Program Development and Awards Advisor, WACAR

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

The IRC is seeking two (2) Program Development & Award Advisors.  These positions are open to candidates in the West and Central Africa Region (WACAR), or other IRC locations in GMT and EAT time zones, who have significant experience working in West and Central Africa countries. Candidates based in these countries are encouraged to apply.

BACKGROUND

Over the past 80 years, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has developed unparalleled expertise in responding to emergencies and helping uprooted communities to rebuild. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC’s mission is to help people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. The International Rescue Committee is on the ground in more than 40 countries, providing emergency relief and rebuilding lives in the wake of disaster. Through 28 regional offices in cities across the United States, the IRC also helps refugees resettle in the US and become self-sufficient. The IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and, most crucially, accountability to those we serve. The IRC is a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable. 

Crisis Response, Recovery and Development Department (CRRD)

The Crisis Response, Recovery and Development Department (CRRD) have a growing portfolio of humanitarian relief, post-crisis recovery, and development programs under their remit. This work focuses support in five key areas: ensuring safety from harm, improving health, increasing access to education, improving economic well-being and ensuring people have the power to influence decisions that affect their lives. In all these programs, there is a drive to address the unique needs of women and girls (who represent the majority of those displaced) – and the universal barriers they face.

The Awards Management Unit (AMU) is one of four pillars within CRRD. The unit is responsible for identifying, securing, and supporting the management of all funding from statutory/government donors. The AMU is a bridge between donors and country programs: providing expert technical advice to the country teams, while maintaining portfolio-level visibility to ensure consistency and compliance and manage risk. This pillar ensures that donor compliance policies and procedures are implemented consistently and supports all staff working across the award management cycle for all restricted funding from global government sources. 

West and Central Africa Regional Overview

The West and Central Africa Region (WACAR) supports effective, efficient, and high-quality programming by strengthening capacity around client outcomes, program quality, strategic positioning, and business development. It addresses overlapping humanitarian and development challenges—conflict, weak governance, and environmental degradation—through integrated, impactful approaches. 

WACAR prioritizes cross-learning, innovation, and harmonized technical strategies, especially in high-need areas. It ensures continuity of care and coordinated service delivery for clients on the move, while advancing strategic donor engagement through cohesive fundraising and regional collaboration. 

The regional team responds swiftly to country program needs, filling critical gaps and navigating access constraints, emergencies, and security shifts. It amplifies client and frontline voices to inform global advocacy and fosters strong team cohesion to enhance program delivery. WACAR focuses on cost-efficient and adaptive approaches to the evolving humanitarian and donor landscape, with a clear focus on resourcing country programs. 

WACAR comprises Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon and CAR, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Mali, Niger, Nigeria. 

The Purpose of the Role

As part of the Regional Program and Award Support (RPAS) team, the PDAAs oversee a diverse portfolio of awards across the humanitarian, recovery, and development sectors. PDAAs liaise with country programs, HQ departments and donor contacts to ensure high-quality guidance and support to country offices throughout the award lifecycle.

These roles will support country programs in the West and Central Africa region (WACAR) with donor compliance, award management, and producing high-quality donor deliverables. They will advise on IRC’s partnership system (PEERS), manage donor relationships including with HQ counterparts.

In addition, these roles will support WACAR country programs in securing funding for their programmes, through supporting and leading pursuit of new funding opportunities, in line with IRC’s Business Development Strategy. Support includes all phases of the business development process, from opportunity identification to contract signature, including pre-positioning, partnerships building, proposal development, and due diligence phases.

Successful candidates will have a strong track record of contributing to new humanitarian and development funding opportunities, deep knowledge of donor rules and regulations, and experience collaborating with local partner organizations.

Scope and Authority

These roles have no line management responsibilities.

Key Working Relationships

These positions will report jointly to the Senior Program and Awards Advisor (SPAA) and the Head of Business Development (HBD) for the WACAR region  and work closely with RPAS team members, country program grants and partnership teams, and across all teams within the Awards Management Unit, Crisis Response Recovery and Development Department, Global Supply Chain, Finance, Office of General Counsel, Technical Excellence, and other key departments within IRC. PDAAs also serve as donor and partner points of contact as applicable per region.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Awards Management and Compliance

• Manage a portfolio of awards for the WACAR region as assigned.
• Provide timely support on narrative reporting and post-award deliverables, guiding country offices on amendments, modifications, and submissions while collaborating with technical and financial staff.
• Provide support on budget realignments, changes in scope, NCEs, and other amendments for project elements not captured at proposal stage or emerging needs.
• Serve as first point of contact for country program-based awards staff to problem solve, guide and advise them on compliance post-award issues within the mentioned portfolio and to act as a connecting point between country program and other AMU teams to facilitate the timely flow of key information between them.
• Manage donor relationships by maintaining communication on contractual issues, updates on program implementation and following up on compliance queries and securing changes and approvals as needed.
• With support from the Program & Awards Officer (PAO), guide and coach country offices on partner management policies and PEER system compliance, and review and process sub-grants/partnership agreements. Coordinate with the Sub-awards and Partnerships (S&P) team as needed.
• Provide support to and monitor projects to ensure compliance with donor guidelines and IRC internal requirements. Monitoring awards can take the shape of monitoring visits, project implementation meetings and targeted calls following specific donor internal guidelines and IRC established processes.
• In collaboration with other regional team members, monitor award spending and help problem-solve for under-/over-spending. Partner with country programs and regional team as needed, to address implementations challenges.
• Provide technical advice to country offices on ad-hoc queries on donor compliance issues in coordination with AMU’s Compliance and Policy team on non-routine and high-level compliance matters and escalate to leadership for support as needed.
• Take part in meetings and calls with country teams where required to provide support and collaborate closely on specific issues related to donor compliance, submissions and/or monitoring/award management.
• Ensure lessons learned from finalized projects are fed back into new Business Development.
• Advise and support country programs appropriately to enable them to successfully follow internal IRC policies and procedures and maintain the integrity of awards-related data (e.g. OTIS, PEERS).
• Stay informed about programmatic issues and security and political developments affecting implementation.
• Coordinate with other members of the Regional Program and Award Support (RPAS) Team and other AMU members for information sharing and establishing a coherent awards support.
• Ensure proper donor-related and contractual documentation to support compliance and audit readiness (including maintaining up-to-date, organized award files).
• Participate in the recruitment of and the onboarding of new CP Grants Coordinators/Heads of Grants teams. 

