Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) – Technical Specialist

• Job TitleCash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) Technical Specialist
• OrganisationInternational Rescue Committee (IRC)
• ProgrammeReSET Pillar 1 (Lifesaving Assistance)
• Duty StationAdjumani, Uganda, with travel to refugee settlements
• Job TypeFull Time
• ExperienceAt least 6 years in CVA
• ReferenceJR00005505
• DeadlineThursday, 29 October 2026 (rolling review)

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people affected by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC works in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities.

IRC and its consortium partners were selected by the British High Commission (BHC) Kampala for the ReSET Programme, which aims to make Uganda’s refugee response more sustainable and locally owned. IRC leads Pillar 1 through a local consortium with the Refugee-Led Organisations Network (RELON), Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation (TPO) Uganda and the Uganda Network on Law, Ethics and HIV/AIDS (UGANET). The programme covers 10 refugee settlements across four regions, working with OPM, UN agencies, NGOs and district local governments.

Cash and Voucher Assistance is a key delivery modality under Pillar 1. It helps refugee and host households meet essential needs through local markets, using multipurpose cash, sector-specific cash or vouchers, and complementary services, referrals or in-kind support.

The CVA Technical Specialist leads technical design, quality assurance and implementation support, making sure cash is used as a first-line option where appropriate. Transfer modalities, values, delivery mechanisms and targeting must be informed by needs assessments, market analysis, protection risk assessments and the preferences of affected people. The postholder advises project management, programme teams, consortium partners and operations, builds the capacity of IRC staff and local partners, and generates evidence for adaptive management, while keeping the lifesaving focus of Pillar 1.

Technical Leadership and Strategic Direction

• Lead the technical design and implementation of CVA under ReSET Pillar 1, in line with the results framework, IRC’s Economic Recovery and Development strategy, global standards and FCDO requirements.
• Promote the cash-first principle, with modality choice based on market functionality, feasibility, protection risks, access, capacity and people’s preferences.
• Lead or support feasibility, market, response, delivery mechanism and risk assessments to choose between cash, vouchers, in-kind or a mix.
• Recommend transfer values, frequency, duration, targeting and delivery mechanisms using the Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB), market prices and inter-agency guidance.
• Develop and update CVA strategies, implementation plans, guidance, SOPs and contingency plans.
• Make CVA responsive to the needs of women, girls, men, boys, older people, persons with disabilities and new arrivals.
• Solve emerging challenges in targeting, registration, identification, payments, data, market access and fraud prevention.
• Keep up with CVA policy, digital payments and good practice, and turn learning into programme improvements.

Programme Design, Implementation and Quality Assurance

• Give technical input into work plans, designs, budgets, schedules and procurement plans.
• Design multipurpose and sector-specific cash or voucher interventions with programme teams.
• Develop transparent, inclusive and documented targeting and beneficiary selection criteria.
• Oversee the full CVA cycle: assessment, targeting, registration, verification, transfers, post-distribution monitoring, complaints and closure.
• Set up delivery arrangements and internal controls with finance, operations, supply chain, information management and security teams, including segregation of duties, reconciliation, audit trails and fraud mitigation.
• Choose accessible payment mechanisms such as mobile money, bank transfers, payment cards and vouchers.
• Link CVA with protection and multisectoral services through referrals.
• Carry out regular field visits to check quality and agree corrective actions.
• Advise project management on progress, risks and adjustments.
• Support contingency and scale-up plans for new displacement, market disruption and other shocks.

Market Analysis, Transfer Value and Delivery Mechanisms

• Lead market assessments and ongoing market monitoring in target locations.
• Analyse prices, household spending and purchasing power to set and review transfer values.
• Apply and contextualise the MEB and document assumptions and data sources.
• Assess payment and voucher mechanisms for provider capacity, coverage, costs, liquidity, access and data protection.
• Coordinate with financial service providers and vendors alongside procurement, finance and operations.
• Monitor inflation, price volatility, supply constraints and other market risks.
• Recommend changes to transfer values, mechanisms or modalities when conditions change.
• Promote responsible digital delivery while addressing digital exclusion, ID barriers, connectivity and data privacy.

Protection, Accountability and Inclusion

• Base CVA on protection risk analysis and safe, dignified, accountable assistance.
• Work with Protection, Women’s Protection and Empowerment and Child Protection teams to reduce risks in targeting, collection and use of assistance.
• Integrate gender, disability, age and social inclusion throughout the CVA cycle.
• Give affected people clear information on eligibility, entitlements, values, schedules and complaints channels.
• Support safe, confidential and responsive feedback and complaints mechanisms.
• Promote participation of persons with disabilities, refugees and host communities.
• Handle CVA data in line with IRC data protection, consent and confidentiality rules.
• Help prevent and report safeguarding concerns, sexual exploitation and abuse, fraud and corruption.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning

• Set up CVA monitoring frameworks, indicators, tools and reporting schedules with MEAL colleagues.
• Align monitoring with the ReSET results framework, including timeliness, adequacy, access, use and safety of assistance.
• Support baseline, post-distribution and post-transfer outcome monitoring.
• Analyse data and feedback to find gaps, inclusion barriers and unintended effects.
• Make sure evidence drives targeting, transfer value and delivery decisions.
• Document decisions and lessons learned, and share them with partners and coordination forums.
• Contribute to donor reports, programme reviews and learning events.
• Support periodic reviews and adaptive management.

