The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world’s largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you’re a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.
Mexico is a country of origin, transit, and—increasingly—a country of asylum. Some areas, including many regions along the northern border, have been devastated by insecurity and levels of violence akin to conflict zones, with migrants often the target of violence. At the same time, other regions of the country show promise as welcoming communities that can successfully promote the integration of newcomers. IRC’s growing and diverse portfolio of work in Mexico is at the heart of the organization’s efforts to play a distinctive and impactful role in providing both crisis response and integration solutions across the arc of displacement that ensure the best outcomes for marginalized and vulnerable populations.
Since May 2019, the IRC has been providing financial and technical support to local civil society organizations and NGOs in Ciudad Juarez to implement GBV prevention and response services – facilitating the provision of life-saving case management services, psychosocial support activities, and information sessions to migrant, asylum seeker, and returnee women and girls.
Success in this position requires an individual with demonstrated team leadership abilities; representational (including media relations), communications and risk management skills; and a facility for developing networks to build partnerships and diversify program resources. S/he will be directly responsible for the overall coordination and strategic direction of the country program; providing supervision and coaching for directly supervised senior staff; leading country program teams to identify, design and deliver responsive, high-quality programs; ensuring efficient management of public grants and private funds for results, compliance and high-quality, timely reporting; and oversight of financial management systems.
Scope of work
The Country Director’s core responsibilities will be to: support the management of all IRC activities in Mexico including guiding the office and activities in Ciudad Juarez; representing the IRC to external stakeholders at all levels (particularly in Mexico City); developing strategic relationships; engaging in the national and regional dialogue related to migration, humanitarian response and IRC areas of programming both in Mexico; and contributing to cross border cross organization work that involves collaboration across multiple IRC departments and technical units.
The Country Director is directly responsible for the program’s overall coordination and strategic direction; providing oversight and coaching for directly supervised senior managers; leading country program teams to identify, design and deliver responsive, high-quality programs; ensuring efficient management of public grants and private funds for results, compliance, and focused, timely reporting; and oversight of financial management and compliance systems. The CD will maintain continuity of humanitarian support in current operational areas, while, in collaboration with the regional office, exploring the possibility of expanding the geographic scope as needs warrant and conditions allow.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership and Representation
• Lead the country program by maintaining open and professional relations with colleagues, promoting a positive work environment at all levels, and ensuring oversight and resources to enable staff to perform successfully.
• Develop and maintain a high level of understanding of donor priorities and planned funding streams, seeking to establish IRC as a partner of choice for major international donors.
• Maintain strong, mutually beneficial and authentic partnerships with local organizations.
• Seek out and pursue opportunities to raise the profile of the work of IRC and its partners, as well as the lives and the needs of the people IRC seeks to serve.
• Lead country program through collaboration with colleagues, including collaboration related to critical cross-border programming at the Mexico-US border, to deliver country programming and advocacy.
• Ensure leadership and management processes enable the IRC to effectively adapt to contextual changes and fully make use of opportunities to expand humanitarian access and assistance.
• Develop and carry out strategies that result in strong representation with government ministries; humanitarian coordination; donors and other international organizations; international and local NGOs; and networks.
Strategic Direction, Quality, and Growth
• Ensure the strategic vision and direction of the country program is aligned with IRC’s strategy to serve people with responsive, high-quality and accountable programming, and secure the resources necessary for successful implementation
• Ensure the strategy action plan promotes quality programming, is implemented and guides decision-making.
• Ensure quality program implementation through consistent use throughout the country program of: rigorous assessment, design, and proposal development and review processes; comprehensive monitoring & evaluation, accountability and learning systems; staff development investments; and partner organization capacity strengthening.
• Remain current on national and regional issues impacting the country program and partners, and develop responsive strategies to changing contexts.
• Ensure the SMT delivers the leadership, management structures, staffing skills and approaches, and operational systems required to ensure a coherent ‘one IRC’ approach to achieve programming objectives.
• Find opportunities for appropriate expansion and growth of programs, supported by the appropriate investment in human resources.
Safety and Security Management
• Take primary responsibility for overall management for the country program.
• Oversee the management of all security issues, including appropriate response to emergency situations as they arise.
• Maintain a culture of safety throughout the country program, including trainings and briefings that prepare all country program staff for security incident prevention and response.
