Business Development and Grants Coordinator, Lebanon & Syria - Trócaire

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

Overarching:

• Increase and broaden the institutional funding base of the Lebanon and Syria country programmes in line with the organisational institutional funding strategy.
• Support the programme teams in the development of well-designed projects and programmes for submission to institutional donors, consistent with Trócaire’s Organisational and Country Strategic Plans.
• Oversight and support to programme staff in the management of all institutional funding grants/ contracts in Lebanon and Syria.
• Build the capacity of the Lebanon and Syria programme staff and partners to manage existing and fundraise for future institutional funding grants/ contracts.

In particular, this role has the following responsibilities:

Country institutional funding strategy development

• Work closely with GPFU in Head Office to achieve organisational deliverables and targets

• Acquire in depth knowledge of both the country strategic frameworks and all programmes in Syria and Lebanon
• In close coordination with the wider country team, develop and review/update on an annual basis country institutional funding strategy and annual action plan.
• Maintain and regularly update a database of all potential donors for the Lebanon/Syria programme.
• Regularly update relevant management and programme colleagues on donor strategies, geographical and thematic priorities, future calls and requirements for applications.
• Initiate Go no Go meetings and provide summary to country team on donor requirements and share learning from previous/similar funding received.

Donor relationship building

• Support the country team and partner organisations in their engagement and relationship building with donors, and engage directly with donors as appropriate and agreed with the CMT
• Initiate donor contacts, participate in key donor meetings and, in collaboration with the country team, contribute to Trócaire visibility and profile with relevant stakeholders.
• Pro-actively seek donor intelligence on prospective new opportunities or partnerships.
• Cultivate business relationships with external stakeholders and potential partners for large scale or strategic funding opportunities
• Attend relevant forums and networks in coordination with Country Director and Head of Programmes.
• Negotiate and scrutinise donor contracts, as necessary.
• Work closely with GPFU unit to ensure coordinated contact with donors in both countries.

Programme planning and Institutional funding applications

• Work closely with programme and partner staff in-country to ensure programmes are well-positioned to secure donor funding.
• Pro-actively identify opportunities for securing institutional funding from governments, major donors and trusts accessible to Trócaire.
• Lead in the development of institutional funding applications (concept notes and full proposals, narrative and financial, or possibly commercial contract applications for institutional donors) in close coordination with donors, the GPFU, country programme colleagues, and relevant HQ based technical support colleagues.
• Participate in planning meetings and workshops, held with the programme team and partner staff to develop concept notes and full proposals for current and future donor calls.

Grant management

• Review donor contracts prior to signing and inform country management, GPFU, Compliance Unit and the relevant programme team colleagues of Trócaire’s responsibilities.
• Keep up to date with donor regulations, especially relating to the EU, Irish Aid, FCDO, and others, and communicate relevant changes to staff and partners, ensuring links with HQ in terms of global donor strategies and updates on regulations.
• Develop appropriate procedures, tools and operational systems to support partners in adherence to Trócaire and donor /contract compliance requirements, including adherence to Trócaire’s minimum requirements.
• Provide grant management support for ongoing projects, such as the development of  qualitative reports, supporting financial management and reporting systems which facilitate effective programme budget tracking and management, in close coordination with the country programme team, finance staff, and partners.
• Support the country programme team and partners in the timely development of proposals for modifications to donor contracts.
• Support project evaluations and audits and ensure that these comply with donor requirements.

Staff and Partner capacity building

• Provide support and guidance to build capacities of staff and partners in managing Trócaire donor contracts, especially in narrative and financial reporting, in close collaboration with the country team.  
• Provide support and training to programme staff and partners in fundraising (I.e. development of institutional funding applications), donor engagement and the management of grants from initiation to evaluation and closure.
• Provide insights and analysis on current capacities and propose actions to enhance capacities related to fundraising and grants management.

