Deputy Director, Award Mgmt

Position Summary

The Deputy Director, Award Management will be responsible for working closely with the director to develop, manage, and oversee the full range of award management activities and practices across the organization to best support the principal investigators, project teams, country leadership and overall award management systems operations. This primarily includes ensuring development and optimization of award management systems, process and tools and increase utilization and capacity regarding complex donor, compliance, and project requirements. Reporting to the Director of Award Management and working closely with the finance, operational, and program functions, Deputy Director will contribute to organizational strategy and drive growth and continuous improvement in the organization’s systems and processes, striving to create excellence in award management.
The ideal candidate will be a leader with proven experience in change management, ideally within a academic or international organization or firms that serves philanthropic organizations, who is passionate about systems and process improvement, data analytics, process documentation, and training. Experience in managing and motivating a team is critical as the incumbent will coach and mentor an experienced eight-person grants management team that administers a growing volume of grants within evolving portfolio.

Responsibilities

• Systems for Proposal and Award Management – 70%
• Develop and oversee development, implementation and continuous improvement of award management systems for New York and field staff 10%
• Serve as point of contact and provide expert advice on a range of award management issues related to specific donors (e.g. Foundations, USG, private gifts) 10%
• Leads system for level of effort planning and management for ICAP New York and field staff 5%
• In conjunction with the established proposal development teams, oversees the preparation and production of ICAP research and service proposal submissions, ensuring that proposals contain all required information and are compliant with the funder and Columbia University requirements 5%
• Serve as proposal and grants manager during periods of high volume of award action requirements 5%
• Review, refine, and develop best practices for engaging country teams on proposals with an emphasis on the improvement of best practices for proposal development 5%
• Identify linkages between award and project management (costed workplans, costing package development, financial monitoring/evaluation) and develop associated guidance for project teams
• Manage knowledge management content related to award management 5%
• Maintain and update awards management unit related training and onboarding tools, including handbooks, process documents, and guidance documents. 5%
• Harmonize information from donor and work with project teams to operationalize donor guidance into award management systems 5%
• Oversee the integration of award and project best practices into ICAP guidance, processes, tools, and templates 5%
• Develop and manage regular processes for the review, monitoring, and analysis of project expenses against sponsored projects using ICAP tools 5%
• Training and Capacity Building – 25%
• Lead award management and systems-related capacity building and training activities for ICAP staff, globally5%
• Identify innovations and best practices in award management and disseminate to appropriate ICAP staff in New York and country offices. 5%
• Incorporate best practices and innovations in grant management through updates to ICAP’s systems, process, procedures and guidelines 5%
• Work to develop and distribute training materials/guidance related to strategic budgeting and costing (proposal and post award) and effective utilization of internal systems and tools. 5%

• Identify best practices in research award management and implementation; develop and implement relevant training and capacity building for ICAP research teams. 5%

  Other duties as assigned 5%

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in in Public Health, International Affairs, Public Administration or related field or equivalent in education, training & experience.
• At least 5 years of related experience implementing and managing complex portfolio of grants
• Advanced working knowledge of USG, bilateral funder, and private foundation rules and regulations and requirements
• Demonstrated capacity to think strategically and work with a high degree of independence
• Strong interpersonal, communication, organizational, analytical, and leadership skills
• Prior administrative project management training with at least 3 years’ experience in international public health and/or development settings with prior field-based (international) experience highly desirable
• Excellent technical skills in writing, editing, formatting, research and negotiation
• Expert skills in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and Adobe Acrobat

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in in Public Health, International Affairs, Public Administration or related field
• 5+ years of related experience implementing and managing complex portfolio of grants
• Prior experience implementing and managing research and/or clinical trials awards
• Experience developing and submitting grant proposal to USG and/or bilateral and private funders
• Capacity to write and speak French or Portuguese

Other Requirements

• Up to 20% domestic and international travel per fiscal year with each trip averaging 1 week in duration