Grants and Partnerships Coordinator

In 2019, following the humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso, the IRC launched an emergency response. At the heart of that response was the EAHU team which helped position IRC in Burkina Faso as fit for purpose to face this unprecedented humanitarian crisis which severely affected population in the Sahel, North region.

In June 2020, Burkina Faso country program was officially transferred from EAHU management to regional management with a new full management team in country.

Since the IRC is implementing a multisectoral humanitarian assistance focused on health, wash, protection including child protection and WPE and economic wellbeing in the regions of Sahel, North, Centre Nord, Centre and will extended its response in eastern region.

IRC Burkina Faso is seeking a Grants Coordinator to be based in Ouagadougou. The ideal candidate must have excellent coordination and networking skills, innovation and efficient problem solving. He/she must be able to work effectively with program teams and other departments.

Job overview

The Grants and partnership Coordinator, in collaboration with the Deputy Director of Programs (DDP), will provide strategic and operational direction, lead resource mobilization efforts to achieve annual growth targets, and support the diversification of funding from institutional donors and non-traditional funding sources to achieve IRC’s strategic objectives in Burkina Faso. He/she will provide direct support to strategic growth opportunities, help strengthen systems compliance, donor reporting, strategic partnership management, and Communications and Advocacy to enhance IRC Burkina’s external and internal visibility.

He/she will provide essential support in programmatic and budgetary monitoring, compliance with IRC and donor internal rules and regulations, and other key functions as required. He/she will be based in Ouagadougou with frequent visits to field sites, as security allows, and will supervise directly a Grants manager and Communications Officer and co-supervise the senior strategic partnership manager in partnership with de DDP.

Main responsibilities

The Grants and partnership Coordinator will maintain a competitive position for continuity of IRC Burkina’s institutional funders, focusing on competitive funding mechanisms. He/she will define, monitor and update the status of funding and ensure that IRC is best positioned to pursue relevant opportunities. He/she will work with program coordinators to produce high quality reports for donors and will pay a particular attention to meeting specific grant/donor requirements. This position will also provide specific assistance in other dimensions of the grant management cycle, partnership, and communication such as:

• Provide guidance and leadership to the broader management team in strategic growth planning.

• Serve as a resource to staff whose programs are funded for fiscal and programmatic compliance issues.

• Prepare and/or review information and reports for internal and external stakeholders.

• Leverage IRC’s competitive position and program results to attract new funding, in collaboration with other functional teams.

• Incorporate best practices into processes and proposals related to program growth

• Build relationships with current and potential donors and monitor donor trends, including the private sector and other non-traditional sources.

• Develop/manage strategic partnerships, alliances and/or coalitions.

• Plan and develop concept notes and proposals.

• Oversee grant management and compliance.

• Support in documentation of results, reports, advocacy papers.

• Provide communication oversight.

• Support the DDP in the implementation of Project Cycle Meetings (PCM).

• Contribute with the entire program team to the development and updating of the Strategic Action Plan (SAP_ and its documents.

• Direct line manage one Grants manager and one Communications Officer, ensuring they are supporting and team is well organized and structured to best meet grant and program goals.

Specifics responsibilities

The work of the Grants and partnership Coordinator will be divided into six main areas of work:

Prepositioning

• With support from Regional Business Development colleagues, research, analyze and plan for new funding opportunities, competitive intelligence, and IRC Burkina’s competitive positioning on a continuous basis within the marketplace in a timely manner.

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

• Work with the DDP, country Technical Coordinators and regional colleagues to identify international partners and negotiate IRC’s role in proposal consortia, ensuring a competitive position for IRC Burkina that adheres to the organization’s partnership principles and strategic direction.

• In collaboration with the regional business development team, program team and the SMT, 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 build capacity of country program staff on their application, through staff mentorship, modeling of good practices, and training.

• In coordination with Business Development colleagues, lead the country program’s functional teams to develop appropriate and effective fundraising and positioning strategies involving donor research and intelligence, product development, marketing, cultivation, and solicitation and stewardship, as needed.

• Lead the country program’s opportunity pipeline tracking and analysis, including portfolio trends, proposal submissions and performance, and growth projections.

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

Planning and coordination of Proposals and Concept Note Development

• Provide strategic development guidance and/or supervise teams in opportunity analysis, planning, design, proposal writing and revision, and “after action reviews.”

