Emergency Grants and Reporting Specialist

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.

Department / Team Summary

Mercy Corps has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since 2007, with a staff of approximately 400 people. Mercy Corps’ national office is in Goma with sub-field offices in North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri, and Kasai provinces. Mercy Corps’ key programming areas include a combination of longer-term development and immediate humanitarian response programs in order to: 1) Improve water service delivery and ensuring equitable access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene services, in urban and rural areas; 2) Improve food security and nutrition; 3) Promote diversified livelihoods, economic recovery and development.

Mercy Corps DRC’s humanitarian programs aim specifically to assist populations affected by the conflict and crisis in Eastern Congo. With funding from humanitarian donors including FCDO, BHA, and ECHO, the humanitarian portfolio continues to expand in order to provide multi-purpose cash assistance and emergency WASH services to displaced and host populations. All Mercy Corps interventions in DRC are implemented in a conflict- and gender-sensitive manner.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

The Emergency Grants and Reporting Specialist fulfills a key role in documentation and information management for the Mercy Corps’ Emergency Program Team. The Emergency Grants and Reporting Specialist will be responsible for drafting Mercy Corps Emergency Portfolio program reports and communications materials, under the supervision of the Emergency Grants Manager. S/he will ensure all activities are documented and that reporting schemes and tools are used by the Program Teams.

The Emergency Grants and Reporting Specialist will lead in summarizing the compliance requirements of grants issued under each donor and communicating these requirements to the program teams. The Emergency Grants and Reporting Specialist will also support the Emergency Grants Manager in preparing modification requests to ongoing contracts and in sub-awards management as necessary.

ESSENTIAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

PROGRAM REPORTING, COMMUNICATIONS & DEVELOPMENT

• Responsible for coordination, tracking and development of all donor and other stakeholder reports – ensuring they are of a high quality and submitted on schedule
• Lead donor report writing, including ECHO, FCDO, USAID and other donors as the portfolio expands
• Review, coordinate, and compile all official donor reports for the multi-donors funded SAFER program in coordination with partners
• Draft program updates for donor and other key stakeholders as required
• Lead on capacity building on internal report writing and information management for program staff
• Ensure all program activities are documented and that validated reporting tools are being used
• Review all reports and factsheets before publication to ensure compliance with donor requirements (Program, MEL, and others)
• Support the Emergency Grants Manager and SAFER Consortium Director in drafting concept notes and project proposals, including coordinating inputs from consortium partners
• In collaboration with the Advocacy & Communications Team, contribute to the design and drafting of communications material (MC annual reports, social media, press releases, website content, newsletters, success stories, etc.)

GRANT MANAGEMENT

• Work closely with regional program teams in MC Support offices in Portland and Edinburgh to keep donor, grant and information tracking (GAIT) databases up to date with most current proposals, concept notes, partnership agreements and reports
• Support the Grants Manager to maintain a grants tracker and provide regular management information to the Emergency Programs Director on the performance of the grants portfolio
• Support and or lead Grant Kick-Off and Close-Out meetings to ensure that all grant information, including deadlines, donor priorities and requirements, are communicated and understood by the team, and grants are closed in compliance with donor regulations
• Establish systems for regular grant and program monitoring and facilitate regular meetings with Program, MEL, Finance and Operations teams to ensure that performance on individual grants is tracked effectively, risks and issues are flagged, and action taken as appropriate
• Under the supervision of the Emergency Grants Manager, support Finance and Program teams in drafting modification requests documents when needed
• Provide draft answers upon request to donor questions and inquiries, while ensuring compliance with donor regulations.

PROGRAM QUALITY MONITORING

• Support programs to meet Mercy Corps (PM@MC) minimum standards for program management
• Support setting up and maintain a strong program documentation system, ensuring that documentation meets PM@MC standards and folders are archived accordingly
• Develop a thorough understanding of relevant MC internal and donor policies, regulations and procedures and train team accordingly
• Support capacity building efforts for Emergency Team, including topics such as reporting and compliance

FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

• Support the organization and documentation of monthly BVA meetings if/as requested
• Work closely with finance and operations to develop grants compliance checklists and share with program staff for implementation
• Ensure the monitoring of the grant agreement for compliance with Mercy Corps policies and procedures as well as donor/government/external rules and regulations, particularly with regards to subawards and partners

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

• As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO PROGRAMS PARTICIPANTS

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: None

ACCOUNTABILITY:

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Emergency Grants Manager

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Emergency team members, SAFER Consortium partners, Emergency Programs Director, SAFER Consortium Director, Mercy Corps HQs, Operations and other mission level departments

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s degree in one of the following: Public Policy, Governance, International Development or other related fields
• 3 years of experience with European or/and US institutional donors, including grant management, and proposal development
• Ability to work in a sometime solitary environment with moderate to high levels of insecurity
• Fluency in both English and French are required (written and spoken)
• Ability to deliver high quality reports within short deadlines
• Ability to multi-task and juggle several tasks at one time
• Excellent communication skills, experience in representing an organization interests
• Demonstrated proficiency with the MS Office software (i.e., Word, Excel, PowerPoint) is required
• Proven ability to work effectively in multicultural teams and with technical and administrative staff and consultants

Living conditions

This position is based in Goma and unaccompanied. Some travel to field offices and program locations will be required. The security conditions in Eastern DRC remain volatile, including in Goma. Air travel is necessary to get from one end of the country to the other. Mobile phones and cellular service are widely available in urban areas. Internet is limited, but available in all Mercy Corps’ offices. Travel to field sites will be required where living conditions are clean and secure, but basic. There are a number of health services available with several evacuation options for serious illnesses. There is reasonable access to most consumer goods.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere toMercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.