MYANMAR – GRANTS MANAGER (H/F) – YANGON

Desired start date: 15/02/21
Duration of the mission: 10 months
Location: Yangon

ABOUT THE MISSION

SI has been in Myanmar since 2008. For the first three years SI worked in the Delta in response to the devastating Cyclone Nargis. In 2011, SI expanded to three new regions (Dry Zone, Rakhine, and Chin State) focusing on Livelihoods, Food Security, Shelter, and WASH. In January 2012 SI expanded to Kachin State to respond to an emergency situation created by the displacement of Kachin population.

SI currently has a coordination base in Yangon, with field bases in the Rakhine and Kachin States. Each office is operational with a Field Coordinator. In 2020, 18 international staff and 300+ national staff are working within SI to implement 7 contracts (on-going) in WASH, FSL, Emergency programs (NFI, Shelter, WASH, Food) funded by OFDA, DFID/HARP, ECHO, CIAA, OCHA, CDC and UNICEF.

In 2020, the mission has an approximatively financial volume of 6 million euros.

To learn more about the Myanmar mission, please click here.

ABOUT THE JOB

General objective and main activities

As part of the coordination team and reporting to the CD, and working closely with the program and support departments at coordination level, as well as the base teams, the Grant Manager is the mission’s focal point on ensuring accountability to donors. He/she is in charge of:

• Contributing to the mission’s strategic development.
• Monitoring and identifying funding opportunities in line with SI country and global strategy.
• Overseeing compilation of timely and high quality proposals, reports and contract modification requests for submission to donors and consortium partners.
• Monitoring compliance with donor procedures and capacity building of new and existing staff on internal accountability tools and donor procedures.
• Proactively following-up on donor contractual obligations, from contracting to closing and archiving, and ensuring contractual obligations are known and understood by relevant staff/departments.
• Centralizing and preparing relevant documentation for external audits and audit report archiving.

The Grant Manager manages 1 Conformity Officer, also based in Yangon.

Main challenges:

• Myanmar’s currency, the MMK, has been gaining strength towards our donors’ currencies. This has to be continuously monitored, and forecast adjusted.
• The increased volume of the mission has to be balanced with funding opportunities

• SI is working with implementing partners, and the management of these partnerships require a lot of time and support.

• as in many countries, working in remote due to COVID causes delays in archiving, which has to be pro-actively followed. It also causes delays in operations, that lead to budget readjustments (ex: no cost extensions).

Priorities for the first months:

1. Structure the Grants Management dpt: The GM position is new on the mission (before, it was a Reporting and Communication Officer position). The priority will be to have everyone understand this change of set up and its impact. Supervision of audits and inter departments’ collaboration will be crucial in that regard.
2. Proposals: Finalization of several proposals; launch of a multiyear preparation for DFID; potential new donors
3. Reports: regular reports submissions for open grants
4. External evaluation of OFDA: planned in March, but, might be impacted by movement restrictions (to follow up with donor)
5. Audits: Monitoring and financial spotchecks/audits of ongoing grants or recently closed ; preparation of OFDA yearly audit, taking place in HQ in June (repatriation of archives of 2020)
6. Strategy 2022-2025: to actively engage in the next strategic exercise; identify potential new donors in line with the strategic orientations; and support CD and DCD in terms of external communication.

YOUR PROFILE

Education:

Bachelor (or Master’s) Degree in, Business or Public Administration, Humanitarian/international relations

Experience:

• Previous experience at Grant Manager position with significant financial volume (> 5 millions EUR at least recommended), multiplicity of donor’s contracts (6 at least recommended)
• Proven experience in team management and team structuring;
• Proven experience in training & capacity building;
• Previous experience of project management in NGO / humanitarian fields;
• Previous experience with SI would be an asset

Specific skills and experience:

• Knowledge of humanitarian donors such as ECHO, DFID, OFDA-USAID (BHA), UN Agencies & other donors assistance policies, guideline, proposal writing and donor reporting;
• Knowledge of both Program management (WASH, FSL) and support Departments’ processes;
• Knowledge of Solidarités International rules and procedures preferred but not essential
• Capacity to work with non-native English speakers

Soft skills:

• Prioritization and self-organization;
• Ability to multitask and to delegate;
• Rigor;
• Diplomacy;

Language:

Very good level of English (read, spoken & written). French and Burmese are added assets.

SI WILL OFFER YOU

A salaried position
According to experience, starting from EUR 1800 gross / per month (+ 10% annual leave allowance paid monthly i.e. EUR 1980 gross / per month) + a monthly Per Diem of USD 700 / month.

SI covers accommodation costs and travel expenses between the expatriate’s country of origin and the place of assignment.

Breaks

During the assignment, a system of alternation between work and time off is implemented at the rate of 7 working days every 3 months. For a one-year assignment, the expatriate will have a 7 working days break at 3, 6 and 9 months (with USD 850 allocated by SI). In addition to these, SI adds 1 additional rest day per month of work, i.e. 12 additional days off for a one-year contract.

Insurance package
Expatriates benefit from an insurance package which covers all healthcare expenses (including medical and surgical expenses, dental care and ophthalmological expenses, repatriation) and a welfare system, including war risks. Essential vaccination and antimalarial treatment costs are refunded.

Living conditions

The Grants Manager lives in a shared guesthouse with his international colleagues.

Security is considered very good in Yangon and in most parts of Myanmar. No restrictions for circulation or curfew are in place in Yangon but travel authorizations (TA) must be obtained for travelling to other sites, and to SI main field bases.

The climate is hot and wet, tropical. It can be cold on the bases during December – February period.

At the time of writing, Myanmar mission is adapting its way of working and living to minimize the exposure to COVID19, in constant monitoring and adaptation to the context evolution. This include social distancing, teleworking and strict hygienic rules such as regular handwashing etc.