ECD Project Manager - Beirut

Background:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC works with displaced populations, host communities, and those who remain in their homes. Operating in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, the IRC reaches over a million children annually through education and child protection programs.

In Lebanon, the IRC implements Education and Early Childhood Development (EECD) programs that provide a strong foundation for children’s future learning, health, nutrition, protection, and overall well-being, while actively engaging caregivers to strengthen responsive caregiving practices, positive parenting, and supportive home environments that enable young children to thrive. The IRC is preparing to launch an ECD project that focuses on caregivers to improve outcomes for vulnerable children aged 0–5.

Job Overview:

The ECD Project Manager is responsible for the overall leadership, management, and successful implementation of the Early Childhood Development (ECD) project. The role oversees planning, coordination, supervision, quality assurance, and reporting across target governorates, ensuring alignment with national systems and IRC standards.

The ECD Project Manager provides strategic direction and technical oversight to the ECD team, including direct supervision to ECD Senior Officers, working closely with frontline workers, and internal IRC departments to ensure timely, high-quality, and accountable program delivery. The position also leads stakeholder coordination, budget monitoring, and contributes to learning, adaptation, and scale-up planning.

Project Management & Strategic Oversight

• Lead the overall planning, implementation, and monitoring of the ECD project, ensuring achievement of agreed objectives, targets, and timelines.
• Review existing ECD-related programs and initiatives to capture lessons learned, assess cost differentials, and propose a practical plan for scaling up the ECD package at national level.
• Identify service gaps, vulnerabilities, and priority needs for ECD interventions across target regions.
• Develop a detailed pilot implementation plan in coordination with the senior officers, and technical manager outlining timelines and milestones, geographic coverage, session cycles, staffing and deployment requirements, and logistical arrangements.
• Ensure alignment of the ECD project with national systems, including social services, databases, and established referral pathways.
• Identify risks, implementation challenges, and mitigation measures, and adapt project strategies accordingly.

Team Leadership & Supervision

• Oversee, supervise, and provide technical and managerial support to ECD Senior Officers, as well as consultants.
• Follow up on team workplans, targets, and deliverables, ensuring accountability and performance management.
• Provide coaching, mentoring, and capacity strengthening to the ECD team to ensure quality implementation.
• Facilitate regular team meetings, planning sessions, and performance reviews.

Technical Leadership & Quality Assurance

• Provide technical oversight to ensure consistent, high-quality delivery of the inclusive ECD curriculum across household visits and group sessions.
• Integrate cross-cutting components into the ECD package, including disability inclusion, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), and child protection, in coordination with IRC’s different technical focal points.
• Ensure harmonization of ECD approaches and tools across all implementation platforms and locations.
• Support needs assessments and contextual analysis to inform program adaptation and improvement.
• Ensure that ECD standards, methodologies, and safeguarding principles are upheld throughout implementation.
• Lead learning, documentation of lessons learned, and integration of best practices.

Coordination with MoSA & Stakeholders

• Lead strategic coordination with relevant stakeholders and ministries ensuring harmonized and streamlined approach in alignment with project targets and national systems.
• Establish and maintain coordination frameworks to support effective project implementation.

• Provide oversight and resolve high-level coordination, space, and scheduling challenges in collaboration with ECD Senior Officers.
• Lead coordination with MoSA, local partners, and relevant stakeholders such as MoPH, and MEHE to ensure a harmonized and streamlined approach.
• Represent the ECD project in coordination meetings, technical working groups, and external forums as required.

Outreach, Community Mobilization & Referrals

• Develop and oversee an outreach and community mobilization plan as well as referral pathways to ensure equitable participation of target households and reach for services.
• Ensure referral pathways are functional and effectively implemented in coordination with MoSA and service providers.
• Monitor access, inclusion, and participation, particularly for vulnerable households.

Logistics, Resources & Operational Support

• Oversee the planning, procurement, and timely distribution of all materials required for the pilot rollout, in coordination with relevant IRC departments.
• Ensure that adequate equipment and resources are in place to support effective household visits and group sessions, and address gaps as needed.
• Lead coordination with internal IRC departments (Logistics, Procurement, HR, Finance, Fleet, MEAL) to ensure smooth, compliant, and timely project implementation.

Budget Management & Reporting

• Support budget planning, monitoring, and expenditure tracking for the ECD project.
• Ensure efficient use of project resources and compliance with donor and IRC financial procedures.
• Review and contribute to high-quality narrative and financial reports (monthly, quarterly, and ad hoc).
• Ensure accurate data collection, reporting, and use of evidence for decision-making and donor reporting.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning (MEAL)

• Oversee monitoring of project indicators, targets, and outputs in coordination with MEAL teams.
• Ensure timely and accurate reporting of project data and documentation.
• Use monitoring findings to inform adaptive management and continuous improvement.
• Support evaluations, assessments, and learning initiatives related to ECD programming.
• Ensure continuous quality assurance mechanisms, including supportive supervision, regular monitoring visits, routine data reviews, and adaptive management processes.
• Monitor compliance with safeguarding, inclusion, and gender equity principles.
• Maintain a clean, well-organized, and accessible dataset.

Key Working Relationships

• Position reports to: Team Leader/EECD Coordinator
• Internal: ECD Senior Officers, Program Team- technical Manager and Senior Manager, MEAL, Finance, Logistics, HR, Procurement, Senior Management
• External: Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA), Social Development Centers (SDCs), partners, service providers, donor, coordination bodies.

Job Requirements:

• University Degree in Education, social sciences, international development, Business Administration, finance or other related field;
• Minimum of 5 years professional experience in management within INGOs and EECD programming.
• Experience working with government stakeholders, and in emergency settings or insecure environments; in-country experience.
• Demonstrated understanding of Monitoring and Evaluation tools.
• Strong organizational and result oriented skills;
• Proven track record in working with/managing teams, showing high performance in a multi-cultural environment, demonstrating flexibility, and able to handle pressure with professional grace;
• Fluency in Arabic and English required.

Working Environment:  

The position is based in Beirut, with regular field visits at national level.