Organisational planning and learning

• Upload and maintain funding information on Trócaire’s Management Information System (Salesforce) including reporting for the Syria and Lebanon funding pipeline in collaboration with colleagues, as appropriate.

• Provide information on institutional funding for all relevant documents at organisational, regional, country and programme level.

• Participate fully as a member of the global funding team, contributing to institutional funding planning, evaluation and learning exercises and joint initiatives such as the quarterly and annual funding workshops.

• Provide support to colleagues in specific areas, according to expertise.

• Attend office and organisational meetings and training courses as required/relevant.
• Elaborate strategy summary, capacity statements, communication contents and visibility documents for specific donor’s meeting, communication department in coordination with partners.

Behavioural Competencies in Line with Trócaire’s Competency Framework:

• Communicating: Reflecting our value of Participation, being one organisation, communicating clearly and transparently across, teams, units, divisions, locations and other external organisations. Getting our message across with impact.
• Collaborating: Reflecting our values of Participation & Solidarity, partnering effectively as One Trócaire organisation and, in solidarity, maintains positive relationships built on trust and respect.
• Delivering Results: Reflecting our values of Accountability & Perseverance, getting a quality job done through effective performance, planning and decision making.
• Continual Improvement & Learning: Reflecting our values of Participation & Courage, constantly looking to learn and develop self, employees, and partners to better fulfil Trócaire’s’ mission.
• Flexibility & Change: Reflecting our values of Participation & Courage, adapts positively to change and to different ways of doing things; manages or takes part in change processes in a way that is appropriate to role in the organisation.

Qualification:

• Higher level qualification in Social Sciences, Development Studies, or related area.

Experience:

• Minimum 3 years’ experience of supporting or leading the development of applications, for major international donors including the European Union (DevCo and ECHO), Irish Aid, UK DFID, other European Governments, UN, US Government funding (USAID, State Depts.), LHF or other relevant trusts/foundations.
• Proven track record of securing institutional funding from successful grant applications.
• Experience of managing grants co financed by the donors such as: European Union (DevCo and ECHO), Irish Aid, UK DFID, other European Governments, UN, US Government funding (USAID, State Depts.), and other relevant trusts/foundations.
• Project cycle management using logical frameworks.
• 5 years’ experience of working on humanitarian/development projects in Lebanon, Syria or the region.
• Working with partner organisations.
• Training/capacity building in a multi-cultural environment

Skills:

• Outstanding writing skills in English, including proposals & reports.
• Excellent numeracy skills for budgeting and financial analysis.
• Strong project planning, monitoring and evaluation skills, using logical frameworks.
• Excellent networking, communication, negotiation and presentation skills.
• Proven capacity for strategic and analytical thinking.
• Computer literate

Qualities:

• Strong commitment to principles of partnership, solidarity and social justice.
• Good interpersonal relationships and team work skills in a multi-cultural environment.
• Excellent networking skills with the ability to establish good relationships, confident in engaging with senior people.
• Culturally sensitive and diplomatic.
• Willingness to travel frequently and independently in Lebanon and Syria
• Able to work irregular hours on an occasional basis. Self-motivated with proven ability to take the initiative.
• Good team player and able to establish strong working relationships with colleagues in the region as well as in Head Office
• Able to prioritise tasks and work to deadlines.
• Flexible and adaptable.
• Accuracy and attention to detail.
• Able to learn from experience and apply to future work.

Other:

• Good understanding of development/humanitarian in Lebanon and Syria.
• Good understanding of Nexus and sustainable action.

Person Specification – Desirable:

Qualification:

• Post graduate level education in development studies or a relevant subject.

Experience:

• Substantive experience in one or more of Trócaire priority sectors: protection, humanitarian response, livelihood security, disaster risk reduction, gender, environmental justice.
• Experience of working with commercial contracting with several institutional donors.

Other:

• Good knowledge of US, UK and EU based donors (both government and non-government) an advantage.