Job Description

Background/IRC Summary:    

The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future.

IRC has been present in Tanzania since 1993 and initially focused its response on meeting the needs of refugees from Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since the initial influx, IRC Tanzania has continued to tirelessly serve the needs of both refugees and host communities. In 2020, IRC Tanzania reached 250,000 people across three refugee camps and within the broader population. Our work focuses across Protection (including GBV, Women’s Empowerment, Child Protection and Protection and Rule of Law), Education and Health (including mental health and sexual reproductive health).

IRC in Tanzania is funded by a range of high profile institutional and voluntary donors, including governments, international organizations, corporations, and foundations.

Job overview/Summary

The Grants Coordinator supports the IRC Tanzania country program to achieve high quality programming and service delivery. The main objectives of this position are to support and coordinate program design, proposal development, grants management (including compliance requirements and reporting), internal and external communication, and partnership processes and procedures.

 A vital senior position at the heart of the Tanzania country programme, the position touches every aspect of our work; from strategy and program design to external relations; from fundraising to program and grant management and communications. The Grants Coordinator will lead the Grants Department and will directly and/or technically supervise this team. The Grants Department is a growing team, currently a staff of four, with the potential to grow according to need and the size of portfolio.

Major Responsibilities: 

Business Development

• In coordination with the DDP, develop a Business Development Strategy closely aligned to the Tanzania Country Programme Strategy; lead in the realization of the Business Development Strategy and cultivate donor relationships nationally and for specific target regions
• Lead the development of proposals for submission to donors in coordination with the DDP, Field Coordinators, Technical leads and the Finance and Operations teams to coordinate the development of quality funding proposals and new projects that align to the country Strategic Action Plan (SAP;
• Contribute to budget development/management in coordination with Finance through budget review to ensure that budget aligns to the proposed intervention and the correct costs are included.
• Liaise with HQ grants teams and sectoral technical teams in NY, London, or Berlin, to ensure proposals meet internal standards and are donor compliant.
• Ensure that the IRC systems for handling proposal development with management, programs, finance and operations departments is understood and respected, and results in timely and quality submissions;
• Conduct visits to field sites to work directly with program and grants staff to provide support, assist in the development of proposals and to regularly visit IRC program activities.
• Track upcoming opportunities by priority sector and coordinate and support Go-no-Go decision processes for pipeline opportunities.

Grants Management & Compliance

• Ensure that grants are implemented in compliance with IRC and relevant donor regulations, including maintenance of updated grant files and coordinate modifications to any agreements or projects (i.e. extensions, indicator changes, budget realignments), as necessary.
• Hold a broad and deep understanding of the IRC’s policies and of the terms and conditions across the grant portfolio, and ensure that IRC regulations and procedures are developed and maintained by the Grants unit’s team members;
• Act as focal point in facilitating donor report reviews and approvals by technical advisors and other relevant persons at HQ (including maintaining internal files and grant tracking systems) and maintain proper records of all Grants and sub-grants.
• Work with the Grants Team to ensure that reports to donors are submitted on time; that reports are coherent and accurate (proposal, interim or final report)
• In coordination with DDP, Field Coordinator / Project leads and the Grants team, roll out and support the implementation Project Cycle Meetings (PCM) from Opening/implementation and Closeout.
• Monitor and support the use of internal grants management and planning tools amongst program teams to ensure accurate tracking of implementation and timely alerts to potential challenges/obstacles.
• Serve as the first point of contact for Grant and Compliance related questions that arise in-country; Offer advice to Grant Team members and other IRC TZ staff (senior management, finance, procurement, etc.) on resolving compliance issues. Flag unresolved compliance / implementation issues to senior management and to HQ (IRC Inc., IRC Germany, and IRC UK) for further advice and support; act as focal point in all communications with IRC’s Regional Program Support Team (RPST).
• Work with the Grants team to ensure that the IRC TZ grants information management and filing system is respected and all donor contractual documents, reports, key correspondence etc. are appropriately filed in up-to-date and consistent soft libraries.
• Train and support program staff on donor compliance, report writing, project and budget monitoring, record keeping, and Grants management.

