Grants and Partnership Manager

  • Contractor
  • Remote
  • TBD USD / Year
  • International Rescue Committee profile




  • Job applications may no longer being accepted for this opportunity.


International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee has been working in Somalia since 2006, providing essential services to conflict and disaster-affected communities. The IRC supports populations in Galmudug, Puntland, Southwest, and Mogadishu implementing activities in the areas of livelihoods, WASH, and health reaching more than 200,000 conflict and drought-affected people.

Job Overview:

Based in Baidoa, the Grants and Partnership Manager will be a key member of IRC Somalia’s Grants Unit and will report to the Grants and Partnerships Coordinator. This position does not currently have supervisory responsibility. Occasional travel to field sites may be required. The Grants and Partnership Manager will work collaboratively with all members of the Grants Unit, including one Princeton in Africa (PiAf Fellows), as well as with technical coordinators, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and the finance and operations teams. He/She will also coordinate occasionally with Technical Advisors, HQ and the donor. The Grants and Partnership Manager will be responsible for building and maintaining strong local partnerships across geographic areas where IRC Somalia works, especially ongoing partnerships for GAVI project in Baidoa and for ensuring effective management of partnerships. They will coordinate and manage the sub-award lifecycle in accordance with the IRC’s Partnership for Excellence and Equality System (PEERS), including conducting due diligence, ensuring partners understand applicable donor regulations, and managing receipt and review of partners’ deliverables. They will also contribute to overall grants management efforts and work to ensure adherence to donor regulations and compliance across grants and sites.

Specific responsibilities:

Proposal Development

  • On behalf of the Grants & Partnership Unit, coordinate the proposal development process through working with finance, program and MEAL staff to develop and compile inputs to technical proposal narratives/concept notes and annexes ; develop and/or review budget narratives, and undertake initial review of proposal drafts to ensure inputs are clear, and proper proposal templates and grant management procedures are followed.
  • Develop and circulate Proposal Development Timelines, inclusive of roles and responsibilities of proposal development team members, to all relevant IRC Somalia program, finance and operations staff, TAs and regional/HQ staff and ensure timelines are met.
  • Create and manage OTIS records. Secure all OTIS approvals for new proposals prior to submission to the donor. Ensure OTIS and Box data is up to date for all new proposals and grants.
  • Liaise with Finance for provision of budget breakdown for sites and program teams; ensure teams are provided correct budget templates; ensure budgets are completed on time and submitted for regional review, as required. Facilitate response to any comments.
  • Liaise with Grants and Partnership Coordinator to ensure all concept notes, proposals and EOIs are in line with IRC Somalia’s SAP, meet internal IRC standards, and are donor compliant.
  • Submit proposals and budgets and required annexes for HQ review, ensuring that the grant applications are prepared according to the required format and submitted to donors on time.
  • Prepare monthly Budget versus Actual (BvA) reports as per donor format on a monthly/regular basis for all active grants and distribute to the budget holders on time.
  • Prepare and update spending plans and costed workplans for all active grants in conjunction with designated budget holders. Reviews budget spending and advises relevant staff on spending status. Requests feedback on all over/under spending.

Partnership Building & Management

Partner Identification & Mapping

  • Contribute to development of a clear framework on identification of local partners/organizations, and maintain clear, accessible documentation of identified organizations.
  • Prioritize engagement with local partners/potential partners and lay the groundwork for long-term relationships with partners, rather than project- or funding-specific engagements, with the aim of ensuring there is a mutual, collaborative effort by IRC and partners.

Partner Vetting

  • Lead the partner engagement process according to the IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS) including: (1) partner project capacity review (PPCR), (2) anti-terrorism checks (ATC), (3) partner identity and background review (vetting) (4) preparation of the required partnership documents such as the internal signing memorandum, draft partnership agreement, monitoring schedule, or other, and (5) review partner’s proposal documents.

Review Requests for Proposals & Partner Submissions

  • Prepare and/or review solicitations and requests for proposals from Program team(s) before publishing to ensure compliance with IRC policy and donor rules and regulations.
  • Lead in drafting sub-grants/partnership agreements and modifications for compliance with donor rules and regulations, act as focal point with HQ for review and approval and facilitate signature by IRC and partner.

Support Partnership Agreements / Project Cycle Management

  • Provide oversight and coordination of all IRC Partnerships according to IRC’s PEERS methodology, ensure needed support is provided to partners, and act as focal point during the project cycle. Sub-grant related administrative processes and procedures should be standardized and consistently implemented throughout the project cycle, such as for disbursements, reporting and monitoring. This includes organizing, participating in, and facilitating partners’ financial and technical monitoring and verifications led by the IRC, as well as tracking of partner deliverables.
  • Support IRC Somalia program and operations staff to ensure any emergent compliance concerns are addressed during the term of the partnership/sub-grant agreements.

Partner Capacity Building

  • Support IRC Somalia program and operations staff in assessing partner’s capacity building needs and coordinate discussions with partners to develop a capacity building/development plan which is based on the outcome of the assessment (PPCR). Ensure the plan is tailored, targeted, and responsive to their organizational needs and priorities.
  • Design tools to effectively monitor progress made against the agreed upon partner capacity building plans to best support partners in their organizational development.