• Maintain close coordination and communication with the Regional Safety and Security Advisor on relevant concerns and evolving issues that could adversely affect IRC staff or operations.
Staff Management, Learning and Development
• Oversee the management, coaching and development of IRC Mexico staff to build a team of skilled, committed and motivated staff. Coach, train, supervise and mentor direct-report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting quarterly performance objectives, providing regular and timely positive and constructive performance feedback, and providing documented semi-annual performance reviews and promoting professional development
• Hold high-quality 1:1 meetings with each direct report on a regular and predictable basis, at least bi-weekly.
• Approve and manage all time, attendance and leave requests of direct reports to ensure adequate departmental coverage.
• Promote and monitor staff care and well-being. Model healthy work-life balance practices. Support appropriate interventions in response to identified staff care needs.
• Offer leadership support for successful adherence by all staff to IRC’s country, regional and Global HR Operating Policies and Procedures.
• Work with regional HR staff to identify and implement recruitment and retention strategies.
Stewardship and Operational Management
• Drive operational excellence to achieve optimal efficiency and cost-effectiveness in all functions and operations of the country program.
• Oversee the development, deployment and utilization of financial and operational policies, procedures, and systems to deliver compliance with IRC and donor requirements.
• Ensure responsiveness and appropriate levels of in-person and remote support to all offices, especially in the areas of HR, finance and supply chain.
• Provide timely and effective oversight of the country program’s financial position.
• Maintain effective and coordinated budget monitoring processes for grant funds and discretionary funds.
• Seek opportunities to introduce efficiencies and eliminate redundancies in existing business processes.
Communications
• Model and encourage active practice of the principles of the Mexico country program.
• Maintain a healthy and empowering office environment that encourages open, honest and productive communication among IRC staff and with partner organizations.
• Maintain open communications with regional management staff, regional technical advisors, and HQ departmental staff.
Key Working Relationships:
Position Reports to: Regional Vice President
Key Internal stakeholder:
• Country SMT Leads
• CRRD Leadership Team
• Global COE leads and teams
• Regional and Global Functional Leads and Teams
• Global Functional Leads
Key External Relationships:
• Other INGOs regional HR Business Partners and any HR Forums representing INGOs.
Desired Qualifications
• Strong leadership abilities and interpersonal skills, ability to deploy strong communications effectively, both internally and externally; enjoy developing networks to build partnerships and diversify program resources.
• Graduate degree in a relevant field
• At least 10 years of dynamically responsible international work experience, including leadership at the Country Director level of multi-site, multi-sectoral operations in a complex operating environment, supervising diverse teams.
• Deep experience working with migrant, asylum seeking, and refugee populations
• Intimate, first-hand knowledge and understanding of the policy and civil society landscapes at Mexico’s borders, in the interior, as well as across the broader region from Northern Central America to the US that impact people on the move.
• Professional fluency in written and spoken Spanish and English.
Demonstrated Technical Skills:
• Experience managing security in a complex and rapidly changing security context.
• Confirmed ability to negotiate and work with partner organizations. Experience with organizational capacity strengthening and partnership building is helpful.
• Strong budget and fiscal oversight capacities.
• Demonstrated representation and fundraising success, including prior experience with European, US, private and other international donors.
• Established capacity to handle stressful situations in a healthy, constructive manner.
• Ability to respond to multiple priorities in a timely manner, producing high-quality outcomes.
• Proficiency with the Microsoft Office Suite, especially Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
• Experience using technology for response in humanitarian or development context a plus.
Demonstrated Managerial/Leadership Competencies:
Experience building personal networks at a senior level, resulting in securing new opportunities for the organization.
• Demonstrated successful leadership and people management experience with a multi-disciplinary, diverse teams in cross-cultural settings, including active mentoring and coaching and active championing of gender equality, diversity and inclusion at all levels.
• Demonstrated successful experience in effectively developing high-potential, diverse staff to achieve career growth and maximum contribution
• Confirmed experience delivering suitable levels of oversight of a portfolio consisting of a variety of complex, high-value donor-funded projects.
• Opportunity-awareness. A successful innovative approach to unpredictable programming, operational, and funding contexts.
• Ability to represent program context, constraints, and successes to media, government, and other senior audiences.
**Standard of Professional Conduct:**The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.
Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.
How to Apply:
https://careers.rescue.org/us/en/job/req56057/Country-Director-Mexico