 Donor Relations and Communication

•  Develop a coordinated internal and external communications plan that incorporates donor visibility requirements; strategic external relations objectives; supports advocacy and influencing aims; and engages staff and strengthens the profile of the country program.
•  Coordinate the preparation of materials such as brochures, concept notes and newsletters that will contribute to the attainment of business development objectives.
• Support the development of external communication tools as relevant for donor visits/meetings on IRC Tanzania as a whole and IRC Tanzania programs in particular.
•  Lead in in country communications with donors regarding pipeline and active grants management.
•  Maintain excellent relationships internally within IRC and externally with IRC’s existing partners.
• Ensure regular reporting for the NGO Registrar is complete, in partnership with the External Liaison.
• Undertake other tasks as requested by the Deputy of Programs, the immediate supervisor.
• Sub-award and Partnerships Management
• Support SMT in development of Partnership Strategy at country level and as part of the SAP process
• Ensure quality sub-award 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.
• Participate in partner scoping during pre-award stages and management of partners during proposal development (coordinating on teaming agreements, communication on requested technical and budget inputs, etc.).
• Coordinate and review sub-award partner vetting and capacity results, sub-award agreements and modifications prepared by the Grants team
• Review and advise on all partner agreements (including logframe, budget, spending and workplan); ensure NY/London review of partner agreements and provide recommendations and concerns to the senior management and regional support.
• Work with the Grants team to track sub-award partner deliverables and ensure that partners’ contractual reports are reviewed and feedback is provided.
• Work with the Grants team to organize sub-award opening, review and closing meetings with partners, as well as program and compliance/ finance monitoring visits to ensure that partners’ program implementation is on track and in compliance with IRC and donor rules and regulations.
• Maintain proper records of all award and sub-award documents.

Staff Management and Capacity Building

• Supervise Grants Team and provide on-the-job training and guidance donor compliance, program reporting, proposal development, sub-awards and partnerships management and communication.
• Participate in recruiting, training and mentoring of Grants staff.
• Ensure that staff have regular performance evaluations and receive ongoing feedback.
• Build capacity of grants and other country program staff in key donor compliance and project management principles, tools and approaches and ensure that these new skills are utilized on the job.
• Promote constructive, collegial teamwork between programming staff and operational support staff.

Qualifications

• University degree in relevant discipline, such as development studies, business administration, public relations, finance, project management or similar, master’s degree preferred.
• At least five to seven years of experience in grants management and resource mobilization, working in humanitarian or development programs; regional and INGO experience preferred.
• Knowledge of donor regulations and priorities, including UNHCR, UNICEF, UNDP, FCDO, BPRM, USAID European Commission, ECHO and others.
• Experience in team management and capacity building
• An excellent coordinator and team player; this role collaborates across department and must be able to influence colleagues, often without line management.
• Superb organization skills; the postholder will need to multi-task and independently manage high risk and high pressure priorities affecting program sustainability
• Previous experience working with international non-governmental organizations in grant management, particularly with European and US public donors.
• Previous successful experience developing projects and funding proposals to donors.  Strong proposal writing and budgeting skills, IT proficiency, excellent communication and writing skills, good interpersonal skills, ability to work in a team setting, ability and willingness to travel to remote areas, and ability to prioritize high volumes of work to meet tight deadlines.
• Consortium management experience is a plus.
• International experience within Africa, particularly with experience working in East Africa or the Great Lakes is a plus.
• Strategic leadership experience, able to develop and implement robust and impactful strategies
• High degree of planning and ability to meet tight deadlines of manage emergency situations.
• Very strong written communication skills; including in reports, proposals and formal and informal correspondence.
• A strong understanding of communications approaches including working with the media, social media and creative areas (Film, photo, content gathering) , 
• Excellent English essential with Swahili a strong advantage