Capacity Strengthening and Support to Implementing Partners

• Assess the CVA, operational, financial and compliance capacity of implementing partners, including national NGOs and local organisations.
• Develop partner-specific capacity-strengthening plans.
• Deliver training, coaching and mentoring on CVA fundamentals, market assessments, transfer values, targeting, payments, risk, accountability and reporting.
• Help partners adopt CVA tools, SOPs, controls and documentation systems.
• Carry out partner support visits and technical reviews.
• Promote equitable partnerships and local leadership.
• Encourage sharing of good practice across IRC, consortium partners and other actors.

Coordination, Representation and External Engagement

• Represent IRC in Cash Working Groups, CVA forums and inter-agency platforms as delegated.
• Contribute to harmonised CVA approaches, including market information and transfer-value analysis.
• Collaborate with government, UN agencies, humanitarian organisations, financial service providers and local actors.
• Develop technical briefs, assessment findings and learning products.
• Maintain constructive relationships while keeping IRC positions consistent with strategy and donor requirements.
• Find opportunities for joint assessments, shared market monitoring and harmonised tools.

Compliance, Risk Management and Reporting

• Ensure CVA complies with IRC policies, the IRC Cash Transfer Programming Operations Manual, humanitarian standards and FCDO requirements.
• Identify and mitigate financial, fiduciary, protection, safeguarding, security, market and data protection risks.
• Ensure internal controls are applied throughout the transfer cycle.
• Keep documentation, beneficiary records, payment reconciliations and distribution reports complete and secure.
• Provide input to donor reports, budget revisions, risk registers and audits.
• Escalate suspected fraud, safeguarding concerns, payment failures and data breaches through IRC channels.
• Track progress against deliverables, indicators and spending plans, and propose corrective action.

Education

• University degree in Economics, Development Studies, International Development, Humanitarian Affairs, Public Administration, Agriculture and Food Security, Social Sciences or a related field.
• A relevant postgraduate qualification is an advantage.
• CVA training or certification, such as CaLP (Cash Learning Partnership), is desirable.
• Training in market analysis, humanitarian protection, accountability to affected populations, financial inclusion or emergency response is an advantage.

Experience

• At least six years of progressively responsible experience designing, implementing, supporting or overseeing CVA in humanitarian or development settings.
• Emergency cash programming for refugees, internally displaced people or other crisis-affected populations.
• Conducting or interpreting feasibility, market, response, protection risk and delivery mechanism assessments.
• Strong grasp of multipurpose cash, sector-specific CVA, transfer-value calculation and the MEB.
• Experience with mobile money, bank transfers, payment cards, e-vouchers and paper vouchers.
• Beneficiary identification, registration, verification, targeting and deduplication.
• Financial controls, payment reconciliation, fraud risk mitigation and audit requirements.
• Integrating protection, gender, disability inclusion, safeguarding and accountability into CVA.
• MEAL systems, post-distribution monitoring and community feedback mechanisms.
• Training and mentoring national NGOs, local partners and programme staff.
• Working with Cash Working Groups and inter-agency discussions.
• Writing guidance, SOPs, assessments and donor reports, and contributing to proposals, budgets and compliance.
• Familiarity with Sphere Standards and humanitarian principles.

Technical Skills

• CVA design: Market analysis, MEB and transfer-value calculation.
• Payment delivery: Mobile money, bank, card and voucher mechanisms with sound controls.
• MEAL: Post-distribution monitoring and evidence-based adaptation.
• Microsoft Office: Strong Excel, Word and PowerPoint; data collection tools are an advantage.
• Report writing: High-quality technical reports in English.

Soft Skills

• Analysis and problem-solving: Strong technical judgement and decision-making.
• Planning and coordination: Organising and prioritising across teams and partners.
• Communication: Explaining technical ideas to non-technical audiences.
• Stakeholder engagement: Negotiation, facilitation and teamwork.
• Commitment to dignity: Accountability, inclusion and safeguarding.
• Mobility: Willing to travel to refugee settlements and host communities.

Salary and benefits are not stated in the advert.

• Lead cash-first assistance for some of the most vulnerable refugees in Uganda.
• Work on an FCDO-funded programme covering 10 refugee settlements.
• Shape CVA standards with RELON, TPO Uganda and UGANET.
• Represent IRC in Cash Working Groups and inter-agency forums.
• Join a global humanitarian agency with more than 90 years of history.
• Senior technical role among international development jobs in Uganda.

Apply online through the IRC careers portal (JR00005505) by Thursday, 29 October 2026. IRC reviews applications on a rolling basis, so early applications are encouraged. See more NGO jobs in Uganda and jobs in Adjumani.

• Apply early: applications are reviewed as they come in.
• Show your six-plus years of CVA work with numbers: households reached, transfer values, settlements covered.
• Mention specific delivery mechanisms you have managed, such as mobile money.
• List any CaLP or other CVA certification clearly.
• Give examples of market assessments, MEB work and post-distribution monitoring.
• Highlight experience training local partners or refugee-led organisations.