Senior Grants Officer
Job Description
Background
The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, IRC offers life-saving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in more than 40 countries and in 22 U.S. cities, IRC restores safety, dignity, and hope to millions who are uprooted by conflict or disaster. IRC leads the way from harm to home.
The Ukraine crisis could become the worst humanitarian crisis Europe has seen in decades. More than 5.3 million people have fled across borders to seek safety in the 1st month since the escalation of conflict in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and over 6.5 million people are reported to be displaced. Reports indicate almost all arrivals in Poland are women and children, including those that are unaccompanied and separated, as well as older persons.
Between February 7-23, 2022, an IRC team undertook a scoping mission covering Poland and Ukraine to better understand the context, humanitarian and civil society landscape, and anticipated service gaps in the event of an escalation of conflict in Ukraine and consequent displacement into neighboring Poland. As of February 24th, the IRC has pivoted to emergency response, and has identified partner agencies in Ukraine and Poland to facilitate immediate assistance that can be used where it is most needed. Simultaneously, the IRC has established operations across Ukraine and Poland offering a robust humanitarian response to complement partner response services either in breadth or scale.
Poland is hosting the largest number of refugees from Ukraine; more than 1.5 mil. have registered for Temporary Protection (70% females and 40% children)1. In the second year of the crisis, more refugees are expected in Poland as the frontlines change and Russia intensifies attacks. The new arrivals are expected to be more vulnerable with increased protection concerns and basic needs. As the needs continue to evolve, the IRC proactively adapts its programming to the context to ensure efficient delivery of assistance. The IRC Poland currently provides Protection, cash, education, and livelihood support to the affected population in Poland.
Job Overview:
• The Senior Grants Officer will provide grant management, administrative, business development and reporting support across the Poland portfolio. The Senior Grants officer is part of the Grants Unit and work closely with Partnership team, technical program team, monitoring and evaluation (MEAL), finance team and logistics functions to ensure quality support to both pre- and post- award grants and partnership functions.
• The position holder will assist teams on donor compliance, reporting, proposal development and information management, including for local partners. The Senior Grants Officer will provide administrative support to the Grants team and assist with the overall management of the Poland Country Program’s grants and partnerships portfolio, which includes projects and partnerships funded by various government donors and private sector donors.
• The position holder will be supervised by the Grants Coordinator and will be based in Warsaw with occasional trips to other regions/cities to monitor project progress or support donor visits.
Major Responsibilities
Grants management
- Support the use of grant/project management tools (grants snapshots and grants tracker, etc.) to ensure accurate tracking of opportunities, reporting and programmatic adjustments through the project life cycle.
- Maintain up-to-date, comprehensive database of donor guidelines relevant to the program portfolio, including support to local partners.
- Support the Grants Coordinator with close monitoring of grants and partnerships results and spending and flagging concerns in a timely manner.
- As requested, work closely with other departments to proactively support any other grants management processes across the portfolio.
- Support maintenance and updating of the IRC’s Opportunity Tracking & Implementation System (OTIS).
- Maintain and update online information management and filing systems, ensuring all relevant documentation and key communications are appropriately filed both for IRC and partner grants.
- Ensure IRC colleagues have access to relevant records and information.
Project Cycle Management (PCM)
- Developing and maintaining the schedule for PCM meetings per IRC standards,
- Acting as country program focal point for PCM guidance,
- Organize, prepare and independently facilitate relevant PCM meetings, write meeting notes, and follow up on action points with relevant departments.
- Conduct training of relevant staff and partners on proposal development, PCM and reporting.
Reporting
- Support the timely coordination, writing, revision and dissemination of high-quality reports to donors, including partner reports.
- Support the Grants Coordinator to ensure that information on all donor communications, changes in regulations, and meetings or events are disseminated as needed.
- Working with communications and MEAL staff to collect lessons learned from IRC work and draft case studies from programs.
Proposal development and fundraising
- Conduct research and information gathering to proposal design and business development.
- Support coordinate process around proposal development, including writing and reviewing relevant sections and working with relevant departments.
- Keep track of all donor engagement, new opportunities, pipelines and submissions.
- Support development of external communication tools as relevant for donor visits/meetings on IRC Poland as a whole and IRC Poland programs in particular
- Identify and support in the development of donor opportunities and relationships nationally.
- Support identification and development of new private sector fundraising opportunities and initiatives
Qualifications
Job Requirements:
Work Experience:
- 2-4 years of relevant work experience, preferably in a NGO, international organization or Ministry.
Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:
- Strong experience with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint Excel, and Outlook.
- Strong organizational and time-management skills; proven ability to prioritize and deliver on time
- Ability to manage competing priorities, meet demanding deadlines and work under pressure in unstable security environments.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills as well as an overall ability to be clear and concise in all communications
- Excellent interpersonal and intercultural skills.
- Ability to work both independently and in a dynamic, cross-functional global team structure
Education:
- Minimum 3 years Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in International Affairs, Development, International Political Economy, Political Science, Social Science or another relevant subject.
- A relevant Master’s Degree is considered a strong advantage.
Language Skills:
- Fluency in English, spoken and written is required.
- Strong writing and editing skills in English with close attention to detail is required.
- Fluency in Polish is considered a strong advantage.
Preferred experience & skills:
- Experience with private sector engagement and fundraising is considered a strong advantage.
- Strong analytic problem-solving skills
- Flexibility to adapt to changing requirements.
- Demonstrated ability to work effectively with stakeholders at all levels
- Ability to manage and work through change in a proactive and positive manner.
- Familiarity with international donors is preferred
Working Environment:
The candidate will be expected to mainly be working from the Warsaw office with some flexibility for remote work and will occasionally have to go on some field trips.
The candidate must have the legal right to work in Poland. (We do not offer international contracts.)
The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, 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.