Humanitarian Director

ABOUT INTERNEWS’ HUMANITARIAN PROGRAMS

In humanitarian crises, people affected by unfolding events need more than physical necessities: they urgently need information. Internews has played a pioneering role in the field of humanitarian communications, working closely with local media and aid agencies to ensure that people affected by crises have access to timely, reliable information in languages they understand, and have the opportunity to feed back to humanitarian agencies to inform response efforts.

The Internews Humanitarian department works with communities, humanitarian organizations and local media in emergencies to develop cutting edge tools and strategies for improving communication flows between humanitarian organizations, local media and the people affected by the crisis.

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY

The Humanitarian Director is a senior humanitarian professional with a demonstrable understanding of and/or track record in best practice in Community Engagement and Accountability and how it contributes to improved inclusion, transparency and accountability for people affected by a humanitarian crisis. The Humanitarian Director leads a technical team that operationalizes Internews humanitarian strategy through both indirect and direct implementation and advisory support, responding to both protracted and acute crises. The role includes providing policy and advocacy leadership and representation in the humanitarian funder and implementer community, oversight of humanitarian technical leads and their input in project design and implementation, matrix management of humanitarian projects across multiple regions and collaboration with Monitoring, Evaluation and Knowledge Management colleagues to capture and evolve Internews humanitarian best practices.

LOGISTICS

Internews has Headquarters offices in Arcata, CA; Washington, DC; and London, UK. The selected candidate may work fully remotely, or partially remote from one of our Headquarters offices. Our ideal candidate is based in the United States or United Kingdom; however, remote candidates based elsewhere will also be considered. You must have work authorization in your location that does not require sponsorship from Internews. Additionally, there are some locations in which Internews is not able to support fully remote work.

Wherever possible, we work to try to find solutions for international hiring that work for both the company and the candidate. This means that some of the particulars around the offer for a role will be dependent on several factors, and that the benefits and salary structure that apply to a position will ultimately be based upon the candidate’s location and where the role is hired.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so candidates are encouraged to apply soon.

OUR COMMITMENT TO FOSTERING A CULTURE OF BELONGING

We are an organization of dynamic, mission-driven individuals who are passionate about our core values and about supporting positive change in the world. We pride ourselves on our commitment to innovation and flexibility. We believe that diverse teams are strong teams and work to support an ethic of belonging, dignity, and justice for al people. Our current team includes a mix of genders, parents and non-parents, and people of multiple races, nationalities, ages, sexual orientations and socioeconomic backgrounds. We are an EEO employer and encourage candidates of all races, genders, ages, orientations, ethnicities, and national origins to apply, and welcome those with alternative backgrounds and experiences.

DAY-TO-DAY TASKS will include:

Strategy, Program Design and Fundraising

• Work closely with Supervisor and Humanitarian Technical Lead(s) to develop the organization’s humanitarian strategy, evolve and formulate design for humanitarian projects, and develop tools and methodologies that exemplify Internews signature approaches to Communicating with Communities, Accountability to Affected Populations, and mis-/disinformation management in humanitarian contexts.
• Work with Technical Advisor(s) to provide leadership in team discussions and Go/No Go decision-making on opportunities for new work, including assessments, response, preparedness and disaster risk reduction.
• Work closely with the Global Development team and Regional Program Management Units on proposal writing and budgeting for humanitarian information projects.
• Represent Internews at donor meetings, conferences and other development-related events.
• Provide input to Internews media and communications materials, blogs, press releases, etc.
• On an annual basis, prepare annual workplans with budgets, with an eye towards advancing Internews’ overall mission and supporting growth.

