Grants Coordinator At International Rescue Committee

The IRC has been present in Bangladesh since 2017 and obtained registration with the NGOAB in March 2018. Since the IRC obtained registration in March 2018, it has moved quickly to expand its integrated emergency health and protection response through both direct and partner-based programming focused on primary healthcare, women’s protection and empowerment, sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence and child protection. Recently IRC has also introduced two new programs: Protection Rule of Law (PROL) and Education. IRC will continue working in both the camps and host community, while meeting the significant needs in both refugee and host populations, as already existing vulnerabilities are compounded with cyclical monsoon and cyclone seasons that impose additional threats to the lives and protection of those refugees as well as vulnerable host populations. IRC will grow over time its geographic coverage within Cox bazar and to other parts of the country, thus expand its’ networks and partnerships around emergency preparedness and response work, reach beyond the Rohingya refugees, also targeting the vulnerable host groups in Cox Bazar and other parts of Bangladesh.

Purpose of the Role

The Grants Coordinator is responsible for the timely production of high-quality project proposals, amendment requests, and donor reports; providing program and support teams with advice on compliance with donor and IRC regulations; and managing the organization and administration of contract/grant documents. The Grants Coordinator will advise the management team on matters on donor engagement and portfolio management and contribute effectively in overall strategy development for the country program.

Highlights of Key Responsibilities

Business Development:

• Lead and manage IRC Bangladesh Business Development strategy, support CD, DDP, Sr.Co- Grants Partnerships and Accountability (GPA) and Technical Coordinators in proactive engagement with potential and existing donors for fundraising to implement its Strategic Action Plan (SAP) and meet business development vision.

• Lead the process of concept notes and proposal development by working closely with Country Management and Leadership team and Regional and Headquarter based Award Management Unit teams

• Support the country program in organizing and leading program design workshops for new business development opportunities as necessary. Lead on the writing of new proposals and maintain an efficient system for proposal development.

• Maintain clear responsibilities outlined for management, programs, finance and operations departments – that yields timely, high quality submissions. Ensure that proposals are aligned with the IRC’s Bangladesh Strategy and Strategy Action Plan (SAP) outcomes and based on analysis of local needs and gaps

• Ensure proposals are timely tracked with standard IRC tracking tools (e.g. FM01, OTIS). Be the primary interlocutor for the HQ-based (NYC and London) Bangladesh focal points with regards to proposal processing

• Coordinate proposal and project/program revisions (issuing and management of timelines and development processes, writing and editing as needed, providing review, liaison with reviewers, etc.)

• Represent IRC with relevant partners/consortia, donors, and coordination bodies (working groups, clusters) as appropriate

• Where projects will be implemented with partners, support the Partnership Team in different aspects of partnership life cycle.

• Assess partners’ risks on grants management and Compliance perspective, develop and roll out capacity building actions in coordination with all concerned.

Grants Management:

• Review donor contracts and outline major concerns to relevant country and HQ based colleagues. Summarize in writing, key reporting and compliance requirements (compliance checklist) including potential issues for Grant Opening Meetings

• Work with the relevant Technical Teams and other functions to ensure Grant Opening Meetings, Grant Review Meetings, Grant Closure Meetings and Program Cycle Meetings are timely organized ensuring desired quality, and all mandatory internal documents are in place (internal log frame, internal budget, procurement plan, M&E matrix)

• Responsible for the finalization of timely donor reports ensuring consistency between narrative and financial reports and that they meet quality standards

• Support and advise colleagues with queries related to donor compliance on grants within portfolio, and work with other departments (i.e. programs, finance, M&E, supply chai) to ensure all documentation required is ready and available for audits

• Undertake proactive assessment of potential risks in managing donor contracts throughout the project cycle management, anticipate risks, inform and support all concerned including SMT to take timely risk mitigation measures

• Where projects are implemented with partners, ensure timely review of partners’ financial and narrative reports in accordance with the terms of their partnership agreements, coordinating with Partnership and Finance Team.

• Maintain and coordinate partner program, finance, and compliance monitoring and review meeting schedules, and coordinate support for partners to address any concerns or issues that may arise. Ensure any issues are attended to

Major Challenges/ Difficulties of This Role

• Work under tight deadlines while dealing with competing priorities

• Coordinate and gather the necessary inputs from other functions/roles while meeting the necessary quality within tight deadlines

• Work with diverse country, region and headquarter based teams and ensure adherence to organizational and donor compliance requirements while ensure quality and meeting deadlines

• Inadequate capacity of local partner NGOs who may need significant hand holding support and monitoring

Deliverables

• Up to date business development strategy and its socialization among all concerned internal stakeholders

• Secure income from both UN and non UN donors for the country program as per business development targets set by the regional office and in consistent manner

• Ensure that all donor contracts are managed effectively (e.g. compliances, no disallowance and minimum return of funds) while adhering to internal and donor standards

• Ensure IRC continues to improve and maintain its relationship with existing and new donors

• Support in partnership following IRC’s standard policy and practices

• All budget holders have increased capacity to understand and manage donor contracts as well as partnership management

• Effective management of direct reports following IRC way, success model and people management standards

• Timely fulfilment of grants related requirement to out of Integra in Bangladesh CP

• Actively contribute on various management priorities especially around staff engagement and well-being, gender equality, SAP 20XX, client’s responsiveness etc.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5-7 years of work experience in humanitarian and/or development programs/industry in Business Development, Grants Management

• Minimum 3 years of work experience in similar capacity

• Experience of working as expat outside of Bangladesh will be an added advantage

Competencies: Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Extensive experience in managing donor contracts and fundraising activities, in particular from UN and other institutional donors, such as ECHO, DFID, USAID, GAC, SIDA etc.

• Excellent communication skills in English. High quality copywriting and editing skills

• Excellent numeracy and financial skills, particularly in developing budgets, financial management/monitoring and reporting

• Sound understanding of Program Cycle Management in emergencies and development environments, program quality and partnership management.

• High level of analytical skills, negotiation skills and critical thinking

• Ability to manage and lead a team to achieve goals in a complex working environment

• Highly developed interpersonal and communication and relationship skills with ability to influence external organizations and individuals

Language Preference

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English

Specific Educational Qualification

• Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree in Economics/ Business Administration/ International Relations/ Development Studies/ International Development

Standard of Professional Conduct: IRC and IRC employees are required to abide by the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – Code of Conduct which are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Harassment-Free Workplace, Fiscal Integrity, Anti-Retaliation, Combating Trafficking in Persons and several others.

Gender Equality & Equal Opportunity: We are committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer generous benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowances. We welcome and strongly encourage qualified female professionals to apply.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our organization. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Are you ready to join the most dynamic team?