United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Urban Projects Coordinator

Position: Urban Projects Coordinator

Reports to: Governance & Rights Technical Adviser

Location: London, UK

Salary: TBC

Hours: 37.5 hours

Contract: Fixed term to 31^st October 2017.

BACKGROUND

Over the past 80 years, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has developed unparalleled expertise in responding to emergencies and helping uprooted communities to rebuild. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster.

The International Rescue Committee UK is part of the IRC global network, which has its headquarters in New York and London. The IRC is on the ground in more than 40 countries, providing emergency relief, relocating refugees and rebuilding lives in the wake of disaster. Through 22 regional offices in cities across the United States, the IRC also helps refugees resettle in the US and become self-sufficient.

The IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and, most crucially, accountability to those we serve. The IRC is a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable.

IRC-UK

Our European headquarters, IRC-UK, were established in London in 1997 to support the organisation’s global activities and particularly to diversify its donor base and be able to better advocate with European policy-makers on behalf of the people we serve. Since its establishment IRC-UK has grown rapidly and is now acknowledged for its high quality project management, technical expertise in governance and rights and economic recovery, and innovative thinking on early recovery and gender based violence. The IRC also has offices in Brussels and Geneva.

IRC-UK comprises approximately 70 staff across five departments.

The Governance Unit within Policy & Practice is responsible for developing and overseeing the quality of IRC’s program portfolio of key interventions contributing to the Power of the people we serve, as well as to the governance aspects of service delivery that contribute to IRC’s other sectoral outcomes. Our work helps those we support have a greater degree of influence over the collective decisions that affect their lives, be able to choose where to live as well as have access to effective and responsive services.

Today more than half of the world’s refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) reside in urban areas. For organizations like the IRC with a mandate to address the needs of refugees and displaced people, this trend is changing how we respond to meet the needs of the most vulnerable.

However much of the humanitarian response architecture and standard tools are geared towards responding in a camp setting, and too often the displaced in urban areas are left without assistance or protection. There is insufficient awareness of the scale and nature of urban displacement and the implications of this among policy-makers. At the practitioner level there has been relatively slow progress in translating experience in specific contexts into broader guidance and tools for programme design in urban areas.

The IRC currently undertakes learning and advocacy work on the issue of urban displacement, implemented by IRC-UK’s Policy and Advocacy Team, and seeks to expand its scope of work to include two projects which seek to build operational capacity around urban crisis response, through targeted research, tool development and testing and the development of practical technical guidance. These projects will be managed within the Governance Technical Unit, and will implemented together with other Technical Units, the Policy and Advocacy Team, IRC country programmes and other external partners.

The Purpose of the Role

Under the supervision of the London based Technical Advisor Governance, the post holder will be responsible for ensuring the successful management and delivery as well as provide technical support for two inter-connected projects for which the IRC is expecting to secure funding in the very-short term. The first project is the Urban Learning Consortium: an IRC led consortium comprising Norwegian Refugee Council, World Vision and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, funded by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) under the DFID Urban Crises Programme. The second project is from the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO). Both projects will run from November 2015 for two years.

Major Responsibilities:

Project Planning, M&E and Management

• Develop and manage detailed implementation plans for both projects, with clearly defined roles, responsibilities, dependencies, risks and timeframes


• Develop and manage logical frameworks and other M&E tools to support the effective monitoring of the quality and scope of activities and outputs, and progress towards expected results / outcomes


• Initiate and facilitate periodic coordination meetings and calls to review project progress, identify opportunities for improved learning and synergies, and identify corrective action and responsibilities as required


• Conduct monitoring visits to project activities to review progress and be able to report on achievements

Technical Support

• Support the review of existing tools, approaches and methodologies used by humanitarian, development and government actors for context analysis (including political economy analysis, social network analysis and conflict analysis);


• Support the review of approaches to area-based and integrated programming; protection and economic wellbeing and incentivizing a conducive legal environment and access to housing, land and property rights in urban crises;


• Support the review existing examples of integrated and coordinated service delivery across the traditional humanitarian sectors and local service providers along with the effect of such approaches on improved response to urban displacement.

Financial Management

• Produce, monitor and update spending plans for the projects, ensuring the efficient and effective use of resources

Grant Management

• Prepare and submit donor timely, accurate and relevant progress reports, coordinating contributions from consortium partner and IRC colleagues and managing donor feedback and response


• Focal point for donor relations, responding to ad hoc requests for information and questions


• Liaise with the donor over any modifications and changes to the grant agreements


• Liaise with the Senior Coordinator, Grants and Operations (US based) and the Policy and Practice Grants Officer (IRC-UK) to ensure the project is implemented in adherence with compliance, procurement and other donor and IRC rules and regulations

Consortium Coordination

• Agree and manage consortium member partnership agreements


• Identify and manage required inputs to the project from IRC staff leading and contributing to project deliverables


• Address challenges and resolve issues around performance with partner agencies


• Represent the consortium and the IRC in external and internal fora, advocating for its work and interests

Project Support

• Provide logistical and administrative support to IRC colleagues working on the projects, particularly in organizing field visits, events and in liaison with IRC country programmes


• Provide desk-based research support to IRC colleagues

Communications

• Ensure all products developed through the projects are designed and branded in accordance with IRC, consortium and donor guidelines, in consultation with IRC Communications teams


• Provide updates on the progress of projects and profile its work through team updates and other opportunities

Other

• Other duties as assigned by supervisor.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications:

• Masters degree in a relevant field (political science, international relations, economics, public policy etc.)Significant experience in the sector, with demonstrable professional experience coordinating projects. Field experience in a development / relief setting strongly preferred. Direct urban displacement field experience highly desirable.


• Knowledge of governance programming, context analysis and service delivery in a urban context


• Superior internal and external communication and coordination capabilities


• Strong verbal and written communication skills


• Language skills: Fluent in English

Experience

• Experience of and skills in developing and managing logical frameworks, M&E plans and tools


• Experience of developing donor progress reports, and of liaising with donors over project progress


• Experience managing donor funded projects and grants. Knowledge of DFID and ECHO compliance rules and requirements strongly preferred.


• Experience of managing budgets and spending plans, including reviews of budget-versus-actuals, and in delivering projects on budget

Working Environment: Standard work environment. Up to 20% travel to crisis affected and fragile contexts may be required

Desirable:

• Language skills: French and Arabic


• Experience of, and interest in, urban crises


• Experience of conducting research

How to apply:

To Apply

Please visit the following webpage to submit an online application consisting off a cover letter indicating how you meet the person specification and describing your motivation in applying for this position. The cover letter should be no more than two pages and be accompanied by a CV of no more than three pages.

http://chj.tbe.taleo.net/chj04/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=IRC&cws=1…

The cover letter and CV must be submitted as one pdf or Word file.

Applications without a cover letter will NOT be considered.

The candidate ultimately selected for the position will be issued a conditional offer to be made definitive upon the confirmation of the donor funding for this position that is expected imminently.

The closing date is 14^th December 2015.

Interviews will be on 21^st December 2015.

In order to minimise administrative costs, IRC-UK will only contact short-listed candidates.

Candidates must have the right to work in the UK.

IRC-UK strives to be an equal opportunities employer. IRC-UK is committed to equality of opportunity and to non-discrimination for all job applicants and employees, and we seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce regardless of gender, race, religious beliefs, nationality, ethnic/national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.