SYRIA – GRANTS COORDINATOR (H/F) – AMMAN At Solidarités International

Desired start date: 01/12/21

Duration of the mission: 12 months

Location: Amman

ABOUT THE MISSION

Solidarites International (SI) has been working in Syria since 2012. The mission counts about 250 national staff, more than 45 expatriates, and has a 27 million EUR budget forecasted for 2021.

There are 3 mains implementing offices in Syria (2 in North East + 1 sub office, 1 in North West + 1 sub-office) with the coordination office in Amman and a liaison office in Erbil.

Syria mission is dedicated to work on 2 main challenging areas: Northeast (NES) and Northwest (NWS) Syria to provide lifesaving activities to the population affected by the conflict.

Main current activities are related to emergency wash (water distribution and rehabilitation), distribution of essential NFI (winterization, hygiene, shelter, new arrival kits, etc.), Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance, public infrastructure rehabilitation (schools, water stations, irrigation canals, health facilities, etc.), private housing unit rehabilitation. The mission is also developing a new sector of intervention in NES, livelihood’s activities will be launch in the second half of 2021 (support to farmers, small businesses, etc.).

The mission has been expanded in 2018-2019 through a major consortium with 4 partners led by SI. The consortium will support equitable and safe access to essential basic services including WASH, Shelter and Health, for the most vulnerable populations affected by conflict and displacement in Northeast Syria. Syria mission is also leading several other consortia with WASH, health and education partners in NWS and NES.

ABOUT THE JOB

General objective:

The Partnership and Grant Coordinator plays a key role in developing and monitoring the partnership and financial strategies for the country office. He or she guarantees a high level of interdepartmental coordination in the management of grants and provides strategic support to the country office in terms of donor relations, funding strategy, external representation, implementing partners management, external compliance, and donor accountability.

• General management of the grant and partnership department, including donor contract management,reporting, proposal developments and development and implementation of the funding strategy
• Participation to the development of the Syria partnership strategy and its implementation.
• Support and reinforcement of teams on donor compliance
• Support the CO in the external communication for various audiences.

The main challenges:

• Part of interventions managed remotely and areas of intervention difficult to reach;
• Large volume of activities in various areas;

Priorities for the 2/3 first months:

• Ensure the continuity on the flow of information and reporting in the country office;
• Formalize the proposal and reporting writing processes within the CO;
• Ensure the integration of newly recruited Grant Manager NWSinto the team as well as induction and capacity building
• With the support of the CD and DCDs, develop the partnership strategy and its implementation

Responsibilities and main activities:

SUPERVISION and TEAM MANAGEMENT

The Coordinator oversees the Grant Manager and the Reporting and Communications Officer. He/she contributes to their recruitment and evaluations of performances.

DONOR RELATIONS

• The Coordinator contributes to external representation towards donors by participating in meetings, and/or providing them regular progress updates on projects. He/she communicates with donors regarding program difficulties or delays that would require project adaptations or modifications.
• The Coordinator keeps track of minutes of donor meetings and follows up on action points and outstanding issues.
• The Coordinator oversees the development of communication materials for donors.

COUNTRY OFFICE FUNDING STRATEGY

• The Coordinator makes a strong contribution to the definition of the mission’s funding and partnership strategies, and develops and monitors the action plans emanating from it.
• The Coordinator maps donors, monitors donor funding opportunities and donors’ geographical strategies, and makes recommendations to the Country Director on the country office’s portfolio and business development opportunities. He/she may meet with new donors in order to present the local and regional strategy of SI, the country intervention logic, and so on.
• The Coordinator ensures coordination between the country office and headquarters (Transparency and Institutional Development Direction and Private Partnerships Unit) in order to disseminate funding needs identified by the program team or other departments.

DEVELOPMENT OF PROJECT DOCUMENTS (PROPOSALS, REPORTS, REQUEST FOR AMENDMENTS)

• The Coordinator oversees and facilitates the development of project proposals, reports and modification requests.
• The Coordinator finalizes and validates project documents before submitting them to headquarters and/or to donors, ensuring alignment with donor expectations and requirements.

