Finance and Contract Coordinator (ERICC) At The International Rescue Committee (IRC)

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The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Finance and Contract Coordinator (ERICC)

Requisition ID: req19158
Location: Abuja (FCT)
Sector: Research & Development
Employment Category: Fixed Term
Employment Type: Full-Time
Open to Expatriates: Not Applicable

Job Description

• This opportunity is global with flexibility on IRC office locations based off of business need. Flexible locations include Nairobi, Kenya; Abuja, Nigeria; Amman, Jordan; Beirut, Lebanon; London, UK; New York or Washington, DC.
• The IRC invests in research in humanitarian contexts to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of policies and practices in these settings.
• Our Research and Innovation Department works in partnership with our Education Technical Unit and Country Program teams to achieve these aims by:
  • Generating robust and actionable evidence across crisis-affected contexts,
  • Gathering and synthesizing the evidence base on what works, and
  • Analyzing the cost efficiency and cost effectiveness of humanitarian programming
• The IRC aims to generate and share evidence on the most cost-effective models for designing and delivering quality, safe education.

Programme Scope

• To date, a record number of people are displaced from their homes due to conflict and protracted crises. Two billion people live in countries affected by fragility, conflict and violence. Of the estimated 75 million children whose education is affected by conflict and protracted crises, nearly half of them - 37 million - are out of school at the primary and lower secondary level.
• It is hard to track how much those who are in school are learning, but the data we have indicates that they are learning far less than they could be as the quality of schooling is so low. With the average length of displacement now lasting 17 years, generations of children risk missing out on education and its long term benefit.
• Although there is growing international momentum and action to tackle this crisis, there is a critical lack of evidence on ‘what works’ for education in these contexts to ensure quality education for all. The lack of evidence impedes global efforts to delivery education programmes, especially those in conflict and crisis settings.
• The Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC) is The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) new, three year, £15.8 million research programme to carry out rigorous and operationally relevant research on the most effective approaches to education delivery in conflict and protracted crisis contexts.
• The programme will have four components: (1) Research on the most effective approaches to education delivery in conflict and protracted crisis; (2) Ensuring country level impact; (3) Promoting research uptake across FCDO and the international community; and (4) Knowledge systems strengthening. 
• The IRC will be leading the ERICC research consortium in component 1 (research in effective delivery) and component 2 (country-level impact), working in partnership with a consortium of esteemed research and educational institutions, including NYU Global TIES for Children.
• This programme will be carried out in six FCDO countries (currently: Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Nigeria, South Sudan and Myanmar). The objective of this contract is to deliver, and maximise uptake of evidence on the most effective approaches to education delivery in conflict and protracted crisis contexts.
• The desired impact of the programme is stronger evidence based policies and better value for money programmes in conflict and protracted crisis.

Job Overview

• The Finance and Contract Manager (ERICC) is responsible for providing grants and budgets leadership and support across the FCDO-funded ERICC research consortium in Nigeria, South Sudan, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Myanmar, and Bangladesh.
• S/he will play a critical role in ensuring transparency, accountability, effective grant management and compliance in all aspects of the ERICC project and will be the focal point for donor reporting, information management, grants management and capacity-building efforts.
• The role will also provide key support to the ERICC Programme Director in programmatic and budgetary monitoring, compliance with donor and internal IRC rules and regulations and other key functions as required.

Major Responsibilities
ERICC Grant and Budget Management:

• Review, track, and analyze expenditures for the ERICC project from the technical unit, ERICC country programs and partner institutions
• Hold knowledge base of FCDO contract rules and regulations and advise other team members on compliance
• Ensure project expenses are reasonable, allocable, and prudent and spent in accordance with the donor’s rules and regulations
• Create accurate forecasts and manage expenses according to spending plans
• In close collaboration with the Research Program Coordinator, liaise with partner institutions regarding any deviations or concerns in spending
• Work closely with regional/ global team to ensure all IRC ERICC project budget monitoring, payments and booking of expenses by providing monthly budget versus actual reports to budget holders and in country programs
• Work with relevant country finance managers, technical unit and headquarters-based finance staff to ensure accuracy of the ERICC financial reports and promptly identify and advise the ERICC Programme Director and applicable country program grant leads on areas of concern
• Coordinate approval of agreements, amendments, cost extensions and no-cost extensions
• Manage contract and subcontract revisions
• Identify and manage all financial, grants management, sub-grant awards and operational risks in collaboration with relevant country and technical unit staff
• Support ERICC country programs (South Sudan, Nigeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Myanmar and Bangladesh) in preparing, reviewing and modifying ERICC related memoranda of understanding and sub-grant agreements as needed and ensures FCDO terms and conditions are met
• Review financial controls and liaise with relevant country program leads to update policies and procedures as needed
• Build capacity of local partners in grant and budget management, including travel to locations of implementation to provide trainings and on-going support

ERICC Donor Reporting and Compliance:

• Develop guidance, templates, and toolkits to ensure timely submission of narrative and financial donor reports
• Ensure that Partners’ responsibilities for donor compliance are tracked and evaluated
• Liaise with country programs and partner institutions to prepare and submit high quality programmatic and financial reports by IRC ERICC countries/partners and IRC global
• Manage OTIS (Opportunity Tracking Information System) workflow for ERICC agreements, amendments and reporting
• Assist in donor relations, participate in calls with select donors, and represent the IRC ERICC team at donor meetings as required
• Ensure quality information management through regular maintenance of grant files, including coordination and preparation of documents and files for internal and external audits
• Monitor and facilitate compliance of programs with FCDO and IRC requirements and raise issues affecting external/internal compliance
• Build capacity of local partners in donor reporting and compliance, including travel to locations of implementation to provide trainings and on-going support

Other support for the ERICC project:

• Work closely with Research Program Coordinator to execute logistical and administrative tasks, as needed.
• Provide logistical assistance in the planning and execution of ERICC workshops, meetings, and trainings where needed
• Assist team members with development of external reports, Web content, presentations and technical tools related to ERICC as needed
• Work with the ERICC project team to prepare and support spot check activities as communicated by FCDO
• Support program development, monitoring and evaluation, communications and external relations activities as needed

Key Working Relationships:

• Position reports to: ERICC Programme Director
• Position directly supervises: N/A
• Internal contacts: Regular contact with Education Technical Unit teams, and country program staff. Regular interaction with internal IRC departments, especially budget, finance, human resources and procurement.
• External contacts: Interaction with finance teams of partner organizations, donors, vendors, contractors, and consultants.

Job Requirements
Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in International Affairs, Public Administration, Economics, Business Studies, Accounting, Commerce, or other related fields
• At least 4-6 years of related work experience, preferably for an International Non-Governmental Organization managing FCDO grants or contracts
• Experience managing complex grants and projects throughout implementation, including budget and finance components, compliance, monitoring and reporting processes
• Experience in capacity building of local partners in grant management in the field
• Excellent organizational skills: the ability to work independently and productively in a fast-paced environment
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: the ability to successfully and effectively liaise with a variety of people in a multi-cultural environment and work on a virtual team
• Flexible work attitude, proactive and demonstrated creativity: the ability to work productively in a team environment and the ability to problem solve creatively with minimal guidance

Preferred Requirements:

• Experience with donor-funded contracts
• Experience working on FCDO commercial contracts
• Prior experience working in countries where IRC operates

Working Environment

• Standard office work environment.