Global Surge Team – Emergency Education & Early Childhood Development Coordinator | Apply by 10 September 2026

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is recruiting experienced humanitarian professionals for its Global Surge Team (GST) Roster – Emergency Education, Early Childhood & Development Coordinator role. The opportunity is designed for specialists who can deploy rapidly to emergency and non-emergency settings and provide technical leadership in Education in Emergencies (EiE) and Early Childhood Development (ECD) programming.

The application deadline is 10 September 2026.

About the Global Surge Team

The IRC’s Global Surge Team is a roster of highly qualified humanitarian professionals who provide short-term specialist support to IRC operations around the world.

GST members can be deployed for periods of up to three months, depending on organisational needs. Deployments are not guaranteed, but roster members may take on additional assignments when opportunities arise.

Emergency response staff must be prepared to deploy within 72 hours when an assignment is confirmed.

The role is particularly suited to humanitarian education professionals who can quickly assess needs, establish programmes, manage teams and coordinate with partners in complex crisis environments.

About the Emergency Education Role

The Emergency Education, Early Childhood & Development Coordinator will support the IRC’s emergency responses by providing technical leadership for education and early childhood programming.

The successful candidate will assess education and ECD needs in large-scale or complex emergencies and provide prioritised recommendations to emergency leadership.

They will also develop context-appropriate programmes that respond to the needs of children, caregivers, teachers and affected communities.

Where appropriate, the Coordinator will work with local partners and actors to design and implement interventions collaboratively.

Key Responsibilities

The position involves a broad range of programme leadership and emergency response responsibilities, including:

• Conducting rapid Education in Emergencies and ECD needs assessments.
• Developing recommendations for emergency education responses.
• Designing creative, context-specific education and ECD programmes.
• Supporting rapid programme start-up and scale-up.
• Recruiting, onboarding and supervising programme staff.
• Providing technical coaching and guidance to education teams.
• Managing procurement, financial monitoring and programme resources.
• Developing monitoring and evaluation systems.
• Analysing programme results and using findings to improve quality.
• Coordinating with education clusters and other inter-agency mechanisms.
• Representing IRC with education authorities, NGOs, UN agencies and other partners.
• Supporting technical proposals and donor reports.
• Working with grants and finance teams on proposals and programme implementation.
• Developing workplans, procurement plans and budgets.
• Ensuring meaningful and safe participation of children, teachers, caregivers and communities.
• Supporting safeguarding and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse requirements.
• Coordinating with health, nutrition, protection, economic recovery and cash programming teams.
• Supporting communications and media activities when requested.
• Preparing comprehensive handover documentation at the end of deployments.

Education in Emergencies and Early Childhood Development

The role places particular emphasis on ensuring that children can access quality education even during conflict, displacement and other emergencies.

The IRC works across formal and non-formal learning environments, supporting children and young people to develop skills in areas such as literacy, numeracy and socio-emotional learning.

The organisation also integrates education with child protection and psychosocial wellbeing, recognising that education can provide children with safety, stability and opportunities during crises.

Candidates with experience in Early Childhood Development (ECD) will be particularly relevant for this roster.

Required Experience

Applicants should have at least five years of experience developing and managing education programmes, preferably including ECD programming in humanitarian settings.

Experience with rapid programme start-up in acute emergencies is strongly relevant.

Candidates should also demonstrate:

• Experience working with local governments and community leaders.
• Ability to build multi-stakeholder support for humanitarian priorities.
• Experience working with local partners.
• Ability to co-design programmes and activities.
• Strong programme planning skills.
• Strong fiscal and budget management abilities.
• Excellent organisational and communication skills.
• Experience supervising and training teams.
• Experience training local teams and partners.
• Experience implementing programmes funded by major public and private donors.
• Strong proposal and report writing skills.
• Experience with humanitarian representation and coordination.

The ability to develop creative solutions based on children’s developmental stage, gender, status and specific crisis circumstances is also important.

Language Requirements

Fluency in English is required.

Professional Arabic language skills are strongly preferred, while French language skills are considered an advantage.

Rapid Deployment Requirement

One of the most important requirements is availability for rapid deployment.

Successful roster members must be able to commit to deployment within 72 hours of notification of an assignment.

Deployments can last for up to 12 weeks, depending on operational requirements.

This makes the position particularly appropriate for professionals who are flexible and prepared to work in changing humanitarian environments at short notice.

Safeguarding and Professional Standards

IRC employees are expected to uphold the organisation’s professional standards and values, including Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability.

The organisation maintains policies covering safeguarding, conflicts of interest, fiscal integrity, reporting wrongdoing and protection from retaliation.

Education staff are also expected to ensure that children, teachers, caregivers and communities have safe and confidential access to appropriate reporting mechanisms and support services.

Who Should Apply?

This opportunity may appeal to experienced humanitarian professionals specialising in:

• Education in Emergencies.
• Early Childhood Development.
• Humanitarian programme management.
• Emergency response.
• Child protection and education.
• Programme design and implementation.
• Humanitarian coordination.
• Monitoring and evaluation.
• Donor-funded education programmes.
• Local partner capacity strengthening.

Candidates should be comfortable operating in complex environments and providing technical leadership while working alongside national staff, local organisations, government authorities and international humanitarian partners.

Key Opportunity Details

• Organisation: International Rescue Committee (IRC)
• Position: Global Surge Team Roster – Emergency Education, Early Childhood & Development Coordinator
• Type: Global Surge Team roster
• Sector: Education / Humanitarian Response
• Experience: At least 5 years
• Deployment: Up to 12 weeks
• Availability: Must be prepared to deploy within 72 hours
• English: Required
• Arabic: Strongly preferred
• French: Advantage
• Application deadline: 10 September 2026

How to Apply

Interested candidates should submit their applications through the official IRC careers platform. The role is listed under the IRC’s Global Surge Team and is identified by job reference JR00004493.

Applicants should carefully demonstrate their humanitarian education experience, emergency response capabilities, programme management expertise, leadership skills and availability for rapid deployment.

This is a strong opportunity for an experienced education professional seeking to contribute to emergency responses across different humanitarian contexts while joining a global roster of specialised IRC personnel.

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