Program & Awards Advisor, Central Africa at International Rescue Committee

The Purpose of the Role

The Program and Awards Advisor plays a vital role within the Regional Program and Award Support Team overseeing an award portfolio of humanitarian relief and post-crisis recovery programs. The Program and Awards Advisor liaises with country programs, HQ departments and donor contacts to ensure high quality guidance and support to country offices throughout the award lifecycle. The role works with country offices to ensure compliance with donor rules and regulations and IRC systems and processes and leads on the review and submission of high-quality donor deliverables. The Program and Awards Advisor represents the region and country offices to internal and external stakeholders and manages donor relationships.

Key Working Relationships

Reports to Director, Awards Management. Works closely with all Regional Program and Award Support team members, and across all teams within Awards Management Unit, Crisis Response Recovery and Development Department, Global Partnerships and Philanthropy, Global Supply Chain, Finance, Office of General Counsel, Technical Excellence, and other key departments within IRC. Donor and partner point of contact as applicable per region.

Key Accountabilities

Awards Management and Compliance (45%)

• Oversee a portfolio of awards for the Central Africa region, comprising Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania. Main donors in portfolio will include USAID, BHA, PRM, GAC, and UN donors, but may also include other donors as assigned.
• Serve as the first point of contact for country office Grants and Partnerships teams and provide guidance and support on matters related to donor compliance and communication, project management (e.g. project cycle meetings), OTIS and partnerships (PEERS).
• Participate in in regular meetings with country offices to provide support and collaborate with country program teams on issues related to donor compliance, submissions of reports and other post award deliverables, and/or monitoring/awards management.
• Guide country offices in managing partnerships with local or international partners, ensuring that IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS) is being followed, review and process sub-grant/partnership agreements in alignment with PEERS, and coordinate with the compliance team in supporting compliant and effective partnerships as needed.
• Review agreements and lead negotiation of award terms and conditions with donor counterparts in alignment with internal processes.
• Guide country offices, in partnership with other relevant departments, in the development and submission of award amendments/modifications, ensuring high-quality, compliant submissions.
• Supervise Program and Award Officer(s) in the review and submission of donor reports and other deliverables, ensuring input from relevant technical and financial staff.
• Provide support on private opportunities and awards management, in coordination with the Regional Support Manager and private fundraising team as assigned.
• Provide support to and monitoring of projects to ensure progress against objectives and compliance with donor guidelines and IRC internal requirements. Monitoring of awards can take the shape of monitoring visits, participation in project implementation meetings and other regular calls.
• Facilitate and build interdepartmental relationships to address country office needs and solve problems in relation to awards management, partnership management and compliance.
• Maintain a strong relationship with regional and AMU leadership and escalate issues of concern as needed
• Supervise direct reports in carrying out necessary functions as they relate to country program support
• Stay informed about programmatic issues and security and political developments in the region and how they might affect program implementation
• Coordinate with RPOs for other regions for information sharing and to establish a coherent program support and backstopping function between headquarters and the field.
• Travel to country offices to provide surge support and monitoring across the areas of programs, awards, and partnerships, including for gap-filling purposes as requested.

Proposal Development (15%)

• In collaboration with the regional Program Development team, support business development in the region by providing effective proposal support, ranging from proposal management to comprehensive support and quality assurance for UN and non-European donors as needed.
• Provide quality assurance and quality compliance support on proposals, leading proposal development and coordination as needed. Ensure responsiveness to and compliance with solicitation documents and with IRC’s requirements.
• Review and advise on internal policy and donor requirements, budgets and supporting documentation for proposals in coordination with AMU and HQ Finance Department.
• Facilitate and/or participate in internal post-submission debrief sessions with country teams, technical units, regional team and other relevant stakeholders to collect lessons learned as needed.
• Maintain complete and accurate electronic files, including final submission packages and internal trackers, in coordination with the regional Program Development team.

Donor Liaison and Representation (15%)

• Maintain contact with donors regarding updates, amendments, or key programmatic changes.
• Liaise with donors on ongoing and future opportunities.
• Represent IRC externally to donors and stakeholder networks, as appropriate.
• Participate in representational visits, events and meetings as requested.

Capacity Building and Training (10%)

• Mentor and coach Grants and Partnerships staff on IRC systems and processes to ensure capacity is built at country level.
• As requested, develop training materials and deliver training to IRC country program staff in coordination with the Directors, Awards Management and the AMU Training and Compliance team.
• In coordination with the Directors, Awards Management, develop and maintain work-processes and checklists for awards implementation and reviews, as well as record lessons learned.
• Onboard new country office Grants and Partnerships staff and new Program and Award Support team to assigned donors, policies and/or IRC processes.

Staff Management, Learning & Development (10%)

• Coach, train, supervise and mentor direct reports, including communicating clear expectations, providing regular and timely performance feedback, document/discuss performance issues if needed, and deliver high-quality documented annual performance reviews.
• Ensure direct reports are trained on all relevant IRC processes and donor regulations.
• Support direct reports in achieving annual objectives, acting as a trusted and accountable manager, mentor and professional resource, including promoting collaboration, enabling adequate resourcing and ensuring accountability.

Other Responsibilities (5%)

• Contribute to AMU and regional strategic priorities and initiatives.
• Liaise with communications and external relations staff to inform IRC media products as needed.
• Participate in special projects as needed and other tasks as assigned.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications:

• Five years of progressive work experience in award management or business development with donors such as USAID/BHA, the U.S. Department of State/PRM and UN agencies
• Two years of international field experience highly desirable, familiarity with countries in the region preferred
• Project management experience preferred
• Financial analysis skills preferred
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including experience in speaking on relevant issues with internal and external audiences
• Proven ability to effectively manage relationships (e.g., with internal actors, peers, donors)
• Effective people management skills: ability to lead staff and promote productivity in a pleasant work environment
• Proven ability to manage multiple and complex tasks and thrive under pressure
• Solid organizational and creative problem-solving skills: ability to be flexible and work well under pressure in a fast-paced multi-tasking team environment
• Good computer skills
• Fluency in English and French, both spoken and written
• Ability and willingness to travel internationally

Experience

• Experience in working at a distance and supporting field-based staff
• Experience writing, reviewing and editing narrative and financial reports and excellent attention to detail