The International Rescue Committee is a global humanitarian aid, relief and development nongovernmental organization.

Responsibilities or duties

Strategic Leadership & Representation

• Provide visionary leadership to shape and execute strategies that deliver high-impact, client-centered programs aligned with IRC’s global mission and Kenya’s evolving humanitarian context.
• Serve as IRC’s principal representative in Kenya, articulating the organization’s vision and priorities at national, regional, and global platforms—including donor briefings, inter-agency coordination bodies, and high-level policy forums.
• Lead the development and delivery of a country strategy aligned with IRC’s Strategy100 and Kenya’s evolving context while providing strategic leadership to develop and implement high-quality programs that meet client needs.
• Forge and sustain strategic partnerships with national NGOs, civil society actors, and community-based organizations to enhance program reach, local ownership, and sustainability.
• Lead IRC’s engagement in humanitarian coordination mechanisms, proactively shaping collective responses and advocating for principled, needs-based action.
• Maintain constructive relationships with government counterparts to facilitate operational continuity, including timely registration renewals, access permissions, and policy dialogue.
• Cultivate a culture of collaboration, inclusivity, and accountability across the country team, fostering high staff morale and enabling peak performance.
• Lead IRC-hosted events and strategic dialogues in-country, positioning IRC as a thought leader and convener on critical humanitarian and development issues.
• Represent IRC to diverse audiences—including media, diplomatic missions, UN agencies, and global stakeholders—in close coordination with the Regional Vice President (RVP), ensuring consistent messaging and strategic alignment.

Strategic Direction & Program Quality

• Collaborate with the Regional Vice President (RVP) and senior management team to implement the country program's strategic vision, ensuring high-quality programming tailored to the Kenya context and aligned with IRC’s Strategy 100.
• Drive program innovation and excellence, ensuring interventions are evidence-based, contextually relevant, and client-centered and high program quality is consistent throughout the country program.
• Actively seek out and pursue opportunities to expand humanitarian programming in Kenya to reach underserved and hard-to-reach areas.
• Foster learning, accountability, and adaptive management to strengthen program quality
• Integrate GEDI principles into all IRC operations and programming to enhance inclusivity and foster a positive impact.
• Establish strong communication and working relationships with key internal stakeholders at the regional and HQ level to support country program operations and delivery.

Fundraising & Donor Relations

• Lead the design and execution of a diversified funding strategy, proactively engaging donors, cultivating strategic partnerships, and driving proposal development and negotiations to secure a broad range of sustainable funding streams.
• Proactively monitor donor priorities and position IRC for emerging opportunities, and stay updated on issues the program and partners and develop strategies to adapt to changing donor priorities.
• Maintain strong relationships with donors, government bodies, and coordination mechanisms by demonstrating program excellence, operational integrity and strategic alignment with donors and different stakeholders
• Oversee the production of high-quality proposals and reports, ensuring timely submissions and compliance with donor requirements.

Operational & Financial Management

• Ensure compliance with IRC’s global policies and standards for finance, supply chain, and operational systems.
• Oversee the Kenya country program budgets, ensuring financial sustainability through accurate forecasting, funding gap analysis, and cost-effectiveness measures.
• Drive operational excellence for cost-effective and timely program delivery, while strengthening systems for transparency, accountability, and operational agility.

Governance and Compliance

• Champion a proactive risk management agenda that safeguards the organization’s people, assets, reputation, and operational capacity in Kenya’s complex and evolving context.
• Shape and embed a risk-informed strategy that aligns with organizational priorities, donor expectations, and the geopolitical landscape, ensuring resilience and adaptability.
• Integrate risk management into strategic planning and operational culture, fostering shared ownership across all teams and levels.
• Guide crisis preparedness and response frameworks, ensuring that contingency measures protect staff, beneficiaries, and program delivery under adverse conditions.
• Influence and engage key stakeholders — including government, donors, and peer agencies, to strengthen collective risk mitigation and advocacy efforts.

Safety & Security

• Take primary responsibility for the overall management of safety and security for the country program, including appropriate response to emergencies and crises.
• Maintain a culture of safety and security throughout the country program and keep security, evacuation, and contingency plans current and accessible to country program staff.
• Coordinate closely with the Regional Safety and Security Director on emerging threats and access issues.

People & Culture

• Foster a high-performance, inclusive culture by ensuring a professional, forward-looking People & Culture function that aligns talent management with organizational strategy.
• Champion leadership accountability for creating and sustaining development pathways, ensuring every manager actively nurtures and advances their teams.
• Partner with regional and HQ P&C teams to design and execute innovative talent acquisition, retention, and succession strategies that anticipate future skills needs.
• Lead strategic implementation of People & Culture practices, embedding them into decision-making, operations, and organizational culture.
• Embed staff care and resilience into organizational systems, actively monitoring well-being indicators and modeling healthy work-life integration.

Communications & Advocacy

• Model and encourage active practice of the “IRC Way – Global Standards for Professional Conduct” principles throughout the Kenya country program.
• Maintain a healthy and empowering office environment that encourages open, honest, and productive communication among IRC staff and with partner organizations.
• Model a culture where constructive feedback is actively given and received.
• Maintain open communication with regional management staff, technical advisors, and HQ departmental staff.
• Advance IRC’s advocacy agenda to influence policies and practices that benefit the people we serve.

