Internship Grants Management Support

UNOPS, through ECR AUMCO, is partnering with the Government of Albania and the European Union, as well as with the UN system, to facilitate the post-earthquake rehabilitation and reconstruction of a large number of key cultural heritage sites, museums, and cultural hubs and to promote tourism and economic development of the sites. 

On 26 November 2019, Albania was hit by its most deadly earthquake in a century. The earthquake measured 6.4 on the Richter scale and caused significant casualties and property damage, resulting in 51 deaths, over 1000 injured, and nearly 14,000 people displaced. To measure and assess the economic damage, a Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) was conducted, estimating the total economic losses at nearly EUR 1Billion. The PDNA documented the destruction of public and private infrastructure. Of particular concern was the destruction of cultural heritage monuments and property, as 53 cultural heritage properties were significantly damaged by the earthquake. 

The EU4CULTURE project seeks to remediate the effect of the earthquake on Albania’s cultural heritage through the rehabilitation of monuments, as well as contribute to Albania’s socio-economic recovery through the construction and upgrade of these sites. It will be important also to support improvements in the capacity of institutions responsible for the management of these cultural monuments and sites to better accommodate tourism. 

An expected result of the project is that economic and local development is supported through cultural heritage revitalization and improved capacities for its safeguarding, management and promotion. In order to achieve this result a grants scheme is being designed and will be implemented to support innovative cultural projects to be developed and implemented around the cultural heritage sites targeted by the project. The aim is to contribute towards an improvement of the quality of tangible and intangible local cultural goods and services in order to allow them to compete within the country, in the EU and across other higher-value markets.

While the grants will primarily target cultural and creative industries sector operators in the selected heritage sites and surrounding areas, a special focus will be maintained on the inclusion of vulnerable groups whereas youth engagement and women participation will be mainstreamed.

 Functional Responsibilities:

Under the overall guidance of the Project Management Support Specialist, the Grants Management Support Intern will undertake the following duties and responsibilities, as relevant and applicable based on the detailed work plan to be established with the incumbent.

Grants Management:

• Support effective and compliant grant management implementation in line with the stated scope, timelines, and operational instructions,
• Conduct desk research and follow up on similar development partners’ schemes and strategies, as well as relevant activities of the grant applicants and grantees,
• In coordination with the supervisor and other team members, contribute to the review and updating of specific documents, forms and instruments comprising Calls for Proposal (CfP) with consideration of selection criteria, targeting economic, cultural and innovative tourism, cultural or environmental activities,
• Support administration of the grant project proposals by collecting, reviewing, classifying and archiving the project proposal submissions,
• Support the dissemination, outreach and operational activities related to the grants and CfPs, including grant selection committee meetings,
• In cooperation with the support services unit and other team members, support administration of the grant management activities by monitoring and keeping track of the progress of grantees, as well as collecting, reviewing, classifying and archiving narrative and financial reports,
• Support preparation and update of operational and evaluation reports to be provided to the grant selection committee meetings, project steering committee meetings and other stakeholders, in line with the operational instructions and the terms of the relevant project and grants contracts,
• Assist in drafting and/or proofreading internal and external email communications, letters, presentations and other related content,
• Support the setup of web conferencing and other online collaborative workspaces as requested

Training components and learning elements:

• The Intern will be provided with the following training components and learning elements:
• The intern will be part of a dynamic team and will be learning on the job on a daily basis.  Dedicated time will be allocated by the supervisor for understanding the functioning of UNOPS and the UN development context in general.
• The intern will be able to participate in other training courses offered by UNOPS. Specifics of training and development will be discussed with the intern upon arrival. No official travel is foreseen for the internships.
• At the end of the internship period, the incumbent will have learned the basis to work in an entry level position in Grants management. In addition, the intern will gain a sound understanding of UNOPS regulations and processes related to partnerships development and unit specific communication. Finally, the intern will acquire a global overview of working with a multi stakeholder programme involving UN (UNOPS/UNDP, UNEP and different donors, programme team).

Education/Experience/Language requirements:

Education:

• All applicants must be enrolled or have graduated from a university programme at the Bachelor, Masters or PhD levels within three (3) years prior to the application date of the internship
• Area of study should be preferably one of the following: public or business administration, economics, social sciences, development studies, communications, or similar.
• A Masters levels (or the equivalent) in one of the preferred areas of studies obtained within three (3) years prior to the application date of this internship programme is desirable but not a must
• Certification and/or proof of completion of relevant training courses in areas such as project proposal writing, grant and/or EU project management, monitoring & evaluation, or similar, is desirable

Experience:

• Applicants are not required to have professional work experience but experience working in project management, grant management, and/or project monitoring & evaluation and/or business development areas is highly desired.
• Experience working with word processing software, spreadsheets, tables, pivot tables and charts, graphs and some proficiency with GSuite applications is desired.
• Experience in work with the international aid development sector, including the UN system and/or the EU is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Albanian is required.