BACKGROUND:
The International Rescue Committee, one of the world's largest humanitarian agencies, provides relief, rehabilitation and post-conflict reconstruction support to victims of natural disaster, oppression and violent conflict in 42 countries. The IRC is committed to bold leadership, innovation and creative partnerships. Active in public health, education, livelihoods, women's empowerment, youth development, and protection and promotion of rights, IRC assists people from harm to home.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is unprecedented in scale and in the response required. No previous outbreak has had as many confirmed cases, or as wide of a geographic spread. The situation is complicated by the porous nature of the regions' borders, inaccessibility of the terrain and the presence of multiple active sites of transmission. The outbreak in Sierra Leone started in May 2014 and has rapidly spread due to pourous borders, insufficient contact tracing, community fears and misperceptions.
The IRC is leading a consortia of 14 International Non-Governmental Organizations currently implementing programs in health and education. Ebola Response Consortium (ERC), a group of 10 non-governmental organizations who are supporting the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) in the Ebola response. The ERC currently supports three key initiatives within the response: 1) support of a national strategy for Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and screening of suspected EVD cases at all peripheral health units in the country; 2) support for effective surveillance in 10 districts of the country; and 3) continuation of primary health care in five districts. The Education Consortium (Ed Co), a group of 5 NGOs who are supporting the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MEST), supports programming aimed to improve schooling in Sierra Leone. Ed Co works with MEST, teachers, and communities to improve learning outcomes while ensuring the school environment is safe and protective. The consortia is also exploring the possibility of expanding its scope of work to include protection programming with 7 other NGOs.
SCOPE OF WORK:
The Consortia Grants Coordinator will lead the grant and budget management for the consortia, working directly with the international partners on the reports, budgets and ensuring donor compliance. The position is based in Freetown with regular trips to all districts in the country, to monitor grant progress of the international partnes. S/he will report to the Consortia Deputy Director of Progams, and will work collaboratively with the technical coordinators, grants and finance teams from the other international organizations. S/he will manage the consortia grants unit, including the Consortia Grants Manager, Grants Officer, and Partnership Manager, and will directly supervise the Grants Manager and Partnership Manager.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Grants Management
- Run Grant Opening, Review and Closing meetings for all consortia grants, as well as regular grants management meetings which include representation from each unit (finance, programs, logistics) and ensure proper follow up of issues raised.
- Monitor and support the use of grants management tools such as FM01, BvAs, spending plans, forecast vs. expenditures, and activity plans amongst program teams to ensure accurate tracking of implementation and spending and timely alerts to potential challenges/obstacles.
Proposal Development
- Coordinate the drafting and approval process of all new consortia proposals, including reviewing partner inputs and ensuring their inclusion.
- Liaise with NY grants units, technical units and IRC UK to ensure proposals meet internal standards, apply IRC Program Framework principles and are donor compliant.
Subgrant Management and Compliance
- Provide oversight of the Sub-Grants Tracker ensure regular internal distribution of the Sub-Grants Tracker. Update internal IRC documentation and provide analysis of current and closed sub-grants.
- Review draft sub-grant agreements and all sub-grant agreement modifications and support the Partnerships Manager in the creation of these agreements.
- Work with finance to ensure ensure timely and accurate payments are made to partners throughout life of the sub-grant(s).
- Ensure that any issues or weaknesses identified in the pre-award due diligence process are escalated to the Consortia Program Coordinators or other relevant staff (e.g. IRC Finance Controller, Consortia DDP) where necessary and that recommendations are followed up with the partners.
- Ensure that the Consortium is operating according to donor and IRC compliance policies. This includes conducting routine reviews of financial and compliance documentation of procedures, asset checks, field monitoring visits. Providing support to partners as needed.
- Provide training to partners and IRC staff on compliance.
- Help design and ensure the maintenance of the indicator tracking sheet monitor partner performance. Escalate any issues or concerns to the Consortia Program Coordinators and Consortia DDP.
- Manage the Partnership Manager and Grants Manager and ensure proper trainings, etc.
Reporting
- Ensure that reports to donors are submitted on time; that reports are coherent and accurate (quarterly, interim or final reports).
- In coordination with IRC-UK and IRC NY, monitor field implementation of programs to ensure they are in accordance with donor and IRC internal requirements.
- Edit the weekly Consortia reports after compilation for the review of the Coordinators.
Communications, Information Management and Filing
- Oversee hard and soft copy files on the consortia grant portfolio.
- Liaise with IRC headquarters to ensure they have complete and up-to-date documentation of all sub-grants and partner-related information.
- Distribute and share with all partner organizations all documentation (grant proposals, reports, budget etc) related to their specific programs.
- Work with the Communications Manager to ensure that the consortia branding strategy developed is in line with donor requirements and regulations. Ensure partners abide by it.
- Participate in donor meetings to discuss ongoing and future programs and support the Consortia Coordinators in donor communications.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Master's degree in relevant field
- Ability to write clear and concise reports and proposals and to meet required reporting deadlines
- Excellent oral and written communications skills and demonstrated ability to produce and edit documents (reports, proposals) under deadline pressure.
- Working knowledge of budget development and management
- Experience working in a multi-cultural setting and in preference in Africa
- Competence with Windows, Microsoft Office
- Ability to work in unstable security environments
- Previous experience working with international donors in particular UN, US government, and European donors
- Proficient English written and spoken required
Length of Assignment: 1 year, potential to extend.
HOW TO APPLY:
Please follow this link to apply: http://www.aplitrak.com/?adid=c2dyYW50Ljk5NTkwLjM4MzBAaXJjLmFwbGl0cmFrLm...
