Program Coordinator, Serbia

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is among the world’s leading nonprofit humanitarian relief and development organizations. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, our mission is to assist those whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control over their lives. The organization has been at the forefront of virtually every major humanitarian initiative for the last 80 years. At work today in over 40 countries and 26 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure.

Alongside its significant global humanitarian portfolio, the IRC seeks to be an operational and thought leader in matters of resettlement, asylum, and integration, leveraging its credibility and expertise as a leading service provider, partner and advocate across the arc of the global displacement crisis. IRC uses its voice and expertise both in Europe and in the US to increase safe and legal pathways, shape systems and improve the quality of resettlement, asylum and integration services, as well as to promote innovative approaches and solutions to address the growing global need for resettlement.

The IRC delivers programs across Europe that address acute humanitarian needs of asylum-seekers and other vulnerable migrants who are newly arrived, stranded or in transit, and programs that address the longer term integration needs of asylum-seekers and refugees. The current portfolio is focused on working with partners to deliver programs that improve safety outcomes (anti-trafficking, gender-based violence, online information provision, protection monitoring, mental health and psycho-social support), economic well-being outcomes (employment and self-employment), education outcomes (working with school systems to bring social emotional learning to their curriculum) as well as on improving the quality of resettlement and integration approaches by local practitioners (the EURITA project and the resettlementresources.org/Europe platform).

In response to the increased migrants arrivals into Europe, in October 2015 the IRC began responding in Serbia and later expanded to other countries in the Balkans to assist vulnerable refugees and migrants. The programs are implemented in close partnership with local non-governmental organizations and government institutions.

Job Overview/Summary:

As a Program Coordinator, you will represent IRC in Serbia and play a leading role in ensuring overall program quality and impact, by ensuring that programs are evidence and needs driven and monitored closely.

You will report to the Europe Deputy Regional Director and directly lead the team comprised of 3 program staff (THB Specialist, Program Officer and Grants Officer), Finance Manager and Operations Officer as well as part-time M&E Manager.

Your major responsibilities will be:

Program Strategy and Design

• Design programs according to the strategy action plan, industry best practices, and thorough context analyses in adherence with IRC’s Good and Great Standards
• Foster opportunities for new business development including the development of funding strategies and donor mapping analysis.
• Contribute to regional strategic and program initiatives and ensure that resources developed at the regional level are applied locally.
• Identify and create opportunities for potential program growth through an ongoing consultation with different stakeholders.
• Regularly review and provide updates on the Serbia related parts of the Europe strategy.

Program Management – Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation

• Provide overall leadership and management to Serbia programs, ensuring strategic program direction and compliance with IRC and donor regulations. As needed, perform lead management role for some projects.
• Lead the program implementation through the development of work-plan, indicator tracking sheets and approved monitoring plans. Use the monitoring data to improve program performance.
• Ensure the financial health of all projects by monitoring expenditure within each project on the monthly basis, and ensuring that well-structured corrective action is initiated and tracked where required.
• Ensure timely recommendations for necessary amendments/re-alignments, extensions.
• Provide leadership to the program staff to ensure timely, high quality and regulation compliant activity reporting.
• Ensure that evaluations take place around selected programs / program components when possible, to contribute to existing evidence bases. Ensure that lessons learnt are shared with the regional management.

Efficiency and Accountability within Support Services

• Coordinate the provision of efficient and effective support services to all Serbia programs.
• Foster good planning practices and a high level of collaboration between programmatic and support service departments.
• Provide regular/timely feedback and recommendations on operational issues to the Europe deputy Regional Director to ensure corrective measures are put in place and good practices are upheld.
• Together with the Finance Manager, lead Serbia part of the Europe operating budget and grant budgets according to the appropriate IRC and Donor requirements.
• Ensure day-to-day supervision of support staff. Technical supervision will be done by respective regional technical staff.

Management, Learning and Development

• Coach, train, supervise and mentor direct-report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting performance goals, providing regular and timely positive and constructive performance feedback, and providing documented annual performance reviews.

Representation and Coordination

• Represent IRC with the government/relevant ministries, donor officials, UN, partners, and other stakeholders, as well as in donor and inter-agency coordination meetings ensuring that IRC’s contribution in the response in Serbia is well-coordinated with other initiatives.
• By attending conferences, working group coordination mechanisms, etc. identify opportunities for IRC to grow its partner’s network and profile in the country.
• As required plan and host donor, media or IRC visitors.
• Provide briefings to the IRC Europe Regional team on changes in the operating environment, political developments and external relations that may affect the IRC program.

Professional Conduct

• In close collaboration with the Europe Deputy Regional Director, local and regional HR, play a key role in planning and rolling out of training and adherence to “The IRC Way”. Ensure any violations of the “The IRC Way” are duly reported.

• Bachelor’s Degree in a related field required, advanced degree a plus.

Experience:

• Excellent professional track record with at least five years of experience within NGO sector working in program implementation.

Skills and Abilities:

• Fluency in Serbian and English is a must.
• Excellent interpersonal and representational skills.
• Demonstrates a systematic and efficient approach to work.
• Flexible and an excellent team player with ability to cultivate and maintain good working relationships with colleagues and other organizations.
• Relates and works well with people of different cultures, gender and backgrounds.
• Strong analytical skills and good judgment.
• Comfortable to take decisions even when not as much data as desired is present.
• Able to formulate appropriate indicators for a variety of programs and to design data collection and analysis tools.
• Outspoken and a proactive member of the senior -management team, always seeking to identify and communicate potential problems and propose solutions to the level of management appropriate to effect solutions.
• Committed to staff training and development.

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.