Current Opportunities at International Rescue Committee

Job Purpose/Objective

• The Crisis Modifier Partnership Officer will provide support to IRC programs implemented through partnerships in Turkana and Garissa Counties. The position will assist in managing day-to-day partnership management of local partners in Turkana and Garissa Counties. They will assist to coordinate and manage the sub-award lifecycle in accordance with the IRC’s Partnership for Excellence and Equality System (PEERS), including conducting due diligence, ensuring partners understand applicable donor regulations, and managing receipt and review of partners’ deliverables. They will also contribute to overall grants and partnership management efforts and work to ensure adherence donor regulations and compliance across the sites. The Crisis Modifier Partnerships Officer reports to the Emergency Response Manager and Partnership Manager and will work closely with the technical coordinators, monitoring, and evaluation (M&E), and the finance and operations teams.

Partner Vetting

• Contribute towards identification of local partners/organizations, and maintain clear, accessible documentation of identified organizations.
• Support in the partner vetting process through implementation of PEERs framework including carrying out partner capacity review, partner identity and background checks.

Partnership Management

• Contribute towards drafting of agreements, populating monitoring visit and reporting schedule and review of partner proposals, budgets and workplan documents.
• Support to draft and process sub-awards modifications in a timely manner ensuring that they are relevant to the project.
• Ensure timely submission of partners narrative and financial reports as the per agreed schedule.
• Promote and apply the IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results system (PEERS). Contribute to building a strong understanding of PEERS throughout the project and to ensuring that IRC’s partnership principles, skills and approaches are applied the local partners.
• Ensure all partner report submissions are filed in the Grants Unit’s Box folder system, and maintain hard copy files of report submissions, as appropriate.
• Lead on all partnership agreement closeout processes.

Support Program Delivery

• Support and co-lead Partnership Project Opening, Review and Closing Meetings, together with the relevant team members.
• Assist in the close-out of partnership agreements, including in relation to financial verification and asset confirmation.
• Participate in the review of the financial performance of the partner, of the IRC, and of the partnership, including successes, challenges and lessons learned.
• Support in the review of draft partnership agreement terms relating to advances, reporting and any special conditions relating to finance.
• Collaborate with Finance, Partnership Unit and partners to ensure completeness, correctness and accuracy of financial reports, inventory report, tax report and cash requests.
• Review partner financial reports (and narrative reports for consistency) and supporting documents to ensure compliance with the partnership agreement, donor regulations and IRC policy and provide feedback to the partner as appropriate.
• Coordinate with Finance to ensure timely transfer of payments to partners.

Partner Capacity Building

• Provide finance and accounting training and mentoring support to Local partners in accordance with partner project support plans, with a focus on supporting the partner to strengthen financial management systems and capacities that are responsive to the needs of the partner.

Sub-grant Tracking & Monitoring

• Maintain a sub-grants tracker for all partnership/sub-grant agreements including. basic sub-grant details, funds disbursed, and liquidations received.
• Maintain up to date Partnership Tracker/Monitoring Schedule
• Contribute sub-grant updates to the Field Management monthly internal financial report template and provide analysis of all current local Partnerships, as required.
• Monitor local partner budgets and actual spending in collaboration with the Emergency Response Manager, identifying issues and working proactively and collaboratively with partners to resolve them.
• Lead timely and effective finance review and reflection (monitoring), identifying appropriate follow-up actions and providing completed reports to the Partnership Lead.

