Grants Manager

Location Ramallah, Palestine

Position Status Full-time

Salary Level Level 6A

Duration: 6 months, renewable

Department: Quality, Evidence, and Learning (QEL)

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse, and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have a long-term impact.

Program / Department Summary

Since 1986, Mercy Corps has helped Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza access critical services and become more economically self-sufficient focusing its interventions on WASH, community crisis resilience, economic opportunities, and cash programming. The escalation of conflict that began on October 7, 2023, has sharply exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the region. With funding from ECHO, BHA, and multiple other donors, Mercy Corps and its partners are actively working to respond to the crisis and provide basic needs support at scale, while also advancing their private sector and tech hub development work.

General Position Summary

The Grants Manager will support the program department as the point person for communicating Mercy Corps activities through donor reports. This includes collation of information from each operational department into concise and clear narratives, supported by statistical evidence and case studies. The Grants Manager must develop and possess an understanding of compliance and reporting format requirements for each donor and communicate those to program teams as needed. They will also serve as the focal point to ensure compliance with Mercy Corps’ Program Management Policy and must possess a basic understanding of internal minimum standards. They are an integral part of the Mercy Corps team working inside Palestine and are expected to have a strong operational understanding of all activities and strategy. They will engage with Program Leadership and support departments to ensure Palestine programs are of high quality and implemented on time, on scope, and on budget; this will include facilitation of BvA analysis discussions, engagement in quarterly review meetings and learning initiatives, and showcasing of successes and lessons learned in current programming in internal and external comms.

They will also be the point person for coordinating and drafting new proposals and developing the initial narrative and budget requirements, in close collaboration with the Senior Advisor for Program Quality, Evidence and Learning. As such, the Grants Manager is expected to liaise across all departments. Finally, they will be the primary contact for internal communications within Mercy Corps on key program activities, success stories, and other useful updates for the broader Mercy Corps audience.

The Grants Manager will work under the direct supervision of the Senior Advisor for Program Quality, Evidence and Learning (QEL), as well as working relationships with the relevant Finance, QEL, Program, Security, and Operations team members in coordinating all grants/reporting-related tasks. Additionally, the Grants Manager will coordinate closely with the Regional Program Team/Awards Management Team at the global level.

Essential Job Responsibilities

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

Grants Management

• Coordinate across program, QEL, finance and support functions, as well as Global offices throughout the grant cycle to ensure appropriate set up of new grants, ongoing reporting and structured documentation throughout implementation, and close out of grants.
• Coordinate the preparation of accountable donor and internal reporting in compliance with internal and donor requirements, ensuring timely inputs from program, QEL, finance, and operations teams, and ensure review and signoff processes are thorough and adhered to.
• Develop a thorough understanding of relevant Mercy Corps and donor policies, regulations and procedures, including kick-off and closeout procedures, and provide relevant orientations to other team members; Provide ongoing guidance to program teams and support departments on grant requirements and donor rules and regulations.
• Maintain an up-to-date grant filing system that meets Program Management Policy and donor standards.
• Update project management tools, including funding trackers, grant and reporting trackers, minimum standards tracker, and other relevant tools and dashboards.
• Work closely with the Senior Advisor for QEL and Program Leads on effective coordination and management of grants to ensure they remain on time, on scope, and on budget. This includes:
  • Providing regular information on project progress and burn-rates; facilitating interdepartmental BvA analysis discussions and ensuring learning and action points are documented and followed through.
  • Working closely with the Program Directors/Managers and Finance, to ensure accurate forecasting, flagging challenges and opportunities.
  • Coordinate and document all program kick-off, review, and close-out meetings, track action points for follow-up, and record/document all lessons learned.
  • Prepare for and participate in complex board meetings and update board members on program progress against indicators, milestones, as well as program support needs.
• In close collaboration with the Program Leads, QEL Senior Advisor, and Country Director, provide draft answers to donor questions and requests.

New Business Development

• Lead the development of concept notes and proposals – including leading on core business processes such as go/no go decisions, kick-off and planning meetings, and after action reviews – coordinating across departments, with the region and HQ, engaging particularly with the QEL team, technical advisors, program leads, and finance to ensure the production of high-quality proposals that are reflective of Mercy Corps and donor strategic objectives, are operationally viable and accurately reflect the cost of doing business.
• Ensure proposals and concept notes are developed promptly and with realistic deadlines, and that these are communicated and understood by stakeholders both internal to the office as well as the region and global levels.
• Coordinate both internally and externally, to ensure that before submission all proposals are reviewed and approved by management and HQ, as appropriate.
• Lead on modification of programs, including cost modifications, no-cost extensions, and other grant amendments, in response to changing contexts and implementation realities.
• With support from the QEL Senior Advisor, take the lead on tracking funding opportunities, including calls for funding, progress of proposals, submission deadlines, and financing available. Ensure all appropriate donor and Mercy Corps proposal formats are available in country.