• Contribute to the development of training materials, and deliver training to in-country staff, as required and in coordination with the Director, Awards Management (DAM) and Program and Award Support (PAS) team leaders. In coordination with the DAM and PAS leaders, develop and maintain work-processes and checklists for award implementation and report review, as well as record lessons learned.
• Onboard new country office Grants and Partnerships staff and new PAS team members to assigned donors, policies and/or IRC processes, as requested.
• Mentor and coach Grants and Partnerships staff on IRC systems and processes to ensure capacity is built at country level.

• Contribute to AMU and regional strategic priorities and initiatives.

• Other duties as assigned by supervisor.

Business Development  

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• Help drive business development in the region by providing effective proposal support, ranging from direct proposal management to light quality assurance.
• Support country offices with donor engagement, intel sharing and positioning with prioritized donors in the PDAA portfolio; prepare for and participate in donor calls as needed.
• Represent IRC externally at country-specific meetings, with donors and stakeholder networks in donor capitals as needed.
• Coordinate proposal development, including sharing initial assessments of new opportunities, preparing timelines, ensuring the proposal team adheres to deadlines, supporting recruitment, assisting in budget development, ensuring document completion, organizing meetings and compiling notes, and drafting and proofreading proposal sections.

• Collaborate with regional technical leads and technical advisors, country offices, and other colleagues to support conceptualization of winning proposals and designs for new project activities and/or amendments to current projects.
• Provide quality assurance and quality compliance support on proposals. Ensure responsiveness to and compliance with solicitation documents and with IRC’s requirements, including the PEER system.
• Lead or support coordination, communication, and inputs from consortium partners in accordance with donor and IRC processes.
• Coordinate and support regional reviews and approvals of proposal packages depending on country and regional needs. This includes partners’ packages if applicable.
• Review agreements to ensure accurateness and highlight key compliance requirements, in coordination with compliance and country grants teams and support in award negotiation and hand-over as required.

• Work with RPAS to incorporate lessons learned from implementation at the proposal stage.
• Maintain complete and accurate electronic files, including final submission packages and internal trackers.
• Deploying offices to lead proposal development as available and needed.
• Facilitate internal post-submission debrief sessions with country teams, technical units, regional team and other relevant stakeholders to collect lessons learned.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications:

• Degree, preferably in a subject related to IRC’s work (International Relations, Refugee or Migration Studies, Development Studies, Public Policy) or equivalent experience
• **Fluency in English and French, both spoken and written
• **Good understanding of humanitarian aid and development programming
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a diverse team and handle a multifaceted workload
• Good financial management and budgeting skills
• Ability to analyze and synthesize information
• Proven organizational skills, detail-oriented, ability to prioritize tasks, and to learn quickly
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: the ability to successfully and effectively liaise with people within and across departments in a multi-cultural environment.
• Ability to work independently in a very fast paced environment
• A flexible and calm work attitude
• International work experience in the Global South is a plus
• Excellent IT skills (Word, Outlook, Excel)
• Ability to travel internationally, sometimes on short notice and to insecure areas (15%)

Experience:

• **Experience with and a strong understanding of institutional donors’ compliance requirements, e.g. UN, World Bank, US government, and/or European government donors (experience with all is not required, but a good mix would be a strong asset)

• Working at a distance and supporting country-based staff
• **Writing, reviewing and editing narrative and financial reports and excellent attention to detail

• **Working on new funding opportunities in the humanitarian and international development sectors with a range of multilateral and bilateral donors (FCDO, EU and ECHO, GFFO, BMZ, Sida, SDC, World Bank, US Department of State, etc.), as well as experience collaborating with local partner organizations.
• Experience with strategies and proposal processes of key government/statutory donors – US, UK, EU, German, Scandinavian, etc.

Compensation (UK): (GBP 52,210 -GBP 58,000). Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget.  Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements

Professional Standards: All International Rescue Committee workers must adhere to the core values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. Our Standards are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Safeguarding, Conflicts of Interest, Fiscal Integrity, and Reporting Wrongdoing and Protection from Retaliation. IRC is committed to take all necessary preventive measures and create an environment where people feel safe, and to take all necessary actions and corrective measures when harm occurs. IRC builds teams of professionals who promote critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity to deliver the best possible services to our clients.

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