Requisition ID: req46968

Job Title: Economy Recovery and Development (ERD) Specialist

Sector: Economic Recovery & Livelihood

Employment Category: Fixed Term

Employment Type: Full-Time

Open to Expatriates: Yes

Location: Kabul, Afghanistan

Work Arrangement:In-person

Job Description

IRC has been operational in Afghanistan since 1988, responding to the needs of people displaced by conflict, natural disasters, or climate change. IRC works across twenty provinces to help people recover from conflict and natural disasters. IRC works with communities to identify and address the basic needs of crisis-impacted families and to manage their development projects IRC provides cash assistance, Livelihoods, clean water, sanitation, and other necessities, assists uprooted families with tents, and helps people find employment. IRC also supports over 100 health facilities, builds water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities, and provides safe learning spaces in local communities.

IRC seeks a dynamic leader and program strategist to fill the Economy Recovery and Development (ERD) Specialist role. The ERD Specialist will provide technical support, guidance, to identify specific growth opportunities for ERD programs including climate-smart agriculture, livelihoods, enterprise development, and employment, and private-sector engagement programming in Afghanistan. The Economic Recovery and Development specialist will identify the specific opportunities for working with local partners and enhancing the scope, impact, and quality of their agricultural and non-agricultural livelihood programs for returnees and IDPs whilst ensuring they do not undermine host population livelihood strategies. The ERD specialist will play a key role in collaborating with staff from other sectors to ensure identified economic opportunities can be directly related to protection, women’s empowerment, food security, and economic well-being outcomes.

This position will be based in Kabul, with occasional travel to other targeted provinces and districts as necessary. As this is a fluid and rapidly changing context, the location of this assignment may change based on the needs of the program. Housing will be in shared, IRC accommodation.

Main responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Deputy Director of Programs (DDP) and with technical support from ERD Technical Advisors, the ERD Specialist will

• Ensure the technical quality, capacity building of the field staff and Design of ERD Program activities of a range of IRC Basic Need Assistance and Livelihoods Programming, including climate resilience livelihood, Agriculture, Livestock, employment, and enterprise support, for displaced, returnees and host communities’ people, in both through partner and/or direct implemented projects.

• Working closely with the Partnership team, to ensure capacity development of partners in ERD programming.

• Design implementation and fundraising-fostering ecosystem with a diverse pool of stakeholders – chambers of commerce, public institutions, labor offices, retail sector, and others. Identify challenges and propose adequate solutions.

• Led extensive partner mappings and contextual assessments, such as value chain, market, and labor market assessments to inform quality activity design.

• Develop economic diversification strategies for IRC clients in line with the Strategic Action Plan (SAP) and the program adaptation and Response plan.

• Refine a comprehensive strategic approach to integrating livelihoods programming and CVA across all IRC programming (direct and with partners), in collaboration with other sector leads.

• Take into account cross-cutting themes (inclusion of private sectors, gender equality)

• Foster IRC’s Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion initiative for effective and quality program delivery

Responsibilities:

Business Development

• Identify gaps and needs in programming areas and proactively source funding.

• Facilitate co-design sessions that involve potential partners and are responsive to client needs.

• Develop concept notes and proposals related to ERD programming expansion and continuation, including budgets, logical frameworks, theory of changes, and written narratives.

• Identify gaps and needs in current programming areas of social protection/CVAs, agriculture and livestock and micro-enterprise programming.

Program quality/Management and implementation

• Provide guidance to the ERD coordinator and his team in their implementation of project work plans and quality of technical activities, including program budget oversight.

• Responsible for project coordination with partners and direct program implementation in line with the IRC Country Strategy Action Plan and IRC international priorities, frameworks, and policies.

• Provide technical leadership and direction for ERD activities; define and implement context-appropriate activities to achieve the greatest coverage and impact possible for both immediate support and support for their future recovery and resilience needs.

• Ensure regular communication with Technical Coordinators within IRC Afghanistan, and headquarters-based Technical Advisors for ERD, Protection and Health to integrate appropriate technical unit priorities, the latest evidence, and best practices in program design and implementation.

