Deputy Project Director, Content and Delivery

International Rescue Committee

BACKGROUND 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. In the MENA region (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen) 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. The IRC's MENA Early Childhood Development Portfolio The IRC's MENA Early Childhood Development (ECD) portfolio builds on over seven years of programming, starting with the Ahlan Simsim and Play to Learn initiatives, launched in 2018. These initiatives reached millions of children and caregivers with ECD services, generated a library of high-quality ECD content, and established a resource bank of proven program models. Partnerships with Ministries of Education, Health, and Social Development produced co-designed programs that are now embedded within government services across the region. The portfolio today spans multiple grants and donors across the MENA region, with an overarching aim of supporting the youngest children and their caregivers particularly those affected by crisis and conflict with high-quality, scalable, and sustainable interventions. Interventions target children directly and through their caregivers and communities. The portfolio also strengthens the capacity of the ECD workforce including teachers, multi-sector facilitators, and health workers advances national systems and policy through advocacy efforts, and delivers innovative digital technology solutions. The IRC works alongside key public and private stakeholders across health, protection, education, and economic recovery and development to co-design and expand partner-led interventions. For more information on the IRC's ECD work in the region, visit: https://www.rescue.org/ahlansimsim . The MENA regional ECD team manages core regional grants, supports country programs on country-specific awards, and actively contributes to business development efforts to expand programming reach, deepen impact, and mobilize resources from a growing base of public and private donors. The team also supports country programs in program quality and fidelity, content development, research and monitoring, policy, advocacy and communications, project and financial management, and digital technology solutions. THE ROLE Reporting to the Regional Project Director for IRC s Early Childhood Development (ECD) portfolio in MENA, the Deputy Project Director for Content and Delivery provides senior strategic leadership across the full spectrum of ECD technical, content, and digital work within the MENA ECD portfolio. The role sits at the intersection of content quality, program delivery, and digital innovation, ensuring that these areas are strategically coherent, mutually reinforcing, and aligned with the initiative s overarching ECD goals for children and caregivers in MENA. The Deputy Project Director oversees and mentors two senior functions: the ECD Technical Lead, who manages day-to-day technical content development and adaptation, and the Digital Portfolio Senior Manager, who manages the ECD digital product portfolio and digital growth strategy. The Deputy Project Director provides the strategic direction, cross-cutting integration, and senior representation needed to bring the content and digital work together as one coherent team. The role also connects this work with country programs, regional and global technical and digital initiatives, and ensures strong coordination with relevant technical units. Major Responsibilities Strategic Leadership of Content, Delivery and Digital Work • Provide senior strategic direction for MENA s ECD Arabic content development, program delivery, and digital portfolio, ensuring these workstreams are integrated, complementary, and collectively advancing program goals • Set the strategic vision for how content reaches children, caregivers, and service providers across in-person, remote, hybrid, and digital modalities, and ensure the technical and digital teams are working in alignment toward that vision • Drive innovation in content and delivery approaches, cultivating a culture of evidence-based experimentation and continuous improvement across the team • Ensure that content and digital strategies are informed by field realities, user insights, MEL data, and the broader ECD evidence base • Stay abreast of global and regional developments in ECD, EdTech, and digital innovation, identifying opportunities for the team to lead, learn, and adapt Oversight of Technical Content and Program Delivery • Provide strategic oversight of the ECD Technical Lead, ensuring high-quality ECD content development and program delivery support across MENA • Ensure content across all delivery routes in-person, phone-based, and digital is of consistent quality, culturally and linguistically relevant, evidence-based, cost-effective, and scalable • Oversee the strategic direction of content adaptation, new content development, and program model design, stepping in to provide technical guidance on complex or high-stakes decisions as needed • Ensure alignment between IRC s ECD content and program models and national and regional ECD standards, working in close collaboration with IRC's Education and ECD Technical Advisors and the Education Technical Unit • Provide senior ECD technical input into partner content as relevant Oversight of the Digital Portfolio • Provide strategic oversight of the Digital Portfolio Senior Manager, ensuring the ECD digital portfolio is growing, performing, and aligned with program priorities • Set the strategic direction for digital reach and audience engagement, supporting the Digital Portfolio Senior Manager in driving growth across IRC's ECD social media channels, mobile applications, chatbot platforms, and website.