ABOUT THE JOB

CONTRACT MANAGEMENT

• The Coordinator makes sure that the contractual terms proposed by the donor or Lead Recipient before the start of a project are realistic and applicable, given the local context and internal SI procedures.
• The Coordinator provides strategic support to the desk and/or the country director in the negotiation phase before signing grants and partnership agreements.
• Working closely with the grant manager, the Coordinator plans and leads all grant launching and closing meetings.
• In collaboration with the Finance Coordinator, the Coordinator follows up on disbursement requests throughout the project until the final report is accepted by the donor, the final advance payment is made, and the grant is closed.

PARTNERSHIP MANAGEMENT

• The Coordinator identifies potential implementing partners and oversees due diligence exercises with future SI implementing partners.
• The Coordinator oversees or coordinates with implementing partners in the development of project documents.
• The Coordinator is responsible for developing partnership agreements, coordinating the contracting phase with partners, and ensuring the proper dissemination of contractual obligations to the implementing partners. He/she is responsible for ensuring that project modifications and amendments to the grant agreements are properly reflected in the partnership agreements.
• Where applicable, and in close liaison with the program department, the Coordinator oversees the definition of the partner capacity building plan at the beginning of the project, and monitors the plan throughout the project cycle.

EXTERNAL COMPLIANCE and AUDITS

• The Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the response exercises to the due diligence questionnaires required by the donors or Lead Partners.
• The Coordinator conducts trainings for staff on donor accountability tools and procedures.
• When a need is identified, the Coordinator develops tools to facilitate compliance with donors’ contractual obligations. He/she also ensures the proper use and dissemination of existing tools for managing grants and partnerships.
• The Coordinator works closely with all relevant departments to proactively and regularly monitor program compliance with donor requirements.
• The Coordinator acts as the focal point for coordinating external audits with other departments and headquarters. He/she monitors the audit schedule, and liaises with the Transparency and Institutional Development Department at headquarters to plan and supervise external audits in the field.

EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION AND REPRESENTATION

• The Coordinator ensures that content (articles, photos) is regularly provided to the communication service and complies with contractual obligations.
• The Coordinator ensures the proofreading of articles and the sharing of information in collaboration with the Country Director and the Communication Department.
• Upon needs and request, the Coordinator can represent SI in external meetings as clusters or working groups.

MANAGEMENT

The role will be managed by the CD and will be part of the coordination program team including a MEAL coordinator (supervising an Information manager), a WASH coordinator and a Water rehabilitation coordinator.

The Grant coordinator is managing one reporting and communications officer (RCO) and one grant manager.

YOUR PROFILE

Specific skills and experience:

• Minimum 5 years of experience managing humanitarian grants with project management experience preferred;
• Experience developing proposals with rigorous requirements and tight deadlines;
• Demonstrated attention to detail and ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work both independently and cooperatively with team members
• Prior experience in Middle East an asset

Soft skills:

• Ability to work independently and meet deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Excellent organizational skills: the ability to multi-task, learn quickly, and work independently and productively in a fast-paced and detail-oriented environment.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: the ability to effectively liaise with and motivate a variety of people in a multi-cultural environment and across various time zones
• Strong initiatives and improvisation capacities
• Good stress management

Language:

• Fluent English (written, spoken and read) is mandatory
• To speak Levantine Arabic would be an asset

SI WILL OFFER YOU

A salaried post:
According to experience, starting from 2640 euros gross per month (2400 base salary + 10% annual leave allowance paid monthly) and a monthly Per Diem of 785 USD

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

Vacation: During the assignment, a system of alternation between work and time off is implemented at the rate of on 7 working days every three months. For a one-year assignment, the expatriate will have a 7 working days break at 3/6 and 9 month (with 850 USD allocated by Solidarités).

To these break periods, it is necessary to add the granting of 1 additional rest day per month worked > i.e. 12 days in addition for a 1-year contract**.**

Social and medical cover:
Expatriates benefit from an insurance package which reimburses 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:

Position based in Amman, security levels are good and restrictions are very limited.

In the field:

Security level is high in NES justifying specific arrangements for accommodation and displacements in the areas of intervention.

In NWS access to Azaz is possible for internationals.

However, the COVID crisis has impacted access to all areas in Syria (due to quarantine regulations mainly).