Since the early 1980s Niger has consistently been ranked at the bottom of the UN’s Human Development Index. Over half the population suffers from chronic food insecurity and one in ten are extremely food insecure. Niger is also a disaster prone country, regularly hit by food crises and vulnerable to flooding, cholera and locust swarms. Access to health care and education for women and girls are very limited. In addition to the vulnerability of a significant proportion of Nigeriens, Niger also hosts refugees from neighboring Mali and Nigeria.
IRC’s vision for Niger is that individuals, households and communities are resilient, self-reliant and able to thrive in a changing context. IRC Niger is present in the regions of Tillabéri, Agadez and Diffa with projects in the following areas: Environmental Health (EH) and Non Food Items (NFI) including Emergency – Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), Protection (SGBV, Child Protection, Monitoring Protection and Protection Integration), Education, Nutrition, Health and Livelihoods.
Scope of work
The Grants Coordinator, in conjunction with the Deputy Director for Programs (DDP), will provide strategic and operational direction, lead resource mobilization efforts to meet annual funding targets, and support the diversification of revenue from institutional donors and non-traditional funding sources to achieve IRC’s strategic objectives. He/she will operate as a member of the Extended Senior Leadership and Management Team (E-SLMT), providing direct support to strategic growth opportunities as well as helping to strengthen Business Development and Grants Compliance-related systems, processes, relationships and staff capacities. Along with one Grants Managers and two Senior Grants Officers, working under her/his supervision, he/she acts as focal point for proposal development, donor reporting, and information and grants management, including capacity-building efforts, within the portfolio. He/she will be also directly supervising one M&E Manager to assure IRC Niger has sound M&E systems in place, can report against donor indicators and develops proposals and program design based on evidence and data. Along with the Grants Manager/Officers, he/she is responsible for partnership development and management, in line with IRC policies, with international and national NGOs as well as other IRC Niger partners. Reporting to the DDP, the Grants Coordinator provides critical support in programmatic and budgetary monitoring, compliance with donor and internal IRC rules and regulations and other key functions as required.
Main Responsibilities:
The Grants Coordinator will maintain competitive positioning for and pursuit of institutional donor resources for IRC Niger, with an emphasis on competitive funding mechanisms. He/she will define, monitor and update the business pipeline and ensure that IRC is best positioned to pursue relevant opportunities. With a core function of leading the production of high quality applications for donor funding, and providing analysis and oversight to ensure compliance with grant specific requirements, this position will also provide specialized assistance in other dimensions of the grants management cycle, communication and partnership including :
• Monitor donor trends, including corporate and other non-traditional sources, with support from HQ.
• Support the SMT in building relationships with current and prospective donors
• Support the SMT in developing strategic alliances and/or coalitions with other organizations and organize/lead sub-award management
• Lead in capture planning and proposal and concept note development
• Lead in proposal and concept note writing in close collaboration with program coordinators.
• Oversee grants management & compliance
• Oversee M&E system in country, with support from the Regional Measurement for Action Coordinator.
• Develop a learning strategy for the Country Office.
• Reinforce linkages between M&E and proposal design in collaboration with the DDP and technical coordinators.
• Effectively and supportively line manage the Grants team and the M&E Managers.
Specific responsibilities:
1. Prepositioning
• Research, analyze and plan for new funding opportunities, and IRC Niger’s competitive positioning on a continuous basis within the marketplace in a timely manner in coordination with Regional PD
• Support effective internal communication and information management processes to ensure access and use of Business Development (BD) information by relevant stakeholders within the organization, including maintaining an up-to-date opportunities matrix
• Lead the country program’s opportunity pipeline tracking and analysis.
• Work with the DDP, country Technical Coordinators and regional colleagues to identify international partners and negotiate IRC’s role in proposal consortia, ensuring a competitive position for IRC Niger that adheres to the organization’s partnership principles and strategic direction.
• In collaboration with the program team, foster a culture of business development within the country program by contributing to the development and dissemination of standardized BD materials (learning resources, guidelines, tools and templates, and online information) and building capacity of country program staff on their application, through staff mentorship, modeling of good practices, and training.
• Support key staff to develop and maintain key relationships with donors, collaborating organizations, and private sector actors with an eye toward opportunity identification, shared value creation, strategic alliance formation, and global brand positioning
2. Proposal and Concept Note Development
• Assist or lead proposal development including leading design workshops together with the DDP (also in the field). Identify and request support for additional proposal development capacity, if required.
• Prepare high quality donor proposals and other grant documentation in coordination with Technical Coordinators and Technical Advisors, ensuring that IRC’s Strategy Action Plan (SAP) priorities.
