Senior Grants Manager

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. 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. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

BACKGROUND: The IRC responded to the earthquake of January 12, 2010, with a focus on the immediate needs of the affected and displaced population in and around Port-Au-Prince. The program has since transitioned from an emergency response to a country program with the overall objective of accompanying Haiti towards its development. The IRC will maintain the capacity to respond to emergencies, namely in the hurricane season. The current program sectors in Haiti are: gender-based violence, protection, child and youth protection and development, and environmental health. The IRC Haiti Country Office is based in Port-au-Prince.

SCOPE OF WORK:  The Senior Grants Manager will work closely with the Haiti Country Director, while supporting the three programs and finance unit. They will work with the grants units based in IRC’s two headquarters offices in New York and London. This position will contribute to identifying new funding sources, support proposal development, channel new program opportunities, ensuring donor and internal compliance procedures, and donor reporting.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Senior Grants Manager’s work will be divided into 7 areas of work: Visibility/Fund Development, Proposals, Reporting, Compliance/Donor, communications, capacity building and Administrative/Other. The percentages of time and effort presented are meant to be approximate and cumulative. Over the short-term, these will vary based on factors such as proposal deadlines.

• Visibility/Fund Development :
  • Support the Country Director in donor representation or other relevant meetings at the national level, with an emphasis on European donor-led meetings.
  • Ensure IRC presence at both formal and informal NGO networking opportunities.
  • Support the Country Director to aggressively seek funding opportunities on the national level, in conjunction with headquarters level (regional unit and technical units).
  • On a quarterly basis, liaise with the IRC NY external relations team to create a calendar of IRC and external media stories highlighting IRC Haiti’s successes.
  • On a regular basis, submit communications/media stories to IRC NY and IRC UK’s external relations teams (1x/month for a long-form story suitable for the IRC blog or external media; 1x/week for a short-form story suitable for Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram).
  • Create communications documents for use in-country and outside Haiti that highlight IRC Haiti’s accomplishments as a whole, in specific sectors, and in specific projects.
• Proposals :
  • Coordinate the development of proposals for new projects by working with program staff and ensuring proper review at the HQ level.
  • Review budgets, write budget narratives, edit proposals, and ensure proper OTIS procedures are followed.
  • Monitor and support the use of management tools such as FM01, Budget vs. Actual (BVA), purchasing, retro planning of activities for the proper monitoring and the successful implementation of programs and early warning in case of obstacles or challenges;
  • Liaise with NY and UK grant units in order to ensure proposals meet internal standards, apply IRC Program Framework principles and are donor compliant
  • Participate in all internal program strategy meetings with senior management team
  • Participate in meetings with in-country donor representatives to discuss ongoing and future programs
• Reporting :
  • Review all narrative reports before submission to the donor.
  • Ensure that reports to donors are submitted on time; that reports are coherent and accurate (quarterly, interim or final reports);
  • Play a key role in  Grant Opening and Closing meetings, as well as monthly/regular grants management meetings which include representation from each unit (finance, programs, logistics) and ensure proper follow up of issues raised;
  • Provide final proofreading for all English-language narrative reports
• Donor Compliance :
  • Act as focal point with donors in-country on grants management issues for ongoing, past, and potential future projects.
  • Act as focal point with consortiums of which IRC Haiti is a member.
  • Review donor agreements and coordinate their review with the relevant IRC HQ office.
  • Ensure that grants are implemented in compliance with IRC and relevant donor regulations
  • Maintain and update all hard- and soft-copy grant files related to proposals.
  • Ensure that partnership and sub-grant related administrative processes and procedures are consistently implemented throughout the program, including pre-award compliance checks, agreements, and disbursements and reporting.
• Communication and Information management:
  • Provide briefing papers and support development of external communication tools as relevant for donor visits/meetings on IRC Haiti as a whole and IRC Haiti programs in particular
  • To distribute and share with all IRC staff all documentation (grant proposals, reports, budget etc) related to their specific programs.
  • To act as an information resource on Haiti. In connection with the Country Director, be able to provide informative and varied articles from several sources regarding the current political, socio-economic situation in the country
  • Attend inter cluster/sector and other coordinators meeting on request of the Country Director or Program Coordinator.
• Training and capacity building:
  • To offer training and capacity building of all IRC and local partners staff on program reporting and IRC program specific documents
  • Support the technical and professional development of the Grants Officer
  • Ensure that all staff are aware of and integrate the IRC program framework into all programs
  • Keep informed on monitoring and evaluation techniques and support tools which can be shared with program staff; work closely with the DME manager and Technical Coordinators.
• Administrative/Other :
  • Act as main point of contact for New York and UK offices, ensuring HQ staff are kept abreast of important issues affecting the country program’s portfolio.
  • Supervise the work of the Grants Officer and ensure that he/she has opportunities to grow in his/her role and take on progressive responsibility.
  • Ensure temporary coverage for the Grants Officer role when he/she is out of the office.

REQUIREMENTS:

• BA/BS/University degree and Master’s in international affairs or related subject
• At least two year experience working in relief or development programs
• Previous successful experience developing projects and writing proposals for public donors
• Excellent English written and verbal communications skills and advanced proficiency in French; Fluency in French is a distinct advantage
• Working knowledge of budget development and management
• Ability to work in unstable security environments
• Experience working with international donors in particular UN, US government, and European donors