Needed Human Centred Designer

Background/IRC Summary:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC works with people forced to flee from war, conflict and disaster and the host communities that support them, as well as with those who remain within their homes and communities. At-work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. IRC reaches over a million children annually with education and child protection programs in 25 countries around the world.

Years of war in Syria have pushed millions from their homes and into poverty, and millions more have become refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and further afield. Equally complex is the emergency in Iraq, where waves of fighting and displacement have overwhelmed infrastructure and services and pushed communities to the brink. The economic, social, and health effects of these dual crises have changed the entire region. In the Middle East (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq) IRC responds to displaced people’s acute and longer-term needs with integrated programs that improve health and safety, prioritize children’s education, foster economic wellbeing, and empower communities to regain control over their lives.

As a global humanitarian organization, the IRC has unique capabilities – and is particularly known for rigorous research and evidence-based programs. A key initiative that supports this strategy is the IRC Research & Innovation (R&I) lab, aimed at investing in the design, development, and scaling of new humanitarian interventions and delivery models. The lab seeks to apply best practices from human-centered design, rapid iteration, multi-disciplinary problem-solving, and an innovation portfolio management function in the humanitarian context.

In 2017, Sesame Workshop and IRC won the inaugural MacArthur Foundation 100&Change competition, a $100 million grant to make measurable progress toward solving a significant problem. In 2018 the LEGO Foundation made an additional investment to Early Childhood Development Programming in the Middle East and Bangladesh, further contributing to this effort. The Ahlan Simsim program is five-year intervention to bring vital early learning and nurturing care to more than nine million children and families affected by the ongoing civil war in Syria. Among other activities, the program will create multimedia programming for children affected by the conflict. Together with the Sesame Workshop, we will develop a pliant platform to reach young children and their caregivers wherever they are and measure how we impact their lives. For more information, please visit: http://refugee.sesameinternational.org/.

The IRC is currently looking for a Human Centered Designer to sit between the Research and Innovation team and the Ahlan Simsim team. The position will be responsible for designing and prototyping scalable solutions to critical challenges faced in ECD programming in Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. In addition, the position will lead workshops and technical trainings with colleagues and government counterparts to ensure that all solutions are co-created and inclusive of key stakeholders.

The ECD Human Centered Designer is responsible for the following key deliverables:

Deliver 3-4 scalable and cost efficient solutions to key ECD challenges

· In collaboration with regional and country office colleagues, define core challenge areas and metrics of success

· Conduct design research in all challenge areas

· Develop and prototype solutions

· Work with research colleagues to support pilots and impact evaluations on promising solutions

· Design service blueprints to support teams charged with scaling evidence-based solutions to delivery solutions in the most effective way

Deliver series of co-creation workshops with Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan governments based on scaling plan goals

· Working with government counterparts in Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, ensure alignment on goals of ECD programming

· Support government partners in testing and getting feedback on ECD curricula

· Support government partners in iteratively redesigning content based on feedback

Provide technical support to country offices to help them prototype solutions, incorporate real time feedback and engage in iterative program development

· Working with Ahlan Simsim teams in Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon, align on key priority areas

· Support country teams in developing and implementing prototyping plans for new solutions

· Support country teams in synthesizing data and redesigning solutions

· Ensure the regional and country teams are engaged and plugged into innovation fora and that relevant opportunities are flagged and discussed regularly

Key Working Relationships:

• Position Dual Reports to: ECD Technical Lead, Ahlan Simsim, Regional Director of Innovation

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

• Internal: Regional, country, and HQ staff for the Ahlan Simsim project; Regional Design Specialist; technical unit staff (Education, Research Learning and Evaluation, Health, Violence Prevention and Response, Economic Recovery and Development, Governance, Gender Equality); Research and Innovation HQ staff, Grants Management staff
• External: Sesame Workshop staff; Government officials; Implementing partner organizations; Community representatives, parents, children

Requirements:

· 4-6 years of professional experience in service design or program design in a consultancy or equivalent position (e.g. in house in a non-profit or education organization).

· Fluency in the human-centered design process from qualitative research and synthesis to ideation and prototyping.

· Experience in education, and in particular early childhood development required.

· Experience leading workshops with practitioners, guiding them through a design process

· Experience working on sensitive issues with vulnerable populations and knowledge of relevant ethical guidelines and procedures.

· Ability to work in a very self-directed way, and to collaborate with others at key moments of the design process. Ability to receive input and to take critique positively to improve program design.

· Experience working with government stakeholders

· Excellent interpersonal and oral and written communication skills

· Demonstrated ability to successfully work in a fast-paced environment, within and across departments/functions and develop positive relationships with locally and remote based staff

· Experience working in conflict and crisis settings and knowledge of humanitarian programming

· Ability to prioritize trade-offs between on-time, on-scope or on-budget project delivery

· Demonstrated ability to manage different priorities among a diverse set of stakeholders, complex projects, monitoring and mitigation planning

· Knowledge of the Middle East regional context, with experience working in Jordan, Iraq, or Lebanon strongly preferred

· Fluent in written and oral English and Arabic

Working Environment:

· Standard office work environment

· Travel required within Jordan, and to Iraq and Lebanon

· Position is based in the IRC Regional Office in Amman, Jordan