• Be ready to take on a role as Lead Writer for concept notes and proposals if and when needed.
• Provide internal reviews of technical and cost applications prepared by other staff, reviewing for clarity, responsiveness, presentation, and compliance, in coordination with the program and operations teams
• Manage the review, approval and submission process through IRC’s electronic award management database (OTIS) and coordinate revisions of proposal components based on HQ feedback
• Review budgets at least at a basic level, ensuring they are consistent with the narrative and formulated clearly.
3. Grants Management & Compliance:
• Develop and maintain grants management tools, such as funding trackers, reporting calendars, templates, and compliance guideline documents; and ensure the team is aware of these timelines
• Support the DDP and the program team in conducting IRC’s Project Cycle Meetings (PCM), including ensuring grant/project opening, implementation and closing meetings take place in a timely manner
• Supervise the Grants Manager and two Grants Officers who will be in charge of Reporting and Compliance.
• Support production of donor reports and ensure that reports are of high quality and submitted on time.
• Assist in preparations for external monitoring visits, reviews, and audits, and cross-site evaluations and participate as appropriate
• With support from IRC’s HQ grants staff, address donor compliance questions from IRC Niger program and finance staff to ensure compliance with donor regulations
• Assist the Program and Operations team in preparing, reviewing and modifying memoranda of understanding and contracts of grant agreements, liaising with relevant HQ departments, as needed
• Establish and maintain electronic and hard copy files for each grant-funded project to be used for tracking and reporting purposes
• Conduct routine compliance reviews of grant programs
4. Partnerships (Sub-award) Management:
• Supervise the Grants Manager and two Grants officers who will be in charge of Partnership.
• Ensure quality partnership/sub-award management in compliance with the IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS), including partnership start-up, implementation monitoring, management and accountability, and appropriate close-out.
• Track partners’ deliverables and ensure that partners’ contractual reports are reviewed and feedback is provided
• Organize partnership opening, review and closing meetings with partners and IRC relevant units to ensure that partners’ program implementation is on track according to work plan and log frame approved by the donor
• Process partnership agreement modifications in a timely manner ensuring that relevant IRC units provide their inputs and approve the modification
• Provide guidance in interpreting and executing applicable regulations and partnership agreement terms and conditions
5. Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning:
• Supervise the M&E Manager who are in charge of technically supporting M&E Officers across sector teams and IRC Niger offices, including day-to-day task prioritization and follow-up, in coordination with the regional M&E lead.
• Monitor implementation of the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Strategy for IRC Niger, and support development of a learning agenda, based on the country SAP and sector learning priorities, in coordination with the Program Coordinators, Technical Advisors and the Regional M&E lead.
• Ensure that all Grants have a logframe, sound monitoring plan and sufficient budget, which as a minimum respond to the donor requirements of indicator reporting.
• Support finalization of survey and assessment reports and deliverables, in coordination with the Technical Advisors, Technical Coordinators and the Regional M&E lead.
• Ensure that MEAL findings are integrated into program design and project proposals to the maximum extent possible.
• Participate in quarterly program reviews and evaluations to ensure systematic documentation of program best practices and lessons learned by program staff, maintain a centralized system with access by all staff and disseminate as appropriate
Qualifications:**
• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field and applicable experience in nonprofit governance, administration, grants management, including BD and compliance
• 5 years of experience in a grant management role, preferably with an NGO
• Prior grants management experience and familiarity with USG (USAID/BHA, BPRM), European (FCDO, ECHO, SIDA, AFD, EuropeAid), and UN (UNHCR, UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP) donor regulations, procedures and requirements
• Demonstrated experience with coordinating funding proposals and progress reports from institutional and private donors
• Demonstrated experience as proposal writer, as well as readiness to take a leading wrote on proposal and concept note writing, based on in depth consultations with the DDP and technical coordinators.
• Good understanding of MEAL concepts, including basic knowledge of quantitative and qualitative researching applied to NGO work.
• Ability to efficiently deal with competing priorities and respect deadlines.
• Excellent oral and written communications skills and demonstrated ability to produce and edit documents under deadline pressure
• Working knowledge of budget development and management
• Experience working in a multi-cultural setting and preferably in Africa
• Competence with Windows, Microsoft Office
• Ability to work in unstable security environments
• Fluency in French and English
Language Skills: Excellent written and oral French and English skills.
Specific security situation/housing
The Grants Coordinator will be based in Niamey with travel throughout the country. The security situation in Niger continues to be volatile. This is a non-accompanied position. He/she will live in shared housing.
The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.
How to apply
https://rescue.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/17396?c=rescue