Operational: Humanitarian Response and Field Work

• Within a matrix management structure, oversee and coordinate the work of Humanitarian Technical Advisor(s), the Humanitarian Manager and other Humanitarian staff who contribute to the design and implementation of humanitarian projects.
• Within a matrix management structure, liaise intensively with Regional Directors, Country Directors, Program Officers and other staff at both IUS and IEU HQ and in the field on a regular basis to ensure the smooth and accountable execution of humanitarian projects.
• Provide humanitarian technical support to field missions by remote or travel to site.
• In case of breaking humanitarian crisis in which a response is decided upon, lead the design and implementation of emergency assessments and/or the response in the most efficient and relevant manner, including on-site deployment and/or provision of technical expertise remotely.
• In cases of emergency response, liaise with Regional Directors, Vice Presidents and Country Directors to ensure that in-country capacity is leveraged effectively during humanitarian operations, ensuring coordination and complementarity of in-country operations.
• Lead in producing assessment reports, working with a designer, country teams, the communications department and others as appropriate for timely and well-coordinated release of assessment findings.
• Collaborate with other program teams in the development and streamlining of tools and methodologies for information needs assessments.
• Work with operational colleagues in the field and in Headquarters to develop sound operational policies and technical guidelines.
• Work with a departmental Business Manager to manage the budget for the Humanitarian department. Collate and submit expense reconciliations and receipts in a timely way.
• Work with the departmental Business Manager to manage additional discretionary budgets such as those for special projects or private funding pots.
• Recruit staff as needed, including drafting job descriptions, interviewing and onboarding.

Representation, Policy and Advocacy

• Represent Internews and provide thought leadership around policies and practices in the humanitarian information space at relevant sector forums and conferences.
• Organize and manage humanitarian team to ensure Internews has clear and timely processes to tap into representation needs from relevant humanitarian team members as needed.
• Lead a community of practice of Internews humanitarian program leads and specialists across the organization, to adapt, learn and improve our humanitarian programs.
• Actively contribute to communication materials, website and social media content, webinars, etc.
• Build and maintain a strong network of policy makers, practitioners and independent policy analysts engaged on humanitarian communication issues, ensuring that Internews is informed and involved in relevant debates and events.
• Take the lead on engagement with CDAC, H2H and other networks that are key to our work.
• Provide ongoing analysis of relevant humanitarian policy issues and themes, ensuring Internews operational teams and management are informed of emerging humanitarian policy debates and trends in the humanitarian sector and their implications for our programs. Prepare policy and other topical briefings for senior staff and operational teams.
• Undertake analysis of qualitative and quantitative evidence from our programs on priority humanitarian issues that can inform and guide our influencing and positioning work.
• Understand and demonstrate commitment to upholding Internews’ Core Values.

QUALIFICATIONS WE’RE LOOKING FOR

Required

• Minimum five years level leadership and management experience in a large humanitarian and/or crisis management organization
• Minimum eight years of experience in the humanitarian sector including field operations experience in complex, rapid onset and protracted emergencies
• Substantial knowledge of international humanitarian systems, institutions and donors, and of procedures, accountability frameworks and best practices in emergency management
• Substantial knowledge of the field of Humanitarian Information/Communicating with Communities in Humanitarian response
• Robust experience in developing and implementing organizational vision and strategies
• Solid project management experience including fundraising, proposal writing, budget analysis and management, recruitment, procurement, compliance, administrative oversight
• High level of expertise in representation and negotiation with governments/donors and international agencies
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in a matrix management environment and leading groups in collaborative decision making, problem solving and work planning
• Understanding of/experience in qualitative and quantitative data management and research & assessment methodologies in humanitarian scenarios
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills
• Excellent dispute resolution, facilitation and team building skills
• Experience of building personal networks at senior levels, resulting in significant new opportunities for the organization
• Experience of solving complex issues through analysis, definition of a clear way forward and ensuring buy-in
• Excellent English writing skills
• Relevant university degree or equivalent lived/professional experience

Preferred

Note: Candidates who do not have these preferred qualifications, but are interested and willing to learn, are encouraged to apply.

• French and/or Spanish desirable; additional languages a plus
• Hostile Environment experience and/or previous training is desirable