Sub-grant Tracking

  • Maintain a sub-grants tracker for all partnership/sub-grant agreements including basic sub-grant details, funds disbursed, and liquidations received. Contribute sub-grant updates to the country program’s monthly internal financial report template (FM01) and provide analysis of all current Partnerships, as required.

Grants Reporting

  • Manage all internal and external grant reporting, including coordinating inputs from site, program, and M&E teams, to ensure high-quality, well-written and timely reports are produced meeting donor and IRC requirements, with support from the Grants and Partnerships Coordinator and program managers/ coordinators.
  • Ensure timely and accurate circulation of weekly/monthly reporting timelines on Mondays/first of month, and required report templates, to the various program, finance teams and M&E staff. Ensure adequate follow-up with the teams to ensure reporting schedules are met.
  • Review the initial draft report once inputs have been compiled by the program teams and M&E staff; analyze content and data and proactively solicit feedback from program teams and M&E staff on content, and ensure revisions are managed in a timely manner. Edit reports as needed.
  • Ensure reports are disseminated for review by technical coordinators, Grants Coordinator, and HQ team sufficiently in advance of due date to obtain final approval prior to submission to the donor.
  • Ensure grant report due dates and submission dates are kept accurately updated and uploaded on OTIS.
  • Ensure all report submissions are filed in the Grants and Partnership Unit’s Box folder system and on OTIS.
  • Accurately maintain grant report due dates and submission dates in the Grants and Partnership Unit’s Grants Tracking Sheet (GTS)

Grants Meetings

  • With the support the project Managers, ensure regular and timely scheduling, preparation, and facilitation of Project Cycle Meetings (PCM), including but not limited to project/grant opening and closing meetings, ad hoc grant implementation meetings, and budget versus actual (BVA) meetings. Ensure required representation from each unit (program teams, Finance, Supply Chain, HR, and Grants) are in attendance, and that any needed pre-work is completed in advance of the meeting. Review and circulate meeting minutes, assign action items, and ensure proper, timely follow-up of issues raised.

General Grants Management/Administration

  • Records Management: Support comprehensive information management and filing system to ensure all grant agreements, reports, key correspondences, D codes, etc. are appropriately filed in up-to-date and consistent soft (Box) and OTIS files managed by the Grants and Partnership Unit.
  • Capacity Building: Ensure training is made available for program and operations staff at country office and field office levels on grants management related issues, including grant report writing and donor compliance issues, as needed.
  • Grant Tracking System (GTS): Update regularly and as grants are awarded/modified/closed and ensure consistency with OTIS and D1s. The GTS includes detailed and summary grant information on open and closed grants, reporting schedules and submission dates, upcoming meetings, publications, and proposals in the pipeline.
  • Spending Plans: Ensure that each active grant has a current Spending Plan as soon as the grant is initiated, the finance codes (D1) are issued, and the is budget uploaded to Integra system by the Finance team. Coordinate and provide support to program and field operations teams to ensure Spending Plans are updated quarterly and shared on time.
  • Communication and information management: Provide support, as required, in drafting donor correspondences and taking minutes during grants-led meetings, as well as Senior Management meetings, and following up action points, as required.
  • Support other program initiatives / work streams / task as assigned.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • University degree in international relations, or other relevant field.

Qualifications

  • 3 to 5 years’ experience working with sub-grantees and/or local partner organizations and demonstrated ability to form effective and productive relationships with stakeholder counterparts.

  • Experience in grants management, proposal development (program narratives and budgets) and donor reporting.

  • Knowledge of UN (UNHCR/UNICEF/UNFPA/WHO), US (USAID/BHA/CDC), EU (ECHO/EC) and UK (FCDO) donor regulations, procedures, and requirements.

  • Ability to work with tight deadlines for report writing/ information requests.

  • Excellent organizational skills, ability to determine and juggle multiple priorities, and attention to detail is critical.

  • Ability to work in a multi-cultural context as a flexible and respectful team player. Patience, cultural sensitivity, and application of contextual understanding in day-to-day work is required.

  • Willingness to travel to IRC Somalia’s field sites or to new locations as needed.

  • Excellent written and spoken English essential.

  • High-level of knowledge and practice with Word, Excel, Teams, Outlook, etc. required.

How to apply

Apply the following link:

https://rescue.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/29241?c=rescue

Professional Standards: IRC staff must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Global Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability and Equality. In accordance with these values, IRC operates and carries out policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti-Workplace Harassment, Respect at Work Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

Gender Equality: IRC is 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 and allowances.

Diversity and Inclusion: at IRC, we are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. Organizations that are diverse in age, gender identity, race, physical or mental ability, nationality, and perspective are validated to be better organizations. More importantly, creating a safe workspace environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best is the right thing to do. So, bring your whole self to work.

IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. In keeping with our core values of Integrity, Service, Accountability and Equality, IRC strives to maintain a work environment built on mutual respect in which all individuals treat each other professionally, and free of bias, prejudice, and harassment. IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of IRC Persons in any work setting. All IRC staff, wherever they are located, are accountable for creating an environment free of discrimination, harassment, bullying, and retaliation.

Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply


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