> > Country Director – Iraq
Country Director – Iraq
Closing date7 Apr 2025OrganisationInternational Rescue Committee (IRC)LocationBaghdad, IraqExternal URL DescriptionAn estimated 70 million people need humanitarian assistance in MENA. This includes people caught up in protracted conflict, those displaced by crisis, and those affected by global shocks, changing climates, and natural disasters. Across the region, vulnerable groups, such as women, children, and people on the move, continue to be disproportionately affected, all while rising economic instability and often weak national governance exacerbate levels of extreme poverty and disrupt the provision of basic services.
The IRC responds to people’s acute and longer-term needs with integrated programs that improve health and safety, prioritize children’s education, foster economic wellbeing, and empower communities to regain control over their lives. Our work gives rise to some of the most pressing issues facing contemporary humanitarian action, including questions of access, conflict sensitivity, coordination, and impact.
Contextual Background:
Iraq is emerging from over six years of fighting against the Islamic State and remains a complex operating environment. The devastating human consequences to huge numbers of people will endure for decades and the destruction of communities, livelihoods, homes and infrastructure will take years to repair. Over 5 million Iraqis have returned in the past years, but 1.1 million remain displaced. Over 230,000 Syrians continue to seek refuge in the Kurdistan region. While recovering from the years of conflicts and moving towards a more development-oriented context, Iraq still faces economic downturn, significant vulnerability to climate change challenges in agriculture and water management, and poor public service provision. The instability of some of the neighboring countries and the ever evolving regional political and social dynamics have significant influence on the current and future landscape in Iraq.
Since 2003, the IRC has been at the forefront of providing humanitarian aid and assistance in Iraq. Over the past six years our focus has evolved towards offering integrated services across the humanitarian-peacebuilding-development nexus. Operating across 14 governorates in Federal Iraq and with presence in Kurdistan, we extend our support to internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, and host communities, aiming to facilitate recovery and build resilience across the country.
Job Overview:
The Country Director (CD) leads all programs implemented in the assigned Country Program, oversees operational matters and supervises humanitarian access and adherence and application of security measures. As lead of the Senior Management Team (SMT), the CD ensures collective responsibility of the senior leaders in country for overall leadership and supervisory management of IRC staff, programming, and operations, including program quality and accountability, stewardship of resources, staff safety and security, performance management and external representation, for which the CD remains accountable.
The CD leads the SMT and the country office in setting the vision and strategic direction for the changing operational landscape and ensures that:
resources and ambitions are aligned; vision and strategic decisions are consistent and in sync with the IRC global strategy; along the senior leaders in country and in the Regional office, shapes the Country Office programmatic and financial model to be relevant, adaptive, compliant and innovative.
Key Responsibilities:
Staff management, learning and development
Direct line manage deputy directors and/or other roles as per structure and make sure that their objectives are clear, their performance remains consistently high, the communication and information sharing among them is fluid and constructive and they find time and space for learning and improving their performance; Lead the SMT in ensuring that overall strategic vision and direction of the country program is aligned with IRC S100 priorities and to serve people with responsive, high-quality and accountable programming considering the funding landscape; Along the SMT and with the support of the access, safety and security staffing, maintain focus on context analysis, its shifting key stakeholders and safety and security of staff, partners, clients and IRC premises and assets; Lead through example and contribute to build on and expand a culture of safety and transparency for the Iraq team while maintaining the right level of management, development of staff; Along with the SMT and with engagement of the finance SMT members, maintain oversight of financial management and compliance systems per IRC standards and regulations, contribute to elaborate adequate forecasts and financial analysis; Maintain and facilitate the SMT to keep open communication with regional management staff, regional technical advisors, and HQ departmental staff.
Program and business development
Ensure that program development remains relevant, contextualized, high quality and compliant with standards, donors regulation and domestic law; In strict collaboration with the Deputy Director Programs, contribute to identification of business opportunities through networking and engagement with donors and national/international partners; Ensure that the overall portfolio of projects/grants is solid, well diversified, complementary, relevant to the needs of the population served and financially viable; In consideration of the size of the portfolio, the ambition and the projection of activities and funding, re-arrange the country office structure in a logic of agility, efficiency and value-for-money; Contribute to read the context and ensure that all projects are responsive to needs identified or emerging and facilitate the identification of innovative, impactful and durable responses; Consistently monitor the business model in a logic of efficient cost-recovery and adequate ratio of programmatic/operational cost.
Representation
Maintain strong representation with national authorities, national and international partners, donors and diplomatic missions. Ensure representation in relevant networks, roundtables, collective initiative in line with IRC vision, mission and position; Ensure that IRC contributes to the broad discussion around durable solutions to displacement, that advocacy messaging and lobby initiative reach the right audience, and that IRC maintain the right profile and influence necessary to offer the best possible response to the population serve; Ensure that communication is clear, timely and transparent within the country office, with the regional office and the headquarter and with all other external actors IRC works/partner with; Ensure that national and international partners are valued, listened to, treated as peers and included in strategic and programmatic discussions.
Security management
The CD remains the ultimate responsible for ensuring that all security arrangements are in place for staff and partners. Through supervision of the humanitarian access and security staff, ensure absolute conformity to security rules and regulations, application of security plans, timely communication to team in case of concern; Liaise with the regional office, with peer agencies and use the tools and information portals available to keep abreast of all security-related matters; In case of necessity, ensure adequate roll-out of emergency procedures.
Job Requirements
Strong leadership abilities and interpersonal skills, and ability to deploy strong communications effectively, both internally and externally. Develop networks to build partnerships and diversify program resources. Graduate degree in a relevant field preferred.* At least 12 years of dynamically responsible international work
