Regional Institutional Funding Officer

Job Title: Regional Institutional Funding Officer

Location: Nairobi, Kenya with travel to Uganda and Ireland

Department: International

Date: May 2015

Ref: 15-ID-011

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 supported by institutional donors such as Irish Aid, DFID, Comic Relief, the EC as well as sundry international and domestic donors in Ireland and UK. In the context of a highly challenging donor funding environment in Ireland, Europe and in East Africa, Trócaire is seeking to increase both the amount and diversity of institutional funding for its programmes. The Regional Institutional Funding Officer (RIFO) has overall responsibility for ensuring that the East Africa region works towards meeting regional institutional funding targets and IFU deliverables in an increasingly competitive funding environment.

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 Trócaire and institutional funders’ policies and regulations. The IFO plays a crucial role in supporting country teams to strengthen their capacity to attract, manage and grow institutional funding.

The IFO in this role will be working with and supporting Trócaire’s programmes in Kenya, Somalia and Uganda.

Reporting to: Head of Region – Horn and East Africa

Managing: No direct reports

Contract Type: Fixed term

Contract Duration: 2 years

Grade and Scale: Overseas Programme Officer

Location of Position Nairobi, Kenya, with regional and international travel to Uganda and Ireland in particular.

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. He/she will establish and strengthen excellent relationships with existing and potential donors in 3 countries in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Somalia) in order to ensure sustainability and growth for programmes in the region. The post holder will develop a full understanding of key donor strategies, priorities and requirements (including Irish Aid, EC, DFID and others) in order to 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. The post holder will support the capacity of programme staff and partners to develop and manage institutional funding contracts; will 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 ****Country institutional funding strategy development****

· In close coordination with Country Directors, develop and/or review/update on an annual basis country institutional funding strategies and annual action plans.

· Maintain and regularly update a database of all potential donors for the East Africa programmes.

· In close coordination with Country Directors and Regional Manager:

o Build new donor contacts.

o Strengthen relationships with current donors.

· Represent Trócaire at meetings organised by donors to review donor strategy and present institutional funding opportunities.

· Regularly update regional and country management staff and Programme Officers on donor strategies, geographical and thematic priorities, future calls and requirements for applications.

· Acquire in depth knowledge of both the country strategic frameworks and all programmes in Uganda, Kenya and Somalia

· Work with the programme manager and POs in proposing programmes and partners for institutional funding submissions.

· Work closely with Institutional Funding Unit and Humanitarian Unit in Head Office and the IF Officers in the Ethiopia and South Sudan offices as required, in order to coordinate contacts with / applications to help achieve IFU deliverables and targets

****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.

· Lead 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.

****Staff and Partner capacity building****

· Identify direct funding opportunities for suitable partners.

· Identify partner capacity-building needs for directly accessing/managing donor funds.

· 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.

****Grant management****

· Provide advice and support to programme staff and partners to meet the contractual obligations and donor requirements of institutionally funded programmes and projects and ensure fulfilment of obligations both by Trócaire and partners.

· Ensure high quality institutional funding reports are submitted to donors and that financial management and reporting systems which will facilitate effective programme budget tracking and management, are in place through 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 as required.

****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)

Qualities · 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 occasionally 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).

Other: · Availability to work outside normal hours and travel extensively within the region and outside when necessary

HOW TO APPLY:

Interested applicants can apply via the Trócaire website - www.trocaire.org/jobs

Closing date for applications is 16th June 2015

Trócaire is an equal opportunities employer