Our vision, our mission, and our work are all defined by one goal – ending extreme poverty, whatever it takes. We believe that no one should have to live in fear that they won’t have a home to sleep in or enough food to feed their children. For over 50 years we have been working with the world’s poorest people to transform their lives.
Today we are a team of over 4,400 highly skilled and dedicated professionals from 50 countries who share an exceptional depth and diversity of experience. We want committed, values-driven staff to join our HQ team and are currently looking for a Contracts Specialist to be part of our Institutional Funding Support Unit (IFSU) within the International Programmes Department (IPD).
Concern offers in-house management and leadership courses and tailored organization-wide learning opportunities both in-person and online. We are committed to providing our staff with the skills needed to excel in their jobs. All employees are required to undertake training in equality, diversity and inclusion; the Code of Conduct; and safeguarding, along with any other training required for the role.
Our culture is values driven and friendly. A global engagement survey conducted in 2022, responded to by 3,577 of our staff, showed that 89% of our staff would happily recommend Concern as a great place to work and 94% are proud to tell people that they work for Concern.
This position can be based in either Dublin, Ireland, or London, UK.
The job: Working as a Contracts Specialist
If you join us, this is what you will be doing:
Leading on business development related to commercial contracts through the following activities:
- Monitoring funding opportunities for contracts globally (including UK, EU, and US governments, and World Bank), identifying those that fit within Concern’s mandate, scope, and countries of operation; analyzing and entering details of relevant funding opportunities in Concern’s Grant Management System (GMS) including supporting (and ensuring) satisfactory completion of the Contract Opportunity Assessment Form (reviewed by senior management).
- Facilitating and supporting internal decision-making and approval processes (“Go/No Go” decisions) and ensuring country office and head office management have the information and donor intelligence needed to make informed decisions.
- Working with teams on identifying consortium partners and/or lead agencies for specific opportunities and cultivating strategic partnerships to support this.
- Leading and supporting bid development where requested. This will include both technical and commercial aspects of bids including coordinating and advising on the budget development to manage risk and ensure full cost recovery. It will be done either remotely or through in-country support.
- As part of advising on budget development, supporting teams to plan and budget for appropriate staffing for MEAL, finance and other essential contract management roles.
- Advising on contractual and partnership agreements such as reviewing of pre-teaming/ teaming, non-disclosure, consortium agreements, and contract (donor) agreements.
- Ensuring that due diligence is completed when Concern is both leading consortia (including due diligence requirements for subs) and when Concern is a consortium member (sub).
When providing this support you will be expected to liaise closely with Desk Officers who are the main Head Office focal point for countries and coordinate closely with Regional Directors, Country Directors, Programme Directors, Technical Advisors, Finance, the Grant Compliance Unit, and Institutional Funding teams based in Ireland, the UK, and the US to ensure that Concern policies and donor requirements are adhered to.
Implementation Support and Compliance
- Supporting the ongoing successful implementation of contractual requirements including contract terms and targets, supporting compliance and quality reporting on programme delivery, as well as payment by results (PbR) and invoicing.
- Identifying and monitoring ongoing risks and advising relevant country offices and head office management as required.
- Supporting donor-specific compliance requirements and reviews, and any due diligence issues that may arise over the course of the contract, working closely with the Grant Compliance Unit and relevant institutional funding units.
- Working closely with Finance, for full cost recovery under any newly awarded contracts.
Systems Strengthening:
- Lead on post-bid/application analysis including after-action reviews, surveys, and tracking of donor feedback to capture learning and understand what went well and what did not, in order to improve processes and likelihood of success within Concern, and share this learning in the appropriate internal fora.
- Collect and share lessons learned on the implementation of contracts for internal learning and improvement.
- Update and take ownership of the commercials contracts guidelines using a consultative approach with other Concern departments and head offices and finalize a contracts strategy for Concern to build the necessary capacity, knowledge and systems across the organization to win, successfully implement, manage, and benefit from commercial contracts.
