Senior Contracts Specialist

Washington D.C. | New York City | London

Organization: IRC - International Rescue Committee
Location: Washington D.C. | New York City | London
Grade: Mid level - Mid level
Occupational Groups:
- Legal - Broad
- Procurement
- External Relations, Partnerships and Resource mobilization
Closing Date:

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 (AMU)

The Awards Management Unit (AMU) is a global department with the responsibility for identifying, securing, and managing all funding from statutory/government donors/client. 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.

Purpose of the Role

As Senior Commercial Contracts Specialist you are responsible for providing support and guidance on contract inception, implementation and risk management functions, with a particular focus on supporting cost-effective commercial service delivery. Operating in an advisory, capacity-building, and quality management role, the role participates in review of applicable policies, procedures, and resources to ensure they are conducive to cost-effective and responsible project delivery, and supports the design and delivery of creating these where applicable. The role will be also responsible for project managing assigned contract readiness implementation task group deliverables, working across implementing units of the IRC, and when required, providing direct support to IRC country offices.

This pivotal role will contribute to ensuring that IRC is ready to deliver on our ambitious strategic goals, and significantly increase the scale, reach and effectiveness of our work, whilst reducing the organization’s risk exposure on commercial contracts.

Scope and Authority

In this role you provide support and advice autonomously but in line with parameters laid out by the Director, Awards Management, Global and in accordance with IRC and AMU systems and policies.

This position does not have budgetary or line management responsibilities but may have temporary responsibilities when providing surge support in projects.

Key Working Relationships

o Reports to Director, Awards Management, Global

o Works as part of the wider Program and Award Support team in AMU with close coordination with:

o Senior Contracts Specialists

o AMU Program & Award Support Teams

o Implementing units (CRRD, Airbel)

o AMU Business Development team

o AMU Compliance & Policy team

o Contract Readiness Director

o Finance

o AMU Strategic Partnerships team

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Contract management

• Provide effective, relevant and timely advice to teams on systems and processes for managing, delivering and reporting on assigned portfolio of contracts.

• Support the creation of a strong knowledge culture of sound contract and risk management practices, taking a proactive approach to mitigate against future risks.

• Provide support to project teams during contract start-up/inception to help a smooth transition from pre-award to implementation whilst the full project team is recruited, and project management processes are developed.

• In collaboration with the relevant Program & Award Support (PAS) team member, provide effective, relevant, and timely advice to implementing teams on agreed approaches for managing, delivering and reporting on commercial contracts.

• Support project teams with the resolution of contractual challenges such as performance issues, payment disputes, contract amendments, donor, government client, and/or partner negotiations etc., escalating as appropriate to your line manager.

• Support Program & Award Support staff and country delivery teams to identify risks at the project level, establish targeted approaches to mitigate identified risks, and take a proactive approach to mitigate against future contract risks.

• Review and provide substantive feedback on commercial aspects of reports, collaborating with and ensuring input from relevant technical and financial staff before submission to the donor and/or government clients.

• Support negotiations of contracts and subcontracts in collaboration with relevant Program & Award Support team focal point.

• Take a proactive approach to support implementation of remedies to deliver projects and achieve contractual obligations (targets, logframe, timeline, budget).

• Advise and train teams on processes and systems to ensure partnerships with local and international partners are aligned to internal policies.

• As required participate in program management meetings of contracts alongside project team.

• Support responses to queries on donor and/or government client compliance issues, referring non-routine and high-level compliance matters to the line manager and Compliance & Policy team.

• Ensure teams follow internal IRC policies and procedures (e.g., OTIS, PCM, PEERS).

Capacity building

• Build organisational capacity on managing complex commercial contracts and consortia for implementing large projects, including providing training on contractual requirements.

• Work with Project Cycle Meeting (PCM) team to ensure onboarding of PCM across contract delivery teams, amended to contracts as necessary, supported by the creation of a standardized contract kick-off workplan.

• Participate in and/or deliver information and training sessions for project delivery teams on contract requirements and implementation for specific awards.

• Contribute to coordinating a capacity building program for contract and risk management, through knowledge management, development and delivery of corporate trainings, dissemination of relevant information, on-the-job training, and mentorship.

• Support and ensure lessons learned for commercial contract deliveries, and support institutionalizing lessons learned process across contracts within IRC.

Other duties

• Travel to IRC locations for limited periods as surge support for contract start-up or role coverage during implementation, or to provide training to local teams on commercial contracts.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Experience, Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications:

Essential experience:

• Demonstrable experience of managing large commercial contracts and projects funded by donors or government clients, with particular preference for USAID, with charity or private sector organizations.

• Extensive knowledge of funding, regulations, and procedures for USAID, particularly with regards to acquisition and contracts is essential.

• Additional experience working with other institutional donors/clients and knowledge of their requirements is desirable but not essential (e.g., FCDO, ECHO, World Bank, Sida, AfD, KfW, GIZ, etc.)

• Contract and financial management experience with varied contract and subcontract types, including, but not limited to, cost reimbursement, time-and-materials, fixed price, framework/umbrella, and performance-based.

• Experience of working with technical experts and project managers in complex project set ups.

• Experience of managing complex consortia including NGOs, private sector organizations, and academic institutions.

• Experience of supporting start-up/inception phases of larger contracts and negotiations with donors, government clients, and/or prime agencies.

• Experience of donor and client relationship management and in providing advice and best practice on contract management, including financial management.

• Experience in building and maintaining relationships with senior staff across different teams and functions, including those based in other countries.

• Experience working on and/or leading organisational change projects.

Skills and Knowledge

• Understanding and practical experience of project management principles throughout the full project lifecycle (pre-award to closure).

• Excellent communication, influencing and interpersonal skills, including the ability to effectively manage a variety of relationships in a multicultural environment.

• Strong diplomatic skills, including the ability to tailor language to different audiences and needs.

• Demonstrated ability to collaborate equally effectively with colleagues in ‘remote’ and diverse teams.

• Strong attention to detail to ensure own work, and work of others is of a consistent high quality in a fast-paced, demanding environment.

• Solid organisational skills; detail-oriented; ability handle multiple demands, prioritize tasks and learn quickly.

• Ability to work autonomously and under remote management.

• Good IT skills (Word, Excel, Outlook).

• Fluency in French or Spanish highly desirable.

Compensation:

Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement:

In accordance with IRC’s duty to provide and maintain a workplace that is free of known hazards and our commitment to safeguard the health of our employees, clients, and communities, IRC requires new hires to furnish proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in order to be considered for any in-office or hybrid positions. All IRC US offices require full vaccination to attend any in-office functions (e.g., meetings, trainings).

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.

US Benefits:

We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days (depending on role and tenure), medical insurance starting at $145 per month, dental starting at $7 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus a 3-7% base IRC contribution (3 year vesting), disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.

#LI-GR1

#LI-REMOTE

We do our best to provide you the most accurate info, but closing dates may be wrong on our site. Please check on the recruiting organization's page for the exact info. Candidates are responsible for complying with deadlines and are encouraged to submit applications well ahead.

Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify.
Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.

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