Finance Compliance Officer Job Description s1

This recruitment for this position will be on a rolling basis.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Position: Contracts Manager – Commercial Contracts Team Reports to: Head of Commercial Contracts Location: London with international travel, probably 3 times per year for up to 1 month at a time Salary: Circa £42,000 Hours: 37.5 hours per week Contract: 12 month’s fixed term contract with the possibility of renewal

BACKGROUND The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is one of the world’s leading humanitarian relief organisations. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people survive, recover and rebuild their lives. The IRC delivers emergency aid, protects children, provides healthcare, prevents and responds to violence against women and girls, safeguards human rights and helps to kick-start economic recovery. Working in more than 40 countries, the IRC has restored hope and opportunity to many millions of people.

The IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and, most crucially, accountability to those we serve. The IRC is a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable.

The IRC’s global headquarters are in New York. Our European headquarters, IRC-UK, were established in London in 1997 to support the organisation’s global activities and particularly to diversify its donor base and be able to better advocate with European policy makers on behalf of the people we serve. IRC-UK comprises approximately 50 staff across five departments.

The International Programmes Team (IPT) is tasked with identifying and facilitating proposal development, project management, compliance and donor liaison reporting to the Director of the International Programme Team.

THE INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES TEAM The International Programmes Team (IPT) leads the International Rescue Committee’s engagement with European donors. By closely working with the regional, country offices and Policy and Practice teams it acts as the intermediary between major European statutory donors, field offices and the New York headquarters. IPT coordinates the reporting and accounting of grants and offers its financial and management expertise to field offices and the teams in the Policy and Practice department. IPT team members are also contributing to project design, negotiating with partners and are responsible for proposal development and compliance issues. With a deep understanding of the programmatic requirements of the various regions the IRC works in, and shifting donor strategies, the IPT is well placed to advocate on key issues on behalf of the IRC and was responsible for raising almost £110 million in the 2013/2014 financial year. The IPT has forged good working relationships across the sector and is regularly called on by the IRC to offer advice and to assist with strategic planning. The UK office is currently undertaking a strategic review that will lead to a new five year strategy. This will define how we will expand operations into Europe and become a ‘Europe Hub’ for IRC globally. A new department (the Awards Management Unit) is also being formed in the coming months, merging the existing IPT with the counterpart units in New York. This department will set new organisational standards for business development and grants management, and the post holder will be an integral part of the AMU, alongside existing IPT staff.

SCOPE OF WORK This position is central to IRC-UK’s business development and compliance function with regards to commercial contracts and requires a very experienced and motivated team- player with excellent communication skills and a strategic eye for business opportunities. The main purpose of the position is to facilitate European commercial business development, compliance and monitoring for IRC’s Commercial Contracts Team which sits within the IPT. The Commercial Contracts Team supports the contract/service delivery model project work of the regional staff who lead on proposal review and project management.

This entails, but is not limited to:  Being responsible for IRC-UK’s Commercial Contracts by leading bid writing, providing guidance on risk and remote oversight of project management  Building knowledge and understanding of commercial contracts under European donors/commissioners  Facilitation of opportunity development and compliance support for the IPT and ultimately IRC’s technical units and country offices  Building new donor and partner opportunities and relationships

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS  Reports to the Head of Commercial Contracts  Close coordination with Regional Programme Managers and Regional Grants Officers who are the direct link to the field  Coordination with Technical Units (TUs) and Regional staff for Business Development and project management and compliance and relevant support structures within the organisation  Coordination within the Commercial Contracts Team

Essential Job Functions A Opportunity Development and Project Management  Team lead bid development, guide and coordinate inputs from country and technical teams ensuring a coherent and well written bid package. For specific tenders, this will involve travel to support teams in country offices  Maintain compliance with donor requirements and ensure oversight of competitiveness of the submission and project oversight  Identify and develop tender submissions for country programmes as team lead or within a bid team  Maintain key documents including risk log, bid development timeline and win strategy B Donor and Partner Relationships  Support Head of Commercial Contracts in development of strategic partnerships with NGOs, private sector and academic institutions  Lead identification of consortium partners for specific opportunities and manage the on-going relationship  Develop professional relationships with key individuals within target donors; from contract negotiation to reporting  Provide additional review and support where needed for project reporting as required by International Programmes Team  Act as primary focal point on particular bids with the donor’s procurement department  Work with Head of Commercial Contracts to respond to European donors’ move to contracting  Attend NGO, private sector networks as required, with a view to raising IRC’s profile and engagement externally

C Support Capacity  Support IPT’s regional desks to improve review and understanding of bids and related reports  Design and train IPT, and where required the wider organisation  Lead a thematic area within the team, for example value for money  Ensure lessons learnt are embedded into future processes

PERSON SPECIFICATION Essential qualifications, skills and experience  University degree, preferably in a subject related to this post, or equivalent  Extensive knowledge of commercial contracts including successfully developing and managing commercial tenders for DFID or other European donors  Ability to lead multi disciplinary teams to undertake preparatory work and tender submissions, working with remote field offices and partners.  First-class attention to detail and the ability to analyse and synthesise information along with excellent communication skills, verbal and written.  Understanding of value for money and competitiveness  Proven relationship building skills with internal and external stakeholders  Ability to handle pressure and meet tight deadlines  Ability to travel for bid development and monitoring  The right to work in the UK

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  Negotiation and legal skills to minimise risks to the organisation and partners  Understanding of commercial tenders from commissioners outside the UK  Experience of working in developing countries  Ability to strategically analyse opportunities  Fluency in French

To Apply Please send a CV (two pages maximum) and cover page (two pages maximum) to: [email protected] Please state clearly in your cover letter:  Your reasons for applying  How you meet the person specification, skills and experience specified in the job description  Where you saw the job advertised  Current salary

The closing date is: IRC-UK will short-list and interview on a rolling basis until the post is filled.

In order to minimise administrative costs, IRC-UK will only contact short-listed candidates.

Candidates must have the right to work in the UK.

IRC-UK strives to be an equal opportunities employer. IRC-UK is committed to equality of opportunity and to non-discrimination for all job applicants and employees, and we seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce regardless of gender, race, religious beliefs, nationality, ethnic/national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.