Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Job Description
The IRC is seeking a Project Director, based in Nairobi or Kampala, for a 30M+ euro five and a half year, multi-country multi-stakeholder urban livelihoods program. The program will begin with a 6 month co-design phase focused on bringing together a diverse range of partners with the objective of identifying locally-valued solutions to achieve transformative and enduring change in the field of refugee livelihoods in East Africa; initially in Kenya and Uganda but with a plan to expand to Ethiopia.
Job overview:
The Project Director will be responsible for the overall management and oversight of the program. This will include coordinating across the project partners and IRC staff at country program, region and HQ to ensure the program delivers transformative solutions and that these solutions are effectively implemented to achieve sustainable impact for refugee and host community livelihoods.
The Project Director will report into both the Regional Vice President, East Africa and Senior Technical Director, Economic Recovery and Development (ERD).
Key Responsibilities will include:
• Throughout all phases of the project, provide strategic leadership to define activities to achieve the greatest impact toward the project goals and objectives;
• Oversee project delivery to ensure activities are executed on time, according to budget, and meet IRC and donor requirements;
• Oversee the project budget and operations to ensure resources are optimized through strong budget management, financial tracking, and accurate and timely reporting;
• Jointly coordinate the project governance structures with regional and technical leadership to ensure timely decision making, quality assurance of program deliverables, and risk management. Ensure the recommendations and decisions of the governance committees are implemented;
• Oversee management of partners/sub-grantees;
• Use project data to track progress and lead course correction discussions at regular and frequent intervals with the program team and partners;
• Build and maintain active and cooperative relationships with all key stakeholders and partners;
• During the co-design phase specifically, lead in coordinating a series of multi-stakeholder design workshops that engage a diverse range of key stakeholders and partners, and catalyze creative thinking and experimentation, to come up with a solution that can be scaled for urban refugees and host communities in East Africa;
• Coordinate the activities of a project design team, in particular ensuring that clear deliverables are set and an actionable plan is in place to achieve these deliverables within a very tight timeline.
• Coordinate with IRC technical teams and partners to plan for, and support, the conduct of assessments and research that support the program activities;
• Manage two Project Managers and one Lead Narrator during the co-design phase.
Qualifications
• Advanced degree in international development, economics, public policy or a related field;
• Minimum of 8 years progressive experience in humanitarian or development contexts, with a focus on urban livelihoods or other similar subject area (experience in East Africa is an advantage)
Skills and Abilities:
• Exceptional project management and organizational skills in a fast-paced environment
• Proven problem-solving skills
• Excellent communication (written and verbal) and interpersonal skills
• Success in managing complex projects (especially multi-stakeholder and/or multi-country)
• Supervisory experience
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 and other supportive benefits and allowances.
IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
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