Senior Director, Head of Strategy and Delivery Unit

Major Responsibilities

• Strategy Leadership & Stewardship
• Serve as the primary champion and steward of IRC’s multi-year strategy, S100, ensuring alignment and momentum across the organization and in external engagement
• Act as a strategic thought partner to the President, COO, CFO and other Executive Board members on key organizational and sector-wide questions, including organizational budget decisions
• Absess organizational progress toward S100 priorities, in collaboration with leaders across the organization
• Lead preparation for each successive phase of S100, including reviewing results to date, assessing the evolving external environment, and refining strategic priorities accordingly
• Ensure strategy and ‘deliverology’ skills and practices are embedded across the Strategy & Delivery Unit’s approach and across the IRC’s network of strategy-focused roles
• Delivery, Organizational Performance & Enterprise Risk Management
• Oversee a portfolio of complex delivery-focused projects, taking ownership for timely, high-quality outcomes — scoping work, driving to solutions, and resolving roadblocks as they arise
• Monitor overall organizational performance in partnership with the President’s Office; advise senior leadership on top priorities for strategic effort and enterprise risk management through direct counsel and performance routines, including the IRC’s Quarterly Strategic & Risk Reviews (QSRRs)
• Ensure that the IRC’s most pressing challenges in delivering on its organizational goals are identified, surfaced, triaged, and assigned to the appropriate team for resolution
• Facilitate difficult conversations and drive decisions with IRC senior leaders on organizational health, performance gaps, and delivery risks
• Strategy & Delivery Unit Leadership
• Lead the Strategy & Delivery Unit: define the Unit’s mission and key areas of focus, identify and scope projects with internal ‘clients’ across IRC, and oversee project development and delivery
• Assess the SDU’s project pipeline and assign team priorities in line with organizational needs
• Provide direct line management to senior SDU members; provide overall oversight of team members at Analyst, Manager, and Senior Manager levels
• Recruit, develop, inspire, and retain exceptional and diverse talent, with a focus on attracting talent from outside IRC and building the next generation of organizational leaders
• Curate a positive, collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing team environment where members can do impactful work, grow professionally, and receive regular developmental feedback
• Co-manage the Senior Advisor, Strategy & Performance, in collaboration with the President’s Office Senior Director of Policy & Planning
• Represent the Strategy & Delivery Unit in internal and external forums, championing both strategic priorities and delivery excellence

Job Requirements

• Work/Educational Experience
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent is required
• At least 10-12 years of relevant work experience, including demonstrated experience in strategic analysis, organizational performance, project management, and advisory of senior leaders
• Track record of high performance with progressively increasing responsibilities, ideally spanning both strategy development and delivery/implementation functions
• Demonstrated Skills And Competencies
• Deep strategic thinker with the ability to lead an organization in reflecting on its role in a rapidly changing environment, using qualitative and quantitative data to develop, refine, and drive implementation of transformational strategies
• Proven track record in driving strategic change and organizational change management at scale
• Repeated experience in project managing large-scale, cross-functional initiatives in fast-paced, complex environments
• Exceptional advisory and influence skills; ability to connect with, challenge, and support senior leaders in driving organizational change
• Strong organizational and time-management skills; ability to deliver on multiple simultaneous and often competing demands
• Demonstrated analytical skills and demonstrated ability to structure and creatively solve complex, ambiguous problems
• Understanding of and passion for IRC’s work and the evolving humanitarian and development sectors, with a desire to shape change across these fields
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; ability to present and influence at the highest organizational and external levels
• Highly collaborative with the ability to work independently in a dynamic, multicultural, cross-functional global structure
• Experienced people leader with a strong track record of recruiting, developing, inspiring, and retaining high-performing and diverse teams
• Comfortable with ambiguity and resilient to shifting priorities; able to make progress with imperfect information
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Office suite