Posts
Reporting
to: Head of Region – Horn and East Africa
Contract
Type: Fixed term
Contract
Duration: 2 years
Grade
and Scale: Overseas Programme Officer
Location
of Position: Nairobi, Kenya, with regional and international travel.
Description of the unit /
department:
Trócaire
works in partnership with local organisations to overcome poverty and promote
justice in developing countries. Within the Horn & East Africa Region,
Trócaire implements and manages development and humanitarian programme work in
Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia, and Uganda. Background to the Role: A
significant percentage of Trócaire’s budget comes from institutional donors,
with countries in the Horn and East Africa being strongly support by
institutional donors. The Institutional Funding Officer provides a key support
function to programmes, staff and partners, to ensure that institutional funds
are secured, managed and reported on in compliance with TrÏŒcaire and
institutional funders’ policies and regulations. As the organisation
transitions from a regional to a country focus, the IFO will play a crucial
role in supporting country teams to strengthen their capacity to attract and
maintain institutional funding.
Scope of the Role:
In
close collaboration with Trócaire staff and partners, the post holder will work
with country teams to develop and implement country institutional funding
strategies. The post holder will support and assist in proposal development,
monitoring of grant compliance and finalising reports for donors, in agreement
with relevant programme officers and country and regional management; support
the capacity of programme staff and partners to develop and manage institutional
funding contracts; work closely with Country Directors to establish and
strengthen relationships with current and potential donors and develop,
document and maintain a full understanding of all donor strategies, priorities
and requirements.
Key Duties &
Responsibilities
Regional / Country Funding
Strategies
- Working closely with Country teams to collate and update information on donor priorities and strategies thematic and geographic areas of overlap with Trócaire priorities
- Support country teams to develop and maintain Country Funding Strategy Papers and annual action plans for countries of responsibility.
- Work closely with the Institutional Funding Unit in Ireland and grants officers in Ethiopia and Somalia offices as required, in order to coordinate contacts with / applications to donors.
Donor Relationship building
- In close coordination with Country Directors and Head of Region:
- Build new donor contacts.
- Strengthen relationships with current donors.
- Negotiate new contracts with donors
- Represent Trócaire at meetings organised by donors to review donor strategy and present co-financing opportunities.
Programme planning and
Institutional funding applications
- Work closely with programme and partner staff in-country to ensure programmes are well-positioned to secure donor funding
- Pro-actively identify opportunities for securing institutional funding from governments, major donors and trusts accessible to Trócaire.
- Assist in the development of institutional funding applications (concept notes and full proposals, narrative and financial) in close coordination with donors, programme officers, Head Office programme teams and partners.
- Participate in planning meetings, where appropriate, held with programme officers and partner staff to develop concept notes and full proposals for current and future donor calls.
- Work closely with the Institutional Funding Unit in Ireland in the preparation of new applications.
Grant management
- Provide advice and support to programme staff and partners to meet the contractual obligations and donor requirements of co-financed programmes and projects and ensure fulfilment of obligations both by Trócaire and partners.
- Assist in the development of institutional funding reports and in developing financial management and reporting systems which will facilitate effective programme budget tracking and management, in close coordination with country directors, programme officers, Finance staff, and partners.
- Support programme officers and partners in the timely development of proposals for modifications to donor contracts.
- Accompany donors and programme officers as required in monitoring visits to co-financed projects.
- Carry out monitoring visits to Trócaire and partner offices to supervise compliance with donor requirements.
- Participate in project evaluations and audits as requested and ensure that these comply with donor requirements.
- Work closely with the Institutional Funding Unit in Ireland in the management of existing grants.
Staff and Partner capacity
building
Provide
support and guidance to build capacities of staff and partners in managing
Trócaire donor contracts, especially in narrative and financial reporting, in
close collaboration with the country team.
Provide
support and training to programme staff and partners in the development of
institutional funding applications and the management of grants, including
identification of direct funding opportunities for suitable partners.
Identify
partner capacity-building needs for directly accessing/managing donor funds.
Organisational planning and
learning
- Ensure all relevant donor related documentation is recorded on Trócaire’s management information system (MIS).
- Provide information on institutional funding for all relevant documents at organisational, regional, country and programme level.
- Input into institutional funding planning, evaluation and learning exercises at organisational level.
- Attend office, regional, departmental and organisational meetings and training courses as required/relevant.
Other
- Undertake any other duty as may be assigned by the Head of Region that is consistent with the nature of the job and its level of responsibility.
Person Specification –
Essential (E), Desirable (D) Qualification:
- Graduate level education in development studies (E)
- Relevant subject at Masters Level (D)
Experience:
- Significant experience of working in Institutional Funding (planning, proposal and report writing, securing institutional funding through successful grant applications, grant and contract management) (E)
- Experience of working with donors such as European Union, Irish Aid, DFID, Big Lottery Fund, Comic Relief, UN, OFDA (E)
- Knowledge and experience of working on emergency response, recovery and development programmes (E)
- Knowledge of the key issues and trends in the development sector(E)
- Substantive experience in one or more of Trócaire priority sectors: livelihood security, environmental justice, governance, human rights, disaster risk reduction, gender, HIV (D)
- Experience of working in East Africa (D) Skills:
- Outstanding writing skills in English, including proposals and reports (E)
- Ability to train and build capacity of partner organisations and staff (E)
- Good understanding and experience of project/programme management cycle, and results based management (E)
- Good understanding of financial management systems and budget monitoring and reporting (E)
- Demonstrated capacity for analysis and writing (E)
- Computer literate (E)
- Fluency in English (E)
- Strong commitment to principles of partnership, solidarity and social justice (E).
- Good interpersonal relationships and team work skills in a multi cultural environment. (E)
- Excellent networking skills with the ability to establish good relationships, confident in engaging with senior people (E)
- Culturally sensitive and diplomatic (E)
- Willingness to travel frequently and independently (E)
- Self motivated with proven ability to take initiative (E)
- Able to establish strong working relationships with colleagues and partners (E)
- Able to prioritise tasks and work to deadlines (E)
- Flexible and adaptable (E)
- Accuracy and attention to detail (E).
- Availability to work outside normal hours and travel extensively within the region and outside when necessary
How to apply:
For
further information or to apply please visit our website www.trocaire.org/jobs
