Emergency Grants Manager

GOMA, DRC

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.

Now, and for the future.

 The Program / Department / Team (Program / Department Summary)

Mercy Corps is an international non-governmental humanitarian and development organization. It has been operational in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since August 2007 and currently employs more than 400 national and expatriate staff. Mercy Corps’ country office is based in Goma, with sub- offices/bases in Beni (North Kivu Province); Bukavu, Kavumu, and Uvira (South Kivu Province); Bunia and Mambasa (Ituri Province); as well as Tshikapa, Kalonda Ouest, and Ndjoko Mpunda in Kasaï Province.

In 2023, we reached nearly two million people through our key activities in the DRC, combining long- term development programs with emergency humanitarian response to: 1) improve water service delivery and ensure equitable access to water, sanitation, and hygiene services in both urban and rural areas (WASH); 2) enhance food security and nutrition; and 3) promote diversified livelihoods, economic recovery, and development. Mercy Corps DRC’s humanitarian programs specifically aim to assist populations affected by conflict and crisis in eastern Congo through unconditional cash assistance and emergency WASH support to displaced persons, returnees, and host families.

Mercy Corps DRC implements ambitious programs designed to strengthen the ability of the most vulnerable people to overcome challenges and build their resilience in the face of one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises. In this context, Mercy Corps DRC is seeking a Grants Manager for the Emergency Program for its Goma office.

As a member of Mercy Corps’ DRC Emergency Team, the Emergency Grants Manager will work closely with the Emergency Programs Director (EPD), the SAFER Consortium Director, and the Deputy Emergency Grants Manager to ensure the delivery of high-quality and impactful programming within Mercy Corps DRC’s emergency response portfolio. The position will contribute to humanitarian efforts across the DRC by supporting the implementation of life-saving interventions, including those under the multi-million-dollar, multi-donor funded SAFER program — a consortium of international NGOs working together to promote a rapid, principled, efficient, and effective response to humanitarian needs.

The Emergency Grants Manager will play a key role in securing new funding opportunities by coordinating or leading proposal development processes, while also ensuring the quality and timeliness of donor reporting and communications for ongoing programs. Additionally, the position will oversee and support the sub-award management process.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY AND VISION

• Contribute to the collective vision and strategic direction of the Emergency Department portfolio to ensure the highest level of impact.
• Ensure program excellence and continuous improvement through innovation, systematic learning, and adaptability to evolving dynamics and contexts.
• Identify opportunities for innovative collaboration with other internal departments and external partners to enhance program quality and effectiveness.

GRANTS MANAGEMENT

• Ensure that both awards and subawards are managed in full compliance with Mercy Corps and donor rules and regulations.
• Support the effective oversight of program implementation to guarantee that activities are delivered on time, within scope, and within budget, in alignment with established grants management standards and systems.
• Ensure that partners and Mercy Corps teams submit narrative and financial reports in a timely manner, following the templates and guidelines provided by Mercy Corps.
• Ensure that partners’ reports are accurately integrated into the overall donor reports.
• Supervise the Deputy Emergency Grants Manager, ensuring the quality, accuracy, and completeness of all donor reports prior to submission.
• Ensure that all proposals and program reports adhere to donor requirements, Mercy Corps’

internal procedures, and sector best practices.

• Oversee the use of communication materials and success stories developed by teams to effectively support donor reporting and visibility.
• Organize regular coordination meetings with relevant stakeholders, including Mercy Corps team members and partners, to collect feedback and document lessons learned, thereby improving the quality, consistency, and relevance of reporting and donor communications.

NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

• Coordinate and oversee new business development partnerships and relationships.
• Oversee proposal development processes, including drafting and producing high quality

concept notes and proposals that support Mercy Corps DRC’s strategic programming goals.

• Actively contribute to resource mobilization efforts by identifying and pursuing new funding opportunities to ensure the long-term sustainability of Mercy Corps DRC’s Emergency Department.

PROGRAMME QUALITY MONITORING

• Ensure that the Emergency Department has sufficient systems in place to meet programme management standards and comply with donor regulations and good practice, including the Quality Assurance and Control process, in close collaboration with the Program Performance and Quality Manager.
• Ensure complex programs are meeting Mercy Corps’ identified complex program standard, in

close collaboration with the Program Performance and Quality Manager.

