Senior Advisor, Strategic Partnerships – DG INTPA - DG NEAR

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IRC - The International Rescue Committee

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Job Description

BACKGROUND

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 IRC responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and is on the ground in more than 40 countries providing emergency relief, relocating refugees and rebuilding lives.

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

Awards Management Unit (AMU)

Established in January 2016, the Awards Management Unit (AMU) is a global unit spanning New York, Washington DC, London, Brussels, Berlin, Bonn, Stockholm, Dakar, Nairobi and Islamabad. It has responsibility for identifying, securing, and managing all funding from statutory donors, and was designed as an end-to-end business process owner and support structure for IRC’s grant lifecycle. The Unit is organised into five ‘pillars’: Strategic Partnerships; Program & Grants Support; Compliance & Policy; Business/Program Development; and Training & Curriculum Design.

The 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. This unit 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 UK, US, and Germany, driving functional integration between all relevant units and staff, in collaboration with the Senior Vice President of the AMU and the Senior Vice President for Europe in relation to overarching issues with European donors.

The Senior Advisor – DG INTPA / DG NEAR is part of the Strategic Partnerships Team (SPT), which has responsibility for relationship management of IRC’s key institutional donors.

Purpose of the Role

DG INTPA and DG NEAR are growing and strategic partners for the IRC. The Senior Advisor will lead, guide and coordinate IRC’s funding focused engagement with DG INTPA, DG NEAR and the new Global Europe Instrument in close coordination with IRC Brussels staff focusing on ECHO and other EU DG (as DG Employ, DG Home, DG Just) with support from Policy & Advocacy (P&A) and Communications teams. The Senior Advisor will provide an internal and external “account management” function to support engagement with other DG INTPA/NEAR, including acting as IRC’s focal point for building relationships with these DG at the capital level, and works in coordination with P&A, Communications and AMU teams to strengthen existing relationships with those. The role is responsible for providing expertise and leadership on donor relations, and acknowledging the needs, interests and time constraints of colleagues in the delivery of that content.

Scope and Authority

The Senior Advisor will, in consultation with key stakeholders, develop and oversee the implementation of strategies for proactive relationships with DG INTPA and DG NEAR, on behalf of the IRC. In close collaboration with the SPT Deputy Director EU/France/Germany (covering ECHO), the Senior Advisor is expected to develop and maintain positive working relationships with specific CSOs in Europe and support IRC Brussels’s leadership in positioning the organization as go-to agency in the development field. The Senior Advisor is also expected to develop and maintain positive working relationships and standards of collaboration with colleagues within IRC Brussels and globally, including: AMU Program/Business Development, Program & Grants Support, Compliance & Policy, CRRD Country Teams and Technical Units, Policy and Advocacy, and IRC’s Senior Management.

Authority:

- Develops and implements the INTPA/NEAR multiyear donor engagement strategy. - Informs the overall EU Donor strategy (Development and Humanitarian Donors) in alignment of IRC Brussels’s External Functions and supports its implementation. - Works closely with IRC Brussels leadership and Policy & Advocacy team, which leads on engagement with DG INTPA/NEAR and EU political stakeholders. - Informs Senior Management in the AMU, IRC Brussel, and across the global organisation on stakeholder engagement priorities. - Initiates engagement and develops strong relationships with DG INTPA, DG NEAR and FPI in coordination with the SPT Deputy Director EU/France/Germany, engages with specific EU CSOs - Coordinates and represents IRC as appropriate in external meetings with key DG INTPA, DG NEAR, FPI stakeholders such as Director-General, Heads of Department and other civil servants.

Responsibility for Resources:

- This role will not have staff management or budget responsibilities.

