IRC Program & Award Advisor, Technical & Global Jobs in Kenya
The Purpose of the Role
The Program and Award Advisor plays a vital role within the Global Program and Award Support Team overseeing an award portfolio of humanitarian relief and post-crisis recovery programs. The Program and Award Advisor liaises with country programs, Implementing Units, HQ departments and donor contacts to ensure high quality guidance and support throughout the award lifecycle.
The role works with Implementing Units (Technical Excellence, Research & Innovation Lab, and Emergency Units) to ensure compliance with donor rules and regulations and IRC systems and processes and leads on the review and submission of high-quality donor deliverables. The Program and Award Advisor represents the region and country offices to internal and external stakeholders and manages donor relationships.
Key Accountabilities
Awards Management and Compliance
• Oversee a portfolio of awards for the Global region. Main donors in portfolio will include USG & UN but may also include other donors as assigned.
• Serve as the first point of contact for country office and other Implementing Units Grants and Partnerships teams and provide guidance and support on matters related to donor compliance and communication, project management (e.g. project cycle meetings), OTIS and partnerships (PEERS).
• Participate in in regular meetings with country offices and other Implementing Units to provide support and collaborate with country program teams on issues related to donor compliance, submissions of reports and other post award deliverables, and/or monitoring/awards management.
• Guide country offices and other Implementing Units in managing partnerships with local or international partners, ensuring that IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS) is being followed, review and process sub-grant/partnership agreements in alignment with PEERS, and coordinate with the compliance team in supporting compliant and effective partnerships as needed.
• Review agreements and lead negotiation of award terms and conditions with donor counterparts in alignment with internal processes.
• Guide country offices and Implementing Units, in partnership with other relevant departments, in the development and submission of award amendments/modifications, ensuring high-quality, compliant submissions.
• Provide support to and monitoring of projects to ensure progress against objectives and compliance with donor guidelines and IRC internal requirements. Monitoring of awards can take the shape of monitoring visits, participation in project implementation meetings and other regular calls.
• Facilitate and build interdepartmental relationships to address country office/Implementing Units needs and solve problems in relation to awards management, partnership management and compliance.
• Maintain a strong relationship with regional and AMU leadership and escalate issues of concern as needed
• Supervise direct reports in carrying out necessary functions as they relate to country program/Implementing Units support
• Stay informed about programmatic issues and security and political developments and how they might affect program implementation
• Coordinate with PAAs for other regions for information sharing and to establish a coherent program support and backstopping function between headquarters and the field.
• Travel to country offices/Implementing Units to provide
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