Role overview
What you'll be stepping into
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to humanitarian crises worldwide, helping people affected by conflict and disasters restore their health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and dignity.
Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, IRC operates in more than 40 countries and 29 cities across the United States. The organisation supports crisis-affected communities to rebuild their lives, regain control of their futures, and strengthen their resilience.
In Uganda, IRC and its consortium partners have been selected by the British High Commission (BHC) Kampala to implement the Refugee Support, Empowerment and Transformation (ReSET) Programme. The programme aims to strengthen the sustainability and local ownership of Uganda’s refugee response while protecting refugees’ rights, delivering lifesaving assistance, and promoting self-reliance.
IRC leads Pillar 1 of the programme, which focuses on lifesaving assistance for vulnerable refugees and host communities. Working with RELON, TPO Uganda, and UGANET, the programme prioritises essential needs, including food security and protection, with a cash-first approach.
Purpose
The Cash and Voucher Assistance Technical Specialist will provide technical leadership in designing, implementing, and monitoring cash and voucher assistance (CVA) interventions under ReSET Pillar 1.
The successful candidate will ensure that cash-based assistance is safe, timely, inclusive, cost-effective, and responsive to the needs of affected populations. This includes advising on transfer values, payment methods, beneficiary targeting, market assessments, protection risks, and programme quality.
The Specialist will work closely with programme teams, protection specialists, finance, operations, supply chain, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) teams, consortium partners, and other humanitarian stakeholders.
The role will also strengthen local partner capacity, promote evidence-based decision-making, support accountability, and ensure compliance with IRC policies and donor requirements.
Key Responsibilities
1. Technical Leadership and Programme Strategy
Lead the technical design and implementation of CVA interventions in line with IRC strategies, humanitarian standards, programme objectives, and donor requirements.
Promote the cash-first approach by assessing whether cash or vouchers are appropriate for meeting identified needs.
Lead or support market assessments, feasibility studies, response analysis, and protection risk assessments.
Advise on transfer values, payment frequency, targeting criteria, delivery mechanisms, and complementary assistance.
Develop and update CVA strategies, implementation plans, standard operating procedures, and contingency plans.
Identify operational challenges and recommend practical solutions to improve programme effectiveness.
2. Programme Implementation and Quality Assurance
Provide technical input into work plans, budgets, procurement plans, and implementation schedules.
Support beneficiary identification, registration, verification, transfer delivery, post-distribution monitoring, and programme closure.
Ensure transparent, inclusive, and well-documented beneficiary selection processes.
Coordinate with finance, operations, supply chain, information management, and security teams to maintain effective controls.
Assess appropriate payment methods, including mobile money, bank transfers, payment cards, and vouchers.
Conduct field visits, identify implementation gaps, and recommend corrective actions.
Support emergency response and programme scale-up when humanitarian needs increase.
3. Market Analysis and Transfer Values
Conduct market assessments and monitor the availability, accessibility, affordability, and reliability of essential goods and services.
Analyse market prices, household expenditure, purchasing power, and sector-specific needs.
Apply the Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB) and other relevant methodologies when determining transfer values.
Assess payment providers, transaction costs, geographical coverage, liquidity, and recipient accessibility.
Monitor inflation, price volatility, supply constraints, and other market risks.
Recommend adjustments to transfer values and delivery methods as conditions change.
4. Protection, Accountability and Inclusion
Ensure CVA interventions are safe, dignified, inclusive, and informed by protection risk assessments.
Integrate gender equality, disability inclusion, child protection, and other relevant protection considerations.
Ensure affected communities understand eligibility requirements, entitlements, transfer values, and payment schedules.
Support accessible, confidential, and responsive feedback and complaints mechanisms.
Promote community participation in programme design, implementation, and monitoring.
Ensure responsible handling of beneficiary information in accordance with data protection and confidentiality requirements.
Support the prevention and reporting of safeguarding concerns, sexual exploitation and abuse, fraud, and corruption.
5. Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning
Work with MEAL teams to establish monitoring frameworks, indicators, data collection tools, and reporting schedules.
Support baseline assessments, post-distribution monitoring, post-transfer outcome monitoring, and recipient feedback exercises.
Analyse programme data to identify implementation gaps, protection concerns, and opportunities for improvement.
Use evidence to inform targeting decisions, transfer value reviews, and delivery adjustments.
