Middle-East Regional Awards and Reporting Officer

Description

Position: Middle-East Regional Awards and Reporting Officer

Location: Jordan

Reports: directly to Regional Awards Manager (RAM) with functional line to Senior Regional Program Officer (SRPO)

Duration: 12 months

About Relief International: Relief International (RI) is a leading nonprofit organization working in 16 countries to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and chronic poverty.

Relief International combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Our signature approach — which we call the RI Way—emphasizes local participation, an integration of services, strategic partnerships and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them.

Relief International includes the four members of the RI Alliance in the USA, UK, France, and Belgium.  Under our alliance agreement, we operate under a single, shared management structure with one CEO and one Board of Directors.

About our Programs

RI is active in 16 countries around the world, including some of the most fragile: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen.  Often, RI is the only organization providing assistance to highly vulnerable communities. 

• RI employs 7,000+ staff and auxiliary workers
• 97% of staff are in-country nationals
• We only have some 90 ex-pat staff out of 7,000+
• RI spent $125 million in 2019 on our programs.

RI invests in four broad program sectors:  Economic Opportunity, Education, Health, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).  We design our programs to incorporate The RI Way:  local participation, integrated programming, the development of civic skills, and partnerships including with local NGOs, governments, and the private sector.

RI supports solutions that reinforce and improve upon existing in-country systems. Where such systems do not exist or are chronically underperforming, RI’s crisis response lays the foundation for long-term, sustainable change. 

Key Job Functions:

• Is a key member of the newly established global Awards Management team (direct reporting line to Regional Awards Manager) and Regional Program team (dotted reporting line to Regional Senior Program Officer).
• Focal point for all awards processes (grants and contracts) for the Regional Support Office (RSO). This includes serving as primary point of communication between country offices (COs) and Global Support Office (GSO) on new and existing award management processes.
• Support the Regional Awards Manager in ensuring overall donor compliance of awards among all Country Offices in the Region, providing technical support when requested.
• Support the Regional Senior Program Officer in the review of donor reports and other contractual deliverables, and assist with their submission (as needed) in respective donor portals.   

Drive award management processes

• Support in agreement review process for new awards, engaging all necessary RI staff at Country, Region and headquarters levels.
• Support and co-lead program compliance start-up calls/meetings including developing compliance summaries for new awards. Ensures the readiness for project audits, with a keen eye and special attention to donor compliance.
• Ensure that required sub-agreements for any sub-grantees under RI are appropriately developed and reviewed
• Leads the filing system for awards in Award Management unit (AMU) box folders including ensuring audit-ready file management.
• Participate in portfolio review calls especially ensuring that NCEs (if required) and modifications are triggered in a timely manner
• Triggers the project setup and modification in RI financial database (Netsuite) under the supervision of the Regional Awards Manager.
• Participate in regular pre and award close-out call for compliance, including advising on audit readiness, disposition of equipment, other donor requirement and close-out forms sign-off.
• Works with Awards Management leadership to design, roll out, and maintain the award management system in the Region.
• Liaise with relevant departments for any Award related issues.

Provide support to compliance oversight

Under the Regional Awards Manager’s delegation, guide the Country Offices (particularly Awards Management Focal Points) on donor regulations at key phases of the award cycle, especially:

• Project opening for enhanced projects, in ensuring shared understanding of award obligations and requirements, including donor’s engagements, payment schedules, etc.
• Assist the RAM and SPO to maintain up to date regional Award Tracker (Matrix).
• Provide oversight of country office partner Due Diligence, drafting and review of RI’s partnership and contractual modalities e.g. Teaming Agreement, MOUs and sub-award agreements.
• During implementation, alongside the Regional team, including Program, HR, Operations and Finance staff: reviews donor compliance, including allowable costs, advise on allocation flexibility within the budget, and advise on procurement in coordination with the Operations team.
• Participate to regular Grants Management check-ins with Country Offices together with Regional Program Team and to monthly portfolio/BVA review and advise on compliance issues related to the award status.

Provide support to donor reporting and communications

Under the Regional Senior Program Officer’s delegation and request, contribute to high quality and accurate donor reporting and RSO-led communication initiatives. Specifically, the RARO would:

• Provide thorough reviews and copyediting of key donor reports or contractual deliverables, with a keen attention to detail to ensure content is of high quality, accurate, and consistent prior to final submission.
• Provide constructive feedback through the above-mentioned reviews so as to support RI’s teams in the region further develop and improve reporting as needed.
• Ensure timely and accurate submission under respective donors’ dedicated platforms, upon request from and in coordination with the RSPO.
• Assist with reviews and copyediting of RI internal and external communication material content.

Others:

• Works closely with Country teams and other departments to improve, as needed, processes and tools.
• Any other tasks assigned by the line manager.

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Bachelor Degree required;
• Minimum 2 years’ work experience in grants management for an international organization;
• Knowledge and proven experience with US, European, and other international government

donors;

• Experience tracking award budgets, ensuring donor compliance and timely, accurate spending;
• Experience with grants management software/databases;
• Excellent English narrative writing and oral skills;
• Experience and ability to work within a newly established department and multi-location team;
• Excellent communication skills including written and oral communications;
• Ability to work well under pressure in a fast-paced team environment;
• International work experience in developing countries preferred;
• International travel up to 20% required.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. 

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Relief International is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact. 

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Relief International (RI) is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are

RI Values:

We uphold the Humanitarian Principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and operational independence. We affirmatively engage the most vulnerable communities. We value:

• Inclusiveness
• Transparency and Accountability
• Agility and Innovation
• Collaboration
• Sustainability

How to apply.

• To apply for this post, click on the “Apply” button in the job advert page
• You will be asked to upload a CV and Cover Letter.  The cover letter should be no more than 2 pages long and explain why you are interested in this post with Relief International and how your skills and experience make you a good fit.

Closing date. Please apply immediately we will be reviewing applicants on a rolling basis, therefore may withdraw the position for the job board closing date.

Due to limited resources, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Note to external agencies, we will not be accepting CVs from third parties.

Relief International is committed to protecting our staff and the communities we work with from abuse and harm including sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and sexual harassment.

All staff are expected to abide by our Code of Conduct.

Recruitment to all roles in Relief International include a criminal records self-declaration, references and other pre-employment checks, which may include police and qualifications checks.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Relief International is committed to diversity and gender equality, we strongly encourage applicants from the global south and female candidates to apply.

Are you a returning applicant?