The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC works with people forced to flee from war, conflict and disaster and the host communities that support them, as well as with those who remain within their homes and communities. 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. IRC reaches over a million children annually with education and child protection programs in 25 countries around the world.

The Syria crisis is often described as the worst humanitarian catastrophe since the end of the Cold War. Inside Syria, 7.6 million people are internally displaced and 12.2 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, with 4.8 million in hard-to-reach areas. There are four million Syrian refugees in neighboring countries. This is no short-term humanitarian episode. The devastating human consequences to huge numbers of people will endure for decades. The destruction of relationships, communities, livelihoods, homes and infrastructure will take years to repair.

IRC is offering a robust humanitarian response to the Syria crisis. With n budget of $60 million and a rapidly expanding portfolio, supported by more than 900 staff and workers, IRC is undertaking programs in Syria in the fields of health, protection, economic recovery and development and early childhood development. Our work in these challenging settings gives rise to some of the most pressing issues facing contemporary humanitarian action, including questions of access, security, funding and coordination.

High-quality ECD programs provide the foundation for children’s future academic success, health, prosperity and wellbeing. A large body of scientific evidence emphasizes the need for increased investment in early childhood, particularly for children experiencing conflict, crisis and displacement; these children are vulnerable to the long-lasting effects that prolonged stress has on the developing brain.

In December 2017, Sesame Workshop and the IRC were awarded the MacArthur Foundation’s inaugural 100&Change grant to make real progress toward solving a critical problem of our time. With the extraordinary investment of $100 million, our partnership will transform the language, early reading, math, and social-emotional skills of a generation of children ages 0-8 affected by the Syrian war. Focusing on children in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria until 2023, the plan combines the depth of in-person services, reaching 1.5 million children, with the breadth of mass media, reaching 9.4 million children. For more information, please visit: http://refugee.sesameinternational.org/.

The ECD Coordinator will serve as the project lead for IRC Syria and provide technical direction and leadership for the creation and implementation of high-quality ECD programming and content within the region.

The Coordinator is responsible for four key objectives:

1.Program Quality and Implementation: Plan and implement effective deployment of ECD resources and materials to support parenting/home visiting programs and early learning/preschool programs, as well as support M&E and learning efforts;

2.Ahlan Simsim Representation: Represent IRC and the project inside Northwest Syria and in Turkey at strategic meetings and events in close coordination with leadership and the Regional Project team;

3.Partnerships and scaling: Build collaborative relationships with Syrian and Turkish organizations to plan implementation of ECD-related activities in Turkey and in Syria, building technical and organizational capacity.

4.Business development and growth: Lead on scoping activities and program development for ECD programming opportunities in Turkey, in collaboration with local partners.

Responsibilities:

5.Program Quality and Implementation

• With guidance from the Regional Technical Lead for ECD, develop country-specific programmatic standards for parenting/ home visiting and early learning/ preschool program implementation;
• Ensure content and program models are aligned with local or national standards for early childhood development and pre-primary education;
• Ensure technical quality and roll out of ECD training for relevant staff;
• Work with MEAL team on the development of M&E systems and ensure regular follow-up on data relevant to the Ahlan Simsim project and other ECD initiatives inside Jordan;
• Support the implementation of the IRC Syria Strategy by ensuring that program activities align and contribute to achieving selected pathways of the prioritized signature and core sub outcomes;
• Design remote data collection to facilitate M&E, as well as large research efforts to document effectiveness of ECD interventions.

6.Integrated ECD programming

• Collaborate with Ahlan Simsim regional team and IRC program teams (Protection, Women Protection and Empowerment, Child Protection, Education and Economic Recovery and Development) to come up with strategies for integration of activities across IRC programs and with partners;
• Collaborate with IRC programs to effectively integrate ECD activities into existing community outreach and humanitarian response;

7.Representation

• In coordination with the Project Director, represent the IRC to UN, international and national NGOs, line ministries, and key ECD actors;
• As ECD focal point at country level, participate actively in external coordination forums; participate in internal coordination and management meetings to promote effective and efficient information sharing, problem-solving and decision making;

8.Partnerships and scaling

• Work in close collaboration with the Partnership unit to develop a comprehensive and collaborative approach to strategic and operational partners;
• Build collaborative relationships with local implementing partners to facilitate effective dissemination of ECD materials and activities, including guiding project planning, MEAL, and reporting.

9.Grant Monitoring and Business Development

• Support and ensure donor compliance, including appropriate and timely spending of grants to achieve program goals, grant reporting contributions, use and distribution of supplies and resources.
• Lead on developing business concept notes and proposals for the continuation and expansion of the program;
• Ensure the submission of timely, accurate and well written donor reports and other reporting requirements;
• Work closely and coordinate with IRC other technical unit, logistics, finance and grant staff to ensure timely and compliant program activities and expenditures; including active participation in grant opening/closing and review meetings and participation in bids opening and review.

10.Staff Management and Development

• Coach, train, and mentor staff with the aim of strengthening their technical capacity, exchanging knowledge within the team and providing professional development guidance
• Stay updated on the fluid security context inside Syria to evaluate access and adapt programming accordingly
• Develop and implement staff capacity building plan to ensure quality ECD programming across programming teams and other platform programming;
• Conduct timely and quality performance evaluations

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: Northwest Syria Senior Program Quality Coordinator and Ahlan Simsim Regional Deputy Project Director

Position directly supervises: Senior ECD Manager, Information Management Officer, Partnership and Scaling Manager

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: Regional Technical Lead ECD (Ahlan Simsim), Regional Research Lead (Ahlan Simsim), Regional Scaling and Partnerships Lead, other IRC programs and support departments

External: Partner NGOs and relevant Ministries

Job Requirements: The requirements should establish a baseline (minimum) for educational background, previous work experience, professional knowledge or certification, specific skills and strengths and any other skill vital to perform the essential functions of the job.

• Masters level qualification in Social Sciences, Education, Psychology, Human Development, Social Work, or related subject
• Proven experience in managing and/or technically supporting ECD, education or child protection programs;
• Experience inremote management;
• Strong capacity building skills
• Prior experience and excellent understanding of working in emergency settings or insecure environments
• Strong leadership, management, project planning, monitoring and evaluation, analytical interpersonal and communication skills
• Strong budget management and reporting, skills; and an ability to supervise multiple awards from a variety of donors
• Strong written and oral communication skills, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment and effective in representation
• Ability to supervise monitoring and research staff.
• Ability to use data from monitoring and research to shape program implementation, scale up, transfer to partners.
• Able to respond rapidly to changing environments
• Excellent digital literacy: MS Word, Excel
• Fluency in English (written and speaking). Arabic is a plus.

The IRC and IRC workers must 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