Delivery Manager

JOB DESCRIPTION

Position: Delivery Manager

Reports to: Vice President, Awards Management Unit

Location: UK, other IRC location will be considered

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time (37.5 hours)

BACKGROUND

Over the past 80 years, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has developed unparalleled expertise in responding to emergencies and helping uprooted communities to rebuild. 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.

The International Rescue Committee UK is part of the IRC global network, which has its headquarters in New York and London. The IRC is on the ground in more than 40 countries, providing emergency relief, relocating refugees and rebuilding lives in the wake of disaster. Through over 20 regional offices in cities across the United States, and in Europe the IRC also helps refugees resettle and become self-sufficient.

The IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and, most crucially, accountability to those we serve. The IRC is a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable.

IRC UK

IRC UK was established in London in 1997 to support the organisation’s global activities and particularly to diversify its donor base and be able to better advocate with European policy-makers on behalf of the people we serve. Since its establishment IRC UK has grown rapidly and is now acknowledged for its high-quality project management, technical expertise in governance and rights and economic recovery, and innovative thinking on early recovery and gender-based violence. IRC UK comprises over 100 staff.

Awards Management Unit (AMU)

Established in January 2016, the Awards Management Unit (AMU) is a global unit spanning New York, Washington DC, London, Bonn, Berlin, Brussels, Stockholm, Geneva, Nairobi, Dakar and Amman. The Awards Management Unit is responsible for building, maintaining, and strengthening relationships with public and institutional donors and position IRC as a partner of choice for delivering programs for our clients. This means working to expand IRC’s portfolio and diversify our relationships, as well as supporting the successful and compliant management and implementation of awards. The multi-disciplinary unit is made of up of multiple departments working in collaboration, including Strategic Partnerships, Business Development, Compliance & Policy, Program & Grant Support, and Training.

The Purpose of the Role

Based within the Awards Management Unit, this role sits within the largest department which provides internal solutions-oriented technical expertise in award management across the award life cycle, leads coordination between internal organisational units and offers support to IRC’s Country teams to maximize impact for IRC’s clients. The department comprises of seven teams.

The is an internal headquarters role designed to support the department leadership and staff, who in turn support IRC’s Country Programs – and our Country Programs support IRC’s clients. This role does not work on awards/grants or directly with Country Programs.

The role works closely with the Head of Department leading all aspects of the department, and coordinates with and supports department leadership to ensure the department is optimised to deliver on its mission in alignment with the priorities of a wider unit. As a key partner to department leadership, the Delivery Manager is responsible for strengthening oversight, prioritization, collaboration, and execution within the department. The role focuses on successfully ensuring strategic priorities are translated into progress and leading strategic change within the department to ensure it is able to deliver effectively as it evolves.

Key Working Relationships

• Reports to: Head of Department
• Line manages: n/a
• Works closely with: department leadership, department teams
• Other key stakeholders: AMU Planning & Strategic Operations team, other AMU departments

Key Accountabilities and Responsibilities

• Responsible for coordinating departmental management activities to support effective running of the department and ensure delivery of the agreed annual priorities
• Coordinate and support the departmental leadership through key delivery processes, including establishing key strategic priorities, business planning, and culture and people management within the department
• Work closely with the departmental leadership to identify strategic direction and priorities and translate these into annual workplans, in alignment with AMU
• Ensure successful delivery of department’s annual priorities, including governance, resourcing, monitoring, and reporting
• Maximise the impact of the departments’ work through identifying and capitalising on synergies with other initiatives within the unit and across IRC and ensure interdependencies are effectively managed
• Responsible for effective departmental design and continuous improvement, including leading strategic change to ensure the department can deliver effectively and collaboratively as it evolves
• Promote effective project management approaches within the department and lead on key departmental strategic initiatives where required
• Working closely with the departmental leadership to support effective risk mitigation and budget management to support the commitments
• Standardise and optimise departmental procedures and processes ensuring they are successfully embedded across the department
• Establish cohesive staff engagement approaches and standards in the department, including meetings and internal comms
• Maintain and improve department’s knowledge management to increase institutional memory including management of online collaboration tools

Requirements

• 4 years’ experience supporting at senior management level
• Autonomous and results-driven completer/finisher
• Visibly self-motivated, self-managing and able to keep on top of your own admin
• Experience in leading without managing teams
• A flexible work attitude and a calm manner able to function effectively under pressure
• Experience of working in a complex matrix organisation
• A persuasive and collaborative style and strong problem solving approach
• Ability to anticipate and assess situations accurately and recommend/implement effective courses of action required
• Proven experience of translating strategy into action
• Proven experience of continuous improvement
• Proven experience of successfully managing a portfolio of business improvement projects
• Excellent communication and engagement skills to bring colleagues with you, even against challenging deadlines and priorities
• Proven experience of designing and optimizing internal processes
• Confident with technology and strong working knowledge of online collaboration tools

Desirable

• Knowledge of departmental governance
• Experience of organisational design and transitioning
• Project management qualifications
• Experience of capacity building
• Supervision/line management experience
• Experience of the INGO sector
• Understanding of awards management