Commercial Advisor at Danish Refugee Council

Overall purpose of the role:

DRC implements a global portfolio that consists of thousands of donor-funded contracts each year. While the majority of these contracts are grant-funded, an increasing proportion across DRC’s four global regions are now delivered under commercial contract modalities, including a significant number in the East Africa & Great Lakes Region. As a result, additional technical expertise is required to support the quality delivery and future development of this portfolio. Your main duties and responsibilities will be

Responsibilities:

Supporting quality project management and delivery of key commercial contracts (70%) 

• Supporting Project Directors as directed, responsible for ensuring delivery is high quality, on budget, and on time, and that client satisfaction is maintained.
• Overseeing technical work of Project Managers, especially in areas of client management, governance, workflow and project financial management, risk escalation, and reporting (internal and external).
• Technical review and approval of invoices and other financial reporting before submission to the client as required.
• Technical review and approval of regular internal reporting on performance against key indicators as required
• Coordinating between contract delivery teams, DRC Country Offices and Regional Offices and DRC HQ to facilitate internal resource requests.
• Ensuring DRC’s Operations Handbook, including sections specific to contract delivery, is adhered to, tools utilized and training/coaching provided to relevant staff, such as Finance and Project Management.
• Deputizes for Project Directors and Team Leaders when required as directed.
• Approves technical and financial changes to delivery plans (contract/work plan/budget), before changes are authorized in line with standard DRC delegation of authority
• Drives learning process and shares with wider organization.    

Business and strategy development (30%) 

• Supports delivery of DRC’s global Business Development strategy for commercial work under direction of the Commercial Contracts and Consortia Advisor
• Supports DRC’s global commercial business development pipeline, in line with global, regional and country strategies
• Supports organisational-wide prepositioning and capture planning, including competitor mapping, consortium selection, brand and messaging, teaming and financials.
• Directly supports bid management processes including but not limited to proposal design, proposal writing, competitor analysis, teaming, and financial bid development.
• Coordinates, and supports key client account relationships globally by working closely with HQ, Regional Offices and Country Offices.
•  Strengthens capacity in DRC for working with commercial contracts through training of relevant staff such as Head of Programmes, grants managers and finance staff.
• Improves DRC’s ability to capture and deliver commercial contracts through the analysis of and contribution to policy and process improvement within DRC’s implementation procedures.

About you

To be successful in this role DRC is seeking a technical expert in commercial contracts with experience delivering contracts in NGOs. Moreover, we also expect the following: 

Required 

• Minimum 5-8 years of relevant experience with INGOs and international consulting companies
• Extensive professional experience in development of proposals for commercial contracts, including preparation of financial bids
• Demonstrable professional experience and understanding of contract delivery processes
• Proven ability to convert successful practice into new policy and process guidance 
• Significant knowledge of key donor client contractual terms for commercial contracts (UNOPS, USAID, FCDO, etc.)
•  Existing network of consultants and potential partner organizations necessary for bid submission
• Bachelor’s degree 
• Fluent Written and Oral Skills in English and French

Desirable

In this position, you are expected to demonstrate DRC’s five core competencies:

• Relevant working experience from several countries an advantage
• Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process. 
• Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback. 
• Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation. 
• Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly. 
• Demonstrating integrity: You act in line with our vision and values. 

Please submit your application and CV in English no later than 18th April 2022