Director, Program Advocacy & Engagement (Fixed term until 31st January 2027)

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

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.

The External Relations (ER) Department mobilizes external audiences to raise the requisite funds, influence policies and achieve practice changes to improve outcomes for our clients, while growing and protecting our global brand. The Global Policy & Advocacy team is a dynamic part of the ER Department that leverages the power of IRC’s ideas to solve the biggest challenges facing IRC’s clients across the “arc of crisis” and influence external stakeholders, in particular governments and multi-lateral institutions, to enact these solutions to ultimately make meaningful change for our clients.

From addressing the drivers of conflict to meeting the needs of displaced people, the team partners with innovative thinkers, experts and those with lived experience to identify solutions and bring them to life. We take pride in being solutions-oriented and creative. We are precise in our goals, tactics, and messages. We drive change year over year, knowing that system change takes dedicated focus while maintaining the flexibility to respond to emerging needs across the globe. Finally, we are collaborative, constantly seeking new ideas and perspectives from others in our sector and beyond as we work side by side with programs, strategy, communications and research and innovation teams across the IRC.

IRC UK is part of the IRC global network, which has its global headquarters in New York. Our team in the UK works to raise profile, deliver policy and practice change, and increase funding to help restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Since 2021, IRC UK has also provided integration services directly to refugees in England. In Europe, the IRC also has offices in Berlin, Bonn, Brussels, Geneva and Stockholm.

The Purpose of the Role

As the Program Advocacy and Engagement Director, you serve as a strategic leader shaping IRC’s global influence across crisis response contexts, guiding advocacy efforts that are integral to advancing IRC’s mission. You are responsible for strengthening our advocacy strategies and practice, providing strategic oversight, coordination and strategy building across national, regional and multilateral advocacy efforts. You will work with regionally based teams and collaborate with senior regional and country leaders, technical experts, and global counterparts to optimize IRC’s advocacy reach, advocate for systems change policies and impacts and ensure coherence. This role will be critical to ensure focus, alignment and strategic oversight to maximize IRC’s advocacy impact at a time of stretched resources and expanding humanitarian need.

This individual will play a critical role in coordinating and identifying the strategic opportunities to cultivate relationships and influence policies at the highest levels across IRC’s advocacy priorities, implementing creative influence strategies, including targeting non-traditional stakeholders on key crisis work. This individual will ensure the global advocacy team is informed by and responsive to trends at national/regional levels, connecting our Advocacy & Influence work to the experiences and needs of our clients and programs, and providing advocacy guidance, skills development and best practice sharing.

Key Working Relationships

Internal contacts: Regional CRRD Policy, Advocacy and Communication; Global Advocacy & Influence colleagues; Best Use of Resources Advocacy Specialist; Policy & Solutions team; Technical Excellence leads; Crisis, Response, Recovery and Development teams; Country Programs; Communications; Awards Management; President’s Office, External Relations Department. External contacts: Legislators; government officials; critical decision makers in multilateral institutions; peer NGOs; local/regional advocacy and/or operational organizations.

Key Accountabilities

• Advocacy Strategy (45%): Advance IRC influence by leading or supporting the design and execution of integrated advocacy strategies, including power maps, for crisis response issues in line with organizational priorities and in partnership with regional, national and technical leaders and global policy, advocacy and communications teams. Lead efforts to advocate for system change at the country level, engaging with IRC regional advocates, and spot and capitalize on external opportunities to advance IRC’s influence objectives including with non-traditional partners. Work with regional advocates to provide expert strategic guidance and support to country programs and emergency response teams in the development of advocacy strategies.
• Policy and Advocacy Prioritization and Contextualization (25%): Contribute to policy generation and prioritization by providing advocacy insights from program regions and country contexts as well as multilateral institutions, collaborating with policy colleagues to increase the credibility and efficacy of our solutions. Support the identification of policy and advocacy priorities that meet the three criteria of impact, feasibility and added IRC value. Work closely with regional and national advocates to understand critical legislation and policy impacting clients and IRC’s programmatic teams in countries where we operate.
• Multilateral Strategy (15%): Build strategic relationships and maintain diplomatic engagement with multilateral institutions such as the UN, leveraging IRC’s presence to influence multilateral policy and funding decisions.
• Senior Leadership Engagement (15%): Identify and shape high-impact external engagements for IRC’s senior leaders, including message development, briefings, and event positioning to elevate IRC’s global thought leadership.

Steward Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: Steward gender equality, diversity and inclusion both in the culture of IRC, as well as in the policy solutions we develop and the ways we wield influence.

Teamwork (% N/A): Support a positive team culture by acting openly and collaboratively, supporting colleagues in their work and sharing credit with others where appropriate.

Person Specification

Essential Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications:

• Graduate degree or equivalent experience in relevant field such as Public Policy, International Development, Politics, Economics, Law or International Relations.
• Demonstrable track record of leading advocacy strategies that generated tangible policy change, ideally in more than one context.
• Ability to think strategically and creatively, being oriented towards solution development when traditional advocacy means do not suffice and especially in fluid and politically sensitive environments, exercising sound judgment under pressure.
• Extensive knowledge of humanitarian aid and refugee issues, particularly around long-term displacement.