Program Lead, Humanitarian Response - 2025826

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Program Lead, Humanitarian Response will provide leadership for World Relief's role as co-lead on an anticipated multi-country humanitarian consortium project. In this position the Project Lead will have primary responsibility for a rapid response mechanism that responds to sudden onset humanitarian needs in complex fragile contexts. This position will lead the design, process, implementation, monitoring and accountability of the rapid response mechanism; represent World Relief in consortium project management and coordination structures; and support effective implementation across World Relief country programs participating in the project. The Project Lead will support, monitor, troubleshoot, coordinate, and strengthen implementation through close collaboration with Regional Directors, country leadership, technical teams, finance, security, safeguarding, and program staff in multiple countries in World Relief. As the project is co-led by other organizations, the Project Lead will manage World Relief's activities in close communication and collaboration with the other co-leads and with the project Prime. In addition to consortium responsibilities, this position will contribute to World Relief's broader humanitarian response and Program Quality & Impact priorities. These include support to sudden-onset disaster response, emergency response design, crisis response funding mobilization, partner and program design review, and development of technical guidance and decision documents for disaster response opportunities. The program lead will have direct managerial supervision of a designated Program Officer.

ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• This role is responsible for supervising others and includes responsibilities consistent with supervising employees, including but not limited to monitoring daily work activities, tracking and approving timesheets including approving time off, monitoring performance including entering goals, progress check-ins, and weekly or bi-weekly check-ins, documenting performance concerns, entering staff promotions, transitions, and separations in HRIS within required time frame. Managers at World Relief are also considered spiritual leaders and are expected to lead staff in a manner consistent with our Christian values, including but not limited to praying with staff, leading devotionals, and fostering a Christian environment in interactions with staff throughout World Relief.

Rapid Response Mechanism Leadership (55% LOE)

• Provide strategic leadership, oversight, and technical guidance for the sudden onset disaster work that World Relief will lead in the consortium project
• Provide technical support and oversight, as required, to World Relief country offices implementing non-sudden onset programming as part of the rest of the consortium's project activities in collaboration with existing Country Office leadership, portfolio managers and Technical Advisors
• Ensure WR's effective coordination, quality implementation, financial management, compliance, and achievement of project objectives
• Maintain and refine rapid response guidance, tools, templates, operating procedures, and decision pathways so emerging crises can be assessed and advanced efficiently per the project design
• Coordinate context monitoring, review of potential situations of concern, rapid needs assessments, response level recommendations, concept development, and internal decision-making for proposed rapid response activations
• Support mobilization of crisis response funding opportunities, including rapid program design, partner selection review, response strategy development, and coordination of internal inputs for emergency submissions
• Draft or contribute to concept notes, donor-facing narratives, response strategies, assessment summaries, logframes, budgets narratives, and other materials required for emergency response opportunities
• Support rapid design processes with country teams and partners, including facilitation of design conversations, development of appropriate response logic, and review of proposed activities and targets
• Coordinate with Business Development, Operations, Program Quality & Impact, regional leadership, finance, and safeguarding teams to ensure emergency submissions are technically sound and operationally realistic
• Coordinate the collection, review, and consolidation of RISE Project Pillar 2 reports, including assessments, progress reports, monitoring reports, and other required program documentation from World Relief implementing country offices. Ensure timely submission of high-quality consolidated reports to the RISE Consortium Lead.
• Coordinate the collection, review, and consolidation of RISE Project Pillar 3 progress and monitoring reports from implementing partner organizations. Ensure reports meet quality and donor requirements and submit consolidated reports to the RISE Consortium Lead within agreed timelines.
• Lead and/or coordinate rapid emergency needs assessments in countries where the RISE Project is not operational and prepare and submit consolidated assessment reports and recommendations to the RISE Consortium Lead.
• Support partner mapping, partner selection, and review of partner readiness for sudden-onset response opportunities
• Ensure rapid response activations are grounded in humanitarian need, operational feasibility, partner capacity, donor requirements, risk analysis, and clear accountability for results
• Develop and maintain a project management framework to ensure effective coordination, among a varied group of project implementers, in order to ensure successful delivery or the project
• In collaboration with consortium partners, ensure WR's effective coordination, quality implementation, and achievement of project objectives
• Directly supervise the assigned Program Officer who will assist with programmatic and financial oversight, including work planning, coaching, performance management, and prioritization of programmatic and operational support tasks

Representation and External Engagement (25% LOE):

