International Programs Coordinator – Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region - Islamic Relief USA

Job title:              International Programs Coordinator – Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region

Status:                 Full-time

Division:              Programs

Location:             Alexandria, VA

Position Summary:

The position supports grants management activities and processes, which includes reviewing and evaluating proposals for potential grantees, and drafting approved grant agreements. The position also serves as a liaison for grant activities with internal divisions and with several external entities, creates reports and presentations, and supports grants administration and monitoring activities. Position focuses on programs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The candidate must show commitment to IRUSA’s faith inspired values and principles as well as the vision and mission of the organization.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Field and sector expertise

• Maintains a deep knowledge of MENA region and international humanitarian standards.
• Understands the nature of working in conflict and post-conflict zones.
• Assesses the likelihood of successful implementation of projects in the region.
• Serves as an internal expert on the MENA region within Islamic Relief USA.

Strategy input

• Contributes to strategic development and operational planning for international programs and the organization.
• Compiles programmatic information and data to provide summary and analysis that informs organizational strategy.
• Makes recommendations for improvement on existing strategies and policies.

External Representation

• Represents IRUSA in relevant forums, seminars, conferences, panels, etc., shares information on IRUSA programs to raise the profile of the organization, and synthesizes critical issues and discussions of promising practices for IRUSA.
• Participates in regional and sectoral working groups and forums, and monitors current events to stay well informed about trends and developments in the regions.
• Conducts research on industry best practices and incorporate those into programs.

Grants Management

• Supports and assists grants management activities and processes for IR USA’s international-based program grants.
• Reviews and evaluates incoming grant proposals and proposed grant budgets.
• Recommends grant proposals for approval or denial, as a first level review, based on proposal evaluation, utilizing pre-set evaluation standards.
• Maintains grant proposal summaries and documents due diligence efforts.
• Creates program summaries for internal project approval committee and provides any other necessary project documents to IR USA’s executive management for review and approval.
• Drafts grant agreements for approved grants and serves as liaison between IR USA and grantee as assigned.
• Reviews and maintains approved grant agreement reports and documents these through the in-house database.
• Assists in the administration of payments to approved grantees.
• Liaises with grantees for inquiries on progress reports and problem resolution.
• Provides administrative support regarding grants reports, presentations and program maintenance.
• Proactively detects issues and recommends ways to resolve them.

Monitoring, Evaluation Learning

• Maintains program database and recordkeeping for purposes of monitoring and tracking grant progress.
• Conducts monitoring and/or evaluation visits to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) where IRUSA is funding programs to assess program quality, field capacity, compliance, and to gather lessons learned.
• Provides feedback to field staff and shares site visit reports and updates internally to contribute to improvement of program quality.

Program Communications

• Communicates program information internally to other divisions in the organization.
• Reviews marketing materials for program correctness before publication.
• Provides content to marketing division for development of fundraising materials.
• Gathers case studies, photos, videos, interviews, etc. and provides to Marketing division to support fundraising efforts.
• Responds to requests for information from Donor Services and Fund Development divisions, especially to address queries from the donor community regarding IRUSA’s programs.
• Maintains regular contact and communication with Islamic Relief country offices and other external partners.
• Performs other duties as necessary.

Qualifications and Competencies:

• Bachelor’s degree in Economic Development, Middle Eastern Studies, International Studies, or related discipline, preferred.
• Minimum 2 years’ experience working in grants environment with working knowledge of grants review.
• Minimum 2 year of international field experience in emergency context.
• Knowledge of program capacity issues, due diligence assessments and core humanitarian standards preferred, or willingness to learn.
• Must possess effective interpersonal and oral communications skills.
• Effective written communications skills should include some exposure to generating reports and narratives.
• Must exhibit analytical and strong problem solving skills.
• Ability to self-manage multiple priorities that are complex in nature.
• Proven ability to exhibit cultural competence and sensitivity to work with a wide array of ethnicities.
• Technical proficiency in Microsoft Office and use of databases.
• Ability to travel internationally, to remote locations, if needed (a minimum of 15% of the travel time).
• Experience with program monitoring and evaluation.
• Knowledge of Middle East and North Africa, and economic and development issues affecting them.
• Fluency in Arabic strongly recommended.
• Must be eligible to work in the United States.

At Islamic Relief USA we are committed to safeguarding and protecting all individuals we come into contact with through our work. IRUSA representatives must adhere to its organizational values: Sincerity, Excellence, Compassion, Social Justice, and Custodianship. In accordance with these values, IRUSA operates and enforces policies on Safeguarding, Code of Ethics, and Anti-Harassment and Discrimination.