Finance & Compliance Management

• Ensure programs are executed in alignment with the donor agreement and the applicable donor regulations, staying abreast of changes in the regulatory environment related to donor/grant compliance.
• Ensure that key contributing staff and partners have a clear understanding of donor requirements and expectations at all stages of the grant cycle.
• Provide support and training to the field teams to ensure that Program Management Policy standards for program management, including complex program management, are met.
• In coordination with the Senior Advisor QEL and Finance, support in facilitation of the monthly Budget versus Actual (BvA) meetings, keep track of up-to-date information, identifying issues to be addressed, and following up on action points.
• Support the finance team with budget development and ensure consistency with program planning, Mercy Corps minimum standards, and donor requirements.
• Support to Value for Money (VFM) initiatives across Mercy Corps Palestine.

Other tasks

• Produce other information and communications products for both internal and external audiences as required.
• As delegated, act as the focal point for all queries and information requests from Mercy Corps and donors.
• Represent Mercy Corps to donors and other key stakeholders, as required.

Supervisory Responsibility

None.

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Accountability

Reports Directly to: Senior Advisor for Program Quality, Evidence and Learning

Works Directly with: Program Teams, Finance Department, QEL team, Operations team, Security & Access, Crisis Analysis (CA) team, Regional Program/Award Management Team.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• Bachelor degree or equivalent in related field. Masters or equivalent in a field related to Humanitarian Assistance or International Development is preferred.
• 7 - 10 years of demonstrated professional experience, and a minimum of 4 years of experience providing coordination or management support program implementation in humanitarian contexts, including:
  • Preparing writing and analysis on programmatic activities;
  • Budget development and management experience;
  • Managing work plans;
  • Representing programs with donors and external stakeholders.
• Excellent writing and communication skills in English required.
• Ability to produce and edit documents under deadline pressure.
• Experience working with key institutional donors (ECHO, EC, SIDA, Dutch MoFA, USAID, FCDO, UN OCHA, etc.) preferred. Ability and willingness to learn and follow donor reporting and compliance requirements.
• Ability to coordinate funding proposals and progress reports from key institutional donors (ECHO, EC, SIDA, etc.).
• Experience with monitoring and evaluation and other learning efforts.
• Strong understanding of key humanitarian principles and good practices.
• Demonstrated flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving.
• Ability to efficiently deal with competing priorities.
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently to Mercy Corps project sites and field locations, including traveling to insecure environments, is required.
• Experience working in a multicultural
• Graduate degree in a relevant field preferred.
• Experience working in the Middle East region and Palestinian context preferred.
• Fluency in English is required. Proficiency in Arabic is a plus.

Success Factors

The successful candidate will combine exceptional organizational abilities and writing skills with good humor under pressure. They will learn and move between all departments to consolidate essential information for accurately reporting Mercy Corps activities in Palestine. They will be able to capture strategy and planning into concise and clear documents in new proposal development. It is critical that the Grants Manager is an excellent communicator, who is supportive and solutions oriented. They need to be highly motivated, self-driven, and able to support complex programs with limited daily support and direction; they will be able to work remotely with internal and external stakeholders to achieve common objectives. They will be a multi-tasker with the proven ability to organize and prioritize competing priorities. The candidate will be organized and maintain a clear electronic filing system. They will ensure donor compliance and best practices are upheld throughout the entire grants management process. The successful candidate will ultimately be able to provide constructive input to discussions and initiatives across a large and diverse portfolio and therefore, must be willing to learn from others and build their knowledge of best practices in cross-cutting issues including accountability, gender, and protection. They must be focused on the capacity building of other national staff and have strong program support and information management skills.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Ramallah, and it requires up to 20% travel across Gaza, West Bank, Jerusalem and Jordan (where feasible) to support teams and country programs, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited. Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline ([email protected]).

Interested candidates are encouraged to apply online HERE no later than 12:00PM on Sunday, 06 April 2025.  Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.