• Serve as World Relief's primary point of contact with the organizational co-leads and the project Prime; coordinate World Relief inputs into consortium planning, decision-making, reporting, learning, and operational problem-solving
• In collaboration with consortium partners, develop and build effective partnerships with program partners and in-country stakeholders, as well as local government authorities.
• Collaborate with all local stakeholders and implementing partners, especially government ministries and other U.S. and international implementing partners, to ensure that all activities conform to requirements and regulations.
• Provide oversight to project sub awardees and maintain a strong collaborative relationship with them
• Have oversight over all project consulting relationships, oversee the recruitment, vetting and contracting of consultants
• Translate consortium decisions and requirements into clear internal actions for World Relief country programs and home office teams
• Prepare briefings, updates, and recommendations for World Relief International Programs leadership on consortium performance, rapid response opportunities, implementation risks, and issues requiring attention

WR Program Quality & Disaster Response Technical Leadership (20%)

• Serve as a technical and program design resource for World Relief's disaster response portfolio within the Program Quality & Impact Department, with emphasis on sudden-onset humanitarian response
• Support the development of disaster response guidance, tools, standards, design documents, and internal decision/action documents for humanitarian response opportunities in coordination with Senior Regional Director for Africa, Europe and Americas
• Review emergency response program designs for clarity of needs analysis, appropriateness of activities, operational feasibility, partner capacity, risk, accountability, and alignment with World Relief humanitarian standards
• Advise country programs, regional teams, and home office colleagues on emergency response quality, assessments, response strategy, monitoring approaches, and adaptive management
• Support organizational response planning for sudden-onset emergencies, including public health emergencies, natural disasters, conflict-related displacement, and other acute crises requiring rapid program mobilization
• Collaborate with Program Quality & Impact leadership and relevant portfolio Technical Advisors to strengthen World Relief preparedness, technical guidance, and response design capacity for disaster response
• Meet regularly with the regional directors of AFEA and CEWA to ensure compliance with organizational standards, consistency and quality of reporting and addressing of any operational challenges within the in-country project contexts
• Maintain strong relationships with country teams in order to promote project quality and support a collaborative process to make critical project decisions in close collaboration with country offices

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES:
• Strong humanitarian program leadership experience in fragile, conflict-affected, disaster-affected, or complex emergency contexts.
• Demonstrated experience designing or supporting rapid humanitarian responses, including needs assessment, response strategy, partner selection, program design, implementation monitoring, and learning.
• Strong consortium coordination skills, including ability to represent an organization credibly in multi-agency governance or project management structures.
• Proven managerial experience, track record in strategy development, and staff oversight, with preference for previous experience with the US Government's administrative, management and reporting procedures and systems.
• Excellent diplomacy skills and a proven ability to establish and maintain interpersonal and professional relationships with the co-leads of the program, donor representatives, host-country counterparts and representatives from other key stakeholders such as NGOs and UN agencies.
• Ability to lead through influence across country teams, regional leadership, home office functions, and external partners without relying on direct line authority.
• Excellent written communication skills, including ability to draft strong concept notes, program design documents, donor narratives, decision memos, technical guidance, and internal briefings under time pressure.
• Comfort and familiarity with representing World Relief at external events, technical working groups, and international forums.

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Mature and personal Christian faith
• Committed to the mission, vision, and values of World Relief
• Desire to serve and empower the Church to impact vulnerable communities
• Able to affirm and/or acknowledge World Reliefs Core Beliefs, Statement of Faith, Christian Identity and National Association of Evangelicals' For the Health of The Nation document
• Master's Degree in management, humanitarian assistance, international development or an advanced degree in a related field
• At least 7 years' experience in implementing and/or leadership roles in international humanitarian or development assistance, including substantial experience in complex emergency or rapid response settings
• Excellent English oral and written communication skills
• Extensive experience managing U.S. Government (USG)-funded projects and ensuring compliance with USG regulations and donor requirements
• Must be able to establish strong relationships cross culturally
• Familiarity with humanitarian quality and accountability standards such as CHS and Sphere, and ability to apply relevant standards to response design and monitoring
• Demonstrated experience in monitoring and evaluation, including development of indicators, logframes, assessment approaches, and use of qualitative and quantitative data for decision-making
• Ability to manage competing priorities and work effectively under pressure
• Proven solid analytical and problem-solving skills
• Ability and willingness to travel extensively to fragile context with increased hardship or security risks

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Demonstrated expertise in project management, grant compliance, and donor reporting.
• Proven experience managing remote and multi-location programs, preferably in complex humanitarian or fragile contexts.
• Strong experience working within consortium-led projects, including coordination with lead agencies and partners, governance, and collaborative decision-making.
• Direct experience with sudden-onset disaster response, epidemic or outbreak response, conflict-related displacement, public health emergency response, or rapid response financing mechanisms
• Experience developing emergency response concept notes, donor submissions, program design documents, DADDs, tec