***THIS ROLE IS OPEN TO INTERNAL CANDIDATS ONLY***
Background:
IRC’s Crisis Response, Recovery & Development department (CRRD) leads and delivers the IRC’s work in crisis-affected contexts around the world. In FY24, we served over 36M crisis-affected people with high quality humanitarian programming. This was achieved by over 16,000 staff across 350 office in 40+ countries, working to deliver more than 600 individual grants and contracts and an annual budget in excess of $830M.
The Awards Management Unit (AMU) is responsible for identifying, securing and managing all funding from public institutional (government and multilateral) donors for the IRC. AMU is a bridge between donors and the IRC’s work on the ground. The team leads donor engagement, provides expert technical advice to colleagues delivering our services around the world, ensures consistency and compliance with donor policies and procedures, and manages associated risk. The unit also supports all IRC staff working on awards from public donors and partnerships. AMU supports a grants and contracts portfolio of $750M over the past year, with total value in excess of $1B.
Job Overview/Summary:
The VP of Awards Management supports the delivery of IRC’s Strategy 100 by leading our relationship with CRRD’s public institutional donors, who represent 90% of departmental revenues. S/he will steer IRC’s strategy for public institutional donor funding, playing a key role in the way IRC responds to the changing public funding landscape in the humanitarian sector. Working closely with program leaders, the VP is responsible for building, maintaining and strengthening relationships with these donors and positioning IRC as a partner of choice for delivering programs that support those whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and crisis. This means working to expand IRC’s portfolio and diversify our relationships, as well as supporting the successful and compliant management and implementation of these awards.
The VP sets the direction for CRRD’s long-term public funding priorities and goals in alignment with programmatic priorities. As member of CRRD’s Senior Management Team, s/he is a key contributor to the overall management of the department and works closely with other senior leaders to steer the organization towards the achievements of its Strategy. The VP is responsible for providing strategic leadership and direction to a globally distributed team of 100+ staff across the IRC.
Key Responsibilities:
Donor Engagement & Business Development: Lead highly effective public institutional donor engagement and business development for CRRD programs to maximize and optimize funding which supports our strategic priorities and our quality standards.
Drive public donor engagement – ensure the department prioritizes initiatives to target, expand and optimize income; and cultivate and grow relationships with existing and new donors. Ensure that donor engagement is informed by and leverages the breadth of expertise across all CRRD teams. Manage top level donor relationships and consortium partnerships and take the lead in critical donor negotiations for key funding opportunities, current awards and donor policies and regulations.Oversee and where needed, represent IRC in efforts to inform and influence relevant donor policies and regulations.Provide donor analysis and donor trends to guide leadership decision making on new donor opportunities, identify risks to donor funding, to inform responsive donor strategies. Collaborate with CRRD and External Relations leadership to proactively influence donor strategies and decisions. Represent IRC in external fora in support of our advocacy and influence agenda. Identify opportunities to expand and diversify funding opportunities with existing and new donors through prioritizing improved decision making and governance as well as upskilling the workforce.Ensure that business development decision-making and proposal development processes are strategic, efficient and collaborative. Ensure regular reviews of business development systems, processes and practice to improve efficiency and effectiveness.Partner with External Relations to strengthen synergies and collaboration across public and private fundraising.
Program Awards Management: Ensure that donor grants and contracts are managed successfully to deliver both strong positive outcomes for clients and high donor satisfaction.
Assure timely, quality and compliant execution and management of awards, in partnership with the relevant CRRD VPs.Ensure teams have the necessary expertise and competencies to support delivery of all types of awards, promoting appropriate consistency of responsibilities and processes across awards management functions, and learning and uptake of best practices. Ensure that awards are executed in accordance with all relevant donor and regulatory compliance requirements and that processes are in place to identify and mitigate risks. Ensure that sub-wards are developed, executed and managed in a timely and compliant way, and in full alignment with IRC’s partnership commitments. Oversee awards management systems and processes which are efficient, inclusive and integrated with other departmental processes. Partner with External Relations to strengthen synergies and collaboration in the management and oversight of public and private funding.
Leadership: Lead and motivate a globally distributed team to ensure consistent achievement of strategic results and a culture that reflects IRC’s values of Service, Integrity, Accountability and Equality.
Lead and develop a high performing team to advance the vision, objectives and goals of AMU and in line with IRC’s Leadership Standards.Strengthen AMU integration in CRRD, identifying both structural and non-structural opportunities to break down silos, build partnerships and cultivate a ‘one CRRD’ identity. Provide leadership, assurance and clarity through periods of change, representing the voice of AMU and its strategy within CRRD and IRC leadership. Ensure visibility and representation of public and institutional funding perspectives to inform decisions and shape IRC strategic priorities.Promote a workplace environment that values and fosters collaboration, agility, learning and accountability, in which staff are empowered and supported to solve problems, take appropriate risks and drive progress towards results with a client-focused, action-oriented spirit. Lead AMU and wider efforts to advance diversity, representation and inclusion, and to develop a team culture in which every staff member feels safe, respected, valued, supported, and encouraged to bring their full authentic selves to work.Set departmental standards for operational excellence and promote consistent implementation and application of business processes, technical advice, and systems, including driving the adoption of new technologies in our awards management work.Maintain and build excellent cross-functional relationships within CRRD and across IRC, with all relevant support departments.Actively contribute to departmental and organizational leadership as a member of the CRRD Senior Management Team and the IRC Senior Leaders Group.
Key Working Relationships:
Internal: CRRD SMT members; peers in other departments; Leadership Board.
External: Donor representatives and counterparts in peer organizations.
Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:
12+ years (at least 3 at senior level) progressive experience or proven background in grants management and business development; humanitarian experience preferredDemonstrated ability in dealing with and understanding public institutional donorsA convener and influencer of people and senior level stakeholders who has significant experience working in a matrix environment with dual reporting lines10+ years working in a large, multi-national environment with consideration to cultures and contextsSomeone who has vision and implementation skills to shape AMU to meet IRC’s goalsLeadership skills and ability to manage, develop and engage a diverse team in multiple locationsSomeone who can work from a top-level strategy down to a deep understanding of the data and details and can then incorporate that into strong decision makingExcellent communication and interpersonal skillsAbility to work well under pressure in a fast paced and changing environment with multiple stakeholdersReceptive and collaborative leadership approach that contributes to a positive team environmentDemonstrated experience undertaking strategic planning and leading teams through change.Fluent in English, additional languages including French, Arabic or Spanish are a plusWorking Environment:
Standard office working environment Regular international travel
Compensation: Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.
Equal Opportunity Employer: 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.
US Benefits: We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days depending on role and tenure, medical insurance starting at $143 per month, dental starting at $6.50 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with immediately vested matching, disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.
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Standard of Professional Conduct:The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.