.

Major Responsibilities:

Programs

• Provide direct technical assistance to USP offices on prevention and response to violence against women, including coordination and technical support to the Bridge to Safety project in relevant USP offices.
• Provide remote and on-site training to staff on violence against women, women's empowerment and gender equality.
• Provide technical assistance to USP's national Resettlement team to promote the protection and empowerment of newly arrived refugee women.
• Support program design and planning in US Programs initiatives in response to identified strategic priorities related to violence against women and girls and gender equality.
• Provide guidance and support to USP offices to effectively access funding and provide technical review of proposals prepared by field staff to support program sustainability.
• Support the development of concept notes and proposals to build USP capacity in women's protection and empowerment, in coordination with resource acquisition teams.
• Coordinate tracking, compilation and analysis of key indicators and outcomes of B2S and related programming.
• Respond to relevant technical queries/concerns in a timely manner.

Tools and Resources

• Create or adapt tools, resources, and training modules to support USP staff to effectively address violence against women and girls.
• Work with the WPE STA for Strategic Program Initiatives to develop training materials for a toolkit that will set global standards for case management of gender-based violence in humanitarian settings.
• Support the WPE STA in the dissemination and implementation of the case management resources to IRC WPE programs domestically and internationally.

Partnerships and Linkages

• Support USP to identify and strengthen effective partnerships locally and nationally with specialized domestic violence and sexual violence networks.
• Actively liaise with USP Resettlement team to promote best practices around gender in core programming for new arrivals.
• Assist USP to identify entry points and opportunities in refugee and immigrant communities to build awareness and support for culturally appropriate ways to address violence.
• Build linkages between WPE's international and USP's service delivery models.
• Build linkages between IRC's US and international programs, best practice, and learning to strengthen our response to assisting women and girls both domestically and internationally.

Representation

• Contribute to policy and practice discussions that relate to addressing violence against women in refugee communities in close collaboration with USP and WPE leadership and advocacy teams.
• Represent IRC and its programs and vision, at seminars, briefings, workshops and in interagency fora, as required.

Job Requirements:

• MSW, MPH degree in public health, social work, or other related degree preferred; or equivalent program experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in program management or direct service delivery/ case management focused on violence against women and girls, preferably working with refugee and/or immigrant populations.
• Experience in refugee resettlement in the U.S. strongly preferred.
• Strong gender analysis skills and experience in the promotion of gender equality in programming.
• Strong facilitation, capacity building, and training skills required.
• Demonstrated ability to create guidelines and training manuals, as well as the ability to work independently and productively in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to successfully and effectively liaise with people in multi-cultural environments.
• Excellent Computer skills: MS Word, Excel, and database software.
• Foreign language ability a plus.

Working Environment:

• Standard office work environment
• Up to 30% travel is required

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, and Anti-Retaliation.

IRC et les employés de IRC doivent adhérer aux valeurs et principes contenus dans le IRC WAY (normes de conduite professionnelle). Ce sont l'Intégrité, le Service, et la Responsabilité. En conformité avec ces valeurs, IRC opère et fait respecter les politiques sur la protection des bénéficiaires contre l'exploitation et les abus, la protection de l'enfant, le harcèlement sur les lieux de travail, l'intégrité financière, et les représailles.

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