Regional Awards Management Coordinator for Afghanistan

Since August 2021, IRC’s portfolio in Afghanistan has grown three-fold, and it is poised to continue growing. The Regional Awards Coordinator for Afghanistan will provide critical strategic advice, elevated support, and award backstopping for the Afghanistan country program, helping establish systems that ensure high-quality, well-coordinated, and compliant award management. The Regional Awards Coordinator will liaise with the Asia Regional Program Support Team (RPST), all departments in Afghanistan, and relevant regional and HQ colleagues (e.g. finance, compliance, supply chain, etc.) to help manage the expansion of the award portfolio in the areas of grant and partnership management, donor compliance and proposal development.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

• Support the country Grants and Partnerships teams to manage the portfolio expansion, e.g., strengthening grants processes, providing heightened reviews, ad hoc onboarding and training of new staff on IRC policies and systems, etc.

• Advise Grants and Partnerships teams on optimal team structure, strategic preparation for Go-No-Go decisions or Project Cycle Meetings, and conscious, effective coordination across departments.

• Advise in the growth of IRC’s Afghanistan partnership portfolio, supporting the development of a partner strategy, stakeholder mapping, partnership working group, and similar structures.

• Liaise with other departments (i.e. finance, supply chain, compliance or legal) to navigate and resolve complex issues such as licensing, vetting, sanctions or slow burn rates.

• Provide surge and gap-fill support to the country Grants and Partnerships teams on award management and proposals.

• Backstop Asia RPST colleagues for specific Afghanistan tasks or reviews (e.g. review reports during heavy reporting periods, support with modifications, budget realignments, etc.).

• Identify standard and coordinated ways to collaborate with the in-country and regional Finance teams to monitor project burn rates and support the grants and finance teams to monitor overall country spending.

• In coordination with the Grants and Partnerships teams and designated Project Leads, streamline the adoption and implementation of IRC’s Project Cycle Meetings (PCM) approach across the portfolio.

• Track and analyze information on donor compliance restrictions specific to Afghanistan and help the country and regional team manage these restrictions. Produce operational learning (a reference tool) to help the team respond to future donor compliance requirements in Afghanistan and the region.

• Advise the Grants team in the development of Award Compliance Factsheets. Conduct donor compliance training and onboarding sessions as required.

• Support with donor due diligence at the proposal stage (e.g. FCDO, GIZ, etc.).

• Support the country team with start-up of new grants.

• Support the Grants teams in their review and use of data, including accurate review and monitoring of MEAL indicator progress to enhance accurate donor reporting.

• Support the partnership team with partner due diligence, agreement development, partner monitoring, etc., as requested.

• Develop and or update project descriptions, country factsheets, briefing reports, or PowerPoint presentations as needed for internal stakeholders, donors, or external presentations.

• Proofread and copy-edit proposals, reports and other documents, as needed.

Professional Qualifications and Requirements

• Minimum of five years’ experience in grants, program implementation, capacity sharing, organizational learning and/or related work required, and progressive managerial and/or advisory experience strongly preferred.

• Thorough knowledge of humanitarian project cycle management, grant management and proposal development best practices with demonstrated experience in integrating this theme into programming.

• Familiarity with key institutions and donors (e.g ECHO, USAID/BHA, DOS/PRM, USAID, GFFO, UN).

• Collaborative, team management style; ability to work well in diverse, multi-cultural team settings.

• Exceptional interpersonal and communications skills.

• Significant capacity for process thinking and systems development.

• Fluency in English and strong English language writing skills required.

• If based remotely, must be willing to travel to Afghanistan if the situation allows (potential for ~20% travel).

Standards for Professional Conduct: The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Equality, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation