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Jobs · Business Development · Virginia

International Emergency Response Specialist

Islamic Relief USA · Alexandria, VA · 1 wk ago
Business DevelopmentFull-time

Job Summary

We are seeking a highly experienced and agile International Emergency Response Lead to drive the design, coordination, and execution of large-scale humanitarian responses across multiple regions. This role combines operational leadership with strategic partnership management, ensuring timely, effective, and principled emergency interventions.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

  • Lead the planning, coordination, and execution of complex, large-scale international emergency responses

  • Oversee rapid needs assessments, response strategy development, and program implementation

  • Ensure responses are timely, contextually appropriate, and aligned with humanitarian standards and best practices

  • Deploy on short notice to emergency contexts to lead or support response operations

  • Provide on-the-ground leadership, coordination, and troubleshooting during critical phases

  • Support country teams and local partner organizations in scaling operations, staffing, and systems in emergency settings

  • Manage and strengthen relationships with key institutional donors, UN agencies, local governments agencies and partner organizations

  • Serve as a focal point for the organization’s engagement with the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD), ensuring effective coordination on emergency logistics, supply chain readiness, and rapid deployment

  • Represent the organization in high-level coordination forums and external engagements

  • Support business development efforts, including proposal development and donor engagement

  • Ensure emergency programs meet donor requirements, organizational policies, and compliance standards

  • Promote accountability, monitoring, evaluation, and learning across emergency responses

  • Integrate cross-cutting priorities such as protection, gender, and localization into response strategies

  • Contribute to systems, tools, and frameworks development

Qualifications and Competencies

  • U.S. citizenship (required)

  • Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree in international development, humanitarian affairs, public policy, or related field preferred

  • 5-7+ years of experience in international humanitarian response, including significant field experience

  • Demonstrated experience managing large-scale, complex emergency programs

  • Strong track record of working with institutional donors (e.g., USAID/BHA, State Department, UN agencies, ECHO etc.)

  • Experience in insecure or resource-constrained environments

  • Proven ability to lead under pressure and make decisions in rapidly changing contexts

  • Excellent communication, representation, and stakeholder management skills

  • Ability and willingness to travel internationally on short notice (up to 30-50% or as needed)

  • Ability to deploy to high-risk or challenging environments

  • Strong problem-solving skills and adaptability

  • Fluency in English required; additional languages (Arabic, French, Spanish) are a strong asset

  • Experience in multiple geographic regions

  • Familiarity with humanitarian coordination systems (e.g., clusters)

  • Strong strategic thinking with hands-on operational capability

  • Ability to balance big-picture leadership with detail-oriented execution

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