Background

The Central and West Africa Regional Office (CWARO) located in Dakar, Senegal, supports and provides oversight to NRC’s country programmes in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria. All countries are experiencing a deterioration of the security situation, increasing humanitarian needs and displacements due to conflict. NRC’s programmes and advocacy support families affected by conflict in the shelter, food security and livelihoods, education, water and sanitation, camp management, and legal assistance sectors. NRC has over 1,300 employees working on the NRC regional response.

The Regional Programme Department comprises a Core Competency and Thematic Unit, and a Programme Development and Support Unit (PDSU). The Regional Roving Grants Manager is a member of the PDSU, which provides guidance for strategic programme development and resource mobilization, and technical support for project cycle management, working collaboratively with the Regional Support Unit, Regional Risk & Compliance Unit, Regional Advocacy, the global Programme Development and Support Section in HO, and with Heads of Programme and Grants teams in Country Offices.  The PDSU also takes the lead regionally on other areas as assigned.

The Regional Roving Grants Manager, is a home-based position and managed by the Regional Head of Programme Development and Support, is responsible for contributing to the achievement of quality programming in the region through business development and grants management from the country offices. The post holder will also provide advice, guidance and capacity building support to country staff and partners.

RESPONSIBILITIES

What you will do:

The Regional Roving Grants Manager will contribute to achieving quality programming by closely supporting the country office in ensuring effective grants management. This includes internal and donor compliance requirements, timely and quality grant reporting, revision and review, proposal development, acting as the focal point for the key mandatory activities under NRC’s Project Cycle Management (PCM). S/he ensures that country teams are informed of relevant donor compliance regulations and NRC procedures, manages donor and other external reporting, and coordinates grant revisions. The role provides strategic support to CO grants units, liaise with key stakeholders inside NRC and externally, if requested.

The Roving Grants Manager is deployed for missions from one to three months on average, upon request from a Country Office and validation by the Regional Office. Specific ToR are drafted for the deployment and validated on both sides.

A) Funding identification and proposal development

1. Contribute to identification of new funding opportunities and provide support to development of funding proposals, working collaboratively with country and regional office colleagues.
2. Build collaborative working relationships with programme and grants management teams in country offices to coordinate and support the development of high-quality funding and partnership proposals, using relevant NRC Grant Management tools and guidance (Go/No-go checklist, proposal development calendar, procurement plan, internal budgeting tool).
3. Contribute to the development and revision processes for RO and CO donor strategy and business plans
4. Work collaboratively with budget holders, programme teams and finance as well as other stakeholder to compile accurate proposal budgets, that reflect NRC standards for resourcing, and assess whether all necessary costs have been included.

B) Grant Agreement

1. Contribute to the review of donor contracts, working with legal and risk and compliance colleagues, and flag any points that might challenge NRC’s procedures, and support contract negotiations.
2. Liaise and work with Institutional Partnerships Advisers and other relevant colleagues to ensure the country offices are provided with clear guidance on key reporting and compliance requirements (compliance checklist) including potential issues for Grant Opening Meetings.
3. Coordinate with respective budget holders and finance in order to ensure budgets are correctly allocated and aligned.
4. Work with the relevant COs to ensure Grant Opening Meetings are arranged and take place within 30 days of the grant being activated and all mandatory documents are in place (internal logframe, internal budget, procurement plan, work-plan, M&E matrix).
5. Work with the relevant COs to ensure clarity about the arrangements for the multi-country grant, including allocation of funds, allocation of roles and accountabilities in terms of grants management and reporting

C) Donor reporting and monitoring

1. Coordinate the finalisation of donor reports ensuring consistency between narrative and financial reports and that they meet quality standards.
2. Highlight critical financial issues such as under/overspends to finance, budget holders, and Area Managers, and follow up in writing when discussed verbally.
3. Provide technical support to relevant CO CC Specialists and budget holders on monitoring issues and budget revising (if required).
4. Collaborate with the finance team to ensure donor budget lines as per the contract are in line with the financial system (i.e., amounts have not changed as a result of new income instalments at different rates being received).
5. Monitor grant payment schedules and income requests for respective portfolio, working closely with finance to ensure this is done in a timely manner.

