Germany: Senior Compliance Officer – European Donors, Germany

Location: Bonn, Germany (25% travel-international and domestic)

Salary: 50,000.00 euros

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time (40 hours)

BACKGROUND

Over the past 80 years, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has developed unparalleled expertise in responding to emergencies and helping uprooted communities to rebuild. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC’s mission is to help people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. The International Rescue Committee UK is part of the IRC global network, which has its headquarters in New York and London. The IRC is on the ground in more than 40 countries, providing emergency relief and rebuilding lives in the wake of disaster. Through 28 regional offices in cities across the United States, the IRC also helps refugees resettle in the US and become self-sufficient. 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.

IRC-Deutschland (IRC-D)

IRC-D, based in Bonn and Berlin was established 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. In Europe, the IRC also has headquarters in London, and offices Brussels and Geneva.

The Awards Management Unit (AMU)

Established in January 2016, the Awards Management Unit (AMU) is a global unit with staff based in Germany, New York, London, Nairobi, and Amman. It has responsibility for identifying, securing and managing all funding from statutory/government donors. The unit is organized into five pillars: Donor Relations & Analytics; Grants Management and Frameworks; Compliance and Policy; Programme Development (Business Development); and Training.

The AMU is a bridge between donors and the field: providing expert technical advice to the field, while maintaining portfolio-level visibility to ensure consistency and compliance, and manage risk. This unit ensures that donor compliance policies and procedures are implemented consistently, and supports all staff working across the grants management cycle for all restricted funding from global government sources. The unit operates within a matrix management system across teams in Germany, the US and the UK, driving functional integration between all relevant units and staff, in collaboration with the Vice President, AMU, and the Senior Vice President for Europe in relation to overarching issues with European donors.

Key Accountabilities

• Under the direction of the Head of European Donor Compliance, act as the focal point for all major compliance matters related to assigned donors including but not limited to ECHO and German statutory donors (such as AA, BMZ, KfW and GIZ);
• Develop and maintain strong relations with assigned donors including ECHO and German statutory donors and IRC internal stakeholders: other AMU pillars, IPD regions, Finance, ECU, and OGC as needed;
• Ensure that appropriate IRC internal stakeholders are advised of any changes made to assigned donors including ECHO and German statutory donor compliance regulations and that the impact on our programmes is assessed;
• In collaboration with the Head of European Donor Compliance, provide interpretation of assigned donors including ECHO and German statutory donor compliance regulations/policies as needed to field and HQ staff;
• Engage with country offices and regional teams as needed to provide input and develop solutions on major compliance matters;
• Work closely with the AMU Compliance and Policy team to assist in the review of and development of IRC policies, tools, templates and guidelines as needed to ensure optimal implementation and understanding of compliance requirements;
• Working with the AMU Compliance and Policy Subaward and Partnership team, engage with field offices, regional teams, and technical units to provide advice, input and develop solutions on Subawards. Working through the OTIS system, review pre-subaward documentation and subaward instruments for compliance with assigned donors and IRC policies and procedures;
• Working with the AMU Compliance and Policy Subaward and Partnership team, serve as a donor expert for the development of donor specific subaward and subcontract templates for assigned donors including ECHO and German statutory donors.
• Disseminate award/contract policy changes in a timely and user friendly manner throughout the IRC as needed;
• Assist regional/country programmes in the resolution of any award management issues, such as delays in agreement signing, delays in payments, audit findings, irregular interpretation of award terms, etc.
• Ensure quality assurance is provided to select processes for internal compliance. For example, manage and conduct compliance audits to ensure that internal review and approval processes for awards are being followed;
• Provide technical support to appropriate IRC internal stakeholders regarding compliance on budgetary issues;
• Participate in the development/revision/review of future Grants Manuals;
• Work closely with the Head of European Donor Compliance, Sr Director of Compliance and the Director of Training to provide training on compliance matters;
• Represent IRC in external fora and liaise with donors and partners as needed;
• Participate in special projects, as needed;
• Other responsibilities as assigned.

Requirements

• At least 5-7 years of relevant professional experience, demonstrating increasing responsibility with operations and programmes, inclusive of the project management lifecycle in international NGOs or equivalent.
• Master’s degree or German University “Diplom” in a relevant area or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• Demonstrated experience and expertise in interpreting and applying statutory and regulatory language in executing awards and contracts from statutory entities and in maintaining a current knowledge of changes in the language, application and enforcement of this language.
• Demonstrated knowledge and prior experience working with ECHO, EuropeAid, and ideally other EU entities (such as DG Home, Justice, Internal Affairs, etc.) in the function areas of compliance, business development and grants management.
• Demonstrated knowledge and prior experience working with German statutory donors (such as AA, BMZ, KfW or GIZ) in the function areas of compliance, business development and grants management.
• Demonstrated experience in reviewing and negotiating donor awards and sub-award agreements/sub-contracts
• Previous experience developing and providing compliance training in a multicultural setting and developing policies, guidelines, tools and templates.
• Fluency in English (written and spoken).
• Fluency in German (written and spoken).
• Self-starter with a passion for assisting crisis-afflicted people in a high-performing international team working in a fast-paced environment.
• High level of tolerance for ambiguity and flexible work attitude and ability to meet unexpected demands.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to effectively and diplomatically negotiate with donors and partners and co-workers and convey complex topics in a way that is accessible to non-specialists
• Excellent customer service skills
• Strong interpersonal skills: the ability to work productively both independently and in a team environment;
• Solid organizational skills;
• Excellent computer skills: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and email/internet software.
• Keen attention to detail and solution focused/problem solving approach to work

The closing date is: 9am on 1^st October 2018.

Candidates must have the right to work in Germany.

IRC-D strives to be an equal opportunities employer. IRC-D 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.

Please follow the link to apply: https://rescue.csod.com/ats/careersite/JobDetails.aspx?site=1&id=2710