Job Title: Grants Management Coordinator
Organisation: Mercy Corps
Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda
About US:
Mercy Corps is an international non-profit organization which implements high-quality, analytical development programmes in very difficult places. Mercy Corps has been operating in Uganda since 2006. It has and continues to implement programs in Acholi and Karamoja sub regions. Mercy Corps is taking a community-led, market driven approach to address poverty and food insecurity needs through interventions that get to the root causes and contributing factors of economic vulnerability.
Job Summary: The Grants Management Coordinator will support the program department as the point person for communicating Mercy Corps’ program activities through donor reports. This includes collation of information from each program department into concise and clear narratives, supported by statistical evidence and case studies. The Grants Management Coordinator 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 in Uganda and are expected to have a strong operational understanding of all activities and strategy. The Grants Management Coordinator will lead the process of development of proposals, including conducting desk research, coordinating the drafting of the narrative and the development of the budget, in close collaboration with the Senior Program Development and Quality Manager. As such, the Grants Management Coordinator is expected to liaise across all departments. The Grants Management Coordinator should develop a strong understanding of donor guidelines and support in identifying new funding opportunities. 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 Management Coordinator will work under the direct supervision of the Senior Program Development and Quality Manager, and works with relevant Program, MEL, CARM, Operations and Finance teams and in coordinating all grants management, proposal development and reporting-related tasks. Additionally, the Grants Management Coordinator will coordinate closely with the Regional Program Team in Mercy Corps’ headquarters.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
Grants Management:
- Coordinate across program, Program Performance and Quality (PaQ), finance and support functions, as well as HQ offices throughout the grant cycle to ensure appropriate set up of new grants, ongoing reporting and close out of grants.
- Coordinate the preparation of accountable donor and internal reporting in compliance with internal and donor requirements, ensure timely inputs from program, PaQ, finance and operations teams, and ensure review and signoff processes are thorough and adhered to.
- Maintain an up-to-date grant filing system that meets minimum PM@MC and donor standards.
- Update project management tools, including funding trackers, grant trackers and dashboards.
- Work closely with the Senior Program Development and Quality Manager on effective coordination and management of grants to ensure they remain on time, on scope and on budget. This includes:
- Providing regular information on project progress and burn-rates;
- Working closely with the program managers, 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;
- Coordinate monthly budget vs actual (BvA) and quarterly grant management meetings including updates from PMs, CARM, MEL, and support departments.
- Ensures compliance with Mercy Corps’ and donor branding guidelines.
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 understood 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.
- Support the Senior Program Development and Quality Manager in tracking funding opportunities, including calls for funding progress of proposals, submission deadlines, financing available. Ensure all appropriate donor and Mercy Corps proposal formats are available in country.
Finance & 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.
- Ensure that key contributing staff and partners have a clear understanding of donor requirements and expectations at all stages of the grant cycle.
- Provide support and training to the field teams to ensure that PM@MC minimum standards for program management, including complex program management, are met.
- In coordination with the Program Leads and Finance, coordinate monthly BvA meetings and quarterly grant review meetings presenting up to date information, identifying issues to be addressed and following up on action points.
- Support the finance team with proposal budget development and ensure consistency with program planning.
Other tasks:
- Produce other information and communications products for both internal and external audiences as required.
- As delegated, act as focal point for all queries and information requests from Mercy Corps and donors.
- Represent Mercy Corps to donors and other key stakeholders, as required.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- The applicant must hold a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a related field. Masters or equivalent in a field related to International Development is preferred.
- At least three years of experience providing coordination or management support to program implementation.
- Successful track record in supporting/leading proposal development and fundraising.
- Excellent writing and communication skills required.
- Ability to produce and edit documents under deadline pressure.
- Experience working with key institutional donors (USAID, FCDO, 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, FCDO).
- Experience with monitoring and evaluation and other learning efforts.
- Demonstrated flexibility and creativity in planning and problem-solving.
- 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.
- PM@MC and/or PMD/ProjectD Pro certified preferred.
- Fluency in English is required.
How to Apply:
All interested applicants must submit the following at the link below;
- CV in PDF of no more than 4 pages
- Cover letter. At a minimum, the cover letter must show that the applicant possesses the required qualifications for the position.
NB: Please note that any application submitted that does not follow the above instructions will be automatically discarded. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Mercy Corps does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process.
Deadline: 16th September 2022.
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