MYANMAR – GRANTS MANAGER (H/F) – YANGON At Solidarités International

Desired start date: 15/09/2022

Duration of the mission: 6 months potentially renewable

Location: Yangon

ABOUT THE MISSION…

SI has been in Myanmar since 2008. For the first three years SI worked in the Delta in response to the devastating Cyclone Nargis. In 2011, SI expanded to three new regions (Dry Zone, Rakhine, and Chin State) focusing on Livelihoods, Food Security, Shelter, and WASH. In January 2012 SI expanded to Kachin State to respond to an emergency situation created by the displacement of Kachin population.

SI currently has a coordination base in Yangon, with field bases in the Rakhine and Kachin States. Each office is operational with a Field Coordinator. In 2020, 18 international staff and 300+ national staff are working within SI to implement 7 contracts (on-going) in WASH, FSL, Emergency programs (NFI, Shelter, WASH, Food) funded by OFDA, DFID/HARP, ECHO, CIAA, OCHA, CDC and UNICEF.

In 2020, the mission has an approximatively financial volume of 6 million euros.

To learn more about the Myanmar mission, please click here.

ABOUT THE JOB

General objective and main activities

As part of the coordination team and reporting to the CD, and working closely with the program and support departments at coordination level, as well as the base teams, the Grant Manager is the mission’s focal point on ensuring accountability to donors. He/she is in charge of:

• Contributing to the mission’s strategic development.
• Monitoring and identifying funding opportunities in line with SI country and global strategy.
• Overseeing compilation of timely and high quality proposals, reports and contract modification requests for submission to donors and consortium partners.
• Monitoring compliance with donor procedures and capacity building of new and existing staff on internal accountability tools and donor procedures.
• Proactively following-up on donor contractual obligations, from contracting to closing and archiving, and ensuring contractual obligations are known and understood by relevant staff/departments.
• Centralizing and preparing relevant documentation for external audits and audit report archiving.

The Grant Manager manages 1 Conformity Officer, also based in Yangon.

He/she reports to the Deputy Country Director for Programs.

Main challenges:

• Myanmar’s currency, the MMK, has been gaining strength towards our donors’ currencies. This has to be continuously monitored, and forecast adjusted.
• The increased volume of the mission has to be balanced with funding opportunities
• SI is working with implementing partners, and the management of these partnerships require a lot of time and support.
• as in many countries, working in remote due to COVID causes delays in archiving, which has to be pro-actively followed. It also causes delays in operations, that lead to budget readjustments (ex: no cost extensions).

Priorities for the first months:

1. Reinforce the Grants Management dpt: close follow-up of the team members, bring strong structuration, reinforce grants management tools and systems ;
2. Proposals: potential modification requests on several grants ; potential new donors ;
3. Reports: regular reports submissions for open grants ;
4. Audits: monitoring, financial spot checks, audits of ongoing grants or recently closed grants + repatriation 2020-2021 archives to HQ. Follow-up of the conformity officer. Supervision of audits and inter Departments’ collaboration.
5. Communication/Visibility: to keep track on the use of visibility lines, and reallocation if/when possible to other needs.
6. Local partnerships: to work on (potential) partnerships with local organizations; ensure regular communication and follow up of existing partners; ensure due diligence, teaming agreements and memorandum of understanding are signed.
7. Strategy 2022-2025: to actively support the implementation of the new strategy; identify potential new donors in line with the strategic orientations; and support CD and DCD in terms of external communication.

YOUR PROFILE

Education: Bachelor (or Master’s) Degree in, Business or Public Administration, Humanitarian/international relations

Experience:

• Previous experience at Grant Manager position with significant financial volume (> 5 millions EUR at least recommended), multiplicity of donor’s contracts (6 at least recommended)
• Proven experience in team management and team structuring;
• Proven experience in training & capacity building;
• Previous experience of project management in NGO / humanitarian fields;
• Previous experience with SI would be an asset

Specific skills and experience:

• Knowledge of humanitarian donors such as ECHO, DFID, OFDA-USAID (BHA), UN Agencies & other donors assistance policies, guideline, proposal writing and donor reporting;
• Knowledge of both Program management (WASH, FSL) and support Departments’ processes;
• Knowledge of Solidarités International rules and procedures preferred but not essential
• Capacity to work with non-native English speakers

Soft skills:

• Prioritization and self-organization;
• Ability to multitask and to delegate;
• Rigor;
• Diplomacy;

Language:

Very good level of English (read, spoken & written). French and Burmese are added assets.

SI WILL OFFER YOU

A salaried position According to experience, starting from EUR 1980 gross / per month (base salary of EUR 1800 + 10% annual leave allowance paid monthly) + a monthly Per Diem of USD 700 / month.

SI covers accommodation costs and travel expenses between the expatriate’s country of origin and the place of assignment.

The Grants Manager lives in a shared guesthouse with other international colleagues.

Breaks

During the assignment, a system of alternation between work and time off is implemented at the rate of 7 working days every 3 months. For a one-year assignment, the expatriate will have a 7 working days break at 3, 6 and 9 months (with USD 850 allocated by SI). In addition to these, SI adds 1 additional rest day per month of work, i.e. 12 additional days off for a one-year contract.

Insurance package Expatriates benefit from an insurance package which covers all healthcare expenses (including medical and surgical expenses, dental care and ophthalmological expenses, repatriation) and a welfare system, including war risks. Essential vaccination and antimalarial treatment costs are refunded.

Living conditions

The climate is hot and wet tropical. It can be cold on the bases during December – February period.

Please note that the current political situation and security context is volatile, but SI monitors it daily and adapts its procedures in order to ensure the security of all staff.

COVID19

Please note that the COVID 19 pandemic impacts the movements (flights and visa issuance). At the time of writing, it can take 3 to 4 months to get in country.

Safety and security rules are regularly reviewed and adapted to the situation, to minimize the exposure to the COVID 19, in constant monitoring and adaptation to the context evolution. This include social distancing, teleworking and strict hygienic rules, such as regular handwashing etc.

Please note that SI strongly recommends its staff to get the vaccination against COVID 19, using WHO-approved vaccines. If possible, the vaccination should be done before departure, in order to reduce the future logistical constraints once on the field (administration of the 2nd dose within a certain time frame).