Regional Grants Advisor – Great Lakes

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 UK is part of the IRC global network, which has its headquarters in New York and London. The IRC is on the ground in more than 40 countries, providing emergency relief, relocating refugees and rebuilding lives in the wake of disaster. Through over 20 regional offices in cities across the United States, the IRC also helps refugees resettle in the US and become self-sufficient.

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.

IRC-UK

Our European headquarters, IRC-UK, were established in London in 1997 to support the organisation’s global activities and particularly to diversify its donor base and be able to better advocate with European policy-makers on behalf of the people we serve. Since its establishment IRC-UK has grown rapidly and is now acknowledged for its high quality project management, technical expertise in governance and rights and economic recovery, and innovative thinking on early recovery and gender based violence. The IRC also has offices in Berlin, Bonn, Brussels, Stockholm and Geneva.

IRC-UK comprises approximately 100 staff across five departments.

The Global Awards Management Unit (AMU)

Established  in  January  2016,  the  Global  Awards  Management  Unit  (AMU)  is  a  global  unit  spanning New York, Washington DC, London, Nairobi and Amman. It has responsibility for identifying, securing and managing all funding from statutory donors. The  Unit  is  organized  into  five  directorates:  Donor Relations  &  Analytics;  Programme & Grants Support;  Compliance  and  Policy;  Business Development;  and  Training  &  Curriculum  Design.

The  Global  AMU  is  a bridge  between  donors  and  the  field:  providing  expert technical  advice to the field,  while maintaining portfolio-level  visibility to ensure consistency  and  compliance, and manage risk.  The AMU  ensures  that donor  compliance  policies  and procedures are implemented  consistently, and  supports  all  staff  working  across the  grants  management  cycle  for  all restricted  funding  from global government sources. The unit operates within a matrix management system across the teams in  the  US  and  the  UK,  driving  functional  integration  between  all relevant  units  and  staff,  in collaboration with the Vice President of the Global AMU and the Senior Vice President for Europe in relation to overarching issues with European donors. The matrix management structure ensures that AMU staff support the Europe strategy and work towards the pursuit of new opportunities, while IRC-UK maintains accountability for European funding.

Crisis Response, Recovery and Development

As part of the Crisis Response, Recovery and Development Department, IRC’s Great Lakes regional portfolio includes programs in four countries: Burundi, Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Tanzania. IRC’s programming across the region ranges across the humanitarian-development continuum through a range of sectors, including health, child protection, education, women’s protection and empowerment, protection and rule of law, cash assistance, and livelihood programming.

Key Working Relationships

Reports to the Regional Grants Director for the Great Lakes. Works closely with all Great Lakes Regional Program Support Team (RPST) members as well as with the Program Development Team, and across all pillars within AMU; the Crisis Response, Recovery and Development Department (CRRD); and Global Partnerships and Philanthropy (GPP). This position co-manages a part-time Regional Grants Assistant also based in London.

The Purpose of the Role

As Regional Grants Advisor (RGA) you play a vital role within a regional team that supervises a specific region. The RGA focuses primarily on the successful implementation of IRC European institutional donor award requirements and reporting, ensuring basic compliance, accurate financial information and good quality narratives on programme outputs.

As RGA you will also build and ensure strong, professional working relationships with donors. You will work closely with the Regional Grants Director (RGD) to strengthen the capacity of field offices to manage, implement and report on awards. RGAs also represent IRC to policy makers, donors and other audiences.

