Senior Technical Livelihoods Manager - Beirut - For National Candidates Only

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 forced 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 way from harm to home.

The IRC is operational in Lebanon since late 2012, when it conducted a number of rapid assessments focusing on the risks and violence faced by women and girls among the Syrian refugee population, and on the economic impact of  the crisis.  A livelihoods  assessment  done  in  September  2012  followed  by  an  Emergency  Market  Mapping Analysis (EMMA) in March 2013, a Business Climate Assessment in Akkar and an SME Overview in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, found that the crisis in Syria and influx of refugees into Lebanon had a significant economic impact on host communities while the refugee population lived in a precarious situation.

Since then, the IRC’s Economic Recovery & Development program is delivered from four livelihoods centers in Akkar (Deir Dalloum & Wadi Khaled), Mount Lebanon & Beirut (Mkalles) and North Lebanon (Mina, Tripoli). These centers deliver employment support services, trainings, provide access to capital to entrepreneurs and support municipalities in delivering basic public services.  More than 70 staff are employed within the ERD supporting more than 40,000 clients with services.

Job Overview/Summary:

The ERD Senior Technical Manager for Livelihoods is the technical leader (with oversight and support from the ERD Coordinator) for all programmatic aspects related to IRC's livelihoods programs in Lebanon. Programs include Conditional Cash Transfer, Employment Support Services       (job counseling and jobseekers’ capacity building), Life Skills and Vocational Training, on-the-job training and microenterprise support - all coordinated through IRC' s Livelihoods Centers in Akkar,  Mount Lebanon, Tripoli and Wadi Khaled, as well as private  sector engagement efforts such as SME support, access to finance and coordination with Lebanese employers.

Major Responsibilities:

Technical Quality and Program Development

• Provide technical and management leadership to IRC Lebanon's livelihoods activities in accordance with best practices and IRC standards, including insight on conditional cash transfer, employment services, vocational training, apprenticeship / on-the-job training, microenterprise support and SME development.
• Advance the IRC's broader economic engagement by conceptualizing and implementing strategies to further engage  private  sector  and  economic  stakeholders,   including  businesses,   business  support entities, local and national level government and NGOs                                                                                                                  
• Through technical and management oversight, ensure a high quality of programming is being conducted on a day to day basis at IRC's Livelihoods Centers
• Ensure that the IRC’s trainings align with the market’s needs to ensure transition to employability
• Work with the M&E team to ensure safeguards are in place and proper measurement tools are develop to capture progress
• Provide technical oversight to employment services and outreach to ensure they are being implemented within international best practice.
• Work closely with the IRC’s Women Protection and Empowerment program to ensure that services between ERD and WPE are sequenced in such a way to avoid harm induced as a result of livelihoods
• Coordinate with IRC Protection and Rule of Law to continue mainstreaming protection principles into livelihoods activities
• Work closely with the Feedback, Accountability and Response Mechanism department to ensure that complaints from clients are addressed, on time, and to develop a system to mitigate complaints
• Support development of research agenda for livelihoods work along with ERD Coordinator.
• Work with the ERD Coordinator to support business development efforts; narrative development, logframe drafting, budgeting in such a way to ensure that IRC is competitive in its offerings

Program Planning & Implementation

• Maintain a program implementation progress plan aligning targets with timeline implementation
• Ensures regular field monitoring and modification to ongoing programming as required.
• Together with the M&E team, support in the implementation of a full monitoring and evaluation framework of all livelihoods activities (aligned with ERD's Livelihoods Information Management System and other M&E tools), as well as learning strategies, and adapt them to the different program methodologies
• Lead on regular donor and internal reporting.

Human Resources Management

• Directly supervise ERD’s 4 center supervisors and the Deputy M&E Manager
• Set specific goals and expectations and provides regular, positive and constructive feedback to staff
• Build capacity of the team under his/her supervision in livelihoods support methodologies, as well as management
• Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions.
• Ensure timely completion and submission of interim and annual performance reviews.
• If/as required, identify staff performance issues and works with Human Resources to document and address these in accordance with the National Staff Employment Policies
• Responsible for adhering to IRC's Global HR Operating Policies and Procedures

Partner Management

• Work with the Partnerships unit to think of ways to take forward the ERD partnerships strategy, including reaching out to stakeholders and drafting MoUs when needed

Other

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

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: ERD Coordinator
Position directly supervises:  4 staff: Livelihoods Centers Supervisors (Akkar, Mount Lebanon and Tripoli)

Position indirectly supervises: 1 Deputy M&E Manager
Other Internal and/or external contacts: Conditional Cash Manager, Private Sector Engagement Manager, Senior Officer for Program Support, Field Coordinators, Partnerships unit, Finance and Operations teams, Livelihoods National Working Group

Job Requirements:

• BA/BS Degree in international development, economics,  food security or related field, and/or related certification required; MA/MS a plus
• Minimum of four-years of professional experience in project management, with specific experience in livelihoods programming, cash programs or enterprise development
• Strong program technical skills.
• Strong writing (donor reports) and oral communication skills, effective in representation and liaison with external parties.  
• Prior M&E experience is preferred
• Budget management skills welcome
• Capable of applying their skills and knowledge in a range of capacities, including direct implementation, advisory functions, training and the transfer of technical capacity.
• Works well in and promotes teamwork, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment and able to handle pressure well.
• Fluency in English required, Arabic a distinct advantage

Working Environment:  The position is unaccompanied and is based in Beirut with frequent travel to field sites in Akkar, Mount Lebanon and Tripoli