Associate Director, Regional Partnerships at International Rescue Committee

Job Overview

• Working in partnership with the Crisis Response, Recovery and Development (CRRD) Department, the Associate Director, Regional Partnerships plays a vital role leading GPPS’s partnerships with the CRRD regional teams. They will lead a team of Senior Program Support Managers who report jointly into GPPS and the regional Directors of Awards Management, and provide support related to new funding and proposal development, private funding portfolio management, and process improvement. This role is an integral part of GPPS’ Program Services team, reporting into the Director, Program Services.

Major Responsibilities
Team Leadership and Management (40%):

• Lead a team of regional program manager positions, each with a regional portfolio of high value private grants and business development activities, facilitating the growth and successful management of high value private funding in each region
• Maintain working relationships and collaboration with Crisis Response Recovery and Development (CRRD) Unit, ensuring tight-knit collaboration with Regional Directors of Awards Management
• Represent GPPS and the IRC HV teams effectively and efficiently by developing mutually beneficial relationships and partnerships with internal and external partners in support of our organizational goals.
• Promote and support cross-fertilization of talent across teams and regions.

Process Improvement and Quality Control (40%):

• Lead the team in developing and implementing new and improved processes and systems for high quality management, implementation, and monitoring of private grants
• Support the Director, Program Services, and other collaborators in ensuring organizational processes and systems are responsive to the needs of High Value private funding
• Help ensure collaboration and clear workflows across functions of the Program Services team, in collaboration with Associate Directors of Editorial Services and other team members.
• Ensure consistency and quality across regional programs in maintaining an up-to-date record of all private sector partnerships to inform effective and timely delivery of relevant updates, progress and insight to the relevant business teams;

Private funding portfolio management (20%):

• Ensures consistency and compliance across regions for high value private partnerships to ensure donor requirements are met and compliance issues are raised appropriately;
• Supports team members to apply internal procedures and systems such as the grant information tracking system and partnership management system
• Keeps up-to-date with developments around program implementation, ensuring risks and challenges around implementation are flagged appropriately, and ensures timely flow of information to support efficient delivery of donor reports;
• Coordinates and ensures clear, reliable reporting and data-points for maximum partnership impact across regional portfolios.
• Provides surge support during emergencies or periods of extended staff departures

Essential Qualifications

• 8 + years’ experience working in the humanitarian sector, with significant experience in private sector fundraising and grants management; experience living and working in at least one of the IRC’s program regions (Asia, Great Lakes, Latin America, Middle East and North Africa, and/or West Africa) strongly preferred;
• Deep experience leading, supporting and supervising large 7+ figure, multi-sectoral and multi-country private partnerships and working across various teams and functions;
• Knowledge of the drivers and motivators for support from corporations, foundation, high net worth individuals, and faith- and membership-based organizations; experience working directly and supporting private sector fundraisers;
• Experience developing and leading successful proposals and impactful donor reporting;
• Ability to lead and coordinate with geographically dispersed teams throughout all stages of the grant lifecycle;
• Experience leading donor compliance, budgeting, reviewing agreement provisions, technical and financial reporting;
• Understanding of the private donor mentality and pace of work and the differences from public funding;
• Ability to analyze and synthesize information and strong attention to detail;
• Occasional travel required
• Outstanding cross-cultural communication skills;
• Ability to be flexible and work effectively within a diverse team;

Desirable Skills & Experience

• Experience implementing medium- to large-scale programs in humanitarian or development settings;
• Proficiency in multiple languages a plus (particularly Arabic, French, and/or Spanish)!