Requisition ID: req53425

Job Title: Grants Manager

Sector: Grants

Employment Category: Fixed Term

Employment Type: Full-Time

Open to Expatriates: No

Location: Ramallah, occupied Palestinian Territory (oPT)

Work Arrangement:In-person

Job Description

The IRC began reopening its Palestine Country Program (CP) in mid-2023 and launched an emergency response in Gaza in October 2023. The organization is currently supporting a network of local partners in both Gaza and the West Bank to sustain critical health, protection, food security, cash, education, and early childhood development (ECD) interventions. The IRC’s direct implementation in Gaza comprises WASH, protection, nutrition and ECD programming. The IRC is now registered in oPt and is working to scale its emergency response while building a longer-term oPt country program in parallel. This effort is being jointly managed by the Emergencies and Humanitarian Action Unit (EHAU) and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with a view to eventually transition the country program fully under the MENA region.

Position overview

IRC Palestine’s Grants Manager will provide grant management and business development (BD) support as part of the Grants Team in the Programs Department, reporting to the Grants Coordinator. Based in Ramallah, with possible travel to field locations, Grants Manager will work closely with Program, Finance, Operations, Partnerships and MEAL staff to ensure quality management of the assigned portfolio of awards (public, private and crisis appeal) as per donor’s guidelines and requirements, and IRC’s policies and procedures. The Grants Manager is expected to work closely with the Grants Coordinator to ensure the awards are managed throughout the project cycle in line with donor agreements and IRC’s processes, specifically Project Cycle Meetings (PCM) guidelines; all amendments to the contracts are carefully prepared, processed and submitted; reports are written, reviewed and edited to ensure quality and accuracy, and are afterwards submitted in compliance with donor requirements on a timely basis; and will work with the Partnerships Team to ensure that grant-specific requirements are met by partners. The Grants Manager will support the Grants Coordinator in BD tasks when requested. The Grants Manager will coordinate with IRC’s Awards Management Unit (AMU), especially the Regional Program and Awards Support (RPAS) team, and the Program Development Advisors, when required. The Grants Manager will also be required to coordinate on relevant awards with EHAU colleagues as well as International Philanthropy and Partnerships (IPP) colleagues.

Specific duties and responsibilities

Award Management & Coordination (60%)

• Act as a focal point for the assigned grants portfolio. This includes coordinating and collaborating with colleagues in Palestine CP including Programs, Finance, Partnerships, MEAL, Communications and Advocacy, and Supply Chain, as well as colleagues at regional office (RO) and HQ colleagues in AMU and External Relations.

• Ensure appropriate award management throughout the Project Cycle, including:

o Supporting in reviews of donor agreements and communicating donor requirements prior to signing the award and coordinating the signatures required at the country-level with the Senior Management Team (authorized staff with Power of Attorney).

o Maintaining knowledge of grant agreement language and regulations, serving as an advisor on assigned donors compliance and requirements, and advancing questions to RPAS or IPP teams, where needed.

o Coordinating any required agreement amendments including on programmatic commitments (amending logframes, workplans, proposal narratives) and financial commitments (budget revisions/realignments, requests for approvals above threshold limits, etc.).

o Ensuring that all the grant phases are tracked and approved in IRC’s tracking system, Opportunity Tracking Information System (OTIS).

• Support the submission of high quality donor reports, narrative and financial, on a timely basis according to IRC and donor requirements. Review, edit and highlight any non-compliance/underachievement and other potential risks to the Program Managers and Coordinators. Ensure all required documents are included, complete, correct and approved by the respective Program Coordinator/s and country management. Liaise with the AMU, IPP or EHAU teams on the reports that are directly submitted at RO or HQ levels.

• Consistently review and advise on compliance requirements for respective donors to ensure all departments follow accordingly. Ensure sharing of compliance requirements as per the Project Cycle Meetings (PCM), especially at the Project Opening and Project Closing Meetings. Log Compliance questions and recommended actions in the Compliance Trackers within Project Dashboards. Raise compliance issues proactively with the Grants Coordinator and the grants focal points at AMU and respond to the Palestine team enquiries in a timely manner.

• Keep the Grants Coordinator informed of any projected inability to meet contractual obligations, report submission, and spending rates and significant budget variances. Support the program budget holders in monitoring a balanced spending rate in line with donor rules and requirements and advise them on the spending plans. Be able to proactively mitigate risks through proposing remedial solutions in consensus with Programs Coordinators, Programs Managers as well as with MEAL, Partnerships, Finance, Supply Chain and others, where necessary.