Key working relationships

- Reports to the Deputy Director: EU, France & Germany in the Strategic Partnerships Team. - Close coordination with IRC staff based in Brussels, including Policy & Advocacy Advisor, AMU; Senior Policy Advisor on Woman Protection and Empowerment and Communications Lead. - Works closely with the Senior Advisors in the Strategic Partnerships Team, particularly the SPT Deputy Director EU/France/Germany covering ECHO. - Close coordination and working within the AMU, including senior management, Frameworks Team; Regional Grants Directors and Business/Program Development leads. - Liaises with IRC Brussels’s Director on engagement with key EU Development stakeholders for Strategic Partnerships and delivery of briefings.

- Supports other teams to understand donor relationship management (structures and processes) within the global organisation.

KEY ACCOUNTABLITIES AND MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Positioning and Information and Knowledge Management (60%)

- Proactively identify and broker relationships with DG INTPA, DG NEAR and FPI officials. - Lead on the development and implementation of the Donor Engagement Strategy for DG INTPA/NEAR. - Represent DG INTPA/NEAR in the overarching EU Donor Strategic Planning Meetings. - Maintain up to date knowledge of IRC’s position relevant to DG INTPA, DG NEAR, including portfolio, pipeline, implementation and compliance issue (in collaboration with the senior compliance officer), advocacy aims and the status of senior level HQ-HQ engagement. - Maintain up to date knowledge of DG INTPA/NEAR strategies and policies relevant to IRC’s areas of work, such as funding priorities, geographical interests and political climate, providing analyses and synopses of press releases, policies and other announcements, and disseminating this information internally. - Map organizational structure and key contacts for DG INTPA/NEAR. - Manage and input information and interaction with DG INTPA/NEAR officials on the contact management database (Salesforce) and IRC’s Intranet. - Contribute to the development of tools and resources to support IRC’s donor engagement. - Work with key Regional and Business/Program Development staff to support DG INTPA/NEAR business development planning. - Coordinate internally with AMU, IRC leadership, Policy and Advocacy, and Communications colleagues to ensure consistency, accuracy, and timeliness of messaging for EU donors. - Provide regular updates to IRC leadership (Brussels and AMU) on the status of the relationship with DG INTPA/NEAR and CSOs to inform strategic decision-making.

External Representation (40%)

- Represent the IRC at external meetings, events, sector and forums including delivering presentations/briefings to senior donor representatives, forums and sector groups. - Represent IRC and actively take part in the relevant Concord FFSD working groups (NDICI and programming working groups). - Undertake direct representation with DG INTPA, DG NEAR and FPI officials, and support the development of IRC’s donor relationships, including brokering meetings with IRC Regional and Technical Leadership, Country Directors, etc.

- Participates in key meetings with DG INTPA/NEAR, including Director-General/equivalent, Heads of Department, advisors, and other civil servants.

Qualifications

Essential

Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications:

- Strong working understanding of the EU political environment and trends relevant to DG INTPA, DG NEAR, FPI and knowledge of their policies, priorities, and financing mechanisms. - Excellent written, verbal and presentation skills in English, including preparing briefings for senior colleagues and representing with external stakeholders and donors. - Ability to lead and manage projects, including working as part of remote/virtual teams. - Good analytical skills and first-class attention to detail. - Strong organisational and time management skills.

Experience:

- Significant experience of business development, program management, advocacy or managing other similar HQ-HQ strategic account / relationship management with DG INTPA/NEAR. - Strong knowledge of Concord and the FFSD working groups. - Extensive experience of building and maintaining donor networks with influencers and decision makers. - Experience undertaking reviews of policies, datasets and reports, and producing associated written and verbal guidance relevant to senior and operational staff. - Proven ability to work supportively and successfully with virtual teams.

Desirable

- Demonstrable experience of driving integrated advocacy, communications and fundraising programmes to access strategic funding. - Experience in negotiation of programmatic and financial arrangements with donors and partners. - Experience of working in developing countries, preferably in the context of a donor, NGO or International Organisation. - Experience of developing business cases.

The application deadline is 16th January 2022.

Candidates must have the right to work in Brussels.

#IRC-Europe

Added 2 years ago - Updated 11 months ago - Source: rescue.org