• Assist or lead proposal development including traveling to field sites to work directly with program staff on design workshops and proposal development as requested

• Draft high quality donor proposals and other grant documentation both as a lead writer and in collaboration with the Technical Coordinators, Program Managers and Technical Advisors, ensuring that IRC’s SAP priorities, and budgeting for Gender, M&E and other relevant guidelines are incorporated into proposals and projects.

• 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 submission approval process through IRC’s electronic award management database, OTIS, and coordinate revisions to the proposal based on HQ feedback

Grants Management & Compliance

• Develop and/or modify policies/procedures/systems in accordance with donors’ regulations and organizational needs and objectives.

• Develop and/or adapt 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.

• Ensure relevant staff are aware of Project Cycle Meeting guidance and provide all donor compliance or other background needed in preparation for these meetings.

• Support the Program and Operations teams in the preparation and follow-up of project cycle meetings and BVA meeting.

• 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.

• Build grant management capacity of field staff by facilitating training, and providing one-on-one follow up support, in report writing, proposal development and other topics.

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

• In coordination with HQ, assist the Program and Operations team in preparing, reviewing and modifying memoranda of understanding and contracts of grant agreements as needed by the IRC Burkina Country Program.

• 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.

Documentation of results, reporting and communication

• Work with relevant staff (Program Coordinators and Communication and Advocacy Officer) to leverage IRC programmatic and operational results for marketing, positioning, and direct fundraising purposes, including maintaining data on past performance and organization capacity, publications and dissemination, and donor visits.

• Participate in quarterly program reviews and evaluations to ensure systematic documentation of program best practices and lessons learned by program staff, maintain a centralized system with access by all staff and disseminate as appropriate.

• Conceptualize and oversee the production of appropriate marketing materials for the IRC Burkina portfolio in collaboration with program and operations staff. This is likely to include the Annual Report and other interested parties, project and country fact sheets, sectoral and/or geographic focus brochures, past performance documentation, and others.

• In collaboration with the Programs and Operations teams, establish effective systems to ensure timely reporting to donors, support other staff in understanding funder requirements and ensure reports themselves are in the correct format, and edit sections of reports as needed.

Partnership (sub-award) management

• Ensure quality partnership management in compliance with the IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS), including sub-award start-up, sub-award implementation monitoring, management and accountability, and appropriate sub-award close-out.

• Track partners’ deliverables and ensure that partners’ contractual reports are reviewed, and feedback is provided.

• Process sub-awards modifications in a timely manner ensuring that relevant IRC units provide their inputs and approve the modification.

• Organize partnership opening, review and closing meetings with partners and IRC relevant units to ensure that partners’ program implementation is on track according to work plan and log frame approved by the donor.

• Provide guidance in interpreting and executing applicable regulations and partnership award terms and conditions.

Capacity Building of Local Partners

• Identify and review partner’s capacity building/development plan based on the outcome of the partner project capacity review (PPCR) ensuring that the capacity building/development plan is tailored, focused, and responsive to their organizational needs and priorities

• Contribute, as needed, to gathering lessons learned and disseminating them to consortium partners to maximize program impact and contribute to the strategy and direction of future programs.

Key working relationships

• Line Manager: Deputy Director of Programs

• Under supervision: Grants Manager and Communication officer

• Indirect reporting: Program Technical Coordinators, Deputy Directors of Finance and Operations, Senior Strategic Partnership manager

• Others Contacts

o Internal: IRC Staff;

o External : IRC partners

Job requirements

• Master’s degree or equivalent in international affairs, international development or equivalent

• At least 5 years’ experience in an international organization in grants management and proposal development preferably in West Africa

• Previous experience in grant management and familiarity with the regulations, procedures and requirements of US (USAID, BHA, BPRM), European (EDF, ECHO, EU SIDA, SV, DANIDA, BMZ, GFFO, KFW, AFD, SDC) and UN (UNHCR, UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP, WHO) donors as well as private donors,

• Previous successful experience in project development, proposal writing and reporting for public donors,

• A good communicator with strong organizational, time management and analytical skills.

• Excellent interpersonal, cultural, and diplomatic skills

• Strong writing and editing skills with attention to detail

• Flexibility to adapt to changing requirements,

• Strong ability to mentor and build staff capacity.

• Ability to manage multiple and competing priorities, meet demanding deadlines and work under pressure in volatile security environments.

• Strong computer skills,

• Fluency in spoken and written English and French is essential.

• Previous experience with IRC would be an asset

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Equality, 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.