Grants Management Officer

We are looking for a highly qualified, self-motivated Area Manager who is able to work with diverse teams of both national and international staff as well as local government authorities, UN agencies, I/NGOs and other partners under difficult, stressful and sometimes insecure conditions.   

Who are we?   

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and Danish Demining Group (DDG) is a humanitarian, non-governmental, non-profit organization founded in 1956 that works in more than 30 countries through-out the world, including South Sudan. DRC/DDG fulfills its mandate by providing direct assistance to conflict-affected populations, including refugees, internally displaced people and host communities. Under its mandate, the organization focuses on emergency humanitarian response, rehabilitation, post-conflict recovery and humanitarian mine-action.   

Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in conjunction with Danish Demining Group (DDG) has been operating in South Sudan since 2005 initially concentrating on providing safe and supportive conditions for refugees returning from neighboring countries after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed.   

In 2012 - 2013, DRC opened its operations in Upper Nile and Unity States to respond to the large influx of refugees coming from Blue Nile State and South Kordofan (Sudan). In addition to the refugee response and since 2014, DRC has been then actively engaged in responding to the humanitarian needs of IDPs affected by the internal conflict through the provision of integrated approaches.   

With a total of 430 national staff, 50 expatriate staff and an annual budget of approximately USD 20 million, we are currently implementing multi-sectorial interventions through the provision of humanitarian services focused on CCCM, Protection, SGBV, FSL, Shelter and Infrastructure to both internally displaced persons and refugees across 5 field sites (Ajuong Thok, Bentiu, Maban, Malakal and Aburoc).   

Purpose of the post 

The overall purpose of the Grants Management Officer position is to support grant management, proposal development and proposal development processes for the DRC South Sudan mission.

Responsibilities

Fundraising

• Lead in development of fundraising documents (be it Expression of Interests/ Concept Notes/ Proposals) in line with DRC country strategy and donor requirements and in close collaboration with DRC HQ GMU (Grant Management Unit) and finance;  
• Liaise with Area Managers, Project Managers and Technical Coordinators to ensure that proposals are relevant and technically sound, and integrate learning from previous interventions (e.g. lessons learnt and best practices) into new proposals;
• Liaise with M&E to contribute to the ToRs of assessments to be conducted for proposal development and to request their input in the logframe development (esp. formulation of SMART indicators);  
• Involve Operations teams in the development of fundraising documents, particularly finance for the budget and logistics in case of specific donor procurement rules;  
• Identify potential relevant international and/or local partners (private sector partners, national and international NGOs, think tanks, academia, etc.) to be included in proposals;  
• Analyze the country’s socio-economic situation, (donor) trends, needs and gaps;  
• Regularly conduct stakeholder analysis, in particular who does what and where (3W); 
• Maintain active and regular working relationships with donors;  
• Maintain active and regular working relationships with other NGOs, UN agencies, clusters, working groups, consortia and academia;  
• Regularly update a directory of donors, international and local NGOs, other partners and stakeholders;
• Regularly update a country-tailored donor-engagement tracker identifying donor funding priorities and engagement with DRC;
• Contribute to the reporting to national and local authorities as required by DRC registration/legal status in country;  
• In the absence of Technical Coordinators, represent DRC in key clusters and working group meetings.  

Contracting

• Maintain thorough knowledge of all DRC grant contracts to ensure understanding of contractual obligations and regulations at both the Juba and field levels, and function as donor-compliance focal point for a determined split of the funding portfolio;
• Contribute to addressing in a timely manner all comments by donors on proposals in liaison with relevant staff in country and DRC HQ GMU and finance;  
• Read thoroughly all contracts before signature, seeking DRC HQ GMU and finance advice when required and facilitating signing of grant agreements;  
• Ensure that contractual obligations (including visibility requirements) and reporting deadlines are known and met by Programme, M&E and Operations team;  
• When any issue is identified in meeting deliverables in the given timeframe and budget, inform relevant staff in country and seek DRC HQ Program Department advice on potential solutions that would meet donor rules.  
• Lead on contract amendments (cost extensions, no-cost extensions) and project revisions in coordination with relevant internal stakeholders.

