Desk Officer

Our vision, our mission and our work are all defined by one goal – ending extreme poverty, whatever it takes. We believe that no-one should have to live in fear that they won’t have a home to sleep in or enough food to feed their children. For over 50 years we have been working with the world’s poorest people towards this goal.

Today we are a team of over 4,400 highly skilled and dedicated professionals from 50 countries who share an exceptional depth and diversity of experience. We want committed, values driven staff to join our HQ team and are currently looking for a Desk Officer to be part of our International Programmes Department.

Concern offers in-house management and leadership courses and tailored organisation-wide learning opportunities both in-person and online. We are committed to providing our staff with the skills needed to excel in their jobs. All employees are required to undertake training in equality, diversity and inclusion; the Code of Conduct; and safeguarding, along with any other training required for the role.

Our culture is values driven and friendly. A global engagement survey conducted in 2022, responded to by 3,577 of our staff, showed that 89% of our staff would happily recommend Concern as a great place to work and 94% are proud to tell people that they work for Concern.

Our office is located in Dublin 2 and we are currently working a hybrid model (50% remote working) and offer flexi time.

The job:

The Desk Officer will be the focal point within the organisation for assigned countries, liaising with all directorates/departments in relation to these countries. The Desk Officer will provide advice and management support to country programmes and keep the Regional Director briefed on pertinent issues and changing circumstances as they arise. The Desk Officer will promote strong engagement with Concern’s Grant Management System (GMS) and data integrity.

If you join us, this is what you will be doing:

Programme Support

• Assist the assigned countries in the design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of country programmes, applying current thinking and best practice and involving Strategy, Advocacy & Learning (SAL) as appropriate in this process.
• Appraise and feedback on all project-related documents within the GMS – i.e. concept notes, proposals and reports, both narrative and financial, assessments, evaluations, reviews, etc.
• Monitor progress and provide inputs towards the development of quality proposals and reports.
• Contribute towards staff training and organisational learning in assigned countries through participation at and facilitation of country level workshops, as required. Train any new country management team members on GMS and support IPD GMS training.
• Support and participate in the development and review of country-specific Strategic Plans.
• Follow up on queries to and from the field with relevant departments – i.e. finance, purchasing/logistics, HR and IT.

Funding

• Contribute to the improvement of the Concern’s Global organisational co-funding portfolio, and to coordinate country funding strategies, including participating in relevant seminars/meetings and liaising with all Concern fundraising offices.
• Ensure all new funding applications are reviewed and properly saved on GMS and add any donor feedback onto GMS
• Finalise donors’ proposals and reports, both financial and narrative, to the highest standards and donors requirements.
• Advise and direct country management in the development of funding strategies for assigned countries.
• Source funding for individual project proposals. Work with Funding Specialists in IFSU when additional support for funding applications is needed.
• Represent Concern to funders as required and to deal with their proposal and report related inquiries.
• Be familiar with & brief colleagues as needed in relation to donor strategy, donor guidelines, formats and processes.
• Update as the GMS, grant records and reporting schedules as required.

Finance

• Assist in the financial management of assigned countries.
• Ensure the accuracy of country budgets, budget revisions and financial reporting packs and ensure they meet the needs, resources, and activities of assigned countries.
• Assist in managing the financial information provided by the field and other sources.
• Work with the Country Finance Controller (CFC) or Country Finance Manager (CFM) to ensure financial details in the GMS are accurate and up to date
• Work closely with the global compliance team to ensure adherence to policies & procedures

HR

• Take the lead on recruitment of staff for assigned countries, including shortlisting, review of video interviews and participating in interviews in collaboration with the HR department
• Ensure pre-departure security briefing and assist the HR department with pre-departure and induction processes.
• In conjunction with the recruitment team agree on the selection of personnel for overseas positions.
• Liaise with the HR department to ensure best practice in all health and safety matters.

Organisational Learning

• Actively participate in cross organisation working groups that develop policy and promote organisational learning, both internal and external to the organisation, utilising past experience as appropriate.

Others

• Brief management and other staff as required on current programmes and political, economic and social analysis of assigned countries.
• Run reports with relevant country information in the GMS for use in decision making by RDs
• Support advocacy, communications and development education activities by liaising with relevant departments.
• Ensure all international staff deployments and consultants vising fields are briefed and aware on Security protocol & procedures and Concern’s code of conduct. The role also involves engagement in tracking the Security Incident Reports (SIRT) for each country programme.

Skills you will bring:

Essential:

• A minimum of three years’ experience in an NGO or similar organization based overseas in a humanitarian or development context
• Educated to degree level, ideally in a development or humanitarian related field
• Excellent understanding of development and humanitarian issues
• Excellent interpersonal and organisational skills
• Good financial ability and understanding
• Experience and knowledge of donor requirements

Desirable:

• Strong written and spoken French
• Previous experience in a similar role an advantage

You will report to the Regional Director and work with Strategy, Advocacy and Learning (SAL), Emergency Directorate, Public Affairs, Finance, Human Resources, IT and Overseas fields and the wider Concern team.

The salary is from €54,500 – €62,286 (band 5) and this is a maternity cover fixed term contract.