D) Donor Compliance

1. Be familiar with all NRC organizational and donor portfolio compliance requirements and ensure high quality management of grants through meeting of KPIs and deadlines.
2. Support and advise programme colleagues with queries related to donor compliance on grants within portfolio.
3. Work with other departments (i.e., programmes, finance, M&E, Compliance) to ensure all documentation required is ready and available for audits (e.g., vouchers, distribution lists)
4. Coordinate Grant Closure Meetings to identify and resolve problems, and Close Out of grants in respective portfolio.
5. Assist in training and capacity building related to NRC Grants Management/donor compliance as required.

E) Advice, support and capacity building

1. Contribute to capacity building of staff and partners, as required, including PCM support and delivery of PCM trainings
2. Provide an internal help-desk on donor related issues, including donor rules and regulations, proposal and report writing, working in partnership as required with colleagues in Partnerships and Policy
3. Identify gaps in quality and practice, and common development needs in relation to grants management within COs and work collaboratively with colleagues (regional, HO, OD/PCM Adviser) on development of learning initiatives to build skills and capacity

QUALIFICATIONS

What you will bring:

• Minimum 5 years of experience of donor relations and grants management within a relevant context (e.g., with institutional humanitarian and development donors)
• Knowledge of institutional donors’ rules, regulations, priorities, and compliance requirements – BHA, NMFA, SIDA, ECHO, UNHCR, WFP, etc.
• Track record of report and proposal development, or similar in funding or partnerships, working with multiple donors and consortia
• Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts, with preference for previous experience working with displaced populations
• Strong planning and organisational skills, including ability to coordinate the inputs of self and others to meet a variety of deadlines for different proposal, budgetary and reporting requirements.
• Good interpersonal skills, and ability to build collaborative working relationships with a wide range of colleagues internally and externally.
• Good cultural awareness and sensitivity
• Highly proficient computing skills, including all Microsoft office (word, excel, ppt), online/cloud-based information management and sharing systems, and databases

Context related skills, knowledge, and experience

• Ability to build staff capacity in grants management in country offices.
• Willingness to travel to field offices and work in difficult environments as required
• Fluency in English and French, both written and verbal

Please find the full job description here.

Female candidates are strongly encouraged to join our work culture that empowers every employee to share ideas and take responsibility. At NRC we think outside the box. We encourage ideas and give responsibility to all employees at all levels, to help solve the complex issues that we face. You will have many opportunities to be heard and take the initiative.

What we offer:

1. Contract  of 12 months months
2. Grade 9 in NRC scale
3. Location: Homebased with travels in the Region up to 75%
4. Potential start date: January 2024
5. An opportunity to match your career to a compelling cause
6. A chance to meet and work with people who are the best in their fields

DEADLINE TO APPLY: 16/11/2023

Find out more about the benefits of working for NRC

Important information about the application process

• Internal candidates only: please click on the suitcase icon labelled “I am an employee” to be redirected to NRC’s internal careers site.
• When creating your profile, include your full name as given on your passport. Complete all the system-required fields for experience, employment history and education.
• Submit your application and CV in English or French, taking care to attach your latest CV.
• Applications that do not meet the minimum standards in terms of experience or qualifications will generally not be considered. Unsolicited applications not related to this specific job advertisement will not be considered.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. We receive many applicants for each vacant position.
• If you have any questions about this role, please email [email protected] with the job title as the subject line.

Why NRC?

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee. Our 15,000 staff work in crises across 40 countries, providing life-saving and long-term assistance to millions of people every year.

Watch this short video to see NRC in action.

We are looking for people who are passionate about helping refugees and people forced to flee. Are you one of those people? If you are, NRC offers you the opportunity to:

• do demanding and professional work, often in challenging contexts
• join a work culture that empowers every employee to share ideas and take responsibility
• be part of a welcoming and supportive community committed to human dignity

Learn more about NRC