Since 2017, IRC has supported Rohingya Refugees and Bangladeshi nationalities communities in Cox's Bazar, Khulna, Barisal, and Chittagong with integrated services. The organization also addresses climate change impacts by building resilience and promoting economic recovery, education, and protection.

The Manager - Livelihoods will be responsible for the design, implementation, and evaluation of IRC’s livelihoods programs in Bangladesh, with the overarching goal of enhancing economic recovery and resilience among vulnerable populations, particularly in the host communities and Rohingya Refugee camp of Cox’s Bazar. Key responsibilities include providing technical support for interventions, overseeing measurement, data driven programming, research, and documentation, fostering partnerships, and building capacity among implementing partners through training, mentoring, and organizational learning. This role encompasses the management of ERD’s core components, including Food Security and livelihood, Livestock programming, climate-smart agriculture practices, vocational skills, enterprise and business development, Village Savings and Loans (VSLAs), transforming digital VSLA and digital literacy, cash transfer, apprenticeship, market system strengthening. The Manager will work closely with private sector partners and government departments to ensure sustainable and impactful program outcomes, emphasizing community engagement and economic empowerment for beneficiaries. Reporting directly to the Economic Recovery and Development Coordinator, the Manager will also coordinate with IRC’s protection, health, education and Emergency preparedness and Response teams to ensure seamless, integrated programming across the host communities and Rohingya Refugee camp.

• Support the quality operationalization of the IRC’s Livelihood recovery and development interventions in Bangladesh, ensuring that needs and priorities for programming and standards are in line with the context, needs, and gaps on the ground.
• Design comprehensive vocational skills development programs for the women and youth, including apprenticeship models and training initiatives that align with market demands.
• Develop a VSLA quality improvement process to ensure the sustainability of the model within the communities and to strengthen the capacity of implementing partners in facilitating digital VSLA operations using the DreamSave app, in collaboration with DreamStart Lab, a FinTech company.
• Develop innovative livelihoods restoration and recovery strategies, emphasize climate-smart agriculture, livestock management, and vocational skills training to recover and restore livelihoods of the disaster affected populations living in the cox’s Bazar.
• Develop program implementation strategy, guidelines, and Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) related to business skill and entrepreneurship, vocational training, climate smart agriculture and livestock program, cash transfer, and apprenticeship program.
• Conduct needs assessment, develop, and implement a capacity-building plan, and provide day-to-day mentoring support, and formal and on-job training support to partner staff.
• Integrate climate-smart agricultural practices into the program design and implementation to enhance resilience and sustainability for the project participants
• Develop training modules and guidelines such as vocational skills training, livestock, agriculture, entrepreneurship, vocational trades and small business with periodic reviews to adapt content and methods to context-specific needs.
• Engage private sectors for building technical skills and create job placement opportunities for the women and youth through developing apprenticeship programs. 
• Facilitate market actors within the host community to strengthen input and output market systems, ensuring project participants' access to business development services, markets, resources, and services to enhance their income-generating opportunities.
• Ensure integration and inclusion in program delivery, children and young people of different ages, sex, Person with Disability (PWD) and ability are equally addressed in program implementation.

Program Implementation:

• Work closely with partners to implement field intervention and achieve project results through providing regular program monitoring and necessary supervision support to the team. Monitoring findings are recorded and shared at different platforms (within IRC and partner) for the improvement of program delivery.
• Provide technical training, technical support, guidance and mentor the livelihood team of local implementing partners ensuring they possess the necessary skills and knowledge in areas such as vocational and technical skill, business training, livestock management, climate smart agriculture programming financial inclusion, and market system development.
• Lead and coordinate technical support to implementing partners for effective Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) programming, ensuring quality, sustainability, and scalability.
• Facilitate partnerships with private companies, financial institutions, and VSLA groups to co-develop loan and insurance products that enhance access to financial and business services for the women and youth.
• Facilitate training sessions for the project staff, market actors and community members to enhance understanding of livestock management, agricultural practices, and digital financial literacy.
• Assist in developing and implementing climate preparedness activities and adaptation plans to protect and restore livelihoods, aligning with community needs and climate resilience objectives
• Support partners staff to facilitate community meetings and build capacity to identify the community needs with the local community and actors to ensure program relevance and community ownership.
• Ensure confidentiality and that data protection and information-sharing protocols are respected in line with IRC internal standards and inter-agency standards.
• Ensure safeguarding policy is understood and followed in program delivery.

