The Grants Coordinator, in collaboration with the Deputy Director of Programs (DDP), will provide strategic and operational direction, lead resource mobilization efforts to achieve annual growth targets, and support the diversification of funding from institutional donors and non-traditional funding sources to achieve IRC’s strategic objectives in Burkina Faso. The Grants Co. will provide direct support to strategic growth opportunities, help strengthen systems compliance, donor reporting, strategic partnership management, and Communications and Advocacy to enhance IRC Burkina Faso’s external and internal visibility.
The Grants coordinator will provide essential support in programmatic and budgetary monitoring, compliance with IRC and donor internal rules and regulations, and other key functions as required. The Grants coordinator will be based in Ouagadougou with frequent visits to field sites, as security allows, and will supervise directly a Grants manager and Communications Officer.
Job overview
The Grants Coordinator will maintain a competitive position for continuity of IRC Burkina Faso’s institutional funders, focusing on competitive funding mechanisms. The Grants Coordinator will define, monitor and update the status of funding and ensure that IRC is best positioned to pursue relevant opportunities. will work with program coordinators to produce high quality reports for donors and will pay a particular attention to meeting specific grant/donor requirements.
Responsibilities
Main responsibilities
This position will also provide specific assistance in other dimensions of the grant management cycle, partnership, and communication such as:
• Provide guidance and leadership to the broader management team in strategic growth planning
• Serve as a resource to staff whose programs are funded for fiscal and programmatic compliance issues
• Prepare and/or review information and reports for internal and external stakeholders
• Leverage IRC’s competitive position and program results to attract new funding, in collaboration with other functional teams
• Incorporate best practices into processes and proposals related to program growth
• Build relationships with current and potential donors and monitor donor trends, including the private sector and other non-traditional sources
• Develop/manage strategic partnerships, alliances and/or coalitions
• Plan and develop concept notes and proposals
• Oversee grant management and compliance
• Support in documentation of results, reports, advocacy papers
• Provide communication oversight
• Support the implementation of Project Cycle Meetings (PCM)
• Contribute with the entire program team to the development and updating of the Strategic Action Plan (SAP) and its documents.
• Direct line manage a team of two (2) persons one Grants manager and one Communications Officer while ensuring that the team is well organized, structured and mentored to best meet grant and program goals;
Specific responsibilities
The work of the Grants Coordinator will be divided into six main areas of work:
1. Prepositioning
• With support from Regional Business Development colleagues, research, analyze and plan for new funding opportunities, competitive intelligence, and IRC Burkina Faso’s competitive positioning on a continuous basis within the marketplace in a timely manner.
• Support effective internal communication and information management processes to ensure access and use of Business Development information by relevant stakeholders within the organization, including maintaining an up-to-date opportunities matrix
• 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 Burkina Faso that adheres to the organization’s partnership principles and strategic direction.
• In collaboration with the regional business development team, program team and the SMT, 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 build capacity of country program staff on their application, through staff mentorship, modeling of good practices, and training.
• In coordination with Business Development colleagues, lead the country program’s functional teams to develop appropriate and effective fundraising and positioning strategies involving donor research and intelligence, product development, marketing, cultivation, and solicitation and stewardship, as needed
• Lead the country program’s opportunity pipeline tracking and analysis, including portfolio trends, proposal submissions and performance, and growth projections.
• 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. Planning and coordination of Proposals and Concept Note Development
• Provide strategic development guidance and/or supervise teams in opportunity analysis, planning, design, proposal writing and revision, and “after action reviews.”
• Assist or lead proposal development including traveling to field sites to work directly with program staff on design workshops and proposal development as requested
• Draft high quality donor proposals and other grant documentation both as a lead writer and in collaboration with the Technical Coordinators, Program Managers and Technical Advisors, ensuring that IRC’s SAP priorities, and budgeting for Gender, M&E and other relevant guidelines are incorporated into proposals and projects.
• 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 submission approval process through IRC’s electronic award management database, OTIS, and coordinate revisions to the proposal based on HQ feedback
3. Grants Management & Compliance
• Develop and/or modify policies/procedures/systems in accordance with donors’ regulations and organizational needs and objectives. With the support of the DDP and the regional team.
• Develop and/or adapt 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.
• Ensure relevant staff are aware of Project Cycle Meeting guidance and provide all donor compliance or other background needed in preparation for these meetings.
• Support the Program and Operations teams in the preparation and follow-up of project cycle meetings and BVA meeting.
• 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.
• Build grant management capacity of field staff by facilitating training, and providing one-on-one follow up support, in report writing, proposal development and other topics.
• With support from regional team, address donor compliance questions from IRC Burkina Faso program and finance staff to ensure compliance with donor regulations.
• In coordination with HQ, assist the Program and Operations team in preparing, reviewing and modifying memoranda of understanding and contracts of grant agreements as needed by the IRC Burkina Faso Country Program
• Ensure that electronic and hard copy files for each grant-funded project are up to date and ready to be be used for tracking and reporting purposes.
• Conduct routine compliance reviews of grant programs.
4. Documentation of results, reporting and communication
• Work with relevant staff (Program Coordinators and Communication and Advocacy Officer) to leverage IRC programmatic and operational results for marketing, positioning, and direct fundraising purposes, including maintaining data on past performance and organization capacity, publications and dissemination, and donor visits.
• 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.
• Conceptualize and oversee the production of appropriate marketing materials for the IRC Burkina Faso portfolio in collaboration with program and operations staff. This is likely to include the Annual Report and other interested parties, project and country fact sheets, sectoral and/or geographic focus brochures, past performance documentation, and others.
• In collaboration with the Programs and Operations teams as well as the HQ communication team if required, establish effective systems to ensure timely reporting to donors, support other staff in understanding funder requirements and ensure reports themselves are in the correct format, and edit sections of reports as needed.
Main work relationships
Line Manager : Deputy Director of Program
Under Supervision : Grants Manager and Communication officer
Indirect Reporting : Program Technical Coordinators, Deputy Directors of
Finance and Operations, Senior Partnership manager
Others Contacts : Internal: IRC Staff; External : IRC partners
Requirements
• Master’s degree or equivalent in international affairs, international development or equivalent
• At least 5 years’ experience in an international organization in grants management and proposal development preferably in West Africa
• Previous experience in grant management and familiarity with the regulations, procedures and requirements of US (USAID, BHA, BPRM), European (EDF, ECHO, EU SIDA, SV, DANIDA, BMZ, GFFO, KFW, AFD, SDC) and UN (UNHCR, UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP, WHO) donors as well as private donors,
• Previous successful experience in project development, proposal writing and reporting for public donors,
• A good communicator with strong organizational, time management and analytical skills.
• Experience in team management required
• Experience in a coordination position and/or at a similar strategic organizational level highly appreciated
• Excellent interpersonal, cultural, and diplomatic skills
• Strong writing and editing skills with attention to detail
• Flexibility to adapt to changing requirements,
• Strong ability to mentor and build staff capacity.
• Ability to manage multiple and competing priorities, meet demanding deadlines and work under pressure in volatile security environments.
• Strong computer skills,
• Fluency in spoken and written English and French is essential.
• Previous experience with IRC would be an asset
The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Equality, Service, 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.