Grants Management Regional Assistant

Organizational Context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a network of 192-member National Societies. The overall aim of the IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by National Societies with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world.”  The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.

The IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work of the IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.

The IFRC is led by its Secretary General, and has its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Headquarters are organized into three main Divisions: (i) National Society Development and Operations Coordination; (ii) Global Relations, Humanitarian Diplomacy and Digitalization; and (iii) Management Policy, Strategy and Corporate Services.

The IFRC has five regional offices in Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and the Americas.  The IFRC also has country cluster delegation and country delegations throughout the world. Together, the Geneva Headquarters and the field structure (regional, cluster and country) comprise the IFRC Secretariat.

Job Purpose

The Regional Grants and Monitoring Officer will support the coordination, monitoring, planning and reporting and execution of key flagship programmes implemented in the MENA Region, funded respectively by China Aid and ECHO. S/he will support the SPRM team, acting as for both programmes, including coordinating relationships with Strategic Partnerships and Resource Mobilization (SPRM) teams in Asia Pacific, IFRC technical departments in MENA Regional Office, and Delegations, and Host National Societies. S/he will act as Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (PMER) focal point on regional level for the respective countries and lead the responsibility for delivering financial and narrative reporting as per donor requirements.

The successful candidate will specifically focus on:

China Aid funded grant

With support from the Chinese Government (China Aid) and under the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund (GDF), the IFRC has launched the Red Cross and Red Crescent Response to Emergency, essential health care, and humanitarian aid in Lebanon, Palestine and Syria project. It will support emergency health response in Syria, Palestine and Lebanon and benefit 230,000 people in total. The project will end in September 2024.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Responsibilities will include:

• Ensure that relevant internal stakeholders (technical departments in MENA Regional Office and delegations) receiving or providing international assistance under China Aid grant are well aligned, coordinated, informed, and engaged on processes and strategies.
• Assist in planning, convene and coordinate regular meetings with IFRC CCD Beijing, MENA Regional Office and the delegations, assigned focal persons from technical departments, finance, audit and communication units to ensure collaborative review and shared understanding of the grant.
• Work closely with the country teams by monitoring the effective stewardship of China Aid funds in line with partner expectations related to implementation, reporting and visibility. Monitor progress and performance towards deliverables, support in identifying risks and inform senior management of actions to be taken to mitigate risks.
• Consolidate in-country inputs into the regional reports, including M&E data and findings. Coordinate reports revision and approval process at MENA Regional Office.
• Participate where relevant, in evaluations, assessments, reviews and/or audits to ensure IFRC systems are properly considered, and partner requirements are successfully met.
• Any other SPRM duty as required by the Strategic Engagement and Partnership unit.
• Any other PMER duty as required by the Head of PMER and Quality Assurance Unit Head and Regional PMER Manager.

ECHO PPP

DG ECHO and IFRC's Pilot Programmatic Partnership (PPP) is a joint initiative aimed at improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability of humanitarian assistance. The partnership involves providing multi-year funding to IFRC to support its humanitarian programmes, with a focus on building resilience and reducing vulnerability to disasters and crises in disaster-prone countries. The partnership is currently taking place in three countries in the MENA: Lebanon, Palestine, and Yemen until 2025.

Responsibilities will include:

• Assist in ensuring, planning, data collection, analysis and dissemination of monitoring and evaluation results and donor-related reporting.
• Provide constant communication and support to ensure NS are aware of their monitoring and evaluation obligations.
• Assist in monitoring the quality of data collected during the monitoring process.
• Ensure compliance with IFRC PMER guidelines, standards, and protocols.
• Provide support the PMER team and PPP regional coordinator in the consolidation of progress reports inclusive of M&E data and findings.
• Actively work towards the achievement of the Federation Secretariat’s goals 
• Abide by and work in accordance with the Red Cross and Red Crescent principles
• Perform any other work-related duties and responsibilities that may be assigned by the line manager

Education

• Degree in International Development, International Relations, Law or other relevant fields. - Required

Experience

• Minimum of 3 years of experience in partnerships and multi-stakeholder engagement, fundraising, planning and grant management. - Required
• Working with international funding agencies (e.g., Multilaterals, Financial institutions, or governments). - Required
• Relevant work experience within and/or outside the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement. - Required

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

• Knowledge of funding landscapes, priorities, policies, and financing instruments supporting humanitarian action and the attainment of the SDGs. - Required
• Demonstrated ability to assist in negotiating funding agreements, structuring financial instruments, and navigating complex funding mechanisms . - Preferred
• Excellent communication and writing skills. - Required
• Ability to prioritize and meet deadlines under time constrains. - Required
• High degree of discretion, tact and sensitivity in dealing with internal and external clients and stakeholders at all levels. - Required
• Ability to work within a multi-cultural, multilingual, multidisciplinary environment. - Required
• Fluency in Microsoft office tools. - Required
• Experience in using an Enterprise Resource Planning system, preferably, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations. - Preferred
• Ability and willingness to travel and stay in basic conditions. - Required
• Fluently spoken and written English. - Required
• Fluently spoken and written Arabic. - Required

Competencies, Values and Comments

Values:

• Respect for diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Accountability.

Core competencies:

• Communication
• Collaboration and teamwork
• Judgement and decision making
• National society and customer relations
• Creativity and innovation
• Building trust.

IFRC provides equal employment opportunities.