Special Projects Expert At Save the Children

As member of the Program Development and Management department, the Special Projects Expert (SPE) has a supporting role within the given awards portfolio. The SPE may be assigned specific projects and/or it may support the donor readiness revision of reports for given projects or specific award management tasks.

In the given countries and on the specific project, the Special Projects Expert has a key role in:

The Awards Management of the specific project;
Implementation monitoring through, also reporting revision;
Budget management and monitoring for the specific project;
Overall risk identification and management of the specific project

It is important to note that the overall portfolio strategy development and monitoring remains within the Regional Leads and Portfolio Managers

RESPONSIBILITIES

Key areas of responsibility

Oversees the “end to end” project and awards management cycle of the specific projects assigned
Ensure specific award management tasks for given projects.
Contributes to the oversight and monitoring of the specific projects’ budget

Programme management

Monitors the given projects, providing input/advice to implementation teams in Country offices and raising red flags to the relevant Regional Leads where appropriate
Provides programmatic feedback to given project reports and coordinates review from Technical Support and Programme Quality department where appropriate
Leads into risk assessment process for the specific projects
Ensures general compliance with Donors requirements (in coordination with the Grant Unit for financial specific ones), as well as SC Italy internal and SCI standards and provides advice/support to COs
Liaises with the Grant Unit to ensure all relevant documentation is donor-ready (Narrative Report, Amendment Request; Work plan etc)
Liaises with technical team to facilitate delivery of technical support and identification of good practices and opportunities of learning within programmes in the Regional portfolio
Manages the overall Award Management processes and systems
Responsible for all the administrative process linked to the creating, monitoring and close out of the given awards, including the creation of codes, folders and database on server of project information
Contributes to the effective coordination with other departments (Coms, Marketing, Domestic Program) if needs arise on the given projects
Contributes to the recruitment of project staff when needed
Supports the identification of good practices and innovative approaches within the portfolio
Conducts ad hoc in-country visits, according to project needs

Financial management and monitoring:

Contributes to the design, oversight and monitoring of SC Italy annual budget for the assigned geographic areas area or projects
In case of institutional award, contributes, in close coordination with the Grant Management Unit to budgets monitoring, including monitoring of budget variances and assessing amendments for the given projects
In case of institutional award, contributes, in close coordination with the Grant Management Unit to consistency check between budgets and projects planning/narrative documentation

In case of other projects (non-institutional) conducts budget and financial report revision with the aim to make them consistent with the proposal/report and/or donor ready (in case of award funded by Corporate or Major Donors)

Programme development & donor engagament/fundraising

In coordination with the Regional Leads, supports the business development and engagement with institutional (and private donors if necessary) for the specific projects;
Carries out analysis of funding opportunities in order to contribute to internal decision making process (Go/No-Go).

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Fluent in Italian, English and (desired) French/Spanish
Thorough knowledge of project cycle management and budget management
At least 5 years of progressive working experience in development /humanitarian aid, in a programme management similar role.
Estensive experience in managing awards funded by institutional donors (both development and humanitarian)
Problem solving skills
Negotiation skills
Flexibility and adaptation skills

OTHER