Grants Manager

BACKGROUND:

Women Now for Development is a feminist, women-lead non-governmental organization dedicated to deepening and strengthening women’s role in Syrian and Lebanese communities by enhancing their social, economic and cultural participation. Women Now was established in June 2012 by in response to the conflict in Syria and ensuing humanitarian crisis.  Today, we implement programmes in four Women and Girls Safe Spaces (WGSS): two in Idlib, Syria and two in Bekaa, Lebanon, reaching thousands of beneficiaries annually.  We work in four integrated programmatic areas: 

• Protection - Psychosocial support,
• Empowerment - Education and Vocational Skills training,
• Participation - Leadership training and Rights Awareness
• Advocacy and Campaigning - at the local and international level. 

At Women Now we work from the ground up, to empower ourselves, and the community around us in order to bring about significant, long-term change.

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION:

The Grants Manager will be a crucial member of the Women Now for Development team in Lebanon.  You will be dynamic and creative in programme development, but also realistic and pragmatic about the limitations of the context, capacity and funding.  You will be able to think on your feet and support teams in adapting to ever-changing, highly challenging contexts.  You will be a natural team-leader, adept at bringing out the best in your colleagues, treating them as equals at all times, but also able to push them to achieve and grow with the organisation. You are experienced at writing winning proposals and understand the importance of developing programmes from the ground up, seeking and taking into consideration the ideas and input of the implementing team.  You will have an overview of Women Now programming, with a meticulous eye for detail. You will communicate about our work with confidence and professionalism to donors and other high level stakeholders, directly in meetings, and in detailed reports.  You will be able to reassure them and ensure their trust despite challenges we may face.

This is an exciting role for someone who is passionate about women’s rights and who wants to deepen their management experience, working for a leading feminist, women’s rights-based organisation.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

In close consultation with the Country Manager and CEO, the Grants Manager will work to complete the following tasks:

Donor Relations:

• The Grants Manager will be responsible for maintaining positive professional relations with existing donors, donor networking and building relationships with new potential donors
• Working to secure diverse and sustainable sources of funding including for core costs
• Facilitating donor visits and meeting face to face
• Responding to donor enquires and keeping donors updated if it becomes necessary to suspend activities
• Checking and negotiating contracts; ensuring compliance with non-finance related contractual obligations
• Working with the Finance Manager to negotiate budgets and budgetry reallocations
• Representing the organisation at workshops and conferences as necessary

Programme Design and Development:

• Designing new programmes inline with the Women Now ethos and strategy, taking into consideration learning from previous programmes, consultations with implementing staff, feedback from participants, and needs (ascertained through desk-based research, needs assessments, or household surveys)
• Responsible for programme development and quality– continually looking at how we can improve what we do
• Consulting Technical Advisors in Protection and Participation (women’s political participation) where necessary to enhance and develop programme content and design, and to problem solve. 
• Keeping abreast of international standards and other guidance on Protection, GBV Services, Child-friendly spaces, PSEA, community-lead social action etc., disseminating such information within the organisation and ensuring its uptake
• Drafting proposals, logframes, workplans and risk assessments
• Review draft budgets and ensure that they are appropriate for the proposed project
• Attending external trainings to expand your skills related to the role

Line management/Supervision:

• Supervising Programme Coordinator/s and MEAL Officer
• Cultivating a positive team spirit, a culture of collaboration, accountability, initiative and trust
• Overseeing the management of project implementation throughout project cycles and ensuring that projects are implemented inline with workplans and targets, or adjusted in response to changes in the context or needs
• Supervising the work of the MEAL Officers – checking the quality of their MEAL tools and data collection methods, providing constructive feedback
• Where possible, providing technical guidance on Protection, Empowerment (Education and Vocational Training), Women’s Participation, Gender Mainstreaming, PSEA/Safeguarding, MEAL and/or consulting the Technical Advisors in Protection and Participation and/or:
• Identifying gaps in staff capacity and securing appropriate training from third organisations (donors, partners, consultants etc.)
• Providing support in addressing challenges
• Reviewing narrative reports drafted by the Programme Coordinator/s and MEAL Officer, providing constructive feedback to ensure that you can submit high quality reports
• Working with the HR Manager to recruit project management/MEAL staff as necessary – including conducting interviews
• Conduct probationary reviews and performance appraisals
• As a member of the management team, you are directly responsible for helping to uphold PSEA/Safeguarding standards and the principle of non-discrimination in order to promote social cohesion

PERSONAL SPECIFICATIONS:

Qualifications,

1. Bachelor’s degree in project management, gender studies/women’s rights, development, human rights, political science, or another relevant subject
2. Master’s degree in a relevant subject (an advantage)

Knowledge and Experience

1. 5+ years’ experience working in either Rights-based NGOs, or Humanitarian NGOs
2. Strong experience of managing a team, including experience of remote management
3. Experience of securing funding from a range of donors and being responsible for donor relations and networking – fostering positive relationships with existing and potential donors
4. Experience of managing grants and projects in highly challenging contexts
5. Ability to craft high quality proposals and narrative reports
6. Ability to monitor implementation and spending, and address issues as they arise through working with all stakeholders
7. Experience in developing new and creative programmes working within contextual and funding constraints, and enhancing the quality of existing programming
8. Experience of working on programmes specifically for women and/or adolescent girls
9. Commitment to advancing feminist values through working with communities rather than against them.  Experience of working for/within feminist organisations/movements/campaigns.
10. Experience of working for/with grassroots organisations, major INGOs and governmental donors
11. Knowledge/experience of programmatic areas: Protection, Adult Education, Vocational Training, and Economic Empowerment/Livelihoods, Women’s Political Participation
12. Excellent understanding of context in Northern Syria, specifically issues facing women, adolescent girls and IDPs
13. Understanding of safeguarding and child protection, accountability to affected populations and the Core Humanitarian Standard and other international standards

Skills

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: ability to build and maintain professional and positive relations with: trainers, colleagues, beneficiaries, partners and donors
• Excellent problem-solving skills: the ability to anticipate, pre-empt and solve problems (risk mitigation)
• Strategic thinking and forward planning
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities

Language Skills:

• Fluency in English and advanced knowledge of written and spoken Arabic essential
• Knowledge of Turkish an advantage

Personal Qualities:

• Analytical, thorough and attentive to detail
• Team spirit. – cooperative, professional and committed
• Independent self-starter, able to work and develop with minimal supervision