Program and Awards Officer At International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world’s largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and more than 25 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees delivers lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you’re a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

The Awards Management Unit (AMU)

Established in January 2016, the Awards Management Unit (AMU) is a global department with the responsibility for identifying, securing, and managing all funding from statutory/government donors. The department includes the following teams: Program and Award Support, Strategic Partnerships, Compliance and Policy, Business Development, and Training.

The AMU is a bridge between donors and country programs: providing expert technical advice to the country teams, while maintaining portfolio-level visibility to ensure consistency and compliance and manage risk. This unit ensures that donor compliance policies and procedures are implemented consistently and supports all staff working across the award management cycle for all restricted funding from global government sources.

The Crisis Response, Recovery and Development (CRRD) Department

The Crisis Response, Recovery and Development (CRRD) Department has a growing portfolio of humanitarian relief, post-crisis recovery, and development programs under their remit. This work focuses on five key areas: ensuring safety from harm, improving health, increasing access to education, improving economic well-being, and ensuring people have the power to influence decisions that affect their lives. In all these programs, there is a drive to address the unique needs of women and girls (who represent the majority of those displaced) – and the universal barriers they face.

The CRRD Department works across 6 regions globally: West Africa, East Africa, Great Lakes, Middle East and North Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The regional teams are the links between country offices and key HQ departments and aim to support and provide advice to country programs with a range of issues from strategic planning, business development to compliance, award management and partnership management.

The Purpose of the Role

The Program and Award Officer is responsible for providing business development, award and partnership management, and operational support to country programs as well as to the regional unit. This role supports the Program and Award Advisors and country programs in their efforts to ensure successful implementation of IRC donor award requirements and reporting, ensuring basic compliance, accurate financial information, and good quality narrative reporting on program outputs. The position entails the potential for limited in-country or remote support to country program Grants and Partnerships teams and/or regional teams.

Scope and Authority

No direct reports

Key Working Relationships

Reports to Program and Award Advisor. Works closely with Director, Award Management, all Regional Program and Award Support team members, and across all teams within the Award Management Unit, Crisis Response Recovery and Development Department, Global Partnerships and Philanthropy, and other key departments within IRC.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Award Management and Compliance (60%)

• Support the Program and Awards Advisors and country programs in the management of the award portfolio for MENA.

• Review, edit, and provide substantive feedback on donor reports prior to donor submission and submit reports in a timely manner.

• Assist Program and Award Advisors to provide key programmatic and awards related communications to donors.

• Assist Program and Award Advisor in the preparation and review of award proposals/modifications and submissions, including liaising with various departments to obtain signed approvals and helping to complete proposal packages.

• Collaborate with Program and Award Advisor in the review of donor agreements and amendments and provide donor compliance support to country program grants teams.

• Support budget realignments and award amendments/modifications, where necessary.

• Collaborate with Program and Award Advisor in review of sub-award and partnership packages, including sub-award proposals, sub-award agreements and modifications, as well as collaboration agreements and MOUs, ensuring compliance with donor requirements and IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS).

• Maintain and communicate an accurate record of award deliverables to country program grants teams on a regular basis.

• Maintain the region’s award filing system at HQ and regularly update regional trackers, including award trackers – as specified by region.

• Work with Program and Award Advisor and country office grants staff to ensure that award entries on OTIS (internal web-based grants management system) are up to date.

• Provide ad-hoc trainings and technical assistance to grants and partnerships staff on IRC systems, awards management processes, and donor compliance, as necessary.

Coordination (25%)

• Maintain a strong relationship with the regional team members – reporting on a regular basis and copying them on relevant communications through an established communications protocol.

• Maintain a strong relationship with all AMU teams and other departments to ensure the use of all templates, guidance, policies and procedures established by AMU, and for participation in AMU work groups or work streams, as needed.

• Maintain strong relationship with country program grants and partnerships teams offering regular support on reporting and compliance issues, in coordination with Program and Award Advisors.

• Liaise with support departments and other teams outside of AMU as needed to provide support country offices, including obtaining Delegations of Authority, Powers of Attorney, etc.

• Assist with the organization and note taking of conferences, workshops and meetings as requested.

• Manage information updates for the region (e.g. updating trackers, updating internal website, etc.)

• Provide additional administrative support as needed and requested.

Other Responsibilities (15%)

• Provide coverage for key program/support functions remotely and in-country as requested, to assist with short-term gaps and emergency support.

• Provide coverage for other Program and Award Officers, as needed.

• Provide short term cover when Program and Award Advisors are absent supported by their line manager as needed.

• Participate in special projects, as needed, and in agreement with the Program and Award Advisor.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

Skills, Knowledge, and Qualifications:

• Minimum 2 years related non-profit, grants and/or administrative work experience; experience working on awards issued by major humanitarian donors (e.g. BHA, BPRM, UN, ECHO, FCDO) a plus

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field (Education, Public Health, Public Policy, International Affairs, Social Work, etc.) or equivalent work experience; Master’s degree desirable but not required

• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a diverse team and manage a varied workload

• Ability to multi-task and work to tight deadlines

• Excellent communication skills including active listening and verbal and written English

• Solid organizational skills, detail oriented, ability to multi-task and prioritize tasks, and to learn quickly

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, the ability to successfully and effectively liaise with people within and across departments in a multi-cultural environment

• Both a team player and independent performer in a very fast paced environment

• A flexible work attitude and a calm manner

• Fluency in English

• Good IT skills (MS applications)

• Understanding of United States Government donors and their requirements preferred

• Ability and willingness to travel

Experience:

• Experience writing, reviewing and editing narrative and financial reports and excellent attention to detail

• In-country experience a plus

• Experience working in the region desirable, particularly in one of the countries in which the IRC is currently operating

Compensation:

Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

US Benefits:

The IRC offers a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. All US employees are eligible for sick time, a 403b retirement savings plans: up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus an 3-7% additional IRC contribution, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support in times of crisis and mental health struggles.

In addition, full-time employees are eligible for 10 US paid holidays, 20-25 paid time off days, disability & life insurance, medical, dental, and vision insurance (employee contribution starting at $135, $7, and $5 per month respectively) and FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs. Part-time employees are eligible for a proportionate amount of paid time off. These additional benefits apply to employees who work at least 6 months within a 12 month time period.

Standard of Professional Conduct: The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.

Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.