Regional Grants & Business Development Coordinator, Central Africa

Background:

Over the past 80 years, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has developed unparalleled expertise in responding to emergencies and helping uprooted communities to rebuild. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster.

The International Rescue Committee is a global network with its headquarters in New York. The IRC is on the ground in more than 40 countries, providing emergency relief, relocating refugees and rebuilding lives in the wake of disaster.

The IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and, most crucially, accountability to those we serve. The IRC is a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable.

The Awards Management Unit:

The Awards Management Unit (AMU) is a global department with the responsibility for identifying, securing, and managing all funding from statutory/government donors. The department includes the following teams: Program and Award Support, Strategic Partnerships, Compliance and Policy, Business Development, and Training.

The AMU is a bridge between donors and country programs: providing expert technical advice to the country teams, while maintaining portfolio-level visibility to ensure consistency and compliance and manage risk. This unit ensures that donor compliance policies and procedures are implemented consistently, and supports all staff working across the award management cycle.

The Crisis Response, Recovery and Development (CRRD) Department:

The Crisis Response, Recovery and Development (CRRD) Department has a growing portfolio of humanitarian relief, post-crisis recovery, and development programs under their remit. This work focuses support in five key areas: ensuring safety from harm, improving health, increasing access to education, improving economic well-being and ensuring people have the power to influence decisions that affect their lives. In all these programs, there is a drive to address the unique needs of women and girls (who represent the majority of those displaced) – and the universal barriers they face.

The CRRD works across 6 regions globally, including West Africa, East Africa, Great Lakes, Middle East and North Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The regional teams are the links between country offices and key HQ departments and aim to support and provide advice to country programs with a range of issues from strategic planning, business development to compliance, awards management and partnerships management. Each region is managed by a regional team that oversees the region’s country programs, headed by a Regional Vice President (RVP) and Deputy Regional Director (DRD), and supported by a Director, Awards Management (DAM).

The Purpose of the Role:

In the Central Africa region (Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania) IRC responds to acute and longer-term needs with integrated programs that improve health and safety, prioritize children’s education, foster economic wellbeing, and empower communities to regain control over their lives.

Where support is required by country programs in the region, the Regional Grants and Business Development Coordinator will be deployed to work as part of the grants, partnerships and/or program teams in country offices. This could include acting as a temporary member of the grants, partnerships and/or program team (e.g. as Grants Coordinator), or to provide surge support to assist in the development of proposals as well as donor reports, and to perform general grants management functions during peak periods. When not deployed, the person will support the Regional Program and Awards Support (RPAS) team or provide remote support to country programs.

The Regional Grants and Business Development Coordinator reports to the Senior Program and Awards Advisor (SPAA) and works closely with the Regional Program and Awards Support Team as well as country office and other regional and AMU staff. When deployed, the Regional Grants and Business Development Coordinator will also be accountable to the relevant line manager in the respective country program.

The position will be preferably based within the region, or a European or African country where IRC has an office, with frequent travel to country programs within the region for in-country assignments.

Scope and Authority:

No formal line management. However, when the position is deployed there could be line management responsibilities depending on the function performed in-country.

Key Working Relationships:

The Regional Grants and Business Development Coordinator reports to the Senior Program & Award Advisor (SPAA) and works closely with Grants, Partnerships, Programs and Finance teams in country, as well as other members of the Regional Program and Award Support (RPAS) Team for Central Africa, the Central Africa Regional Finance Director, and other AMU and regional staff.

Key Accountabilities:

The Grants and Business Development Coordinator will be assigned to support specific country programs or the Regional Program and Award Support Team, and may be responsible for the following, as requested:

Proposal Development

• Work closely with country programs to support specific proposal development coordination and tasks, such as developing proposal work plans, writing non-technical sections, consolidating and editing written inputs, developing annexes, writing budget narratives, and other tasks as needed. The position will provide additional bandwidth, or backfilling for country grants staff when needed to support these processes.
• Act as proposal development lead, writer and/or coordinator, as identified by country programs and the regional team.
• Facilitate design sessions in coordination with country grants teams with key country program, partners, regional and HQ teams, and ensure proposal design is in line with the country program SAP.
• Liaise with the Awards Management Unit’s global Business Development and Regional Program and Award Support Teams to ensure proposals are of high quality, meet internal and donor standards and are submitted on time to the donor.
• When in-country and in coordination with the DAM and the Senior/Program Development Advisors (S/PDA), support the country team in the cultivation of donor relationships at the country level and support country offices in the capture and pre-positioning for upcoming BD opportunities.

Awards Management & Compliance

• Work with country teams to develop donor reports and other award deliverables (e.g. work plans, M&E plans) and ensure they are high quality, coherent, accurate and submitted on time in accordance with donor and IRC internal requirements, providing additional bandwidth, or backfilling for country grants staff when needed to support these processes.
• Manage and/or support agreement and amendment/modification reviews and negotiations, and support award close-out, as needed.
• Provide technical guidance on donor rules and regulations to country team to ensure compliance,
• Proactively raise potential compliance issues to country team and keep senior management and regional team informed of any projected inabilities to meet contractual obligations and of spend rates/significant budget variances.
• Monitor and support the use of award management tools such as monthly financial reports, procurement plans, and activity plans amongst program teams to ensure accurate tracking of implementation and timely alerts to potential challenges/obstacles. Where support is required, act as focal point in facilitating the review of donor deliverables and approvals by technical advisors and other relevant persons at HQ and/or the region.
• Participate in and support the coordination of country program’s project cycle meetings, as well as donor and partner meetings, as required.

Partnerships

• Where necessary, support the management and implementation of partnership responsibilities including partner identification for positioning or proposal development processes, due diligence, partnership agreement package development and reviews, partnership agreement amendments and close-out in line with the IRC’s partnership management system’s (PEERS) and relevant donor requirements.
• Support country program to strengthen existing systems and structures around PEERS implementation in-country and provide coaching and mentoring to country teams for a deeper understanding and effective implementation of PEERS.

Training/Capacity-Building and Regional/Global Initiatives

• Contribute to the development of training materials/modules and/or adapt and contextualize training resources and materials to respond to in-country needs.
• Train and support country program’s grants and program teams on reporting, donor compliance, proposal development and grants management.
• Support country programs in the use of Project Cycle Meetings (PCM) guidance and provide capacity-building to the teams for its effective implementation.
• Train and onboard newly arrived Grants and Partnership team members within country programs, as needed.
• Support and/or facilitate (as appropriate) regional and country program PEERS related trainings.
• Contribute to contextualizing global/regional initiatives (such as PEERS, PCM, Gender Equality Diversity and Inclusion, etc.), and their roll-out within Country Programs.
• Capture best practices and lessons learned and support cross-learning opportunities across the region and globally.
• Contribute to country program SAP development and implementation, as requested.

Regional Support

• When not deployed, cover and provide surge support for other positions within the Central Africa RPAS Team.

Job Requirements:

• Degree in international development/affairs, public administration, or related subject,
• Five to seven (5-7) years’ experience working with non-governmental organizations in the area of program development, grants management, and/or project management; preferably in Central Africa,
• Successful experience developing projects, writing proposals, and developing budgets for USG, United Nations, and European donors, and with partner organizations,
• Experience working in grant management in humanitarian/conflict or post-conflict settings,
• Fluent English and French written and verbal communication skills,
• Enhanced interpersonal skills and ability to work in a diverse team setting,
• Ability and willingness to travel to across the region (up to 60% of the time),
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize high volumes of work to meet tight deadlines.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity:

IRC is committed to building a diverse organization and a climate of inclusivity. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who can demonstrate that they can contribute to this goal.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.