Grants and Partnerships 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 of 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 Partnerships 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.

The current IRC Burundi portfolio is currently composed of 7 grants and contracts from a variety of private, bilateral and multilateral donors. The Grants and Partnerships Unit, composed of the Grants and Partnerships 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 Partnerships 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 Partnerships 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 project 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, and in coordination with the Senior/Program Development Advisor (S/PDA) and Director, Awards Management.

• With Leadership from the DDP, coordinate the development of proposals for submission to donors in coordination with sector leads and the finance and operations teams, ensuring full partner participation in program design when relevant; 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).

• Collaborate closely with the IRC’s Awards Management Unit’s global Business Development and Regional Program Support Teams to ensure proposals meet internal and donor standards

• Coordinate communications with current donors including responding to information requests, income tracking, contract amendments from donors or other IRC departments in consultation with the DDP and the Country Director

• Participate in Go/No-Go discussions to promote program approaches and design that are consistent with Burundi’s Strategic Action Plan (SAP)

• Carry out-regular visits to programme sites, to be knowledgeable about the programme as the basis for the informed development of proposals and discussions / contact with donors.

Grants Management

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

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

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

• Supports Project Cycle Meetings (PCMs) and the country program in maintaining adequate standards and relevant systems for enhanced coordination between the various units, resulting in 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 Regional Program Support Team (RPST) around grants administration and compliance functions, including maintaining submissions on IRC’s online opportunity management tracking system.

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

• Support finance and project managers to monitor restricted funding expenditure, including the timely identification of problems e.g. ineligible expenditure, enabling timely corrective action, such as amendments and extension requests, to be taken.

Visibility and Communications

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

• Assist in the 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.).

Capacity Building

• Build capacity of grants and programs staff in IRC’s Project Cycle Management (PCM) principles, tools and approaches and ensure that these new skills are applied on the job.

• Provide training and induction to programme staff and partners on the essential core skills around award management, proposal / report development, donor requirements, IRC’s internal procedures.

• Provide training and support to programme and other staff on the effective management of donor funds to ensure compliance.

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

• Support the programme team to develop and maintain a comprehensive, up to date and user-friendly filing system for awards and other documents, maintaining a complete and clear audit trail of proposals, agreements, donor reports, donor visits and feedback, etc.

Human Resources

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

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

Requirements

• University degree in international affairs or related subject; master’s 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 5 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.

Work Environment

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

Standard of Professional Conduct: IRC and IRC employees are required to abide by the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way Code of Conduct which are Integrity, Equality, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, IRC operates and implements policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Harassment-Free Workplace, Fiscal Integrity, Anti-Retaliation, Respect at work, Combating Trafficking in Persons and several others.

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.

Returning National Candidates: IRC strives to attract, empower, and retain qualified national staff in our programs. We strongly encourage national or returning national candidates to apply for this position. If you are a national of the Country in which this position is based and are currently located outside of your home country and possess over two years of international work experience, the IRC has introduced an attractive remuneration package. The package includes competitive compensation, return flight to post, shipping allowance, temporary housing, and a relocation allowance. Certain restrictions may apply.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.