Grants Manager

BACKGROUND/IRC SUMMARY: 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 and is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation and creative partnerships. The IRC originally entered Iraq in the 1990s and had extensive operations throughout the country from 2003 through 2005. Deteriorating security due to civil war forced IRC to leave in 2005. The IRC restarted programs in Iraq in November 2007 to assist thousands of internally displaced persons in northern, central and southern regions. The IRC subsequently scaled up to serve the influx of Syrian refugees fleeing into Iraq in 2012. In 2014, IRC instituted an emergency response to assist persons displaced from Anbar province and has initiated additional emergency response activities for persons displaced by the violent conflict that started in June. The IRC is one of the largest humanitarian agencies operating in Iraq with a current annual budget of $50million (funded by twelve different donors supporting 24 project grants) and approximately 500 staff. IRC’s program sectors in Iraq include: protection / access to justice, education, water and sanitation, WPE/GBV, camp management, NFI distribution and health.

JOB OVERVIEW/SUMMARY: The Grants Manager ensures effective grants management and is the primary focal point for monitoring and evaluation within the Grants Unit, reporting directly to the Grants Coordinator. S/he line manages the Senior Grants Officer, ensures IRC program/support teams are fully informed of relevant donor compliance regulations and IRC procedures, manages external reporting and coordinates grant revisions. S/he also supports donor communication by ensuring that effective channels of internal and external communications relating to grants are established and respected. Finally, s/he supports business development proposal writing and opportunity identification as required.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Grant Management:

• Ensure that grants or contracts are well administered and program/support teams are fully informed of relevant donor compliance regulations and IRC procedures
• Manage all external reporting to ensure timely delivery of high-quality reports which meet donor and IRC requirements, with support program managers/ coordinators
• Ensure draft reports are disseminated for review/feedback by SMT, and HQ staff prior to submission
• Support program staff in grant revisions, cost extensions, no-cost extensions, budget realignments, and other as required
• Ensure quality information management related to grants by overseeing the regular maintenance of grant files, reporting calendars, and updating of internal IRC documentation and Grant Unit tools
• Maintain a comprehensive information management and filing system that ensures all donor contractual documents, reports, key correspondences, etc. are appropriately filed in up-to-date and consistent soft and hard libraries available as needed
• Assist capacity building of IRC program and support teams by facilitating trainings and providing support in report writing, budget management, indicator tracking, IRC-specific tools, and other topics as/if needed
• Ensure that sub-grant administrative processes and procedures are consistently implemented (inc. pre-award compliance checks, agreements, disbursements, and partner capacity-building)

Compliance

• Maintain a broad and deep understanding of relevant donor policies, regulations and procedures
• Proactively identify compliance risks throughout the portfolio and advise programs, support teams and senior management on necessary actions
• In concert with the finance team, assist program technical leads and operations staff with understanding the reporting and other compliance requirements on their grants
• Liaise with IRC HQ in NY and London about specific compliance issues and clearly communicate these issues through to relevant colleagues in the field

2. Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Act as Grant Unit Data Focal Point
• Support the Grants Coordinator to develop, roll out and maintain program monitoring and evaluation tracking tools to ensure all sector indicators report monthly progress - Identify and share gaps with project coordinators
• Support the DDP and M&E Coordinator to collect and analyze country-specific data, and provide recommendations to inform programme decisions, including partners’ relationships and context analysis
• Support the DDP and M&E Coordinator to develop grant management/compliance areas of M&E guidelines/manuals as appropriate
• Support the M&E Coordinator to build capacity of program support staff indicator tracking, log frame design and data analysis
• Coordinate and support regular monitoring of grants, using appropriate grant management tools and through facilitation and support of regular and timely Grant Review, Opening and Closing Meetings

3. Donor Communication

• Support the Grants Coordinator, DDP, and Country Director to maintain positive and constructive relationships with donors, in-country and abroad
  • Provide liaison or representation to donors and track donor correspondence
  • Ensure that effective channels of internal and external communications relating to grants are established and respected
  • Ensure that senior management and technical leads understand donor communication protocols and provide copies of correspondence for files
  • Maintain a database of key donor contacts

4. Business Development

• Support proposal and project/program revisions as required
  • Support opportunity identification by perform monitoring, research and analysis into donor strategies and share with program staff
  • Support the Grants Coordinator to ensure proposals are tracked with standard IRC tracking tools (e.g. FM01, OTIS)

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant discipline preferred 
• At least one year international work experience in relief or development programs, preferably in a post-conflict setting; 
• Demonstrable experience in grant management, including: report writing, no/cost extensions, grant monitoring, and budget realignments
• Demonstrated experience supporting effective monitoring and evaluation
• Demonstrable understanding of project planning and management cycles
• Knowledge of UN (UNHCR/OCHA/ UNICEF), US (USAID/PRM), EU (ECHO/ EC/DFID) and other donor regulations, procedures and requirements
• Proven expertise in writing and editing proposals and concept notes
• Demonstrable high-level performance management and team working skills, with experience in managing multiple donors
• Some experience of line management preferable
• High-level of knowledge and practice with Word, Excel, Outlook, etc. required.
• Ability to work well under unstable security, administrative, and programmatic pressures.
• Professional fluency in spoken and written English; able to communicate concisely and with impact.
• Flexibility to adapt to changing requirements. Iraq or regional experience a plus.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT:  The security level is yellow in Erbil, other parts of the country are orange, or red if clashes are ongoing. The majority security concerns is the presence of armed men across the spectrum of regular armed forces, volunteer militias and armed opposition groups. Staff in Iraq must comply with all IRC security policies and procedures applicable to international staff.

Shared housing in a guest house will be provided. The position is unaccompanied.