Key Result Areas

• Strengthen and maintain the integrity of Funds allocated across the Local sub-awardees, ensuring effective grants, partnership and financial management for supporting program work, updating and generating timely partners activities and financial information to the management and producing Quality reports.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant course.
• At least two years’ experience working in Grants and partnership within the humanitarian sector.
• Familiar with program design, budgeting, grants, and report writing.
• Demonstrated strong writing skills in English (both in terms of content structuring and copy-editing).
• Demonstrated strong computer skills in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel), Outlook,
• Highly organized and detail-oriented.
• Able and willing to learn and work with teams based in Nairobi, Kakuma, Lodwar, and Dadaab.
• Able and willing to work with tight deadlines.
• Able and willing to work in a multicultural context as a respectful team player.

go to method of application »

• We are seeking an experienced researcher to support the design, implementation, analysis and write up of research studies across our Nutrition portfolio and play a meaningful role in helping us drive forward our research agenda. The Nutrition Researcher will be technically responsible for the production of evidence – including crafting analysis plans, performing analyses, and writing up peer-review manuscripts – as well as contributing to the development and set up of new studies.

Major Responsibilities
New Project Development

• Lead the conceptualization, design, and development of new research projects, including writing study protocols, drafting analysis plans, developing, and validating tools for implementation, monitoring, and collecting data.
• Lead the identification and engagement of international and local scientific partners to enhance scientific rigor, credibility, and local uptake.
• Participate in funding acquisition via contributing to proposal writing and preparing study budgets in close collaboration with country teams.
• Lead the engagement with country teams to ensure alignment of study idea and proper planning and contribution during the design, funding acquisition and field preparation phase
• Lead ethical approval processes for new studies, including writing, submitting, and managing ethics approval requests at national and international levels.
• Advise on the set up of data collection, monitoring, and study implementation.
• Provide hands-on support to the set up and roll out of studies and surveys via visits to the field and collaborating with local partners and field teams.

Study Implementation and Field Team Support

• Supervise the Research Coordinators/Managers in country via Management in Partnership arrangements with country office counterparts.
• Oversee the planning of studies including the set-up of spending, HR, procurement and implementation plans and the monitoring of the timely execution.
• Provide on-going training on implementation, data collection and monitoring to field teams.
• Partner with data management and analysis teams to ensure regular data monitoring and provide concrete action steps for field teams to improve implementation and data quality.
• Participate in on-site supervision of ongoing studies and provide training via regular field visits.
• Work with our communications team on documentation and materials for external communication and be the focal point between field and HQ in communication activities.
• Ensure thorough documentation of learning from research projects.

Evidence Production

• Draft analysis plans for answering priority research questions with the existing data in collaboration with scientific advisors and the IRC nutrition research team.
• Perform data analysis using Stata or R according to validated analysis plans and including step-by-step explanations and interpretation of output.
• Lead and contribute to the write up manuscripts for peer-reviewed and practitioner journals, including the submission and revision of manuscripts in collaboration with co-authors.
• Identify and connect with internal and external experts for guidance and collaboration on different evidence pieces.
• Oversee consultants and students working on specific evidence production pieces.
• Present findings from studies to internal and external audiences including in conferences and webinars and other appropriate platforms

Job Requirements
Education and Experience

• Masters/PhD in Public Health, Nutrition, or related field.
• A minimum 6 years (if master’s level) or 4 years (if PhD level) of experience in research project design, implementation, and production of evidence in the field of health/nutrition.
• Experience in nutrition programming and/or research.
• Experience leading research projects in the field in fragile and development settings.
• Experience in community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) strongly preferred.

Demonstrated Skills And Competencies

• Strong data analysis skills including data manipulation in statistical software (STATA or R), analysis, sampling, and epidemiology.
• Demonstrated competency in writing quantitative research articles (please add references to CV).
• Competency in qualitative research is a plus.
• Good coordination and communication skills to collaborate with scientific advisors in the development of protocols and write up of peer-review manuscripts.
• Ability to take decisions and advance in situations with potentially diverging opinions.
• Good IT skills required (Windows environment, Microsoft Office package
• Working knowledge of mobile data collection software (CommCare, ODK preferred).
• Ability to work independently while being an active member of the research team.
• Committed to upholding diversity, equality and inclusion principles.

Language skills: Fluency in English and working proficiency in French is required.