Grants & Business Development Coordinator

Job Description

International Rescue Committee (IRC) is an apolitical, non-profit, and non-religious humanitarian organization that provides assistance to refugees around the world. IRC implements programs to promote durable solutions for displaced persons, refugees and host communities through public health, sanitation, shelter, rehabilitation, and education projects. IRC has been serving refugees since 1933 and is present in 40 countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia, as well as through a resettlement support program in the United States. IRC is an organization committed to freedom, human dignity, and self-reliance. This commitment translates into well-planned resettlement assistance, emergency global relief, rehabilitation, and advocacy for refugees.

Since the early 1980s Niger has consistently been ranked at the bottom of the UN’s Human Development Index. Over half the population suffers from chronic food insecurity and one in ten are extremely food insecure. Niger is also a disaster-prone country, regularly hit by food crises and vulnerable to flooding, cholera, and locust swarms. Access to health care and education for women and girls are very limited. In addition to the vulnerability of a significant proportion of Nigeriens, Niger also hosts refugees from neighboring Mali and Nigeria.

IRC’s vision for Niger is that individuals, households, and communities are resilient, self-reliant, and able to thrive in a changing context. IRC Niger is present in the regions of Tillabéri, Agadez and Diffa with projects in the following areas: Environmental Health (EH) and Non-Food Items (NFI), Emergency Response/Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), Protection (SGBV, Child Protection, Monitoring Protection and Protection Integration), Education, Nutrition, Health, and Livelihoods.

Job overview

The Grants and Business Development Coordinator, in conjunction with the Deputy Director for Programs (DDP), will provide strategic and operational direction, lead resource mobilization efforts to meet annual funding targets, and support the diversification of revenue from institutional donors and non-traditional funding sources to achieve IRC’s strategic objectives. The position holder will operate as a member of the Extended Senior Leadership and Management Team (E-SLMT), providing direct support to strategic growth opportunities as well as helping to strengthen Business Development and Grants Compliance-related systems, processes, relationships, and staff capacities. Along with one Grants & Reporting Manager, one Compliance Manager, one BD Manager, one Grants Officer and one BD Officer, working under her/his supervision, he/she acts as focal point for proposal development, donor reporting, and information and grants management, within the portfolio. Reporting to the DDP, the Grants and Business Development Coordinator provides critical support in programmatic and budgetary monitoring, compliance with donor and internal IRC rules and regulations and other key functions as required.

Main Responsibilities:

The Grants and Business Development Coordinator will maintain competitive positioning for and pursuit of institutional donor resources for IRC Niger, with an emphasis on competitive funding mechanisms. The position holder will define, monitor, and update the business pipeline and ensure that IRC is best positioned to pursue relevant opportunities. With a core function of leading the production of high-quality applications for donor funding, and providing analysis and oversight to ensure compliance with grant specific requirements, this position will also provide specialized assistance in other dimensions of the grants management cycle including:

• Monitor donor trends, including corporate and other non-traditional sources, with support from HQ.

• Support the SMT in building relationships with current and prospective donors.

• Lead in capture planning and proposal and concept note development.

• Lead in proposal and concept note writing in close collaboration with program coordinators.

• Oversee grants management & compliance.

• Develop a learning strategy for the Country Office.

• Reinforce linkages between M&E and proposal design in collaboration with the DDP and technical coordinators.

• Effectively and supportively line manage the Grants team.

Specific responsibilities:

Prepositioning

• Research, analyze and plan for new funding opportunities, and IRC Niger’s competitive positioning on a continuous basis within the marketplace in a timely manner in coordination with regional team.

• Support effective internal communication and information management processes to ensure access and use of Business Development (BD) information by relevant stakeholders within the organization, including maintaining an up-to-date opportunity matrix.

• Lead the country program’s opportunity pipeline tracking and analysis.

• In collaboration with the program team, foster a culture of business development within the country program by contributing to the development and dissemination of standardized BD materials (learning resources, guidelines, tools and templates, and online information) and building capacity of country program staff on their application, through staff mentorship, modeling of good practices, and training.

• Support key staff to develop and maintain key relationships with donors with an eye toward opportunity identification, shared value creation, strategic alliance formation, and global brand positioning.

Proposal and Concept Note Development

• Assist or lead proposal development including leading design workshops together with the DDP (also in the field). Identify and request support for additional proposal development capacity, if required.

• Prepare high quality donor proposals and other grant documentation in coordination with Technical Coordinators and Technical Advisors, ensuring that IRC’s Strategy Action Plan (SAP) priorities are considered.

• Be ready to take on the role as Lead Writer for concept notes and proposals if and when needed.

• Provide internal reviews of technical and cost applications prepared by other staff, reviewing for clarity, responsiveness, presentation, and compliance, in coordination with the program and operations teams.

• Manage the review, approval, and submission process through IRC’s electronic award management database (OTIS) and coordinate revisions of proposal components based on HQ feedback.

• Review budgets at least at a basic level, ensuring they are consistent with the narrative and formulated clearly.

• Supervise the BD Manager and the BD Officer, responsible and accountable for proposal development.

• Collaborate with the Partnership Coordinator and the Partnership Manager in the involvement of partners in the BD process.

Grants Management & Compliance:

• Develop and maintain grants management tools, such as funding trackers, reporting calendars, templates, and compliance guideline documents; and ensure the team is aware of these timelines.

• Support the DDP and the program team in conducting IRC’s Project Cycle Meetings (PCM), including ensuring grant/project opening, implementation and closing meetings take place in a timely manner.

• Supervise the Grants & Reporting Manager, the Compliance Manager and the Grants Officer who will be in charge of Reporting and Compliance.

• Support production of donor reports and ensure that reports are of high quality and submitted on time.

• Assist in preparations for external monitoring visits, reviews, and audits, and cross-site evaluations and participate as appropriate.

• With support from IRC’s HQ grants staff, address donor compliance questions from IRC Niger program and finance staff to ensure compliance with donor regulations.

• Assist the Program and Operations team in preparing, reviewing, and modifying memoranda of understanding and contracts of grant agreements, liaising with relevant HQ departments, as needed.

• Establish and maintain electronic and hard copy files for each grant-funded project to be used for tracking and reporting purposes.

• Conduct routine compliance reviews of grant programs.

• Collaborate with the Partnership Coordinator and the Partnership Manager in monitoring and involving the partners engaged in ongoing Grants.

Job requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field and applicable experience in nonprofit governance, administration, grants management, including BD and compliance.

• 5 years of experience in a grant management and business development role, preferably with an NGO.

• Prior grants management experience and familiarity with USG (USAID/BHA, BPRM), European (FCDO, ECHO, SIDA, AFD, EuropeAid), Canadian (GAC), and UN (UNHCR, UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP) donor regulations, procedures and requirements.

• Demonstrated experience with coordinating funding proposals and progress reports from institutional and private donors.

• Demonstrated experience as proposal writer, as well as readiness to take a leading wrote on proposal and concept note writing, based on in depth consultations with the DDP and technical coordinators.

• Ability to efficiently deal with competing priorities and respect deadlines.

• Interest and commitment to working with local partners.

• Excellent oral and written communications skills and demonstrated ability to produce and edit documents under deadline pressure.

• Working knowledge of budget development and management

• Experience working in a multi-cultural setting and preferably in Africa.

• Competence with Windows, Microsoft Office

• Ability to work in unstable security environments.

• Fluency in oral and written French and English

Work environment

The Grants and Partnership Coordinator will be based in Niamey with travel throughout the country. The security situation in Niger continues to be volatile. This is a non-accompanied position. The position holder will live in shared housing.

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

Qualifications