Grants Management System  

• Assist the Grants Management Coordinator and Reporting Officer in ensuring the Grant Management System (GMS) is timely and fully updated. This will include creating new project cards, milestones, instalments, documents, status, outputs, and beneficiary numbers and correcting discrepancies, in close coordination with counterparts in headquarters.  
• Support the Reporting Officer in maintaining and regularly updating hard files for all ongoing DRC projects and assist in the coordination and preparation of project documents and files for internal and external audits;
• Provide ad hoc support to programme staff on grants management module in DRC Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

Reporting

• Coordinate the writing of quality narrative reports, reflecting the progress and status of projects in a transparent, timely and professional manner, in liaison with DRC HQ GMU and finance, which will contribute ultimately to steady cash inflow;  
• Work in close relation with M&E to incorporate project data (incl. data on input, process, output, outcome and impact indicators, lessons learnt and best practices) in reports and review M&E reports from M&E;  
• Liaise with Operations teams when preparing reports, especially with finance to ensure greater coherence between financial and narrative reports by crosschecking the matching of data in the narrative and financial reports;  
• Ensure organization of kick-off and close out meetings for each project, present on project-specific donor compliance and reporting, and support in taking meeting minutes and action points for circulation;
• Contribute to the monthly update of the Programme Tracker and Rolling Action Plan (RAP) and ensure smooth and regular communication with DRC HQ and field teams;
• Ensure ad hoc requests from donors are addressed in liaison with the CD, programme and support teams;  

Coordination and Communication

• Facilitate interdepartmental communication and information sharing;
• Keep DRC HQ GMU and finance updated on latest developments, opportunities and challenges so that GMU can best advice on the way forward;  

Ensure the update and design of in country communication and visibility tools and publications, their dissemination and availability to DRC teams, as well as the capitalization of media and pictures of the mission.

Experience and technical competencies

• A relevant bachelor's degree in international relations, development or related field – or – relevant relatable experience.
• A relevant master’s degree (desirable)
• 2 to 3 years’ experience working in the development or humanitarian sectors or comparable experience - or a master's degree and at least 1-year experience working internationally in the development or humanitarian sector.
• Detail oriented with excellent English language writing and editing skills.
• Experience in proposal development and report writing.
• Experience working with European, US and UN donors, ideally including DANIDA, ECHO, OFDA, UNHCR, SDC, or other relevant donors

• Flexibility and adaptability for working under the pressure of multiple deadlines and competing priorities. Key to this characteristic is the ability to prioritize tasks.
• Familiarity with relevant programme areas including protection, camp coordination and camp management, food security and livelihoods, shelter/NFI and/or WASH

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills for engaging regularly with donors, other humanitarian organizations, and both national and expat staff. Cultural sensitivity is essential.
• Experience working effectively in both a team and under minimal supervision.
• Previous experience working in South Sudan or a similar context is preferred.

   

  Key stakeholders

• Internal
  • Head of Programmes
  • Area Managers and Project Managers
  • MEAL and Technical team
  • Finance team
  • HQ and Regional Office
• External

• Donor focal points
• INGO grants teams
• Clusters

Salary and conditions will be in accordance with Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for Expatriates; please refer to www.drc.dk under Vacancies. This position will be placed at Employment Band – H).   

Application process  

Interested? Then apply for this position by clicking on the apply button.   

• All applicants must upload a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages). Both must be in English. CV only applications will not be considered.   
• If you have questions or are facing problems with the online application process, please contact job@drc.dk   
• Applications close 31^st March, 2019.   

Gender Equality: DRC is committed to achieving gender parity in staffing at all levels. In the light of this, women are particularly encouraged to apply to bridge the gender gap.

Equal opportunities: DRC is an equal opportunities employer. We value diversity and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment based on mutual respect for all employee. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, disability status, religion, ethnic origin, colour, race, marital status or other protected characteristics

Need further information?   

For further information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult our website www.drc.dk