Travel to country offices is a critical aspect of the job function. The Regional Grants Adviser must be willing to travel to Great Lakes country offices for up to a maximum of 30% of time as budget and needs allow.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Awards Management (50%)

• Manage the European grants portfolio for the Great Lakes region
• Review and provide substantive feedback on reports; consulting with and ensuring input from relevant technical and financial staff
• Support budget realignments and grant amendments/modifications
• Maintain day-to-day communication with donors and country program grants staff, leveraging a strong relationship with field team members
• In coordination with relevant Programme Development colleagues, review and negotiate new awards from donors within the portfolio
• Monitor projects to ensure progress against objectives and compliance with donor guidelines
• In coordination with the compliance team, guide country offices in managing partnerships with local or international partners, ensuring that IRC’s sub-award management policies are being followed
• Assist country offices with ad-hoc queries on donor compliance issues. Refer non-routine and high level compliance matters to the RGD and Compliance team
• Ensure lessons learned from finalised projects are fed into the programme development team
• Stay informed about programmatic issues and security & political developments in the region and how they might affect programme implementation
• Ensure country programmes follow internal IRC policies and procedures (e.g. OTIS, PEERs)
• Travel to provide additional support, project monitoring or cover short-term gaps for grants teams in the field. Short-term cover deployments will cover the full range of tasks in country grants staff support.

Capacity Building and Training (20%)

• Provide best practice advice related to grant management
• Adapt IRC training materials in collaboration with AMU’s Training and Compliance & Policy pillars and deliver training to IRC field staff, as required and in coordination with RGD
• In coordination with the RGD, develop and maintain work-processes and checklists for grant implementation and report review, as well as record lessons learned

Coordination and Supervision (20%)

• Maintain a strong relationship with regional staff, including the Regional Vice-President and Regional Deputy Director
• Maintain a strong relationship with the AMU Deputy Vice President and all AMU pillars to ensure the use of all templates, guidance, policies and procedures established by AMU and to feed into development processes for new tools and guidance as needed
• Take part in regular meetings and calls with country teams to provide regular support and updates
• Liaise with support departments and other teams outside of AMU as needed in order to provide the best support to country offices
• Co-supervise a Regional Grants Assistant in carrying out necessary functions as they relate to country programme support and donor liaison
• Coordinate with the Program Officers in New York and RGAs for other regions for information sharing and to establish a coherent program support and backstopping function between headquarters and the field.

Other (10%)

• Assist in the roll-out of AMU and Crisis Response Recovery & Development (CRRD) wide initiatives, as requested
• Support on regional team assigned tasks as needed, such as support on other awards or phases of an award depending on the needs of the regional team and country offices
• Represent IRC externally at country specific meetings, and stakeholder networks
• Contribute to IRC Europe strategy
• Other duties as assigned by supervisor

Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications:

• Good understanding of humanitarian aid and development programming
• Fluency in French
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a diverse team and manage a varied workload
• Interpersonal and communication skills: the ability to successfully and effectively liaise with people within and across departments in a multi-cultural environment.
• Solid organizational skills; detail-oriented; ability to multi-task and prioritize tasks, and to learn quickly.
• Excellent financial management and budgeting skills
• Ability to analyse and synthesise information
• Both a team player and an independent performer in a very fast paced environment
• Flexible work attitude and a calm manner
• Ability to work on own initiative
• Good IT skills (Word, Outlook, Excel)

Experience:

• Experience with and a good understanding of European institutional donors and their requirements
• Experience in working at a distance and supporting field-based colleagues
• Experience writing, reviewing and editing narrative and financial reports and excellent attention to detail

Desirable:

• Degree in a subject related to IRC’s work (International Relations, Refugee or Migration Studies, Development Studies, Public Policy) or equivalent experience
• International work experience in a developing country a plus
• Understanding of UN or US donors a plus.

The deadline for applications is midnight between Tuesday 14^th / Wednesday 15th April 2020.

Interviews will take place on 27^th April and 1^st May 2020.

Candidates must have the right to work in the UK.

IRC-UK is committed to equality of opportunity and non-discrimination for all applicants and employees. IRC-UK seeks to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce regardless of gender, race, religious belief, nationality, ethnic/national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability. IRC-UK welcomes applications from all candidates, including refugees who have the right to work in the UK.

If you have any questions or need assistance with the online recruitment process, please contact the UK HR team atapplications@rescue-uk.org 

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