Conflict and Humanitarian Fellow, Global Policy & Solutions 

Role: The Conflict and Humanitarian team seeks a fellow to support with its policy solutions development work.  During this position the fellow will primarily support the Policy Analyst to deliver IRC’s policy agenda on humanitarian access, with a focus on existing and emerging crises. The fellow will also support the Conflict and Humanitarian team in other areas of work, particularly on priority crises, civilian protection, and accountability for international humanitarian law. Through this work, the fellow will have opportunities to learn about the humanitarian sector through exposure to a wide range of colleagues across the IRC, since much of their work will involve learning from – and close collaboration with – colleagues in different parts of IRC. The fellow will also gain practical experience in applying qualitative analysis skills within the humanitarian sector and developing policy solutions to global humanitarian problems.  

Potential deliverables: 

• The fellow will support the development of the humanitarian access policy agenda. This could take the form of country specific analysis or a wider multi-country analysis on sub-themes that come under humanitarian access. Activities may include: 
  • Supporting the access project team to advance existing policy projects on humanitarian access by undertaking additional research and desk-based literature reviews.  
  • Helping plan, deliver, and participate in internal and external roundtable discussions on humanitarian access and the role policy can play in improving the effectiveness of humanitarian aid delivery.  
  • Supporting the development of policy materials such as policy reports and briefs related to humanitarian access for public or private distribution to key stakeholders. 
• The fellow will support the development of the crisis policy agenda. This may include supporting analysis development of our existing priority crises such as Sudan and Gaza, but may also expand to new crises that require urgent analysis and reporting.  
• The fellow will produce a weekly tracker of press articles, reports and upcoming meetings, events, and UN meetings related to humanitarian access, food insecurity, and emerging crises 
• The fellow may be assigned additional research and gain exposure to other emerging and existing priorities of the policy and solutions team, including IRC’s Emergency Watchlist 2025, country crisis and thematic priorities.   

Potential travel involved: No travel will be involved for this position.

Desired Skills:

• Strong research, writing, and editing skills 
• Interest in and familiarity with humanitarian policy in conflict affected countries 
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize various tasks in a fast-paced work environment 
• Outstanding ability to write clear and accurate prose.  
• Ability to summarize long reports and articles concisely and quickly 
• Ability to work effectively and accurately with MS Outlook, Word, Excel, and internet applications 
• Ability to work productively in a team environment as well as under minimal supervision, taking the initiative to ask questions as needed  
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with a multi-cultural and diverse team. 
• Curiosity and willingness to take on new or different tasks as they come up. 
• Commitment to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in the humanitarian field. 
• Lived experience with conflict or crisis-driven displacement is an asset in this role. 

Requirements: Students must be a matriculated graduate or Ph.D. student at The New School. Fellows are hired as Research Associates by The New School.

Work Environment: This fellowship will work with the Airbel Impact Lab based in the IRC’s HQ in New York City. While this fellowship is remote, all Fellows must be physically located in the US.

Fellowship Length: This fellowship carries a maximum of 20 hours/week during the Summer 2025 semester (May 17, 2025 – August 24, 2025).

How to apply: The deadline to apply is March 17, 2025. Please submit one PDF document containing a cover letter, CV/resume, and two work samples (writing and/or design portfolio – 5 pages maximum per sample) to Catherine McGahan, McGahanC@newschool.edu.

Interviews will be conducted in mid-April via Zoom.

Team: Airbel Impact Lab, Research and Innovation at the IRC. The Airbel Impact Lab designs, tests, and scales life-changing cost-effective solutions for people affected by conflict and disaster. By applying the IRC’s deep technical expertise and field experience with a range of skills from the behavioral sciences, human-centered design, research, and multi-disciplinary problem-solving in humanitarian contexts, we work to develop breakthrough solutions that combine creativity and rigor, openness and expertise, and a desire to think afresh with the experience of a large-scale implementing organization. Within Airbel, the Best Use of Resources team provides analysis and decision-making support to improve the cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness of IRC programs.

The Conflict and Humanitarian unit is a new and dynamic part of IRC’s new Global Policy and Solutions department that leverages the power of IRC’s ideas to develop policy solutions to address the biggest challenges facing IRC’s clients and our operational teams in conflict affected countries. From combating the drivers of conflict to addressing the needs of those affected by conflict, the team partners with innovative thinkers, experts, and those with lived experience to identify global policy solutions and bring them to life.  

We take pride in being solutions-oriented and creative. We are precise in our goals, tactics, and messages. We drive change year over year, knowing that system change takes dedicated focus while maintaining the flexibility to respond to emerging needs across the globe. Finally, we are collaborative, constantly seeking new ideas and perspectives from others in our sector and beyond as we work side by side with programs, strategy, communications and research and innovation teams across the IRC.