• Support the Project Leads and other relevant staff in facilitating the PCM, especially the Project Implementation Meetings, as well as filling in and applying Project Dashboards in line with the PCM guidelines.

• Compile and respond to information requests from IRC’s regional AMU and ER teams. Prepare updates for the bi-weekly grants meetings with the pre- and post-award management advisory teams at the AMU.

• Ensure all relevant grants documents as well as the important correspondence are filed appropriately on IRC’s online system, Box as well as on OTIS.

• Support the Grants Coordinator in tracking the spending on Technical Unit lines for the respective portfolio, in close collaboration with the Finance team.

• Prepare any requested information or reports on the managed portfolio, as requested by the Grants Coordinator or the SMT.

• Ensure regular updates for the respective portfolio in the relevant tools, including the grants tracker (active awards, pipeline, reporting calendar, quarterly workplans), and Project Dashboards (grant summary, donor liaison and compliance tracker).

Business Development (BD) (20%)

• Support the Grants Coordinator in preparation of high-quality proposals and budgets in line with the oPt Strategy, while including input from key collaborators (finance, operations, programs, partners, etc.) in liaison with the PD Advisors or Regional Support Manager (RSM) in adherence with the internal and external timelines and requirements.

• When requested, contribute to all aspects of the proposal development process – including compiling and editing proposal narratives, logframes, workplans, drafting of required annexes, etc.

Staff/Talent Management & Performance (10%)

• Supervise the Grants Officer, provide ongoing mentorship and guidance with the support of the Grants Coordinator.

• Ensure assignment of a proper workload in line with the Officer’s Job Description and the needs of the country program, and model work-life balance.

• Adhere to and act by the IRC Global HR Policies and Procedures and communicate through word and example a high standard of compliance with all applicable policies and regulations.

External Relationships (10%)

• Be the focal point for the donors based in-country for the assigned portfolio of grants, ensuring regular, diplomatic and timely communication, flagging requests for amendments to the contracts and challenges in meeting contractual obligations and providing responses to any requests or questions. Coordinate IRC Jordan’s responses/justifications in response to donor requests, questions or feedback.

• Report back to the Grants Coordinator and the SMT any issues, requests, meetings, etc., as they arise in communication with the donor focal points in-country. Communicate any requests of the SMT back to the donor focal point.

• In collaboration with the Grants Coordinator (and/or SMT), support in cultivating strong relationships with potential donors to build IRC’s visibility as the partner of choice in Jordan.

Key working relationships

Position Reports to Grants Coordinator

Key Internal Contacts: Program Senior Officers, Managers and Coordinators; MEAL Manager, MEAL Officers and Accountability Team, Partnerships, Supply Chain, HR and Finance departments (especially Senior Finance Officers). IRC’s Awards Management Unit, especially the Regional Program and Awards Support (RPAS) team and the Business Development Advisors.

Job requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required in social sciences (law, economics, political science, anthropology, sociology or equivalent). Master’s degree a plus.

• At least 4 years of professional work experience with a humanitarian or development organization/s or relevant working experience in other sectors with proven transferable skills.

• Excellent time management, prioritization, and planning. Highly organized to complete multiple demands and meet deadlines simultaneously.

• Strong interpersonal, coordination and team-working skills.

• Strong analytical skills. Ability to create Pivot tables in Excel or using PowerBi – a plus.

• Highly motivated and fast learner with ability to work and lead tasks independently while collaborating with other teams.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English, with strong experience of editing narrative reports or proposals. Ability to lead meetings and present in front of other colleagues.

• Experience writing proposals and concept notes for funding, strongly preferred.

• Competency with program design and proposal writing (including logical frameworks), strongly preferred.

• Proven competency in budget development and management; including strong Excel skills.

• Proven knowledge of donors in the humanitarian and development landscape, such as USAID/PRM, ECHO, SIDA, and other donor rules and regulations.

• Highly advanced skills in Microsoft Office package (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) essential. Familiarity with internet research and common software applications, with ability to support in the use of file sharing and editing software and willingness to learn new software fast.

Demonstrated Managerial/Leadership Competencies:

• Promotes teamwork, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment, flexible, and able to handle pressure with professional grace.

• Ability to plan, prioritize, coordinate, and manage human resources.

• Demonstrated strong interpersonal and intercultural communication with success working both within a team and independently.

• Excellent organizational and time management skills with the ability to handle multiple priorities and deadlines.

• Be trained on and implement the IRC’s People Manager Standards in all their staff management responsibilities.