We are looking for a highly qualified, self-motivated Grants Management Specialist who is able to work with diverse teams of both national and international staff as well as local government authorities, UN agencies, I/NGOs and other partners under difficult, stressful and sometimes insecure conditions
Background
Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is operational in South Sudan since 2005, with the overall aim of achieving durable solutions for displaced populations. The Danish Demining Group (DDG) started Humanitarian Mine Action in 2006. DRC’s main programme objectives (2019-2021) in South Sudan are:
- To save lives and alleviate suffering among displaced people and their hosts
- To reduce displacement related risks and support and facilitate solutions
- To promote peaceful, inclusive and resilient societies and address root causes to displacement
DRC primarily operates across Upper Nile and Unity states, both of which are heavily affected by conflict and experience high numbers of internally displaced populations as well as refugees in need of humanitarian assistance. DRC has operational bases in Maban, Malakal, Kodok and Aburoc in Upper Nile and in Bentiu, Mayom, Kodok and Ajuong Thok in Unity state, supported by a country-office in Juba. DRC has multi-sectorial Mobile Response Teams based in Juba able to rapidly respond to new and urgent humanitarian situations countrywide at short notice to conduct assessments and responses.
Purpose of the post
The overall purpose of the Grants Management Specialist position is to support grant management, proposal development and engagement with donors and ensuring that all grants processes and donor requirements are met for the assigned portfolio. The Grants Management Specialist is expected to autonomously lead aspects of the assigned Grants portfolio, working closely with the Grants Management Coordinator, Area Managers and operations (finance, supply chain) staff as required. The Grants Specialist has a technical reporting line to the Grants Coordinator.
Responsibilities
Grants Management System:
Fundraising:
- Lead in development of fundraising documents (expressions of interest/concept notes/proposals etc) in line with DRC country strategy and donor requirements and in close collaboration with Program/field staff, DRC HQ GMU (Grant Management Unit) and finance;
- Liaise with Area Managers, Project Managers and Technical Coordinators to ensure that proposals are relevant and technically sound, and integrate learning from previous interventions (e.g. lessons learnt and best practices) into new proposals;
- Liaise with M&E to contribute to the ToRs of assessments to be conducted for proposal development and development of logframes
- Involve operations teams in the development of fundraising documents, particularly finance for the budget and logistics in case of specific donor procurement rules;
- Identify potential relevant international and/or local partners (private sector partners, national and international NGOs, think tanks, academia, etc.) to be included in proposals;
- Analyze the country’s socio-economic situation, donor trends, needs and gaps;
- Maintain active and regular working relationships with donors;
- Maintain active and regular working relationships with other NGOs, UN agencies, clusters, working groups, consortia and academia;
- Regularly update a directory of donors, international and local NGOs, other partners and stakeholders;
- Regularly update a country-tailored donor-engagement tracker identifying donor funding priorities and engagement with DRC;
- Contribute to the reporting to national and local authorities as required by DRC registration/legal status in country;
- In the absence of Technical Coordinators, represent DRC in key clusters and working group meetings.
Contracting:
- Maintain thorough knowledge of assigned DRC grant contracts to ensure understanding of contractual obligations and regulations at both the Juba and field levels, and function as donor-compliance focal point for a determined split of the funding portfolio;
- Contribute to addressing in a timely manner all comments by donors on proposals in liaison with relevant staff in country and DRC HQ GMU and finance;
- Read thoroughly all contracts before signature, seeking DRC HQ GMU and finance advice when required and facilitating signing of grant agreements;
- Ensure that contractual obligations (including visibility requirements) and reporting deadlines are known and met by Programme, M&E and Operations team;
- When any issue is identified in meeting deliverables in the given timeframe and budget, inform relevant staff in country and seek DRC HQ Program Department advice on potential solutions that would meet donor rules.
- Lead on contract amendments (cost extensions, no-cost extensions) and project revisions in coordination with relevant internal stakeholders.
Grants Management System:
- Ensure the Grants Management System (GMS) and internal tracking systems are fully updated for projects in the Grants Specialists’ portfolio. This will include creating new project cards, milestones, instalments, documents, status, outputs, and beneficiary numbers and correcting discrepancies, in close coordination with counterparts in headquarters.
