Background/IRC Summary:
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees required to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure.
The IRC leads the humanitarian field by implementing high-impact, cost-effective programs for people affected by crisis and by using our learning and experience to craft policy and practice. To achieve that vision, the Technical Excellence Unit provides technical assistance to country program staff and shares what we learn to influence global health.
Immunization and reaching zero dose children are a priority for scale for the health given the millions of children left unprotected from vaccine preventable diseases because of remoteness, insecurity, social norms, exclusion from government programs, and marginalization. The immunization advisor will spend 80% of their level of effort (LOE) working to improve the coverage of immunization across the IRC programs globally and the rest of the time 20% will be spend on leading on other child health initiatives.
IRC’s child health programming is articulated around increasing access to evidence-based high impact interventions to decrease childhood mortality and morbidity. This focusses on increasing access to essential curative services for children, essential preventive services for children, and integrated community case management.
Job Overview/Summary:
Reporting to the Senior Technical Advisor Specialized Health, the Immunization Advisor will lead the IRC’s immunization and child health work, coordinating with other leaders within the Health Unit and in other sectors to strengthen the quality of this work and develop successful program models, scale IRC’s programming in immunization and child health, and guide the immunization scaling ambition in the IRC health unit strategy.
Specific responsibilities / duties:
Immunization – 80% LOE
Technical Capacity Strengthening and Program Design
- Conduct technical trainings and ongoing technical coaching for technical staff related to immunization programming quality improvement.
- Support design of program in project countries and ongoing monitoring of progress
- Participate in analysis of program data with M&E and project staff to advise on program adaptations to achieve targets and share cross country learning
- Engage with stakeholders during visits to country programs
- Review and share program-specific tools/resources/curricula and work with technical unit specialists to contextualize and adapt global and country-specific materials
- Help define approach to teaming/partnering with other organizations
Business development
- Develop strategy to build IRC’s immunization portfolio
- Support country program staff to design programs and projects, ensuring that they are: aligned with the IRC’s strategy, which includes supporting country program staff with contextualizing outcomes and the theories of change, and selecting interventions based on the best available evidence and the local context; responsive to client needs and preferences; based on sound context and gender analysis; and support use of indicators for country programs aligned with existing IRC immunization indicators
- Input into go / no go decisions on proposals
- When needed, write technical narratives of proposals in addition to regular review of technical narratives, workplans, and any program reports
- Provide input on budgets
Influence
- Represent the health unit and the IRC in inter-agency working groups, various global/regional immunization fora and conferences
- Attend targeted conferences and develop specific publications (issues papers, technical documents, presentations and peer-reviewed articles) relevant to advancing immunization program strategies and research results.
- Synthesize key findings of current literature related to increasing routine immunization coverage—particularly through ‘last mile’ and community engagement strategies—for program use
Child Health – 20% LOE
Technical Leadership and Coordination
- Ensure continued program quality and use of evidence/best practice in child health in general.
- Provide child health technical oversight and guidance to IRC country programs and HQ technical units.
- Monitor program performance and increase accountability for results in collaboration with regional program staff and country senior management.
- Liaise with internal and external partners to identify promising new areas.
- Contribute to the development of project proposals as needed.
- Lead internal and external communication related to child health.
Key Working Relationships:
Position Reports to: Senior Technical Advisor – Specialized Health
Position directly supervises: N/A
Other Internal and/or external contacts:
Internal: Regular communication with technical advisors supporting country programs. Close relationships with regional and country teams. Interacts with IRC internal departments, including business development, external relations and advocacy departments, as well as other technical units.
External: Serve as IRC program representative in outside regional meetings and global meetings and academic forums with donors, other non-governmental organizations, inter-agency groups and foundations.
Job Qualifications:
Education: University degree in a health field and a master’s in public health or related area required.
Work Experience: At least 6-8 years public health experience in technical and management positions, including provision of remote technical support. A minimum of 5 years as technical advisor supporting immunization programs. At least three years of international field/lived experience in managerial/coordination positions with Non-Governmental Organizations in low- and middle-income humanitarian or post-conflict settings. Experience in technical tools and materials development. Experience in strategy development and working across sectors is highly desired.
Demonstrated Skills and Competencies: Demonstrated expertise in working with donors, project design, proposal development, and monitoring and evaluation, with the ability to turn concepts and strategy into measurable action. Able to work with remote, multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary teams. Strong interpersonal verbal and written communication skills and ability to facilitate teamwork. Ability to transfer technical knowledge and skills. Demonstrated dedication to renewing and maintaining with current best practices. Additional proficiencies include:
- Experience working with ministries of health, international agencies and/or NGO public health programs in Africa and other developing countries.
- Knowledge of vaccine preventable disease control initiatives (e.g., polio, measles, tetanus), Global Vaccine Action Plan and Gavi strategies for health systems strengthening.
- Proven track record of independently assessing routine immunization needs and lead partners in the development and implementation of successful program interventions, including prior experience with: national or sub-national immunization planning; capacity building for system strengthening; design of user-centered strategies to increase coverage; use of immunization data for monitoring and decision making; assessment of cold chain and logistics performance and needs; and other actions to sustain quality immunization services
- Work experience managing and/or coordinating child health programs in developing countries and providing technical oversight of child health programs.
- Substantive experience in the design, implementation and evaluation of large-scale child health projects.
- Ability to work independently, with attention to detail and quality.
Language Skills: Fluency in English required; proficiency in French is an advantage.
Working Environment: Up to 40% travel may be required.
The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Equality, 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, Egalite, 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.
COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement:
In accordance with IRC’s duty to provide and maintain a workplace that is free of known hazards and our commitment to safeguard the health of our employees, clients, and communities, IRC requires new hires to furnish proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in order to be considered for any in-office or hybrid positions. All IRC US offices require full vaccination to attend any in-office functions (e.g., meetings, trainings).
Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity:
IRC is committed to building a diverse organization and a climate of inclusivity. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who can demonstrate that they can contribute to this goal.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.
US Benefits:
We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days (depending on role and tenure), medical insurance starting at $145 per month, dental starting at $7 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus a 3-7% base IRC contribution (3 year vesting), disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.
Compensation:
Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.
How to apply
https://rescue.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/37881?c=rescue
