Program & Award Advisor, Technical & Global

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world’s largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and more than 25 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees delivers lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you’re a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

The Awards Management Unit (AMU)

Established in January 2016, the Awards Management Unit (AMU) is a global department with the responsibility for identifying, securing, and managing all funding from statutory/government donors. The department is includes the following teams: Program and Award Support, Strategic Partnerships, Compliance and Policy, Business Development, and Training.

The AMU is a bridge between donors and country programs: providing expert technical advice to the country teams, while maintaining portfolio-level visibility to ensure consistency and compliance, and manage risk. This unit ensures that donor compliance policies and procedures are implemented consistently, and supports all staff working across the award management cycle for all restricted funding from global government sources.

The Crisis Response, Recovery and Development (CRRD) Department

The Crisis Response, Recovery and Development (CRRD) Department has a growing portfolio of humanitarian relief, post-crisis recovery, and development programs under their remit. This work focuses support in five key areas: ensuring safety from harm, improving health, increasing access to education, improving economic well-being and ensuring people have the power to influence decisions that affect their lives. In all these programs, there is a drive to address the unique needs of women and girls (who represent the majority of those displaced) – and the universal barriers they face.

The CRRD works across 6 regions globally, including West Africa, East Africa, Great Lakes, Middle East and North Africa, Asia, and Latin America as well as supporting other Implementing Units including Technical Excellence, Research & Innovation Lab, and Emergency Units. These teams are the links between country offices and key HQ departments, and aim to support and provide advice to country programs & Implementing Units with a range of issues from strategic planning, business development to compliance, awards management and partnerships management.

The Purpose of the Role

The Program and Award Advisor plays a vital role within the Global Program and Award Support Team overseeing an award portfolio of humanitarian relief and post-crisis recovery programs. The Program and Award Advisor liaises with country programs, Implementing Units, HQ departments and donor contacts to ensure high quality guidance and support throughout the award lifecycle. The role works with Implementing Units (Technical Excellence, Research & Innovation Lab, and Emergency Units) to ensure compliance with donor rules and regulations and IRC systems and processes and leads on the review and submission of high-quality donor deliverables. The Program and Award Advisor represents the region and country offices to internal and external stakeholders and manages donor relationships.

Scope and Authority

Line management of Program and Award Officer(s) as applicable.

Key Working Relationships

Reports to Deputy Director, Technical & Global Awards. Works closely with all Regional Program and Award Support team members, and across all teams within Awards Management Unit, Crisis Response Recovery and Development Department, Global Partnerships and Philanthropy, Global Supply Chain, Finance, Office of General Counsel, Technical Excellence, and other key departments within IRC. Donor and partner point of contact as applicable.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Awards Management and Compliance (50%)

• Oversee a portfolio of awards for the Global region. Main donors in portfolio will include USG & UN but may also include other donors as assigned.

• Serve as the first point of contact for country office and other Implementing Units Grants and Partnerships teams and provide guidance and support on matters related to donor compliance and communication, project management (e.g. project cycle meetings), OTIS and partnerships (PEERS).

• Participate in in regular meetings with country offices and other Implementing Units to provide support and collaborate with country program teams on issues related to donor compliance, submissions of reports and other post award deliverables, and/or monitoring/awards management.

• Guide country offices and other Implementing Units in managing partnerships with local or international partners, ensuring that IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS) is being followed, review and process sub-grant/partnership agreements in alignment with PEERS, and coordinate with the compliance team in supporting compliant and effective partnerships as needed.

• Review agreements and lead negotiation of award terms and conditions with donor counterparts in alignment with internal processes.

• Guide country offices and Implementing Units, in partnership with other relevant departments, in the development and submission of award amendments/modifications, ensuring high-quality, compliant submissions.

• Provide support to and monitoring of projects to ensure progress against objectives and compliance with donor guidelines and IRC internal requirements. Monitoring of awards can take the shape of monitoring visits, participation in project implementation meetings and other regular calls.

• Facilitate and build interdepartmental relationships to address country office/Implementing Units needs and solve problems in relation to awards management, partnership management and compliance.

• Maintain a strong relationship with regional and AMU leadership and escalate issues of concern as needed

• Supervise direct reports in carrying out necessary functions as they relate to country program/Implementing Units support

• Stay informed about programmatic issues and security and political developments and how they might affect program implementation

• Coordinate with PAAs for other regions for information sharing and to establish a coherent program support and backstopping function between headquarters and the field.

• Travel to country offices/Implementing Units to provide surge support and monitoring across the areas of programs, awards, and partnerships, including for gap-filling purposes as requested.

Donor Liaison and Representation (25%)

• Maintain contact with donors regarding updates, amendments, or key programmatic changes.

• Liaise with donors on ongoing and future opportunities.

• Represent IRC externally to donors and stakeholder networks, as appropriate.

• Participate in representational visits, events and meetings as requested.

Capacity Building and Training (20%)

• Mentor and coach Grants and Partnerships staff on IRC systems and processes to ensure capacity is built.

• As requested, develop training materials and deliver training to IRC country program staff and other Implementing Units in coordination with the Directors, Awards Management and the AMU Training and Compliance team.

• In coordination with the Directors, Awards Management, develop and maintain work-processes and checklists for awards implementation and reviews, as well as record lessons learned.

• Onboard new country office Grants and Partnerships staff and new Program and Award Support team to assigned donors, policies and/or IRC processes.

Other Responsibilities (5%)

• Contribute to AMU and regional strategic priorities and initiatives.

• Liaise with communications and external relations staff to inform IRC media products as needed.

• Participate in special projects as needed and other tasks as assigned.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications:

• Five years of progressive work experience in award management or business development with donors such as USAID/BHA, the U.S. Department of State/PRM and UN agencies

• Two years of international field experience highly desirable, familiarity with countries in the region preferred

• Project management experience preferred

• Financial analysis skills preferred

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including experience in speaking on relevant issues with internal and external audiences

• Proven ability to effectively manage relationships (e.g., with internal actors, peers, donors)

• Effective people management skills: ability to lead staff and promote productivity in a pleasant work environment

• Proven ability to manage multiple and complex tasks and thrive under pressure

• Solid organizational and creative problem-solving skills: ability to be flexible and work well under pressure in a fast-paced multi-tasking team environment

• Good computer skills

• Fluency in English (French desirable) both spoken and written

• Ability and willingness to travel internationally

Experience:

• Experience in working at a distance and supporting field-based staff

• Experience writing, reviewing and editing narrative and financial reports and excellent attention to detail

Compensation:

Posted pay ranges apply to US and UK-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

US Benefits:

The IRC offers a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. All US employees are eligible for sick time, a 403b retirement savings plans: up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus an 3-7% additional IRC contribution, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support in times of crisis and mental health struggles.

In addition, full-time employees are eligible for 10 US paid holidays, 20-25 paid time off days, disability & life insurance, medical, dental, and vision insurance (employee contribution starting at $135, $7, and $5 per month respectively) and FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs. Part-time employees are eligible for a proportionate amount of paid time off. These additional benefits apply to employees who work at least 6 months within a 12 month time period.

Standard of Professional Conduct: The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.

Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.