Description

Position Description

Location: UK or US

Employee Type: Full-time

Duration: fixed term - until end June 2026

FLSA Classification (US Positions Only): Non-exempt

Salary:

UK: hiring range from 37,040 - 43,151 GBP commensurate on professional experience

US: hiring range from $53,200 - $63,175 USD commensurate on professional experience

Reporting To: Award Management Team Manager

Closing date: Please submit application and by Friday November 28th

Supervisory Responsibility: none

Budget Management Responsibility: none

Position Summary

The Awards Management Team (AMT) works in lockstep with Mercy Corps’ country teams to ensure they have the resources, tools, and information they need to succeed in the implementation of high-quality programs across three areas by:

1. Stewarding award management from kick-off to close out, supporting adherence to donor requirements, aligning donor contractual deliverables with internal program quality and compliance standards to deliver program impact, resolving compliance issues, and promoting knowledge management;

2. Contributing to strategic new business development by identifying new funding opportunities, supporting high-quality program design, and leading submission efforts aligned with donor requirements; and

3. Serving as liaison between Mercy Corps' program teams and their most critical relationships with internal and external stakeholders

The Award Management Officer (AMO) supports strategic, impactful, high-quality programming within the Awards Management Team structure for Africa. They are responsible for an award portfolio within the region, working closely with country teams to oversee current awards and support new business opportunities.

Essential Responsibilities

Award Management & Oversight:

• Oversee assigned portfolio of awards to ensure compliance with donor requirements, monitor overall award health, and provide guidance and oversight on award requirements (i.e., narrative reporting, prior approvals)
• Support country teams’ adherence to donor rules and regulations, serving as main point of contact for institutional donor compliance and communication
• Provide guidance to country teams on narrative reporting; review and submit reports and other award deliverables, ensuring quality and adherence to donor requirements and internal standards.
• Lead award agreement and amendment review and negotiation processes
• Prepare and communicate award kick-off and closeout tools, including new award initiation summary
• Provide training and capacity building to country teams on award management, compliance and institutional donor requirements on an as-needed basis

Business Development Support:

• Review draft proposals for completeness, compliance, alignment with donor requirements, and overall quality; manage proposal and concept submissions.
• Support or lead coordination for assigned proposals or concept notes, monitoring timelines, tracking status, and communicating with relevant parties.
• May contribute to proposal writing (narrative, annexes), potentially traveling to country offices if needed.
• Coordinate with other Global and Regional departments (e.g., Finance, Compliance, Technical Support) during proposal development.

Provide administrative support for proposal development as needed, such as drafting standard annexes (e.g., Past Performance Reports, capacity statements), copy-editing, formatting, obtaining signatures, and final compilation/submission.

Donor Liaison and Representation

• Serve as HQ focal point for donor communications on award management matters, communicating regarding updates, amendments, or key programmatic changes
• With guidance from the AMT Manager, represent regional/country interests and programs with external stakeholders.
• Participate in representational visits, events and meetings as requested

Administration and Knowledge Management

• Maintain internal knowledge management systems for assigned awards (e.g., GAIT, Digital Library)
• Responsible for record retention of key award documents in accordance with record retention policy

Other Responsibilities

• Support internal communications, ensuring information flow between country teams, HQ, and other stakeholders.
• Facilitate learning across portfolios and share lessons learned and knowledge of agency resources/tools/best practices.
• Provide dedicated support during emergencies or complex program start-ups as assigned.
• Support regional team on special projects, as assigned.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

● Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information clearly and concisely for various audiences.

● A detail-oriented, multi-tasker who is able to communicate clearly and work under pressure.

● A problem solver, adept in successfully dealing with issues of complexity.

● Proven ability to build and maintain strong, collaborative working relationships with diverse internal teams and external stakeholders across different cultures and time zones.

● Able to harness the expertise, experience and ideas of colleagues and effectively use this to improve their own work and support that of others.

● Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, track deadlines, and ensure timely completion of tasks for self and direct reports.

● A robust sense of humor is greatly appreciated.

● A demonstrable passion for, and a clear empathy with, the organization’s aims and values.

Required Education and Experience

● Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a relevant field. Master's degree preferred.

● 3+ years of professional experience in international relief and development, including managing the development, implementation, administration, and compliance of grants (especially government-funded awards). Field-based experience is highly desirable, ideally in the Africa.

● Experience with proposal development (support and writing) with various donors (e.g., US Government, European institutions, private foundations, corporations).

● Experience with monitoring and evaluation and other learning efforts is preferred.

● Experience representing an organization to external stakeholders is preferred.

● Proficiency with MS Office software required (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

● Fluency in English required. Fluency in a regionally relevant language is a plus.

Travel & Environmental Conditions

This position may require up to 10% travel to support 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 of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/short term assignment to a field posting. Staff 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.

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

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. By applying for this role an applicant confirms that they have not previously violated an employer’s sexual misconduct, sexual exploitation and abuse, child safeguarding or trafficking policy. 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 e-learning 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]).

As a safeguarding measure, Mercy Corps screens all potential US-Based employees. This is done following the conclusion of recruitment and prior to assuming full employment. Our screening process is designed to be transparent and completed in partnership with new Team Members. You will have the opportunity to disclose any prior convictions at the conclusion of the recruitment process before the check is initiated.

We ask that you do not disclose any prior convictions in your application materials or during the recruitment process.