Grants Management Officer At Danish Refugee Council

Introduction

The Danish Refugee Council assists refugees and internally displaced persons across the globe: we provide emergency aid, fight for their rights, and strengthen their opportunity for a brighter future. We work in conflict-affected areas, along the displacement routes, and in the countries where refugees settle. In cooperation with local communities, we strive for responsible and sustainable solutions. We work toward successful integration and – whenever possible – for the fulfillment of the wish to return home.

The Danish Refugee Council was founded in Denmark in 1956 and has since grown to become an international humanitarian organization with more than 7,000 staff and 8,000 volunteers. Based in Copenhagen (Denmark) and present in forty countries, the Danish Refugee Council is a non-profitmaking, politically independent, non-governmental and non-denominational relief organization.

Our vision is a dignified life for all displaced. All our efforts are based on our value compass: humanity, respect, independence and neutrality, participation, and honesty and transparency.

Background

Danish Refugee Council (DRC), and its safety unit, has had an operational presence in Nigeria since 2015. DRC Nigeria is the largest DRC country mission in the West Africa region and one of the largest DRC country missions globally. Currently, DRC delivers life-saving assistance and protection to vulnerable, conflict-affected populations including internally displaced persons, returnees and host communities in the areas of armed violence reduction, humanitarian mine action, livelihoods, nutrition and food security, protection, shelter and non-food items (NFI) and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in 30+ Local Government Areas (LGAs) across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in northeast Nigeria.

Purpose

Under the line management of the PDQ Manager and the technical supervision of the Grants Management Coordinator, the Grants Management Officer works in close collaboration with programme staff to develop high-quality and timely reports for donors/consortia leads/DRC HQ, and ensure compliance of DRC’s projects (including consortia) with any relevant stakeholders’ regulations (donors, authorities, etc.). He/she also supports the Quality Assurance Unit in the initiatives to expand the portfolios, including contributions to proposal development and program design.

Duties and Responsibilities

Grants management and compliance

• Support the Grants Management Coordinator in coordinating, scheduling, facilitating, and following-up grant start-up, review, and close-out meetings, providing presentations on important contractual stipulations, donor compliance, and deadlines. This also includes support in drafting, finalizing, and sharing agenda and relevant documents to ensure action points are monitored.

• Ensure timely and accurate maintenance of grant files on DRC’s SharePoint, Insite, along with accurate and timely maintenance of the Grants Management System (GMS) on Dynamics in line with country office compliance.

• Support the Grants Management Coordinator in ensuring timely and appropriate tracking of instalments received through current grants from donors and/or consortia leads. Correctly use DRC Dynamics functionalities in area of concern.

• Contribute to technical revisions to donors for ongoing projects. If needed, provide a review for grammar and consistency across submission documents.

Reporting

• Manage reporting workflows and processes between program teams, senior leadership, and HQ to ensure the timely and quality development and review of reports.
• Develop and prepare high-quality, timely reports for donors, partners, and government on program progress, ensuring all donor reporting requirements are met and strategically positioned to demonstrate DRCs leadership in programming in the country context.
• Support the Grants Management Specialist in providing timely, thorough responses to information requests from internal and external sources.
• In close collaboration with Programme and MEAL teams, support documentation of lessons learnt, best practices and proven innovations in programme design, implementation, monitoring and reporting to improve programme design and implementation strategy.

Partnership management:

• Support the Grants Management Coordinator in the facilitation of partner sub-awards including communication, report coordination, and monitoring of partner spending to ensure compliance within the financial stipulations of the sub-award.
• Finalising and sharing minimum set of documents for successful partnership management.

Other

• Liaise with Finance colleagues and Grants Management Coordinator on budget follow-up and expenditure levels of active grants. Support Finance in the closing out of grants in a timely manner.
• Work with colleagues to identify and find solutions to compliance-related issues or findings.
• Identify areas and provide solutions to improve operational efficiencies in related areas.

In addition to the above, the Grants Management Officer may be asked to carry out other duties requested by the Programme Development and Quality Manager but always in the scope of this job description.

Qualifications

Required:

• At least 2 years of professional experience with an international development organization.
• Familiarity with US and EU donors with special attention to reporting requirements.
• Full professional proficiency in English with the capacity to produce well-written products for formal reporting and communication.
• Bachelor’s degree in a field related to humanitarian work, political science, international development, economics or other relevant fields..
• Strong organization and planning skills, with excellent attention to detail.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Skilled in obtaining information necessary to accomplish duties.
• Problem analysis and solutions-oriented way of working.
• Able to quickly research, learn and disseminate new knowledge and information.
• Able to communicate clearly and in a timely manner.
• Able to adapt quickly, with an openness to learn and ask questions.

Desirable:

• Hausa (fluent) desirable

Required Skills & Qualities

• Core Competencies of DRC:
  • Striving for excellence
  • Collaboration
  • Taking the lead
  • Communication
  • Demonstrating Integrity
• Ability to work in a multinational and multicultural environment.
• Excellent writing, proof-reading, and communication skills
• Excellent organizational and multi-tasking skills
• Strong ability to adapt, take initiative and work in a multicultural environment.
• Interest for humanitarian sector and donor’s environment
• Listening, analytical and synthesis skills
• Excellent communication skills, as well as patience and politeness
• Exemplary sense of ethics in the workplace

General Regulations

• The employee shall follow DRC instructions on safety, confidentiality, and ethical guidelines, including the Code of Conduct and the Humanitarian Accountability Framework.
• The employee should not engage in any other paid activity during the DRC contract period without prior authorization.
• The employee should not engage in any activity that could harm the DRC or the implementation of any project during the DRC contract period.
• The employee should not give interviews to the media or publish project-related photos or other material without prior authorization.
• The employee shall return all borrowed equipment for the project to DRC after the end of the contract period or upon request.