Senior Director and Head of Health

About the role

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, at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities. As Senior Director and Head of Health, you will lead the IRC’s largest programming portfolio, shaping how we deliver health care to people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster—including the climate crisis—so they can survive, recover, and gain control of their future.

You will provide strategic leadership for a portfolio of more than $200 million in program funding across 35 country offices, spanning Primary Health Care, Nutrition, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, Environmental and Climate Health, and Immunization. You will set the global standard for the quality and technical soundness of our health programming, represent the IRC in the global arena, help shape the industry, raise funds, and strengthen our standing. As a key member of the Technical Excellence (TechEx) Leadership Team and the Senior Leadership Group (SLG), you will play a pivotal role in advancing the IRC’s vision for health outcomes across crisis, recovery, and post-crisis development contexts.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Health Technical Unit and a globally dispersed, high-impact team of approximately 60 technical experts, sector leaders, specialists, and advocates across global, regional, and country roles.
• Directly supervise the Health leadership team, including the Deputy Director and Global Practice Leads for Nutrition, Primary Healthcare, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, Environmental and Climate Health, Policy and Advocacy, Immunization, and MEAL.
• Partner with senior leaders across the organization to position health as an organizational priority and ensure adequate investment to achieve the highest impact.
• Lead the IRC’s Health Impact at Scale agenda, identifying and scaling high-impact health interventions while ensuring strategic alignment, operational excellence, and measurable outcomes.
• Set a clear strategic vision for the Health Technical Unit that aligns with organizational priorities, promotes innovation, expands funding opportunities, and positions the IRC as a global thought leader and partner of choice in health for crisis-affected and fragile settings.

Strategic and thought leadership

• Define and communicate a compelling strategic vision for the IRC’s health portfolio, identifying and prioritizing high-impact health interventions, core competencies, emerging trends, competitive advantages, and new opportunities for influence and growth.
• Serve as the IRC’s principal technical authority and thought leader in the global health space, internally and externally, shaping global influence on public health.
• Serve as strategic advisor to the IRC President and CEO, supporting engagement in external health-related strategic forums.
• Partner with the Senior Director, Impact at Scale to identify and scale high-impact health interventions, ensuring strategic alignment, operational excellence, and measurable outcomes.
• Work with the Research and Innovation team to advance evidence-based practice, fostering rigorous research, learning, and innovation that position the IRC as a recognized global authority in health programming for crisis-affected populations.
• Anticipate and respond to shifts in the humanitarian and development landscape, keeping the IRC at the forefront of policy, practice, and partnership.

External representation, influence, and fundraising

• Represent the IRC at the highest levels, engaging with donors, governments, policymakers, and peer agencies to influence global agendas and promote evidence-based solutions.
• Develop policy positions on global health issues and support the Health Policy Director in bringing health policy solutions to market.
• Lead strategic fundraising efforts, cultivating and managing high-value partnerships across bilateral, multilateral, and private sectors.
• Position the IRC as a trusted partner and go-to organization for effective and scalable health interventions through strategic communications, publications, and global forums.
• Champion the IRC’s advocacy priorities in collaboration with Policy and Advocacy teams to advance systemic change for people’s health and survival.

Organizational leadership and change management

• Act as a visible and values-driven member of the department’s Extended Senior Management Team and the IRC’s Senior Leadership Group, contributing to accountable leadership, cross-departmental collaboration, and organizational decision-making.
• As a member of the TechEx leadership team, drive organizational change across TechEx and within the Health Technical Unit, ensuring structure, systems, and culture are fit for the future and responsive to evolving strategic, industry, and financial realities.
• Cultivate a high-performance, inclusive culture that values innovation, accountability, and professional growth.
• Lead change and transition processes with transparency and empathy, maintaining morale and clarity through periods of transformation.

Business stewardship and operational excellence

• Ensure strategic alignment and disciplined management of health resources, including sound financial oversight, leadership of grants and strategic projects, and reporting.
• Collaborate across TechEx to ensure the IRC’s program models are integrated, outcome-driven, and evidence-based, shaping policy and influencing resource allocation at the global level.
• Work with program delivery and regional leadership to align health programming to the strategic vision, phasing out programming that falls outside the strategy and scaling up the most evidence-based and contextually relevant delivery approaches.
• Partner with Finance, Awards, and other CRRD units to improve efficiency, forecasting, and impact measurement.
• Strengthen internal systems to support agility, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Talent leadership

• Attract, recruit, develop, and retain top technical talent, ensuring the Health team has the skills, diversity, and motivation to deliver excellent technical support and global technical leadership.
• Foster a learning culture that encourages innovation, collaboration, and thought partnership across the IRC’s global technical and country teams.
• Mentor and empower emerging leaders within the Health network and across the IRC.

Professional profile

Success in this position requires a globally recognized health leader who pairs deep technical authority with the ability to influence at the highest levels. You will bring a proven record of leading complex, globally dispersed teams in matrixed organizations, an established network across the global health, humanitarian, and development spaces, and the credibility to represent the IRC with donors, governments, normative bodies, and the media.

Requirements

• Education: Master’s degree in Public Health, Epidemiology, Health Policy, or a related field. MD or PhD is strongly preferred.
• Experience: Minimum 15 years of progressively responsible senior leadership experience in global health, humanitarian health programming, or related technical fields, with substantial experience in humanitarian and post-crisis settings.
• Demonstrated success in strategic leadership, external representation, and fundraising from bilateral, multilateral, and private donors.
• Deep and broad connections across the global health, humanitarian, and development spaces, which are essential for this role.
• Proven record of driving change, leading complex global teams, and navigating matrixed organizations.
• Deep understanding of the global health landscape, including major donors, networks, normative bodies, and policy platforms.
• Public recognition among global actors, media, funders, NGOs, and forums as a global public health professional and an authoritative voice.

Competencies

• Exceptional strategic thinker and influencer, able to translate vision into action.
• Exceptional communicator and public speaker, adept at representing an organization in global fora and with senior-level stakeholders.
• Demonstrated fundraising and partnership-building acumen.
• Skilled in change management, leadership development, and organizational design.
• Deep commitment to the IRC’s mission and values, with a strong sense of integrity, humility, and collaboration.

Language

• Excellent spoken and written English required.
• Proficiency in French preferred.

Working environment

This role can be based in New York (preferred), London, Geneva, or any country where IRC currently operates and where the candidate already has the right to work. The successful candidate will be hired on a local employment contract according to the local salary scale and paid in local currency, with local benefits applicable. Visa sponsorship may exceptionally be considered for the U.S., U.K., and Switzerland. Travel is expected up to 25% of the time.

Pay

Compensation ranges are as follows: U.S. $240,000 – $300,000; U.K. £95,000 – £110,000; Geneva CHF 195,000 – CHF 225,000. 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.