Emergency Preparedness and Response

• Lead Country Emergency Responses: Serve as the designated Response Lead for country-led emergencies, ensuring the timely activation of IRC emergency protocols, clear internal coordination and communication, and effective decision-making.
• Develop and Operationalize Emergency Preparedness Plans (EPPs): Ensure that country teams maintain fit-for-purpose EPPs (if country is on the WatchList).
• Mobilize Support and Resources: Coordinate with regional and HQ teams to secure rapid technical, operational, staffing, and financial support

Experience needed

10 years

• Provide visionary leadership to shape and execute strategies that deliver high-impact, client-centered programs aligned with IRC’s global mission and Kenya’s evolving humanitarian context.
• Serve as IRC’s principal representative in Kenya, articulating the organization’s vision and priorities at national, regional, and global platforms—including donor briefings, inter-agency coordination bodies, and high-level policy forums.
• Lead the development and delivery of a country strategy aligned with IRC’s Strategy100 and Kenya’s evolving context while providing strategic leadership to develop and implement high-quality programs that meet client needs.
• Forge and sustain strategic partnerships with national NGOs, civil society actors, and community-based organizations to enhance program reach, local ownership, and sustainability.
• Lead IRC’s engagement in humanitarian coordination mechanisms, proactively shaping collective responses and advocating for principled, needs-based action.
• Maintain constructive relationships with government counterparts to facilitate operational continuity, including timely registration renewals, access permissions, and policy dialogue.
• Cultivate a culture of collaboration, inclusivity, and accountability across the country team, fostering high staff morale and enabling peak performance.
• Lead IRC-hosted events and strategic dialogues in-country, positioning IRC as a thought leader and convener on critical humanitarian and development issues.
• Represent IRC to diverse audiences—including media, diplomatic missions, UN agencies, and global stakeholders—in close coordination with the Regional Vice President (RVP), ensuring consistent messaging and strategic alignment.
• Collaborate with the Regional Vice President (RVP) and senior management team to implement the country program's strategic vision, ensuring high-quality programming tailored to the Kenya context and aligned with IRC’s Strategy 100.
• Drive program innovation and excellence, ensuring interventions are evidence-based, contextually relevant, and client-centered and high program quality is consistent throughout the country program.
• Actively seek out and pursue opportunities to expand humanitarian programming in Kenya to reach underserved and hard-to-reach areas.
• Foster learning, accountability, and adaptive management to strengthen program quality
• Integrate GEDI principles into all IRC operations and programming to enhance inclusivity and foster a positive impact.
• Establish strong communication and working relationships with key internal stakeholders at the regional and HQ level to support country program operations and delivery.
• Lead the design and execution of a diversified funding strategy, proactively engaging donors, cultivating strategic partnerships, and driving proposal development and negotiations to secure a broad range of sustainable funding streams.
• Proactively monitor donor priorities and position IRC for emerging opportunities, and stay updated on issues the program and partners and develop strategies to adapt to changing donor priorities.
• Maintain strong relationships with donors, government bodies, and coordination mechanisms by demonstrating program excellence, operational integrity and strategic alignment with donors and different stakeholders
• Oversee the production of high-quality proposals and reports, ensuring timely submissions and compliance with donor requirements.
• Ensure compliance with IRC’s global policies and standards for finance, supply chain, and operational systems.
• Oversee the Kenya country program budgets, ensuring financial sustainability through accurate forecasting, funding gap analysis, and cost-effectiveness measures.
• Drive operational excellence for cost-effective and timely program delivery, while strengthening systems for transparency, accountability, and operational agility.
• Champion a proactive risk management agenda that safeguards the organization’s people, assets, reputation, and operational capacity in Kenya’s complex and evolving context.
• Shape and embed a risk-informed strategy that aligns with organizational priorities, donor expectations, and the geopolitical landscape, ensuring resilience and adaptability.
• Integrate risk management into strategic planning and operational culture, fostering shared ownership across all teams and levels.
• Guide crisis preparedness and response frameworks, ensuring that contingency measures protect staff, beneficiaries, and program delivery under adverse conditions.
• Influence and engage key stakeholders — including government, donors, and peer agencies, to strengthen collective risk mitigation and advocacy efforts.
• Take primary responsibility for the overall management of safety and security for the country program, including appropriate response to emergencies and crises.
• Maintain a culture of safety and security throughout the country program and keep security, evacuation, and contingency plans current and accessible to country program staff.
• Coordinate closely with the Regional Safety and Security Director on emerging threats and access issues.
• Foster a high-performance, inclusive culture by ensuring a professional, forward-looking People & Culture function that aligns talent management with organizational strategy.
• Champion leadership accountability for creating and sustaining development pathways, ensuring every manager actively nurtures and advances their teams.
• Partner with regional and HQ P&C teams to design and execute innovative talent acquisition, retention, and succession strategies that anticipate future skills needs.
• Lead strategic implementation of People & Culture practices, embedding them into decision-making, operations, and organizational culture.
• Embed staff care and resilience into organizational systems, actively monitoring well-being indicators and modeling healthy work-life integration.
• Model and encourage active practice of the “IRC Way – Global Standards for Professional Conduct” principles throughout the Kenya country program.
• Maintain a healthy and empowering office environment that encourages open, honest, and productive communication among IRC staff and with partner organizations.
• Model a culture where constructive feedback is actively given and received.
• Maintain open communication with regional management staff, technical advisors, and HQ departmental staff.
• Advance IRC’s advocacy agenda to influence policies and practices that benefit the people we serve.
• Lead Country Emergency Responses: Serve as the designated Response Lead for country-led emergencies, ensuring the timely activation of IRC emergency protocols, clear internal coordination and communication, and effective decision-making.
• Develop and Operationalize Emergency Preparedness Plans (EPPs): Ensure that country teams maintain fit-for-purpose EPPs (if country is on the WatchList).
• Mobilize Support and Resources: Coordinate with regional and HQ teams to secure rapid technical, operational, staffing, and financial support