Associate Director, Leadership Engagement and Events

Background:

Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is on the ground in more than 40 countries and in 25 cities in the United States, and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster.

As we approach our 100th year of service in 2033, we remain passionate about ensuring that the impact of our programs and the influence of our ideas empower people caught in crisis to make lasting change in their lives. We have launched Strategy100, a strategic plan that provides a north star for our programs, our research, and our voice.

Job Overview:

The IRC has an exciting opportunity for an Associate Director for Leadership Engagement & Events. We will be re-launching two major conferences to bring IRC staff leaders together: the Senior Leaders Group Offsite (2 days in Dec 2022, 75+ colleagues), and Leadership Week (3-4 days, May/June 2023, 200+ colleagues). The Associate Director will provide strategic ownership and operational management to run these leadership engagement events.

The AD will be a big part to make sure the two concepts are built cohesively and the programmes complement each other. They will provide dynamic and effective leadership, including conceptualizing the themes, crafting the agendas, and leading the operational elements to ensure smooth delivery of the event. Their work will spread far and wide within the organization, connecting with many, to achieve our Strategy100 goals and ambitions.

Major Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with senior leaders and colleagues to identify what we’d like to achieve with the events, and working closely with the CEO and Leadership Board to finalise event design.
• Ensure sessions are engaging, with elements of strategic content, team building, pride and celebration of our work, connectivity, and downtime for reflection.
• Develop a communications strategy leading up to and surrounding the events around key goals and objectives.
• Develop solutions when programming challenges arise.
• Coordinate with Learning leaders in HR, CRRD and RAI to ensure adult learning methodologies are used, where relevant.
• Responsible for informative, timely, two-way communications with LB and all attendees.
• Supervise all operational elements and responsible for overall smooth running of the events, including working with external vendors.
• Manage-in-partnership 1 internal event FTE.
• Lead 5 FTE assistants/interns a month before and the week of each event to ensure preparations are done.
• Provide overarching oversight of budget.

Key Working Relationships:

• Reports to: Chief Strategy Officer
• Internal:
  • Leadership Board
  • Senior Leaders Group
  • CRRD leaders (RVPs, DRDs, CDs, etc.)
  • RAI leaders (RDs, EDs, etc.)
  • Finance focal points
  • Department managers / assistants
  • HR leaders
  • President’s Office
  • Strategy Unit
  • Cross-Functional Planning Group
  • All other invitees
• External:
  • Speakers
  • Vendors

Job Requirements:

• Master’s degree or equivalent
• 6-10 years of relevant professional experience in humanitarian aid or NGO sector

Preferred experience & skills:

• Understanding of the challenges related to our sector, as well as implementing strategic and organizational change.
• Experience in staff and leadership engagement, including developing internal communications and facilitating large-scale events.
• Ability to lead and facilitate multiple collaborators with varied backgrounds and contexts.
• Good verbal and written communication skills.
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Office suite.
• Experienced in leading team members.
• Willingness to work through change in a proactive and positive manner, and to regularly receive and act on performance feedback in pursuit of continuous professional growth.

Working Environment:

• Hybrid with a minimum of 1-day per week in our NYC headquarters.
• Some international travel as needed, up to 30%.

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.

Standards of Professional Conduct: The IRC and IRC workers adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

Gender Equality: IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowance

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement: In accordance with IRC’s duty to provide and maintain a workplace that is free of known hazards and our commitment to safeguard the health of our employees, clients, and communities, IRC requires new hires to furnish proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in order to be considered for any in-office or hybrid positions. All IRC US offices require full vaccination to attend any in-office functions (e.g., meetings, trainings).