Emergency Deputy Director, People & Culture, International Rescue Committee, 2026

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is seeking an Emergency Deputy Director of People & Culture to join its Global Surge Team (GST) Roster. This role involves rapid deployment to humanitarian crises worldwide, providing essential leadership and management for People and Culture (P&C) operations in emergency contexts.

As an Emergency DD P&C, you will be responsible for establishing and scaling P&C structures, advising senior leadership, overseeing recruitment and employee relations, and ensuring staff well-being in high-pressure environments. This is an occasional employment opportunity, with deployments typically lasting up to three months.

Quick Facts

About the Position

The Emergency Deputy Director of People and Culture (DD P&C) leads all P&C functions during an emergency response. Key responsibilities include rapidly establishing P&C structures and processes, leading emergency recruitment and onboarding, providing strategic advice to the Emergency Country Director, managing the P&C team, ensuring compliance with labor laws and IRC policies, overseeing payroll and data, and integrating safeguarding and GEDI commitments. The role also involves duty of care and staff well-being initiatives, and planning for the transition to sustainable country P&C operations.

Eligibility

• Graduate degree in HR management or a related field preferred.
• At least 10 years of progressive P&C experience, including leadership of a P&C function supporting country programs in emergency contexts.
• Experience working in conflict, post-conflict, or disaster response settings, including rapid start-up or scale-up of P&C operations.
• Prior experience working within organizational structures in transition.
• Broad knowledge of P&C competencies: recruitment, compensation and benefits, employee relations, contract management, payroll, performance management, and HR information systems.
• Working knowledge of international labor law and ability to establish compliant employment practices quickly in new country contexts.
• Experience supporting recruitment, onboarding, and deployment of surge and national staff at volume.
• Experience in handling employee relations, safeguarding, and code of conduct cases, including coordination with investigations teams.
• Knowledge of duty of care and staff well-being practices in high-risk, high-stress contexts, and ability to work with security teams on staff safety.
• Ability to use people data and analysis to inform decisions, producing simple, timely reporting.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, Outlook).
• Working knowledge of Workday or other HR information systems, and file-sharing platforms such as SharePoint, is an advantage.
• Demonstrated experience advising senior leaders and building strong, trusted relationships.
• Demonstrated successful leadership of multi-disciplinary teams in cross-cultural settings, including active mentoring and coaching.
• Ability to build the capacity of national P&C colleagues and hand over systems and responsibilities effectively.
• Ability to supervise in matrixed, remote, and fast-changing environments.
• Established capacity to handle stressful situations in a healthy, constructive manner, and to model and promote staff well-being.
• High levels of integrity, empathy, and sound judgment on sensitive matters.
• Ability to represent the P&C context, constraints, and successes clearly to senior internal and external audiences.
• English is required. French, Arabic, Spanish are highly desired.
• Ability to deploy within 72 hours of notification.

Benefits

• Opportunity to positively impact millions of lives worldwide.
• Work with a leading international humanitarian non-governmental organization.
• Support for staff duty of care and well-being in high-stress contexts.
• Commitment to gender equality in leadership positions, including parental leave and gender-sensitive security protocols.
• Adherence to professional standards based on Integrity, Service, Equality, and Accountability.

Documents Required

• Not specified (typically CV/resume and cover letter for online applications)

How to Apply

1. Visit the International Rescue Committee careers portal via the provided application URL.
2. Complete the online application process, submitting all required documents.

Apply on the official page →

Source: ReliefWeb Jobs.
Details can change – always confirm eligibility and deadline on the official listing before applying.

Featured image: Photo by Doruk Aksel Anıl on Pexels