Immunization Specialist

Background:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive, recover, and gain control of their future.

We aim to make our programs a model for the highest global standards and to cultivate power and lasting change not just for our clients but for all people affected by humanitarian crises. To achieve that vision, the IRC’s Technical Excellence (TE) group, located within the Crisis Response, Recovery and Development (CRRD) Department, provides technical assistance to IRC’s country program staff and shares what we learn to influence policy and practice.

IRC’s Technical Excellence team is comprised of five teams or sector “Units” which have deep expertise in their respective fields: Education, Economic Wellbeing, Governance, Health, and Violence Prevention and Response, as well as teams which provide measurement and finance/grant management support. Technical teams are also matrixed with a team that focuses on the quality and content of cross-sectoral programming in emergency responses.

IRC’s Technical Excellence teams offer five core services to IRC country programs and the wider organization:

• Program Design: We support country and regional teams to design state of the art programming, incorporating the best available evidence, cost data, and expertise of what has worked elsewhere, with the knowledge that country teams, partner organizations and our clients bring to the table.
• Quality Assurance: We partner with our measurement teams to design and drive the use of indicators to measure progress towards outcomes; we partner with regional and country teams to review program delivery progress and help address implementation challenges and adapt interventions to changed circumstances.
• Business Development: We partner within and outside the IRC to design winning bids and identify winning consortia; we deploy technical expertise in public events and private meetings to position IRC as a partner of choice.
• Research & Learning: We partner with our research lab to design cutting edge research to fill evidence gaps, and with country teams to learn from implementation such that we continuously improve our future design and delivery.
• External Influence: We showcase the IRC’s programs, technical insights and learning in order to influence and improve the humanitarian sector’s policy and practice.

Health Unit

IRC’s health programs comprise the largest proportion of its overall program budget and are essential to both IRC emergency response and long-term programming worldwide.

The Health Technical Unit is a dynamic team of more than 70 professionals in Primary Health Care, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Nutrition, Mental and Environmental Health. They provide IRC’s 40 plus country offices and emergency response team with world class technical expertise, capacity building and a cross-country view of what works to achieve outcomes in terms of both evidence and practical experience. They also lead focused research agenda, influencing donor policy to support interventions and innovations proven cost effective to achieve positive change in people’s lives.

Job Overview

The Specialist is a hands-on implementer and technical resource within the Crisis Response, Recovery and Development (CRRD) department. The Specialist works under the leadership of the Senior Immunization Lead, to support program quality, country program technical assistance, and the implementation of organizational technical standards. They will monitor program progress, support capacity building for country teams, and contribute to knowledge management and learning across IRC’s immunization portfolio.

The Specialist will dedicate most of their time to program quality assurance, technical capacity support, and direct assistance to country programs implementing IRC’s immunization programming. The role requires technical fluency in immunization in fragile and conflict settings and the ability to engage credibly with country teams and internal partners. They will collaborate closely with other specialists, Global Practice Leads, and Health Technical Advisors (TA) to promote technical best practice in CRRD programming.

Major Responsibilities

Leadership and support for technical unit-led strategic projects, regional and country program led projects

• Lead a complex portfolio of strategic projects focused on direct delivery of full childhood immunization in fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCAS).
• Provide remote and in-country technical support and, when needed, lead strategic implementation and/or research projects
• Develop/oversee the development of implementation tools and capacity building materials for strategic projects (e.g., direct delivery, health system support, demand creation), when needed
• Monitor progress on program implementation and key performance indicators and drive necessary course correction as needed for strategic programs
• Work with country facing technical advisors to provide specialized technical advice and capacity support to country programs within the immunization scope.
• Provide technical capacity building for staff implementing strategic projects.
• Track budgets and expenditures and support donor engagement for strategic projects, when needed.

Implementation of and Support for Global Program Quality Standards

• Under the guidance of the Senior Lead for Immunization, lead strategic direction and delivery planning to tailor EPI practices to meet FCAS needs
• Synthesize, adapt, and disseminate IRC’s global technical standards, methodologies, and tools, drawing on evidenced-based best practices and reflecting IRC programming.
• Work with the Partnership and Program Development (PPD) and MEAL teams to set and monitor targets for pillar delivery and identify business and learning opportunities
• Provide specialized technical assistance to health TAs and country programs on request, ensuring our program design, service delivery, and guidelines and policies are in line with global best practices and current evidence.
• Build technical capacity of staff on to ensure ongoing program quality and innovation: support creation on capacity building materials and participate in training and coaching efforts, as appropriate

Data, Knowledge Management, and Organizational Learning

• Support/Collaborate with Global and Regional Practice Leads, Airbel and TAs to lift relevant program and research learning for cross-sharing and incorporation into global best practices
• Provide technical inputs to MEAL tools and methodologies to actively manage and learn from immunization programming
• Support TAs to analyze relevant technical and program data that inform periodic review and course correction as needed.
• Proactively disseminate lessons learned across countries and regions for select strategic projects
• Collaborate with technical advisors to ensure key lessons learned from strategic projects inform program design and implementation of country-led projects

Business Development

• Work with Partnership and Program Development (PPD) team to help identify and support strategic business development opportunities in partnership with Awards Management Unit (AMU), GPL and TAs.
• Provide TAs and Country Programs (CPs) with specialized support on proposals in the relevant technical area

Effort

• Restricted (strategic projects)
• Restricted (CP support)
• Unrestricted General
• Unrestricted BizDev

Desired Experience and Skills

• Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in global health, immunization, or a closely related field, with at least 3 years in program implementation or delivery roles in humanitarian or fragile settings
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate across teams and manage workstreams — tracking progress, following through on deliverables, and flagging issues proactively
• Technical fluency in immunization programming; ability to engage credibly with technical teams and country programs is essential
• Experience supporting business development, including contributing to proposal development and providing technical inputs for country and regional proposals
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including ability to produce clear technical guidance, program reports, and capacity building materials for internal audiences
• Strong organizational and project management skills; demonstrated ability to establish effective routines, track progress, and course-correct quickly in a fast-paced environment
• Experience navigating multi-stakeholder humanitarian-development nexus environments
• Ability to travel globally up to 25% of time, occasionally on short notice
• Proficiency in English & French required

Compensation: (UK Pay Range: £58,736-£68,526/yr; US Pay Range: $95,000-$107,000/yr) Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

Equal Opportunity Employer: IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Professional Standards: All International Rescue Committee workers must adhere to the core values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. Our Standards are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Safeguarding, Conflicts of Interest, Fiscal Integrity, and Reporting Wrongdoing and Protection from Retaliation. IRC is committed to take all necessary preventive measures and create an environment where people feel safe, and to take all necessary actions and corrective measures when harm occurs. IRC builds teams of professionals who promote critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity to deliver the best possible services to our clients.

US Benefits: We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days depending on role and tenure, medical insurance starting at $163 per month, dental starting at $6.50 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with immediately vested matching, disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.