Regional Grant Acquisition and Management (GAM) Program Officer

With over 70 years of experience, our focus is on helping the most vulnerable children overcome poverty and experience fullness of life. We help children of all backgrounds, even in the most dangerous places, inspired by our Christian faith.

Come join our 33,000+ staff working in nearly 100 countries and share the joy of transforming vulnerable childrens life stories!

Employee Contract Type:

International Assignment – Fixed Term (Fixed Term)

Job Description:

With over 70 years of experience, our focus is on helping the most vulnerable children overcome poverty and experience fullness of life. We help children of all backgrounds, even in the most dangerous places, inspired by our Christian faith.

Come join our 34,000+ staff working in nearly 100 countries and share the joy of transforming vulnerable childrens life stories!

Job Description:

JOB TITLE: Regional Grant Acquisition Management (GAM) Program Officer

Job location: World Vision West Africa Regional Office (preferably Dakar-Senegal)

Contact type: International

Contract duration: 1-2 years

Purpose of the position:

• Support priority Field Offices (FOs) to grow German and INTPA/ECHO institutional grant resources.
• Manage a coordinated strategy process for grant acquisition across priority donors and priority field offices.
• Support the development, writing and submission of quality grant proposals.
• Support the implementation of grant funded projects, especially in phase of start-up, close out or during troubleshooting
• Deliver capacity building support (operational and strategic capacity) to enhance grant acquisition and management (GAM), specifically on EU and German bilateral donors.
• Donor engagement at field levels at operational and strategic level
• Support assessing partnerships with local and international NGOs and key stakeholders.

The GAM Programme Officer proactively targets prioritised funding opportunities that will advance partnering Field Office and WV Germany strategies. Therefore, the position will lead capacity assessment where needed, donor engagement/pre-positioning, proposal development, support grant implementation and also assist in the development/establishment of processes to enable successful Grants Acquisition and Management.

Priority Field Offices (FO): Mali, Niger, Chad, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso during current strategy period

Major Responsibilities:

Key Responsibilities

Strategic: Strategic engagement and communication with both internal and external stakeholders at operational and strategic level

• Develop clear understanding of donor expectations regarding proposal submission & project implementation.
• Participate in relevant donor meetings & fora.

• Effective collaboration and communication with relevant WAR units, SOs, and EURep on resource acquisition and management.

• Advice on donor relationship, and elevate WVs profile.
• Support to foster donor relationships at Head Quarter level (BMZ, GFFO) through direct communication with WV
• Germany.
• Support networking and participation in relevant meetings at regional and national level

Grants Acquisition: Lead proposal development process (Pre-proposal, Proposal development, Post-submission)

• Map and manage donor landscape analysis, Donor engagement plans and meetings; especially with German Bi-lateral donors/German Embassies, EU, ECHO, PATRIP
• Support the development and follow-up of Grant Acquisition Management Business Plans, including analysis to set targets.
• Provide strong analysis of donor Calls for Proposals.
• Lead and ensure proposals are developed based on evidence, at timely manner and with donor alignment
• Support cost recovery in each grant.
• Apply best standards for advancing local partnerships and consortia building; including facilitation of the partner assessment processes
• Communicate funding opportunities & other relevant information to field offices and other WV partners in simplified manner.
• Participate in go/no-go decisions
• Work with relevant NO/RO teams on project design / Support Project Design Workshops
• Ensure timely and appropriate communication and coordination of stakeholders throughout the proposal development process.
• High quality support to proposal writing.
• Oversee timely submission of high-quality proposals.
• Ensure adequate post-submission follow-up.

Grants Management & Quality: Support grant management for Germany funded projects and appropriate systems for sustaining GAM

• Facilitate grant start up meetings/workshops and share lessons learned and experiences.
• Support FOs in analysing their performance and portfolio management for pre-positioning and identifying strategic priorities
• Support FO planning & budgeting
• Ensure FO GAM compliance systems & capacity
• Support development and use of tools & procedures to mitigate risks
• Support the development & presentation of grants management information to support strategic and operational management decisions.
• Support donor reporting (quality & timely submission)
• Identify & communicate key grants management issues that require resolution at higher level.

Knowledge Transfer & Capacity Building: Build capacity of FOs to enhance grant acquisition & management (GAM)

• Convey to field offices expertise in specific donor relations, donor requirements, and grant processes through a combination of coaching, mentoring and more formalized training, including mentoring FO staff with available e-training applications.
• Help identify FO/RO capacity gaps
• Support development & implementation of FO capacity-building plans.
• Identify or develop capacity-building resources & activities.
• Establish on-going coaching relationship with key personnel.
• Lead/participate in knowledge transfer/knowledge sharing processes among FOs/RO/SOs.

Others: Carry out additional responsibilities as assigned by the Regional Director RDU

Other Competencies/Attributes:

• Very strong interpersonal/intercultural skills;
• Track record of success grant design and win rate, in partner and donor relations;
• High performance and quality standards;
• Ability to motivate teams and inspire teamwork; Creativity and logic;
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail;
• Commitment to WVs Core Values and Mission Statement and agreement with World Visions Christian ethos

Qualifications:

Essential: Relevant undergraduate degree (e.g. international or development studies; economics; social science disciplines; etc); Desirable: Postgraduate qualifications or relevant technical/vocational studies;

Experience

• Minimum five years experience with government and multilateral organisations procedures and regulations;
• Minimum five years experience in successful proposal writing and management of proposal development teams, preferred European and German government donors;
• Experienced networker with an ability to maintain a good up to date knowledge of the grant opportunities and trends in the humanitarian and development sector; demonstrable prior successes in grant submissions/tendering and grant management
• Excellent French and English written and spoken communication skills are essential; German highly desirable. German citizen preferred.

Knowledge/Technical Skills

The following may be acquired through a combination of formal or self-education, prior experience or on-the-job training:

• Excellent knowledge and experience of project management with government and multilateral agencies grant funded projects and experience of grant compliance procedures for major bilateral (EU, ECHO, BMZ, GFFO, etc.) and multilateral donors.
• Experienced in leading development of complex Health (WASH, Maternal Child Health), Child Rights & Protection and or Income generation and Livelihoods grant project proposals
• High performance and quality standards; negotiation skills; ability to motivate teams and inspire teamwork;
• Track record of successfully training, mentoring and supervising grant staff
• Contract management and compliance, including critical analysis;
• Stakeholder management particularly in complex environments (e.g. working across different countries/cultures; internal/external stakeholders)
• Relationship building and networking, with experience in working with donors or other business development expertise
• Strong financial awareness, with the ability to build and interpret complex budgets and financial reporting

Working Environment / Conditions:

• Work environment: Experience living and working within a humanitarian emergency, response and recovery context and/or working with partners in consortia.
• World Vision employees are in majority of both Christian and Muslim faith depending on the respective Field Office. The ideal candidate should have strong faith but be able to express it maturely keeping in view the contextual sensitivities and possess tolerance towards people of other faiths.
• Reporting to WARO RDU with dotted line to WV Germany, and based in the WV Office in Dakar. Frequent travel between FOs and RO.
• Not a family post
• Travel: minimum of 40 – 50% International travel is required

Applicant Types Accepted:

Local and International Applicants (IA’s) Accepted