• Collaborate with key staff and senior members of other technical sectors to prepare strategic work plans with clear objectives and achievement benchmarks, long-term and short-term priorities, implementation plans, financial projections and tools for evaluation.

• Conduct extensive partner mapping, value chain, and market assessments to inform activity design.

• Ensure program activities adhere to standard operating procedures and exhibit strong quality controls while being responsive to client feedback.

• Represent the IRC’s livelihoods programming at technical working groups, clusters, and other inter-agency forums, as well as with donors.

Partnerships

• Identify and develop partnerships with local and international implementing partners as appropriate for program design and service to clients based on IRC’s PEERS standards of equal and effective partnership.

• Strengthen relationships with national bodies such as Early Warning System the Safety Nets National Program, universities etc.

• Identify private sector partners and linkages to support youth employment, women empowerment, cash and voucher assistance, agriculture and livestock, and micro enterprise-related interventions.

Coordination & Representation

• Actively develop and maintain effective working relationships with key collaborators including donors, government actors, UN agencies, international and local NGOs, and other relevant actors

• Regularly attend relevant cluster and working group meetings at appropriate levels

• Seek out donor opportunities in line with cash and livelihoods strategy and priorities.

• Develop partnerships with local private sector actors and I/NGOs

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL)

• Ensure that ethical and sound data collection and information management systems are in place for appropriate program analysis, planning, evaluation, and advocacy.

• Maintain an effective monitoring, evaluation, and planning system.

• Coordinate program evaluations and reviews to ensure documentation of lessons learned informing reporting and program development, analyzing and sharing relevant information with the MEAL Coordinator, DDP and other colleagues as relevant.

• Support the MEAL Coordinator and client responsiveness officers in addressing feedback from clients and partners and utilize client feedback to adapt and improve programming.

Reporting

• Collect, compile, and revise ERD program narrative reports and ensure timely submission.

• Collaborate with the ERD Coordinator and Grants Team to ensure quality of reports to be submitted to donors!

• Provide up-to-date information on success stories to the Comms and Advocacy team

Professional Standards

• Ensure that gender, protection, and environmental stewardship are mainstreamed in all programming under direct responsibility.

• Consistently and proactively monitor/assess the safety and security of the team; promptly report concerns or incidents to senior management, and when liaising with community leaders and other external parties as required to maintain/enhance the security environment for IRC programs.

• Other duties as assigned by the supervisor to enable and develop IRC programs.

• Adhere to the IRC Way Standards for Professional Conduct and the IRC country employment policies as a requirement of the IRC

Job requirements

Education: Minimum university degree in a related field. Advanced degree in International Development, Agriculture, Food security, Business Administration, Economics, or Humanitarian Response preferred.

Demonstrated skills and competencies:

• At least 5-7 years of relevant work experience in livelihoods, climate-smart agriculture, cash and voucher assistance social protection, and/or other humanitarian and development programs with demonstrated experience leading a team and building partnerships to achieve results.

• Knowledge and experience of market and value chain analysis, private sector engagement, livelihoods mapping, access to finance, micro-enterprise support cash and voucher assistance

• Fluency in English required; Dari or Pashtun is an added advantage.

• Previous experience leading programming in complex contexts as well as ability to supervise, coach and mentor staff.

• Proven leadership and strategic planning capabilities, including budget management

• Demonstrated knowledge of gender equality topics and proficiency in managing projects that mainstream gender

• Demonstrated effectiveness in developing and maintaining unbiased and professional working relationships with government officials, civil society partners, and other counterparts and clients

• Proven ability to work well in and promote teamwork, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment, flexible and able to handle pressure with professional grace.

• Knowledge of all regulatory, contractual, legal and financial compliance requirements associated with international donor funding

• Willingness to travel to the field and occasionally at field sites with rustic conditions and various levels of privacy.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite, including Word, Excel and Outlook

• Demonstrated dedication to an anti-racist and Do No Harm approach, gender equality and inclusion