• Support and ensure teams are adhering to program policies, protocols and systems.
• Support setting up protocols to inform program implementation, including internal and external reviews at programmatic and quality levels.
• Support setting up and maintain team coordination tools, holding components to account to deadlines.

FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

• Ensure the grants management is transparent and compliant with donor and Mercy Corps regulations and procedures.
• Monitor all approved grants while closely collaborating with finance department to ensure timely financial projections.
• Monitor approved grants and monthly burn rates, ensure submission of timely financial spend projections and reporting is completed in line with Mercy Corps and donor templates through monthly BvA meetings and ongoing budget tracking.
• Work with HQ to ensure on-time and on-budget reporting and manage donor communications and requests.
• Coordinate with Finance to address any reporting challenges in a timely manner.
• Ensure the monitoring of the grant agreement for compliance with Mercy Corps policies and procedures as well as donor/government/external rules and regulations, particularly in regard to subawards and partners.

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

• Represent Mercy Corps with donors and within the humanitarian community through communications and attendance at key internal and external meetings as requested by the EPD.
• Manage donor communications regularly and efficiently in close coordination with the EPD.
• Develop and manage collaborative relationships with Mercy Corps team, implementing partners and donors.

• Maintain communication tools and systems to ensure effective coordination across the portfolio.
• Organize and conduct monitoring visits to the project sites and host visitors and donors, as needed.
• Maintain regular communication with Mission level and HQs focal points to ensure the program is run in coordination with other programs and departments, and Mercy Corps complex program guidelines, leveraging cross program learning particularly on program management and collaboration where possible.

Supervisory Responsibility

Deputy Emergency Grants Manager

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Emergency Program Director

Works Directly With: Deputy Emergency Program Director, Emergency Program Managers (Cash, WASH, Protection) as well as MEL and Quality & Performance Manager, SAFER Director, SAFER partners (4 INGOs), DoP, Finance team, Communication team.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

• Internationally recognized experience in project or program and grants management required.
• 5-7 years of experience with European donors, FCDO and US institutional donors including in grant management, proposal development, partners coordination and donor reporting.
• Field experience working and supporting humanitarian and emergency programming with displaced populations (i.e. MPCA, WASH, FSL and Protection).
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, and the capacity to work with and influence senior leadership.
• Demonstrable ability to produce high quality deliverables at speed and with minimal supervision.
• Excellent program management and financial skills.
• Ability to multi-task and juggle several tasks and relationships at one time, with little to minimum supervision.
• Coaching and mentoring skills and experience a distinctive plus.
• Proven ability to work effectively in multi-cultural teams and with technical and administrative staff and consultants.
• Fluent French and English (spoken and written) mandatory.
• Prior work experience in DRC and demonstrable understanding of the context a significant advantage.
• Ability to work in a sometimes solitary environment with moderate levels of insecurity and occasional restrictions on personal movement.

Success Factors

A successful candidate will be able to work independently, take initiative with tasks and self-learning, and be proactive in communications and development of professional relationships. S/he will be able to live and work closely with a diverse team of individuals in a highly intense and fluid work and security environment with demonstrated sensitivity to the people and issues in the region. The ability to demonstrate exceptional interpersonal, relationship and cross-cultural communication skills especially in high stress environments is essential for success. S/he will be committed to the values and mission of Mercy Corps; have the ability to creatively problem-solve, to juggle multiple priorities under tight deadlines and to calmly and diplomatically deal with unexpected and sudden events impacting program operations with patience, dynamism, tenacity and a good sense of humor.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Eastern DRC, preferably in Goma but could change depending on the evolution of the context to other Mercy Corps bases (Bunia or Beni) and it requires up to 15% travel to support emergency programs, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited. Housing for this role is in shared housing (2 person only) and staff will have access to good medical services and the living situation is of a reasonable standard. Not accompanied.

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development

Team Engagement and Effectiveness

Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work.

We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.

 Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.

 Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline ([email protected]).