Program quality assurance and compliance

• Visit and monitor partner’s program performance and provide guidance and support to ensure alignment with IRC's objectives and quality standards.
• Coordinate with IRC’s MEAL team to ensure field monitoring, study, assessment surveys, post distribution monitoring, and evaluation of project interventions
• Design and implement an online, data-driven system for monitoring and following up on livelihoods programs, covering client selection, individual progress tracking, service access, and the effectiveness of skills development and interventions in VSLA, poultry, livestock, and agriculture.
• Ensure compliance with donor requirements and report on program achievements, challenges, and lessons learned.

Partnership Management:

• Collaborate closely with partners to monitor progress and provide ongoing support, ensuring quality program implementation by identifying staff capacity gaps and needs.
• Participate in program activities to oversee and assist with the development of implementation plans, track expenditures and compliance, and coordinate with IRC's departments as needed to offer feedback and guidance for improvement
• Develop and maintain effective partnerships and collaboration with local NGOs, INGOs, UN agencies and other collaborators related to the project interventions to enhance program reach and impact.
• Develop partnership with private and public institutions to create opportunities for the women and youth participants of the projects developing business linkage and generating income. 

Coordination & Representation:

• Build and maintain partnerships with relevant partners, including the Department of Livestock, Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), department of youth development, private company, commercial banks, Chamber of Commerce and local employers.
• Collaborate with IRC sectors protection, health, and education to implement integrated programs that address beneficiaries' multifaceted needs. Coordinate with the Food Security (FS) and Livelihood and Skill Development Sector (LSDS) to ensure host community programming aligns with ISCG and government guidelines.
• Advocate for the livelihoods of vulnerable populations in government policy discussions and coordination platforms to strengthen service delivery systems. Coordinate with other relevant projects in the target area to align interventions and leverage support, enhancing impact for clients and communities

Other Duties:

• Consistently and dedicatedly monitor/assess the safety and security of field teams; promptly report concerns or incidents to IRC management and liaise with community leaders and other external parties as required to maintain/enhance the security environment for the IRC program.
• Other duties assigned by the supervisor to enable and develop IRC programs.
• Promote and actively participate in initiatives and efforts to build team engagement, inclusion and cohesion in IRC [team/office]
• Foster ongoing learning, honest dialogue and reflection to strengthen safeguarding and to promote IRC values and adherence to IRC policies.

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in providing technical support and management of livelihoods programming with national and or international organizations particularly in the field of Livelihood recovery, market relevant vocational skill development, youth employment, apprenticeship, climate-smart agriculture and market system development in a development context.
• Proven experience in developing VSLA, women economic empowerment and youth employment programming in the host community and Rohingya Refugee camp.
• Experience in private sector partnership development in small business development for women entrepreneurs, agriculture and livestock farmers considering the complex humanitarian settings.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience conducting market scoping, gap analyses and stakeholder mapping for cash and livelihoods programming supporting women’s economic self-resilience within natural disaster settings.
• Sound understanding of the local context and the livelihoods needs of vulnerable populations especially the host community and other sub-district of CXB.
• Experience in dealing with government officials, private sectors, donor agencies, and other NGOs
• Demonstrated experience in working with a multi-cultural team (national and international).
• Experience in partner dealings and management for program implementation.
• Strong communication skills in written and verbal English

• Bachelor’s/master’s degree in Agricultural Science, Business management, Development studies, or Social Science along with professional background in livelihood development field.