Awards Management Team Leader – Latin America and the Caribbean

Location: Washington, DC; Portland, OR; Edinburgh, UK, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Colombia, Guatemala

Position Status: Full-time, Regular

UK Starting Salary: Starting salary for this role will be £53,360 – based on local benchmarking and commensurate with professional experience.
US Starting Salary: Starting salary for this role will be $76,800 – $91,200 – commensurate with professional experience.

Netherlands Starting Salary: Starting salary of € 63,040 – based on local benchmarking and commensurate with professional experience.
The salary range will be based on local benchmark for candidates outside of the US, NL or UK, and will be provided upon request.

Reporting To: Deputy Regional Director Programs – Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)

Supervisory Responsibility

The Leader supervises three Program Officers and an Assistant Program Officer.

Budget Management Responsibility

None

Position Summary

The AMT Leader provides strategic direction, vision, and leadership to the LAC Awards Management Team (AMT) to ensure country teams have the resources, tools, and information they need to succeed in the implementation of high-quality programs. The AMT Leader will champion a unified and collaborative approach to awards management across both US and Europe portfolios, fostering strong relationships within the regional team and across global support offices. This role is critical in ensuring effective and compliant award administration throughout the program lifecycle, from opportunity identification to project close-out. The AMT does so by:

• 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;
• Contributing to strategic new business development by supporting high-quality program design and leading submission efforts aligned with donor requirements; and
• Serving as liaison between Mercy Corps’ country and regional program teams and their most critical relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY & PLANNING

• Oversee award performance pertaining to programmatic deliverables across the regional portfolio for the effective administration of all donors (inclusive of, but not limited to, US donors, European donors, United Nations, and other Emerging Institutional Donors) to ensure compliance with donor policies and internal procedures to safeguard program integrity and quality.
• Ensure that Awards Management team members based across offices globally work together as a cohesive regional program support unit and collaborate closely with country teams to ensure effective grant administration.
• Partner with the Deputy Regional Director – Programs (DRD-P) to contribute to the effectiveness of the Awards Management Team, providing strategic direction for regional awards management while ensuring alignment between country-level strategies, regional goals and Mercy Corps’ Pathway to Possibility.
• Enhance strategic alignment and effectiveness across regional and country programs, leveraging specialized knowledge and effective communication.

PROPOSAL AND AWARD MANAGEMENT

• Ensure efficient and compliant management of awards (grants and contracts) per Mercy Corps and donor requirements from review and negotiation through to close-out.
• Maintain effective internal knowledge management and streamlined communication channels with a range of internal and external stakeholders to enhance organizational capacity and contribute to successful program outcomes.
• In support with the relevant Grant and Contract Compliance partners and within established organizational and donor guidelines, lead on the intake of award compliance queries, including ensuring interpretations of donor regulations are documented, advising on general award compliance, escalating any compliance issues to Award Compliance partners in accordance with established organizational guidelines.
• Collaborate with Regional Business Development Advisor and the Institutional Donor Engagement Division to effectively and efficiently analyze calls for proposals, assess eligibility, share relevant opportunities with country teams, and plan pre-positioning efforts in business development.
• Oversee (or support, based on opportunity) proposal development processes within the AMT to ensure proposals meet internal quality standards and donor requirements. This includes making decisions about timelines, assigning responsibilities, and coordinating inputs from different stakeholders.
• Monitor the reporting schedule, ensuring that the preparation of narrative and financial reports is completed in a timely manner by country program management and financial teams.
• Ensure that written communications to donors are appropriately managed and filed consistently.
• Oversee the management of award amendments, including cost and no-cost extensions, amendments, modifications and realignments to awards, with the correct approvals received.
• Support, where relevant, in the preparation of teaming agreements with consortium and/or international NGO partners, and the liaison with external stakeholders in support of the final submission of proposal.
• Foster and maintain strong working relationships with country offices, addressing issues and maintaining regular communication regarding grant and award management in compliance with Mercy Corps and donor requirements.

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

• Coordinate with regional and global stakeholders to ensure award systems and processes evolve according to Mercy Corps’ practices for adherence to award and donor compliance.
• Collaborate with other Regional and Country Program Teams to identify and promote systemic enhancements aimed at increasing the efficiency of award delivery.
• Oversee and ensure effective coordination of information flow between AMT and country programs, the regional management team, relevant Global Programs and Operations Support departments, and donors.
• Collaborate closely with Institutional Donor Engagement department to strengthen and maintain positive relationships with donors, ensuring effective communication and responsiveness to their inquiries and concerns.
• In collaboration with the Institutional Donor Engagement department, understand regional donor priorities to align organizational strategies with donor expectations to enhance program funding and sustainability in accordance with Mercy Corps’ Pathway to Possibility priorities.
• Coordinate communications and facilitate meetings between country teams, donors, and Donor Relations team members as required.
• As required and at the discretion of the DRD-P, support emergency response and/or other surge support for the region.
• Ensure robust knowledge management to collect, analyze and disseminate award-related information and strengthen regional capabilities, foster collaboration across regions, and ensure alignment with global strategies.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Motivate, empower, and guide Awards Management Team members towards excellence, including accountability for the quality and timeliness of all work of the regional AMT. Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence in a positive team culture and work environment.
• Lead an Awards Management Team that accounts for the needs and competencies across donor portfolios. Make decisions related to the day-to-day management of the AMT within the approved structure and staffing levels. This includes assigning tasks, managing workloads, and addressing performance issues within the team.
• Streamline internal processes to ensure efficient and effective support to country teams.
• Develop the capacity of the Awards Management Team, including ensuring they have the information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives. Deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career development.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one on one’s and performance reviews.
• Hire and onboard team members as necessary.
• Develop individual and/or teamwork plans or other internal management tools for the efficient use of AMT resources and time.
• Maintain systems that connect AMT to resources and provide guidance on Mercy Corps’ policies and procedures that support program quality, including managing approval requests and facilitating internal approvals as needed.
• ALL OTHER DUTIES AS ASSIGNED BY SUPERVISOR.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrates the skill, professional maturity and finesse required to manage the desk team to provide excellent, timely support to the LAC country teams.
• A problem solver, who is adept in successfully dealing with issues of complexity and demonstrates the ability to serve as a mentor for their team.
• A skilled communicator, able to develop and utilize strong relationships with staff, partners and donors.
• They will analyze context and develop high impact strategies, and will be a skilled writer and synthesizer of complex information, helping teams generate new insights into their work, the needs of their countries and the region, and how program impact can be scaled.
• A sense of humor is greatly appreciated.

Required Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field. Master’s or equivalent experience preferred.
• 5+ years’ experience in international relief or development, particularly in grant administration and compliance.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in working with wide range of US and/or European-based donors.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; ability to develop relationships with a wide range of actors required.
• Demonstrated ability to hire, lead, develop, coach and mentor individuals and teams.
• Demonstrated experience with proposal development, program management, and external representation. Experience in monitoring and evaluation is considered advantageous.
• Strong management skills, with good knowledge of relevant cross-cultural issues.
• Previous LAC field experience preferred.
• Strong written and spoken English language skills. Professional proficiency in Spanish is required.

Living, Travel & Environmental Conditions

This position requires up to 35% 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.