- Design and deliver training on commercial contracts for country and head office teams including the International Programmes Department (IPD), Funding Teams in the UK, US, Korea, and Ireland, and key Head Office units such as Grant Compliance and Finance.
Organisational and Team Support
The Contracts Specialist will be a key member of the Institutional Funding Support Unit (IFSU). The team will grow in 2023 to include three Institutional Funding Specialists, a Contracts Specialist, the Irish Aid Programme Coordinator, and a Funding Support Officer. The focus of the unit is on building up a new team and revisiting the IFSU Strategy and how IFSU supports the wider organization.
With this in mind, the Contracts Specialist will be expected to:
- Actively participate in strategic team and departmental discussions.
- Build relationships with internal stakeholders including other Funding Teams in the UK and US.
- Support the Head of the Unit and IPD management with relevant analysis and research.
- Cover the duties of other IFSU team members as needed and as appropriate.
- Contribute to broader coordination with Funding Teams in the UK, US, and South Korea through the Funding Newsletter, Funding Coordination meetings, and the Annual Global Workshop, sharing updates on commercial contracts.
In this role, you will be expected to uphold and promote Concern’s values, including our workplace equality, diversity, and inclusion values.
Skills you will bring:
- Undergraduate degree in a field related to humanitarian, development, or international affairs
- At least 3 years of overseas experience at the management level
- Experience in commercial contract management including complex contracts, frameworks, tendering, designing budgets, fee rates, and familiarity with Payment by Results (PbR).
- Ability to work as a team player and to tight deadlines.
- Highly motivated, uses initiative, works proactively, with strong interpersonal skills.
- Knowledge of key commercial contract donors, monitoring and evaluation skills, excellent writing and budgetary skills
- Written and spoken French (desirable)
- You will be expected to travel up to 25% of the time.
You will report to the Head of the Institutional Funding Support Unit and work closely with Finance, Grant Compliance, Desk Officers, and institutional funding teams in Concern UK and the US. You will also work closely with colleagues in Strategy, Advocacy, and Learning (SAL).
The salary in Head Office/Dublin Band6 is €62,393 to €73,405 – and in UK Band6:£44,698 to £49,903 with a Permanent contract.
We encourage all eligible candidates, irrespective of gender, ethnicity and origin, disability, political beliefs, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status to apply to become a part of the organization. Concern is against all forms of discrimination and unequal power relations, and is committed to promoting equality.
Candidates must hold a valid work visa for Ireland at the time of application.
If this role sounds right for you, please apply with your CV and cover letter. We will respond to every applicant. Please be aware we may offer positions before the closing date.
If you have any concerns about our recruitment process and need particular assistance – for example, if you have a visual impairment or are neuro-divergent – please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you.
Concern has an organizational Code of Conduct (CCoC) with three Associated Policies; the Programme Participant Protection Policy (P4), the Child Safeguarding Policy and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Policy accessible here. These have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staff, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organization, and the standards of behavior expected of them. In this context, staff have a responsibility to the organization to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in the day-to-day conduct in their workplace in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and Associated Policies as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Concern Code of Conduct, candidates acknowledge that they have understood the content of both the Concern Code of Conduct and the Associated Policies and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these policies. Additionally, Concern is committed to the safeguarding and protection of vulnerable adults and children in our work. We will do everything possible to ensure that only those who are suitable to work or volunteer with vulnerable adults and children are recruited by us for such roles. Subsequently, working or volunteering with Concern is subject to a range of vetting checks, including criminal background checking.
Your Personal Data
During this job application, you will provide Concern with your personal data. Concern takes its responsibilities towards this personal data very seriously and is committed to complying with all relevant data protection legislation.
For additional information please consult our web site or contact the Human Resource Division in our Head Office.
You have certain rights under data protection legislation. For more information on how to exercise those rights please visit www.concern.net/about/privacy