Crisis Analysis Fellow 

Role:  The Crisis Analysis Fellow will be a core member of the Global Crisis Analysis team, contributing to a range of high-profile internal and external reports. The fellow will work on briefings for senior leaders, tracking key country and global-level crises risks, contribute to wider analysis and policy projects, and generally support the work of the GCA team – including its collaboration with Security, Access and Preparedness teams to support frontline teams in the most complex environments. The Fellow may also contribute to updating and refreshing materials used to communicate with other colleagues about Crisis Analysis 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 the world. The fellow will also gain practical experience applying qualitative and quantitative analysis skill sets within the humanitarian sector, as well as experience presenting such analysis to senior internal and external audiences.  

Potential deliverables:   

• Risk tracking 
• Support tracking of global and country-level crisis risks 
• Contribute to drafting of country and global-level crisis risk tracking documents 
• Contributing to GCA/policy projects 
• Support collecting data and other research/analysis tasks on GCA/policy projects. 
• Draft briefing notes on key policy/analysis topics 
• Support Analysis, Security, Access and Preparedness (ASAP) collaboration project 
• Draft case studies of ASAP support 
• Develop communications materials about ASAP collaboration. 
• Support update of coordinated ASAP resources.  

Student skill sets sought: 

• Knowledge and understanding of how conflict, politics and other human factors contribute to humanitarian crises 
• Outstanding ability to write clear and accurate prose  
• Computer literate, ideally with basic knowledge of (or willingness to learn about) content management systems
• Advanced data analysis skills welcome but not required   
• Language skills in Spanish, French or Arabic would also be useful for this role  
• Open mind, humility and eagerness to learn 

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 Crisis Analysis team at the the IRC. 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 Spring 2026 semester (January 5 – May 17, 2026). Continuation into Summer 2026 is potentially available.

How to apply: The deadline to apply is October 22, 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 November via Zoom.

Team: 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 devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world’s largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you’re a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.  

The IRC’s Global Crisis Analysis (GCA) team sits within both the Emergency Unit and the Policy & Advocacy team. It supports the IRC to make timely, informed decisions about how to respond to humanitarian crises by deploying robust, “good enough” analysis of political, climate, conflict, economic or other factors driving crises. It sits in a cross-cutting position, between the External Relations and Crisis Response, Recovery and Development departments, reflecting that its analysis drives decisions about both programmatic and policy responses to crisis. The GCA team’s role is not limited to delivering analysis, however, and members of the team are expected to serve as trusted advisers to IRC colleagues, supporting them to understand how to apply analysis to their work.