Grants Officer

Job Overview/Summary:

The Grants Officer in our field office is a pivotal role within IRC Ukraine, focusing on efficient grants management, project cycles, and partnerships. This position emphasizes close collaboration with in-country program teams, ensuring compliance with internal and Donor regulations. Beyond traditional responsibilities, the Officer plays a crucial role in optimizing field coordination, streamlining processes, and enhancing communication between departments and external stakeholders at field level in close cooperation with the Field Management Team (FMT). This integrated approach contributes to the success of programs and aligns with IRC’s commitment to impactful and coordinated initiatives.

Main responsibilities

Grants Management

• Track grant milestones, targets, financial allocations, and project timelines to facilitate strategic decision-making at the field-level.
• Support management of the Ukraine Grants and Pipeline tracker, updating it as needed and ensuring continued relevance as a reference tool for the Field Management Team (FMT) and all field staff.

·Maintain an up-to-date, comprehensive database of Donor guidelines relevant to the program portfolio, including support to local partners. Support maintenance and updating of the IRC’s Opportunity Tracking & Implementation System (OTIS).

• With the support of Kyiv grants staff will be the field office focal point for all Donor guidelines, including identification of non-compliance, addressing questions on compliance and ensuring that relevant staff have access to and are familiar with critical Donor compliance.
• Support local partners in understanding and adhering to Donor guidelines, fostering effective collaboration and compliance.
• Keep the Grants Manager and Field Coordinator informed of projected inability to meet contractual obligations, report submission deadlines and spending rates/significant budget variances.
• Provide support and guidance to the partnership team during the project life cycle, fostering effective communication and collaborative decision-making.

Field Coordination

• Assist the Field Management Team (FMT) in the implementation of grants by providing updated and reliable data and advising about compliance considerations.
• Ensure all field office staff have access to grants records and regularly share all relevant grants information and updates, including promoting streamlined and collaborative cross-departmental working processes and environment.
• Serve as a focal point for Donor communication at field level, providing regular updates on project progress, addressing queries, and ensuring transparency in reporting. Coordinate and facilitate Donor and monitor visits to field offices, ensuring logistics and providing necessary support to showcase program impact.
• Collaborate closely with the partnership team to strengthen relationships with local partners, ensuring alignment with IRC’s guidelines and Donors’ expectations.
• Work closely with the program team to assess project effectiveness, providing valuable insights and contributing to continuous improvement initiatives.
• Actively participate in field visits to monitor program activities, ensuring alignment with established metrics and key project indicators.
• In coordination with the FMT, program, partnership and MEAL support identification and collection of regional needs assessments and data from IRC, partners, INGOs and government authorities for new proposals.
• In cooperation with the Partnership focal point, regularly update the list of potential partners.
• Undertake other vital grants management, program development, monitoring and evaluation, communications and external relations activities as requested.

Project Cycle Meetings/Management (PCM):

• Schedule and facilitate regular PCM meetings at field offices, ensuring adherence to IRC standards and guidelines.
• Assist with preparing PCM agendas and slides, facilitate all field level PCMs, write meeting notes/action points, and follow up on action points with relevant departments on as need basis.
• Update relevant PCM documents at the field level such as project dashboards, project summaries, partnership tracker and others.
• As the focal point for the PCM process in the field office, foster a collaborative environment by actively facilitating and engaging all teams, addressing concerns and providing strategic insights during PCM processes.
• Participate in budget management meetings, including monthly review of Budget vs Actual (BVA) reports to address any projected underspend or overspend.
• As needed, train relevant staff and partners on PCM and reporting.
• Support project management and oversight of deliverables of all grants/projects and contribute to conduct quality assurance of project implementation.
• Participate in all relevant PCM meetings at the national level, serving as link between the field and capital office to ensure consistency of data between the two levels.

Reporting

• Work closely with program and finance teams to collect accurate and timely data to develop high-quality Donor reports. Ensure all required documents are included, completed, correct, and approved by the respective program Coordinators and country management.
• Consolidate inputs from the respective project stakeholders, revise them and submit to relevant central grants or program teams.
• Ensure that the FMT is informed of the final inputs shared with the central grants or program teams.
• Participate in collaborative efforts with program and finance teams to enhance reporting templates, making them more efficient and aligned with organizational goals. Support the Grants Manager to ensure that information on all Donor communications, regulation changes, and meetings or events are disseminated as needed.
• Act as a liaison between the Grants team and other departments to disseminate information on Donor communications, regulatory changes, and upcoming events.
• Collaborate with communications and MEAL staff to capture lessons learned from program implementation, and if needed collection of case stories.

Proposal Development and Fundraising

• Assist with research and information gathering relative to proposal design and business development.
• Keep track of all Donor engagement, new opportunities, pipelines and submissions.
• Support process coordination around proposal development, including writing and reviewing relevant sections and working with relevant departments.
• Under the supervision of the Grants Coordinator and Field Coordinator, identify and support the development of Donor relationships at the field level.
• Support the development of external communication tools as relevant for Donor visits/meetings on IRC Ukraine as a whole and IRC Ukraine programs in particular.
• Contribute to all aspects of the proposal development process – including compilation/editing of the technical narrative, development of budgets and budget narratives, drafting of required annexes, etc.

Key Working Relationships

Position Reports to: Field Coordinator
Works closely with: Field Program teams, MEAL teams, Finance teams, Partnership teams and Operation teams

Indirect Reporting: Grants Manager and Grants Coordinator in Kyiv

Job Requirements

Work experience:

·1-2 year of relevant work experience, preferably in an NGO, international organization or Ministry.

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

·Strong experience with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint Excel, and Outlook.

·Strong organizational and time-management skills; proven ability to prioritize and deliver on time.

·Ability to manage competing priorities, meet demanding deadlines and work under pressure in unstable security environments.

·Excellent verbal and written communication skills as well as an overall ability to be clear and concise in all communications.

·Excellent interpersonal and intercultural skills.

·Ability to work both independently and in a dynamic, cross-functional global team structure.

Education:

·Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in International Affairs, Development, International Political Economy, Political Science, Social Science or another relevant subject.

Language skills:

·Fluency in English, spoken and written is required.

·Strong writing and editing skills in English with close attention to detail is required.

·Fluency in Ukrainian or Russian is required.

Preferred experience & skills:

·Experience with project management is considered a strong advantage.

·Strong analytical problem-solving skills

·Flexibility to adapt to changing requirements.

·Demonstrated ability to work effectively with stakeholders at all levels.

·Ability to manage and work through change in a proactive and positive manner.

·Familiarity with international donors, fundraising and grants management is considered an advantage.

Professional Standards

The International Rescue Committee is determined to protect the people it serves and staff from all kinds of harm, including sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment. It is committed to take all necessary preventive measures and create an environment where people feel safe. IRC builds diverse and inclusive teams of professionals who promote critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity to deliver the best possible services to our clients.

IRC workers must adhere to the core values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct.  These are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces its safeguarding policies to protect adult and child clients from any form of exploitation and abuse, including sexual exploitation and abuse, and its staff from sexual harassment and violence.

Where misconduct is alleged, IRC follows a Zero tolerance approach and takes all necessary actions and corrective measures. IRC investigation unit comprises of experts and trained investigators that ensures professional survivor-centered investigations are conducted if allegations of safeguarding violations are reported through the safe and accessible reporting channels that IRC makes available to its staff, partners, and clients.

These commitments are set out in IRC’s Safeguarding Policies, accessible in English and in Ukrainian language via this link: https://rescue.box.com/v/irc-safeguarding-policies.

IRC is an active member of the Inter-Agency Working Group on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) set-up in Ukraine.