Job Description

Key Working Relationships:

•  Position Reports to: Grants Coordinator
•  Indirect Reporting: Deputy Project Coordinator –  PlayMatters
•  Position supervises: N/A

 IRC Summary

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC works with people forced to flee from war, conflict and disaster and the host communities which support them, as well as those who remain within their homes and communities. At work today in over 40 countries and 25 U.S. cities, we improve outcomes in the areas of health, safety, economic wellbeing, education, and power.

 Project Background

PlayMatters (2020-2025) is an education initiative funded through a $100 million grant from the LEGO Foundation. The program reimagines childhood for 800,000+ refugee and host-community children across Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda – children whose education and social development has been affected by displacement and trauma. Building on children’s amazing resilience and a growing evidence base supporting Learning through Play methodologies, PlayMatters cultivates holistic learning for children ages 3-12+. PlayMatters is led by the International Rescue Committee and includes Plan International, War Child Holland, Innovations for Poverty Action, the Behavioral Insights Team in partnership with the LEGO Foundation. 

Position Overview

Reporting directly to the IRC Tanzania Grants Coordinator with an indirect reporting line into the PlayMatters Deputy Project Coordinator, the Grants and Partnership Manager- PlayMatters will be an important member of the PlayMatters Tanzania project team, based in Kasulu supporting the project, grant, and partnership management for PlayMatters in Tanzania. S/he will  serve as the primary liaison to in-country consortium partners, ensuring compliance to donor rules and regulations while maintaining  active and cooperative relationships with all the IRC Regional Project Team (RPT), based in Kampala, and the Tanzania PlayMatters project staff and partners on grant administration and partnership related matters.

 Roles and Responsibilities

 Grants Management

•  Provide overall oversight of the grant administration of the PlayMatters project in Tanzania, including conducting internal and consortium-wide project cycle meetings (Project Opening, Review, Closing, and monthly Budget vs. Actual (BvA) meetings) to enable regular and structured review of project performance;
•  Support the PlayMatters team to ensure that the project is well-administered and implemented in compliance with relevant donor regulations and IRC procedures;
• Monitor and support the IRC project team to properly utilize grant management tools such as: BvAs; work plans; spending plans; and procurement plans, to ensure accurate tracking of implementation and timely alerts of potential challenges/obstacle to in-country and regional project management teams;
• Maintain a broad and deep understanding of donor policies, regulations, and procedures and build this knowledge among appropriate IRC and consortium team members;
• Lead internal and external reporting with program, M&E, research and finance teams, ensuring high-quality, well-written and timely reports meeting donor and IRC requirements;
• Manage in-country reporting timelines, providing reporting support/follow-up when needed, and coordinating internal reviews;
• Work closely with the Finance Officer – PlayMatters and the wider Finance department to monitor budget expenditure rates and provide feedback to project coordination team on key issues related to budget management;
• Maintain project files and grant records, in accordance to IRC Tanzania records maintenance policies;
• Support and maintain project institutional knowledge with relevant staff members;
• Respond to ad-hoc HQ/regional project team, donor and IRC Tanzania staff requests and questions related to compliance and grants management;

Partnerships

• Guide, mentor and support project staff and partners on IRC’s partnership management system (PEERs);
•  Monitor the partners’ annual work and performance plans, in line with the wider project work plan, and ensure that long-term and short-term priorities are on track;
• Work closely with the Regional Project Team (RPT) to support with in-country partners’ monitoring, report review, and other grant-related issues;
• Undertake and organize regular project review meetings with partners to discuss programmatic, operational, and financial progress across the consortium
• Conduct monitoring visits to field locations and provide capacity building and training for field staff on reporting and donor compliance issues as necessary.
•  Coordinate grant related information sharing, meetings, periodical check ins and reviews with project staff and partners
• Support the Tanzania project team and regional project team on all
• Liaise with the RPT regarding all in-country PlayMatters grant management and partnership issues;

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant discipline, master’s degree preferred.
•  At least five years’ experience working in humanitarian or development programs; regional experience preferred.
• Previous experience working with international non-governmental organizations in the area of grant management, proposal development (program narratives and budgets) and donor reporting required.
•  Budget development, management and monitoring skills required, must be able to review and provide feedback on budgets (both internal budget and donor budget templates)
• Superb organization skills; the post holder will need to multi-task and independently manage high risk and high-pressure priorities affecting program sustainability
• Ability to prioritize high volumes of work to meet tight deadlines, while producing high-quality outcomes and attention to detail is a must.
• Consortium management experience is a plus.
• High degree of flexibility, including a willingness to work beyond core hours at times to meet deadlines or in emergency situations.
• Very strong written communication skills; including in reports, proposals and formal and informal correspondence.
• High-level of knowledge and practice with Word, Excel, Outlook, etc. required.
•  Excellent English and Kiswahili: written and verbal communications

 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, 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.

Gender Equality

IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowances.

IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Warning :

Please note that The IRC does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing, training or any other fee). IRC does not request any information related to bank accounts. If asked of any payment please contact [email protected].