Document lessons learned, good practices, and technical recommendations.
Contribute to donor reports, programme reviews, and adaptive management processes.
6. Capacity Building and Partner Support
Assess the technical, operational, financial, and compliance capacity of implementing partners.
Develop partner-specific capacity-strengthening plans.
Provide training, coaching, mentoring, and technical support on CVA design, market assessments, targeting, payment delivery, risk management, monitoring, and reporting.
Support partners in developing appropriate tools, standard operating procedures, and internal controls.
Promote local leadership, equitable partnerships, knowledge sharing, and sustainable capacity development.
7. Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement
Represent IRC in Cash Working Group meetings, CVA technical forums, and relevant inter-agency coordination platforms.
Collaborate with government institutions, UN agencies, humanitarian organisations, financial service providers, and local actors.
Promote harmonised approaches, shared market information, and coordinated transfer-value analysis.
Contribute to technical briefs, assessment reports, learning products, and evidence-based recommendations.
8. Compliance, Risk Management and Reporting
Ensure compliance with IRC policies, the IRC Cash Transfer Programming Operations Manual, applicable humanitarian standards, and donor requirements.
Identify and mitigate financial, operational, protection, safeguarding, security, and data protection risks.
Maintain accurate beneficiary records, payment reconciliations, distribution reports, and supporting documentation.
Contribute to donor reporting, budget revisions, risk registers, and audit processes.
Escalate suspected fraud, safeguarding concerns, payment failures, and data breaches through established reporting channels.
Qualifications and Education
Applicants should meet the following requirements:
A university degree in Economics, Development Studies, International Development, Humanitarian Affairs, Public Administration, Agriculture and Food Security, Social Sciences, or a related field.
A postgraduate qualification in a relevant discipline is an advantage.
Professional training or certification in Cash and Voucher Assistance, such as CaLP or equivalent recognised CVA training, is desirable.
Additional training in market analysis, humanitarian protection, accountability to affected populations, financial inclusion, or emergency response is an advantage.
Experience and Technical Competencies
Candidates should demonstrate:
At least six years of progressively responsible experience in CVA design, implementation, technical support, or oversight in humanitarian or development settings.
Experience supporting emergency cash programming for refugees, internally displaced people, and other crisis-affected populations.
Experience conducting or interpreting feasibility assessments, market assessments, response analysis, protection risk assessments, and delivery mechanism assessments.
Strong knowledge of multipurpose cash assistance, sector-specific cash and voucher interventions, transfer-value calculations, and the Minimum Expenditure Basket.
Experience with mobile money, bank transfers, payment cards, electronic vouchers, paper vouchers, and other appropriate delivery mechanisms.
Understanding of beneficiary identification, registration, verification, targeting, and deduplication.
Knowledge of financial controls, payment reconciliation, fraud prevention, and audit requirements.
Experience integrating protection, gender equality, disability inclusion, safeguarding, and accountability into CVA programmes.
Knowledge of MEAL systems, post-distribution monitoring, community feedback mechanisms, and evidence-based programme adaptation.
Experience training and mentoring national NGOs, local partners, and programme staff.
Experience working with humanitarian coordination mechanisms, particularly Cash Working Groups.
Ability to develop technical guidance, standard operating procedures, implementation plans, assessments, and donor reports.
Experience contributing to programme design, proposal development, budget planning, and donor compliance.
Familiarity with Sphere Standards and relevant Cash and Voucher Assistance guidance.
Core Skills and Competencies
The ideal candidate should have:
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
Excellent planning, coordination, organisational, and prioritisation abilities.
Strong communication skills and the ability to explain technical concepts to different audiences.
Effective interpersonal, negotiation, facilitation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
The ability to work independently and collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams.
A strong commitment to accountability, inclusion, safeguarding, and the dignity of crisis-affected people.
Computer literacy and proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
Strong written and spoken English, including technical report writing.
Willingness and ability to travel to refugee settlements and host communities, subject to operational and security requirements.
Application Deadline
The application deadline for the Cash and Voucher Assistance Technical Specialist position at the International Rescue Committee is 29 October 2026.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Interested candidates should consult the official IRC careers website for the complete vacancy notice and application instructions.
Official application website: https://www.rescue.org/careers
Important: Applicants are encouraged to apply early, as applications may be reviewed before the closing date.
How to apply