Regional Programme Administrator - Europe & North Africa

Over the past 80 years, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has developed unparalleled expertise in responding to emergencies and helping uprooted communities to rebuild. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster.

The International Rescue Committee UK is part of the IRC global network, which has its headquarters in New York and London. The IRC is on the ground in more than 40 countries, providing emergency relief, relocating refugees and rebuilding lives in the wake of disaster. Through over 20 regional offices in cities across the United States, the IRC also helps refugees resettle in the US and become self-sufficient.

The IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and, most crucially, accountability to those we serve. The IRC is a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable.

IRC-EUROPE

Our European headquarters, IRC-UK, were established in London in 1997 to support the organisation’s global activities and particularly to diversify its donor base and be able to better advocate with European policy-makers on behalf of the people we serve. Since its establishment IRC-UK has grown rapidly and is now acknowledged for its high quality project management, technical expertise in governance and rights and economic recovery, and innovative thinking on early recovery and gender based violence. IRC-UK comprises approximately 100 staff across five departments.

The IRC also has offices in Berlin, Bonn, Brussels and Geneva.

The Global Awards Management Unit (AMU)

Established in January 2016, the Global Awards Management Unit (AMU) is a global unit spanning New York, Washington DC, London, Nairobi and Amman. It has responsibility for identifying, securing and managing all funding from statutory donors. The Unit is organised into five directorates: Strategic Partnerships & Analytics, Grants Management & Frameworks, Compliance & Policy, Programme Development and Training.

The Global AMU is a bridge between donors and the field: providing expert technical advice to the field while maintaining portfolio-level visibility to ensure consistency and compliance and manage risk. The AMU ensures that donor compliance policies and procedures are implemented consistently and supports all staff working across the grants management cycle for all restricted funding from global government sources. The unit operates within a matrix management system across the teams in the US and the UK, driving functional integration between all relevant units and staff in collaboration with the Vice President of the Global AMU and the Senior Vice President for Europe in relation to overarching issues with European donors. The matrix management structure ensures that AMU staff support the Europe strategy and work towards the pursuit of new opportunities while IRC-UK maintains accountability for European funding.

In May 2017 IRC developed our Europe Road Map. This provided a strategic framework to develop a long-term program presence in Europe, building off our emergency response to the peak of the Europe refugee crisis in 2015-16. It laid out IRC’s vision to help people in Europe, whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered by conflict and disaster, to recover and gain control of their future. This strategy has required IRC to work with new EU donors, partners and stakeholders, local NGOs/local authorities/academic institutions etc. To maximize our ability to deliver quality programming in this new environment we developed a 12-month business development plan to grow our understanding of, and relationships with, these new stakeholders; position ourselves better to secure funding; comply and deliver against donor expectations, rules and regulations. We are currently in the final phase of implementation of this plan and preparing for FY20.

Scope of Work

As Regional Programme Administrator (RPA) Europe you will assist the Senior Programme Development Adviser (SPDA) in finalizing the implementation of the Europe Business Development Plan.

This will include completing Donor Action Plans for priority EU donors and creating a comprehensive Europe Partner Database, as well as other tasks required to support the completion of the implementation plan in a timely manner.

Key tasks:

• Assist the SPDA to update the Europe programme’s EU Mapping and Donor Research document including desk web-based research on IRC’s priority EU donors to identify policy frameworks, annual work programmes, funding mechanisms and upcoming calls.
• Support completion of ad-hoc assignments in relation to the business development plan e.g. analyzing trends in donor feedback.
• Assist SPDA to develop Donor Action Plans for each priority EU donor.
• Support the creation of a partner database (local NGOs/local authorities/academic institutions for the Europe region) capturing and detailing existing and potential IRC partners.
• Assist the SPDA in finalizing the implementation of the FY19 Europe business development plan activities and preparations for the year ahead.
• Organize ad hoc meetings for input/consultation with AMU and other Europe milestone leads as assigned.
• Support the updating of the Europe & North Africa (ENA) Opportunity and Pipeline trackers and OTIS monitoring.
• Administrative duties as requested.
• Other duties as assigned by the line manager

Essential

• Degree, preferably in a subject related to IRC’s work (International Relations, Refugee or Migration Studies, Development Studies, Public Policy), or equivalent experience
• Understanding of European institutional donors and their requirements, knowledge of and experience working with European donors preferred
• Experience in researching, writing, reviewing and editing documents and excellent attention to detail
• Strong analytical and web-based research skills.
• Solid organizational skills, detail oriented, ability to multi task and prioritize tasks, and to learn quickly
• Understanding of humanitarian aid and development programming
•  Ability to work collaboratively as part of a diverse team and manage a varied workload
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; the ability to successfully and effectively liaise with people within and across departments in a multi-cultural environment
• Both a team player and independent performer in a very fast paced environment
• A flexible work attitude and a calm manner
• Good IT skills (Word, Outlook, Excel)

Languages Required/Preferred: 

• Professional fluency in written and spoken English.
• Other European language skills (German, Greek and French in particular) a definite advantage

IRC-UK strives to be an equal opportunities employer. IRC-UK is committed to equality of opportunity and to non-discrimination foralljobapplicantsandemployees,andweseekto ensureweachieve diversityinourworkforceregardlessofgender,race,religiousbeliefs, nationality, ethnic/national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.

Please note, applications will be reviewed as they are received. Therefore, interested candidates are encouraged to submit an application as soon as possible. The job advert will be closed when a suitable candidate is identified. 

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