Community Based Maternal and Newborn Care TA

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive, recover 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’s vision is that the impact of our programs and the influence of our ideas empowers those caught in crisis to make lasting change in their lives.

The Technical Excellence (TE) unit provides technical assistance to IRC’s country programs, and shares what we learn to influence policy and practice. This is done through the following ways:

• Guide program design to achieve outcomes by incorporating the best available evidence

• Build capacity of country staff to implement, measure and continuously improve programs

• Influence agencies and donors to use validated interventions and generate new evidence to achieve change in peoples’ lives

The TE unit is comprised of five sub-units: Education, Economic Wellbeing, Governance, Health, and Violence Prevention & Response. Cross-cutting work is supported through the Gender Equality Unit and the Research & Innovation Unit. The health unit (HU) is organized in three sectors: health (primary healthcare, sexual and reproductive health, child health, chronic care, and mental health & psycho-social support), environmental health, and nutrition. In 2021 the HU supported programming in 6 regions and 34 countries.

Job Overview / Summary:

The Community Based Maternal and Newborn Care (CBMNC) Technical Advisor (TA) is primarily a field-facing position with a central responsibility on program quality. The CBMNC TA will spend most of their time supporting CBMNC programs and respective evaluation research in Somalia & South Sudan. Subsequently, more countries will be included for improvement of CBMNC services.

The CBMNC TA’s specific responsibilities are as follows:

• Support program development and start-up of a CBMNC program in Somalia and South Sudan, working closely with IRC’s research and innovation team, which will provide inputs into developing an effective and operationalizable program model that aligns with national policy, and with evaluating the effectiveness of the CBMNC program.

• In consideration of the existing heath systems and referral pathways/structures, identify and support appropriate facility- and community-based strategies to address community-level delivery gaps.

• Build technical capacity of relevant country program staff on CBMNC to ensure ongoing program quality and innovation, by coordinating technical and training needs, reviewing and adapting training materials, and conducting mentoring for program staff.

• Lead efforts to document and disseminate program findings, and contribute to the evaluation and scale-up of promising practices in community settings.

• Engage in business development and program design: support countries with establishing or implementing CBMNC programs; select or adapt interventions based on evidence and client needs, and based on context and gender analyses

• Project delivery support: work with country program colleagues, SRHR staff, and Health and Nutrition TAs to analyze data for review and course correction; to review and share program-specific tools and resources; and to contextualize and adapt global and country-specific materials.

• Assist with and advise on critical initiatives in the HU, including joint initiatives with other technical units as agreed upon by the supervisor; for example, outcomes and evidence, measurement, context adaptability, best use of resources, emergency preparedness, client voice and choice, and research and development.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: Advisor, Maternal and Newborn Health

Other Internal contacts: This position will engage closely with HU teams, the Research and Innovation Department, Awards Management Unit, Private Fundraising, country colleagues, and regional offices and departments. They will also work with Health TAs, Nutrition TAs, and SRH staff; the MNH Research and Innovation team; and the HU M&E Advisors on data system improvements.

Job Requirements:

• Health or other related degree, with a community health background plus MPH or equivalent;

• At least 5 years public health experience in technical and management positions, including provision of remote technical support;

• At least three years of residence or work experience in low- and middle-income countries;

• Expertise in community-based MNH, integrated community case management (iCCM), community-based provision of family planning (CBP/FP), and/or community-based nutrition (CB-N).

• Expertise in program management and fundraising (e.g., program development, proposal writing, monitoring & evaluation, and management of donor relations, local partnerships, capacity strengthening).

• Ability to work within a team, motivate others and promote efficiency, resolve challenges, and contribute to a cheerful work environment.

• Proven organizational skills, and the ability to be flexible and productive when dealing with various priorities, in a fast-paced team environment.

• Good communication skills, including writing professional documents, and building and delivering presentations to different audiences.

• Professional-level fluency in English. French proficiency will be a plus.

• Ability to travel approximately 20 – 30% of the time.

Working Environment: “Standard office work environment” as per IRC policy. Regular travel will be expected to provide support to some country programs, and to monitor and improve quality of technical assistance.

US Benefits: We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days (depending on role and tenure), medical insurance starting at $145 per month, dental starting at $7 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus a 3-7% base IRC contribution (3 year vesting), disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.

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).

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity: IRC is committed to building a diverse organization and a climate of inclusivity. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who can demonstrate that they can contribute to this goal.

Equal Opportunity Employer: We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Equality 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.