Deputy Director, NVPPA

The Deputy Director, NVPPA provides leadership to the National Virtual Program for Professional Advancement, ensuring sound program implementation, compliance with ORR regulations, client success, and strong staff supervision and support. The role involves managing a federally funded program, overseeing budget and compliance, and leading a fully remote team.

Responsibilities

• Lead program start-up so that intake, staffing, data tools, and referral protocols are in place as clients arrive, with interpretation and device support where access is a barrier.
• Set and enforce service standards across a high-volume, light-touch model, including a completed Professional Advancement Plan (PAP) and documented career navigation for every enrolled participant.
• Oversee delivery of training, job development, and placement support, and ensure related records are maintained.
• Ensure the program is implemented in accordance with ORR policy, the terms of the cooperative agreement, applicable federal award regulations and cost principles, and IRC policies on data protection, client confidentiality, and safeguarding.
• Serve as the program's primary point of contact with the ORR program officer and coordinate with ORR staff, partners, and technical assistance providers.
• Protect the integrity of program eligibility, ensuring eligibility rules are applied consistently and documentation is collected and retained for every enrolled participant.
• Own the internal control environment for direct financial assistance, including documentation before disbursement, alignment with the participant's approved PAP, vendor and training provider verification, and application of IRC Global Supply Chain protocols.
• Maintain audit-ready documentation and ensure required program and financial reports are accurate and submitted on schedule.
• Identify, escalate, and resolve compliance risks, including suspected fraud, working with IRC finance, compliance, and award management colleagues on corrective action.
• Manage the program budget, monitor spending, and ensure full and timely spend-down and closeout of the award in partnership with the Finance Manager.
• Provide revised projections and propose reallocation to additional eligible services or a budget revision, at ORR's direction, where a shortfall is projected.
• Ensure Efforts to Outcomes (ETO) is configured to program requirements and serves as the system of record, working with the data team on data quality, reporting, and staff training.
• Monitor performance against outcome targets and use data to identify barriers and adjust the service model.
• Establish and oversee a routine quality assurance cycle covering case files, PAPs, and assistance documentation, with findings tracked to resolution.
• Lead recruitment, hiring, and onboarding of a newly formed, fully remote team, and ensure all staff are trained on eligibility rules, eligible uses of funds, documentation standards, and the database.
• Directly supervise the NVPPA Supervisor and the Customer Service Representative, and manage performance, workload distribution, and professional development.
• Structure staffing so that direct service capacity can be adjusted as enrollment volume becomes known.
• Oversee guidance on appropriate co-enrollment with PIR and other ORR programs, such as Matching Grant, so that participants can meet initial self-sufficiency requirements while pursuing career goals.
• Establish referral and coordination protocols with sister resettlement agencies, IRC offices, and other service providers so that eligible clients can access the program regardless of which agency resettled them.
• Represent the program to IRC office leadership and external partners.

Requirements

• University degree in Business, Public Administration, Social Work, Economics, Community Development, or a related field required; comparable work and/or lived experience may be substituted.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience with progressive responsibility in the design, development, and implementation of workforce, employment, or broader economic empowerment programming, including program monitoring and evaluation.
• Minimum of 5 years' experience managing staff, including remote or geographically distributed teams, with demonstrated ability to coach staff and manage performance directly and through supervisors.
• Demonstrated experience managing federally funded awards and their compliance and reporting requirements; ORR or other HHS award experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing client-level direct financial assistance or comparable payment processes, with a strong grasp of internal controls, required; experience with audits or funder monitoring preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to launch a program quickly and manage a budget of comparable scale through spend-down.
• Demonstrated understanding of refugee resettlement and employment services in the U.S. context; familiarity with credential evaluation and professional licensing pathways preferred.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills, including a track record of reporting difficult information to funders accurately and on time.
• Microsoft Office Suite required; ETO or comparable client database experience preferred.
• Commitment to anti-racism and ongoing learning, and English fluency, required.

Skills

• Workforce Program Design
• Economic Empowerment Programmes
• Programme Monitoring and Evaluation
• Staff Management
• Virtual Team Management
• Performance Coaching
• Federal Award Compliance
• Financial Assistance Management
• Internal Controls
• Audit Management
• Budget Management
• Program Launch
• Refugee Resettlement
• Public Employment Services
• Credential Evaluation
• Professional Licensing Pathways
• Funders Reporting
• Microsoft Office Suite
• Client Database Management
• ETO Database

Languages

English