Responsibilities

We are now seeking an experienced and strategic leader to advance our Environmental Health/WASH programming globally to the next level. This leader will be responsible for:

• Developing the vision and strategy for IRC’s Environmental Health programming globally, and raising its quality, impact, and scale. Environmental Health (EH) is the term that IRC uses for WASH.
• Leading the development and integration of innovative WASH solutions in IRC programming to achieve multiple outcomes including health, protection, and economic development.
• Leading the Health Unit’s efforts to address climate change in health programming, and establishing a center of excellence on WASH and Climate Health.
• The Global Practice Lead will serve as the organizational leader for Environmental Health and climate-health nexus for the IRC’s Crisis Response, Recovery and Development (CRRD) department and will be a core member of the Health Unit’s Leadership Team.
• This role has significant potential for impact, allowing you to directly shape the quality and reach of our WASH programs and ensure scalable solutions that improve people’s lives in humanitarian and fragile settings worldwide.

Major Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership and Innovation
• Act as the organizational and strategic leader for Environmental Health/WASH internally and externally.
• Lead strategic direction and delivery planning for Environmental Health, in line with the organizational global strategy (both S100 and Health Strategy).
• Develop sustainable and scalable water solutions to mitigate the impacts of climate change on water security and human health.
• Responsible for identifying global areas of programmatic risk in EH and elevating issues to Regional Leads and Health Unit leadership.
• Facilitate collaboration across Health, Nutrition, and EH Practice Areas to develop climate adaptation, mitigation, and anticipatory actions.
• Champion Environmental Health/WASH Technical Excellence
• Provide technical oversight for global technical standards, methodologies, and tools for EH based on evidence-based best practices in partnership with Technical Advisors and specialists.
• Lead development of high-value tools and methodologies to integrate cross-cutting issues such as gender equality, diversity and inclusion, and climate adaptation into Environmental Health programs.
• Establish competency framework for Environmental Health practice area and work closely with Regional Leads to identify competency gaps and drive capacity strengthening.
• Accountable for ensuring Technical Advisors and Technical Coordinators have the tools and resources that are needed to measure EH programs.
• Oversee Technical Unit-led strategic awards in EH, working closely with regional Technical Advisors as applicable and the Grant Operations and Analytics Team.
• Line manage global specialists, as applicable.
• Support Technical Advisors and Technical Coordinators with thorny technical problems, career planning support, and mentorship, as appropriate.
• Foster Learning and Research to Drive Best Practices
• Set up and lead a Community of Practice for Environmental Health to ensure pro-active and inclusive management with sustained learning, development, innovation, and best practice sharing.
• Coordinate with Regional Leads and Technical Advisors to lift up program learning for cross-sharing and incorporation into global best practice.
• Guide research and evidence use efforts in Environmental Health and the climate-health nexus, working closely with colleagues and leaders in Airbel, the Health Technical Unit, other technical units, and regional colleagues.
• Establish knowledge management systems to keep Regional Leads and Technical Advisors updated on global standards and methodologies.
• Provide technical inputs to EH-specific MEAL tools, and support data interpretation in learning routines.
• Expand External Influence and Strengthen Business Development
• Lead Technical Unit-led business development for Environmental Health and support strategic project level proposals, and coordinate with Awards Management Unit (AMU) for public and institutional fundraising and with External Relations (ER) for private donor engagement to achieve strategic priorities.
• Act as a key strategic advisor to Policy & Advocacy, Research & Innovation, and External Relations teams on advocacy campaigns and priority policy and practice shifts related to EH.
• Responsible for identification, development, and maintenance of strategic relationships and global partnerships with relevant stakeholders (e.g. donors, UN agencies, NGOs, research and educational institutions, private sector actors) in EH Global Practice area.
• Represent IRC in external forums as relevant.