- Support the Reporting Officer and/or other staff in maintaining and regularly updating hard files for all ongoing DRC projects and assist in the coordination and preparation of project documents and files for internal and external audits;
- Provide ad hoc support to programme staff on grants management module in DRC Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.
Reporting:
- Lead the coordination of quality narrative reports for assigned grants, reflecting the progress and status of projects in a transparent, timely and professional manner, in liaison with DRC HQ GMU and finance, which will contribute ultimately to steady cash inflow;
- Work in close relation with M&E to incorporate project data (incl. data on input, process, output, outcome and impact indicators, lessons learnt and best practices) in reports and review M&E reports from M&E;
- Liaise with operations teams when preparing reports, especially with finance to ensure greater coherence between financial and narrative reports by crosschecking the matching of data in the narrative and financial reports;
- Ensure organization of kick-off and close out meetings for each project, present on project-specific donor compliance and reporting, and support in taking meeting minutes and action points for circulation;
- Contribute to the monthly update of the Programme Tracker and Rolling Action Plan (RAP) and ensure smooth and regular communication with DRC HQ and field teams;
- Ensure ad hoc requests from donors are addressed in liaison with the CD, programme and support teams;
Coordination and Communication:
- Facilitate interdepartmental communication and information sharing;
- Keep DRC HQ GMU and finance updated on latest developments, opportunities and challenges so that GMU can best advice on the way forward;
- Contribute to DRC external communication strategy by feeding regularly DRC HQ Communication Department with informal updates on projects, a flash news, pictures, articles on projects progress and/or specific events for DRC communication tools, including, but not limited to, DRC Newsletter, websites and DRC Annual Report;
- Update and design of required communication and visibility tools and publications, their dissemination and availability to DRC teams, as well as the capitalization of media and pictures of the mission.
Other
· Support capacity building of staff on proposal development, reprt writing and other aspects of grants management process.
· Actively contribute to the development of DRC’s programming and technical strategy development in South Sudan
About You
You will demonstrate each of DRC’s five core competencies:
- Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results through the Regional team both to position DRC and ensure excellence in all deliverable.
- Collaborating: You lead regional initiatives and processes by involving relevant parties and encouraging feedback.
- Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.
- Communicating: You listen to other stakeholders and staff; and you communicate concisely and persuasively.
- Demonstrating integrity: You act in line with DRC’s vision and values.
Experience and technical competencies
- A relevant bachelor's degree in international relations, development or related field – or – relevant relatable experience.
- A relevant master’s degree (desirable)
- 2 to 3 years’ experience working in the development or humanitarian sectors or comparable experience - or a master's degree and at least 1-year experience working internationally in the development or humanitarian sector.
- Experience working in South Sudan and other similar contexts
- Ability to engage and coordinate seamlessly with various teams to achieve tasks required
- Detail oriented with excellent English language writing and editing skills.
- Experience in leading development of high value proposals and excellent donor reports writing skills.
- Experience working with European, US and UN donors, ideally including DANIDA, ECHO, OFDA, UNHCR, SDC, or other relevant donors
- Flexibility and adaptability for working under the pressure of multiple deadlines and competing priorities. Key to this characteristic is the ability to prioritize tasks.
- Familiarity with relevant programme areas including protection, camp coordination and camp management, food security and livelihoods, shelter/NFI and/or WASH
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills for engaging regularly with donors, other humanitarian organizations, and both national and expat staff. Cultural sensitivity is essential.
- Experience working effectively in both a team and under minimal supervision.
- Previous experience working in South Sudan or a similar context is preferred.
Desirable qualifications
- Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
- A keen understanding of political complexities in South Sudan context.
- Self-motivated and able to work with a minimum of guidance and supervision.
- Experience working in security-sensitive environments and enforcement of team security protocols is an asset.
Conditions
Salary and conditions will be in accordance with DRC’s Terms of Employment for Expatriates; please refer to www.drc.dk under Vacancies. This position will be placed at Employment Band – G (Non - Management).