Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact. The Grants Manager will support the program department as the point person for communicating Mercy Corps humanitarian activities through donor reports. This includes collation of information from each operational department into concise and clear narratives, supported by statistical evidence and case studies. The Grants Manager must develop and possess an understanding of compliance and reporting format requirements for each donor and communicate those to program teams as needed. They will also serve as the focal point to ensure compliance with Mercy Corps internal systems of Program Management @ Mercy Corps (PM@MC) and must possess a basic understanding of internal standards in monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) and accountability. They are an integral part of the Mercy Corps team working inside Syria as well as the Whole of Syria grants unit and are expected to have a strong operational understanding of all activities and strategy. They will also be the point person for drafting new proposals and dev eloping the initial narrative and budget requirements, in close collaboration with the Grants Management Senior Manager in Amman. As such, the Grants Manager is expected to liaise across all departments. Finally, they will be the primary contact for internal communications within Mercy Corps on key program activities, success stories and other useful updates for the broader Mercy Corps audience. The Grants Manager will work under the direct supervision of the Grants Management Senior Manager , as well as working relationships with the relevant Director of Programs , Finance, Program Performance and Quality ( PaQ ), Program Managers, S ecurity and all other field departments in coordinating all grants/reporting-related tasks. Additionally, the Grants Manager will coordinate closely with the Regional Program Team in Mercy Corps’ H eadquarters in both Portland/DC, USA and Edinburgh, UK. Essential Job Responsibilities GRANTS MANAGEMENT Coordinate the preparation of accountable donor and internal reporting in compliance with internal and donor requirements, ensuring timely inputs from program, PaQ , finance and operations teams, and ensure review and signoff processes are thorough and adhered to. Work closely with the Grants Management Senior Manager on effective coordination and management of grants to ensure they remain on-time , on scope and on budget. This includes: Support the Grants Management Senior Manager in tracking funding opportunities, including pre-positioning efforts, calls for funding progress of proposals, submission deadlines, financing available. Ensure all appropriate donor and Mercy Corps proposal formats are available in country . Ensure that key contributing staff and partners have a clear understanding of donor requirements and expectations at all stages of the grant cycle.
Update project management tools, including funding trackers, grant trackers and dashboards.
Providing regular information on project progress and burn-rates;
Working closely with the Program Directors and Finance, to ensure accurate forecasting, flagging challenges and opportunities;
Coordinate and document all program kick-off, review and close-out meetings, track action points for follow-up and record/document all lessons learned;
Prepare for and participate in complex board meetings and update board members of program progress against indicators and milestones, as well as program support needs.
NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Lead the development of concept notes and proposals, coordinating across departments, with the region and HQ, engaging particularly with the Program Performance and Quality (PAQ) team, technical advisors, program leads and finance to ensure the production of high quality proposals that are reflective of Mercy Corps and donor strategic objectives, are operationally viable and accurately reflect the cost of doing business.
Ensure proposals and concept notes are developed in a timely manner and with realistic deadlines, and that these are communicated and understoo sen d by stakeholders both internal to the office as well as the region and HQ.
Coordinate both internally and externally, to ensure that prior to submission all proposals are reviewed and approved by management and HQ, as appropriate.
Lead on modification of programs in response to changing contexts and implementation realities.
FINANCE AND COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT
Ensure programs are executed in alignment with the donor agreement and the applicable donor regulations, staying abreast of changes in the regulatory environment related to donor/grant compliance.
Provide support and training to the field teams to ensure that PM@MC minimum standards for program management, including complex program management, are met.
Support the finance team with budget development and ensure consistency with program planning.
Support to Value for Money (VFM) initiatives across Mercy Corps Syria.
OTHER TASKS
Produce other information and communications products for both internal and external audiences as required.
Reports Directly to: Grants Management Senior Manager Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills Minimum of 3 years of experience providing coordination or management support program implementation in humanitarian contexts, including: Proposal coordination and writing experience; Budget development and management experience; Excellent writing and communication skills required. Ability to produce and edit documents under deadline pressure. Experience working with key institutional donors (USAID, ECHO, FCDO , GIZ etc . ) preferred. Ability and willingness to learn and follow donor reporting and compliance requirements. Ability to coordinate funding proposals and progress reports from key institutional donors (USAID, ECHO, FCDO, GIZ etc.). Experience with monitoring and evaluation and other learning efforts. Ability to efficiently deal with competing priorities. Willingness and ability to travel frequently to Mercy Corps project sites and field locations, including traveling to insecure environments, is required . Experience working in a multicultural setting. Experience working in the Middle East region and Syrian context preferred. Fluency in English is required . Proficiency in Arabic or Kurdish is a plus. The successful candidate will combine exceptional organizational abilities and writing skills with good humor under pressure. They will learn and move between all departments to consolidate essential information for accurately reporting Mercy Corps activities in Syria. They will be able to capture strategy and planning into concise and clear documents in new proposal development. It is critical that the Grants Manager is an excellent communicator, who is supportive and solution-focused . They need to be high ly motivated, self-driven and able to support complex programs with limited daily support and direction; they will be able to work remotely with internal and external stakeholders to achieve common objectives. They will be a multi-tasker with the proven ability to organize and prioritize competing priorities. The candidate will be organized and maintain a clear electronic and paper filing system. They will ensure donor compliance and best practices are upheld throughout the entire grants management process. The successful candidate will ultimately be able to provide constructive input to large relief programs and therefore, must be willing to learn from others.
