Grants and Partnership Coordinator

The IRC opened its offices in Burundi in 1996 and initially focused on life saving interventions and provision of immediate assistance to refugees and IDPs. IRC Burundi now focuses on post-conflict oriented interventions in order to support the country’s transition to lasting peace and stability.

IRC Burundi has had a vibrant post-conflict program encompassing prevention and response to Gender Based Violence, Child Protection, Social Cohesion, Protection and Rule od Law, Economic Recovery and Development (ERD) as well as Environmental Health. Clients are vulnerable and marginalized populations, including refugees, IDPs, repatriates and other vulnerable categories such as women, children, and youth. IRC works with the Burundian Government, local and international partners to increase the protection, economic empowerment and social cohesion of these groups. The IRC has its main office in Bujumbura, serving not only as headquarters but also the base for programs in Bujumbura Rural. Field offices are located in Gitega, Muyinga and Ruyigi.

The Grants and Partnership Coordinator is a key position supporting the IRC Burundi country program to achieve high quality programming and service delivery. The main objectives of this position are to support and coordinate program design, proposal development, grants management (including compliance requirements and reporting), internal and external communication, and partnership processes and procedures.

The current IRC Burundi portfolio is composed of 9 grants and contracts from a variety of private, bilateral and multilateral donors. The Grants and Partnership Unit, composed of the Grants and Partnership Coordinator, two Managers and two Officers is responsible for ensuring business development, grants and contracts management, sub-awards and partnerships management, and donor communications. The Grants and Partnership Coordinator leads the team and more specifically coordinates the development of new project proposals in accordance with the Country Program’s Strategic Action Plan (SAP). This includes assessing opportunities for funding (proactive and reactive), analyzing organizational capacity to take on projects, and leading the overall proposal development process.

The Grants and Partnership Coordinator will directly and/or technically supervise the Grants and Partnership team. S/he will work closely with Technical Program Coordinators, M&E staff, and Field Coordinators as well as with in-country support units and relevant HQ regional colleagues (including Technical Advisors, the Regional Program Support Team and the Senior Proposal Development Advisor) in the delivery of their functions. This position reports to the Deputy Director for Programs and will be based in Bujumbura with regular travel to field sites.

Key Responsibilities

Business development

•Research and maintain information on donor strategies and funding opportunities on the national level, in conjunction with the program coordinators.

•Lead the development of proposals for submission to donors in coordination with sector leads and the finance and operations teams; contribute to budget development/management in coordination with Finance through budget review to ensure that budget aligns to the proposed intervention and the correct costs are included.

•Assist the DDP in aligning new proposals to the country’s Strategic Action Plan (SAP).

Grants Management

•Review and advise on all partner agreements (including log frame, budget, spending and work plan); ensure NY/London review of partner agreements and provide recommendations and concerns to the senior management and regional support.

•Ensure that grants are implemented in compliance with IRC and relevant donor regulations, including maintenance of updated grant files and organization of regular program cycle meetings; coordinate modifications to any agreements or projects (i.e. extensions, indicator changes, budget realignments), as necessary.

•Support program teams on budget realignements in internal and donor formats

•Chair Project Cycle Meetings (PCMs) and support the country program in maintaining adequate standards and relevant systems for enhanced coordination between the various units and improved service delivery.

•Manage all reporting deadlines, develop calendars for report development and coordinate report compilation and review.

•Coordinate with donors on grants management, project progress, monitoring and evaluation.

•Act as focal point for communications with HQ grants administration and compliance functions in New York and London, including maintaining submissions on IRC’s online opportunity management tracking system.

•Manage archiving of all grant files and institutional memory of grants and programs.

Partnerships

•Oversee the implementation of IRC Burundi’s partnerships strategy, including follow-up of recommendations from a recent external evaluation of the Partnership Support Unit.

•Support program staff in assessing partnership opportunities and ensuring that partnerships reflect IRC Burundi’s strategic objectives and the local context.

•Ensure that partnership and sub-grant related administrative processes and procedures are standardized and consistently implemented throughout the program, including pre-award compliance checks, agreements, disbursements, reporting and partner capacity-building.

•Organize and facilitate partnership meetings with senior program staff; support and guide program staff in partner amendments, realignments and general challenges in project implementation, as necessary.

Visibility and Communications

•Coordinate the development of a communication and visibility strategy; oversee preparation of materials such as brochures and newsletters.

•Assist in coordination of country program visits by government officials, donor representatives and other special visitors through collaboration with senior leadership, preparation of briefing materials and post-visit visibility.

•Oversee Annual Report development, editing and ensure completion and distribution.

•Assure internal IRC visibility of programs and key events (ex. IRC Updates, website, social media sites, etc.).

Human Resources

•Participate in recruiting, training and mentorship of communications and development staff.

•Ensure that staff have regular performance evaluations and receive ongoing feedback.

•Build capacity of grants and programming staff in key project management principles, tools and approaches and ensure that these new skills are utilized on the job.

•Promote constructive, collegial teamwork between programming staff and operational support staff.

Qualifications

•University degree in international affairs or related subject; masters degree preferred.

•Knowledge of main donor regulations and priorities, including UNHCR, Unicef, UNDP European Commission, ECHO and other European donors.

•Superior writing and editing skills. At least three years of previous experience preparing donor reports and proposals for USG, UNHCR and European donors with experience submitting proposals as part of a consortium (as lead agency or sub).

•Proven skills on Excel and budgets: designing, compiling, realigning donors and internal budget.

•Detail oriented, organized, and able to manage competing urgent requests and priorities.

•Demonstrated experience in donor liaison.

•Demonstrated supervisory skills.

•Good communicator with strong organizational, time management and analytical skills; attention to detail.

•Works well in and promotes teamwork, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment, flexible and able to handle pressure well.

•Fluency in French and English, spoken and written, is essential.

•Qualified female & Nationals with the required profile and experience are encouraged to apply.

Work Environment

The position is based in the capital city of Bujumbura. The security situation in Burundi is generally calm.

Standards of Professional Conduct: The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability & Equality. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

Diversity, Inclusion and Gender Equality. IRC acknowledges and honors the fundamental value and dignity of all individuals. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and consider all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status or disability. IRC is also committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits

Equal Opportunity Employer: IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

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