The IRC opened its offices in Burundi in 1996 and initially focused on life saving interventions and provision of immediate assistance to refugees and IDPs. IRC Burundi now focuses on post-conflict oriented interventions in order to support the country’s transition to lasting peace and stability.
IRC Burundi has had a vibrant post-conflict program encompassing prevention and response to Gender Based Violence, Child Protection, Social Cohesion, Protection and Rule od Law, Economic Recovery and Development (ERD) as well as Environmental Health. Clients are vulnerable and marginalized populations, including refugees, IDPs, repatriates and othe vulnerable categories such aswomen, children, and youth. IRC works with the Burundian Government, local and international partners to increase the protection, economic empowerment and social cohesion of these groups. The IRC has its main office in Bujumbura, serving not only as headquarters but also the base for programs in Bujumbura Rural. Field offices are located in Gitega, Muyinga and Ruyigi.
The Grants Coordinator is a key position supporting the IRC Burundi country program to achieve high quality programming and service delivery. The main objectives of this position are to support and coordinate program design, proposal development, grants management (including compliance requirements and reporting), internal and external communication.
The current IRC Burundi portfolio is currently composed of 7 grants and contracts from a variety of private, bilateral and multilateral donors. The Grants Unit, composed of the Grants Coordinator, two Managers and two Officers is responsible for ensuring business development, grants and contracts management, sub-awards, and donor communications. The Grants Coordinator leads the team and more specifically coordinates the development of new project proposals in accordance with the Country Program’s Strategic Action Plan (SAP). This includes assessing opportunities for funding (proactive and reactive), analyzing organizational capacity to take on projects, and leading the overall proposal development process.
The Grants Coordinator will directly and/or technically supervise the Grants team. S/he will work closely with Technical Program Coordinators, M&E staff, and Field Coordinators as well as with in-country support units and relevant HQ regional colleagues (including Technical Advisors, the Regional Program Support Team and the Senior Proposal Development Advisor) in the delivery of their functions. This position reports to the Deputy Director for Programs and will be based in Bujumbura with regular travel to project sites.
Key Responsibilities
Business development
•Research and maintain information on donor strategies and funding opportunities on the national level, in conjunction with the program coordinators, and in coordination with the regional Head of Business Development and Director, Awards Management.
•Collaborate with the CD, DDP, and regional Head of Business Development in maintaining regular engagement with key donors at country level and pre-positioning for major funding opportunities
•Periodically refresh the country program Resource Mobilization Strategy to ensure continued relevance to the country’s Strategic Action Plan (SAP) and to the donor and partner environment.
•With Leadership from the DDP, coordinate the development of proposals for submission to donors in coordination with sector leads and the finance and operations teams, ensuring full partner participation in program design when relevant; contribute to budget development/management in coordination with Finance through budget review to ensure that budget aligns to the proposed intervention and the correct costs are included.
•Assist the DDP in aligning new proposals to the country’s Strategic Action Plan (SAP).
•Collaborate closely with the IRC’s Awards Management Unit’s global Business Development and Regional Program & Awards Support Teams to ensure proposals meet internal and donor standards
•Coordinate communications with current donors including responding to information requests, income tracking, contract amendments from donors or other IRC departments in consultation with the DDP and the Country Director
•Participate in Go/No-Go discussions to promote program approaches and design that are consistent with Burundi’s Strategic Action Plan (SAP)
•Carry out regular visits to programme sites, to be knowledgeable about the programme as the basis for the informed development of proposals and discussions / contact with donors.
Grants Management
•Review and advise on all partner agreements (including logframe, budget, spending and workplan); ensure review of partner agreements and provide recommendations and concerns to the senior management and regional support team.
•Ensure that grants are implemented in compliance with IRC and relevant donor regulations, as well as maintenance of updated grant files and organization of regular project cycle meetings; coordinate modifications to any agreements or projects (i.e. extensions, indicator changes, budget realignments), as necessary.
•Support program teams on budget realignements in internal and donor formats
•Supports Project Cycle Meetings (PCMs) and the country program in maintaining adequate standards and relevant systems for enhanced coordination between the various units, resulting in improved service delivery.
•Manage all reporting deadlines, develop calendars for report development and coordinate report compilation and review.
•Coordinate with donors on grants management, project progress, monitoring and evaluation.
•Act as focal point for communications with Regional Program Support Team (RPST) around grants administration and compliance functions, including maintaining submissions on IRC’s online opportunity management tracking system.
•Manage archiving of all grant files and institutional memory of grants and programs.
•Support finance and project managers to monitor restricted funding expenditure, including the timely identification of problems e.g. ineligible expenditure, enabling timely corrective action, such as amendments and extension requests, to be taken.
Visibility and Communications
•Coordinate the development of a communication and visibility strategy; oversee preparation of materials such as brochures and newsletters.
•Assist in the coordination of country program visits by government officials, donor representatives and other special visitors through collaboration with senior leadership, preparation of briefing materials and post-visit visibility.
•Oversee Annual Report development, editing and ensure completion and distribution.
•Assure internal IRC visibility of programs and key events (ex. IRC Updates, website, social media sites, etc.).
Capacity Building
•Build capacity of grants and programs staff in IRC’s Project Cycle Management (PCM) principles, tools and approaches and ensure that these new skills are utilized on the job.
•Provide training and induction to programme staff and partners on the essential core skills around award management, proposal / report development, donor requirements, IRC’s internal procedures.
•Provide training and support to programme and other staff on the effective management of donor funds to ensure compliance.
•Participate in recruiting, training and mentorship of communications and development of Grants and Partnerships staff.
•Support the programme team to develop and maintain a comprehensive, up to date and user-friendly filing system for awards and other documents, maintaining a complete and clear audit trail of proposals, agreements, donor reports, donor visits and feedback, etc.
Human Resources
•Ensure that staff have regular performance evaluations and receive ongoing feedback.
•Promote constructive, collegial teamwork between programming staff and operational support staff.
Requirements
•University degree in international affairs or related subject; masters degree preferred.
•Knowledge of main donor regulations and priorities, including UNHCR, Unicef, UNDP, EU DG INTPA, ECHO, and other European donors.
•Superior writing and editing skills in French and English. At least 5 years of previous experience preparing donor reports and proposals for USG, UNHCR and European donors with experience submitting proposals as part of a consortium (as lead agency or sub).
•Proven skills on Excel and budgets: designing , compiling, realigning donors and internal budget.
•Detail oriented, organized, and able to manage competing urgent requests and priorities.
•Demonstrated experience in donor liaison.
•Demonstrated supervisory skills.
•Good communicator with strong organizational, time management and analytical skills; attention to detail.
•Works well in and promotes teamwork, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment, flexible and able to handle pressure well.
•Fluency in French and English, spoken and written, is essential.
•Qualified female & Nationals with the required profile and experience are encouraged to apply.
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