JOB DESCRIPTION
Position: Associate Contracts Manager – Commercial Contracts
Team
Reports to: Head of Commercial Contracts
Location: London with international travel
Salary: £36,000
Hours: 37.5 hours per week
BACKGROUND
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is one of the world’s leading humanitarian relief organisations. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people survive, recover and rebuild their lives. The IRC delivers emergency aid, protects children, provides healthcare, prevents and responds to violence against women and girls, safeguards human rights and helps to kick-start economic recovery. Working in more than 40 countries, the IRC has restored hope and opportunity to many millions of people.
The IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and, most crucially, accountability to those we serve. The IRC is a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable.
The IRC’s global headquarters are in New York. Our European headquarters, IRC-UK, were established in London in 1997 to support the organisation’s global activities and particularly to diversify its donor base and be able to better advocate with European policy makers on behalf of the people we serve. IRC-UK comprises approximately 50 staff across five departments.
The International Programmes Team (IPT) of 22 staff is tasked with identifying and facilitating proposal development, project management, compliance and donor liaison reporting to the Director of the International Programme Team.
SCOPE OF WORK
This position is central to IRC-UK’s business development and compliance function with regards to commercial contracts and requires a very experienced and motivated team-player with excellent communication skills and a strategic eye for business opportunities.
The main purpose of the position is to facilitate European commercial business development, compliance and monitoring for IRC’s Commercial Contracts Team which sits within the IPT. The Commercial Contracts Team supports the contract/service delivery model project work of the regional staff who lead on proposal review and project management.
This entails, but is not limited to:
· Leading bid writing on bids and sub roles, providing guidance on risk and remote oversight of project management
· Building knowledge and understanding of commercial contracts under European donors/commissioners
· Facilitation of opportunity development and compliance support for the IPT and ultimately IRC’s technical units and country offices
· Support the Commercial Team in building new donor and partner opportunities and relationships
WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
· Reports to the Head of Commercial Contracts
· Close coordination with Regional Programme Managers and Regional Grants Officers who are the direct link to the field
· Coordination with Technical Units (TUs) and Regional staff for Business Development and project management and compliance and relevant support structures within the organisation
· Coordination within the Commercial Contracts Team
MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
A Opportunity Development and Project Management
· Manage bid proposals and sub roles, guide and coordinate inputs from country and technical teams ensuring coherent and well written bid packages that meet donor and consortium requirements
· Support country office teams in bid development, including travel to field offices
· Maintain compliance with donor requirements and ensure oversight of competitiveness of the submission and project oversight
· Assess, communicate and work with the line manager in reducing risk associated with contracts
· Identify and develop tender submissions for country programmes as team lead or within a bid team
· Maintain key documents including risk log, bid development timeline, win strategy and lessons learnt
B Donor and Partner Relationships
· Support Head of Commercial Contracts in development of strategic partnerships with
NGOs, private sector and academic institutions
· Lead identification of consortium partners for specific opportunities and manage the on- going relationship as agreed with the line manager
· Develop professional relationships with key individuals within target donors, from contract negotiation to reporting, as agreed with the line manager.
· Provide additional review and support where needed for project reporting as required by
International Programmes Team
· Act as primary focal point on particular bids with the donor’s procurement department
· Work with Head of Commercial Contracts to help IRC respond to European donors’ move to contracting
· Attend NGO, private sector networks as required, with a view to raising IRC’s profile and
engagement externally
C Support Capacity
· Support IPT’s regional desks to improve review and understanding of bids and related reports
· Design and deliver training to IPT, field offices and the wider organisation as required on commercial contracts and European commercial business development, compliance and monitoring
· Lead a thematic area within the team, for example value for money
· Ensure lessons learnt are embedded into future processes.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential
· University degree, preferably in a subject related to this post, or equivalent
· Knowledge of commercial contracts and proven ability of successfully developing and managing commercial tender portfolios for DFID or other European donors
· Ability to work successfully with established consortium partners
· Good project management skills
· Ability to lead multi disciplinary teams to undertake preparatory work and tender submissions, working with remote field offices and partners.
· Excellent attention to detail and the ability to analyse and synthesise information along with excellent communication skills, verbal and written.
· Understanding of value for money and competitiveness
· Proven relationship building skills with internal and external stakeholders
· Ability to handle pressure and meet tight deadlines
· Ability to travel for bid development and monitoring
· The right to work in the UK
Desirable
· Negotiation and legal skills to minimise risks to the organisation and partners
· Experience of working in developing countries
· Financial management and budgeting skills
· Ability to strategically analyse opportunities
· Fluency in French
To Apply
Please send a CV (two pages maximum) and cover page (two pages maximum)
to:
Please state clearly in your cover letter:
· Your reasons for applying
· How you meet the person specification, skills and experience specified in the job description
· Current salary
The closing date is: 10am Monday 30 March 2015
IRC-UK strives to be an equal opportunities employer. IRC-UK is committed to equality of opportunity and to non-discrimination for all job applicants and employees, and we seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce regardless of gender, race, religious beliefs, nationality, ethnic/national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.