Program Officer Silver Spring, United States

Job Summary

Location Silver Spring, United States

Ending 31 Aug 2021, Tuesday

Posted 03 Aug 2021, Tuesday

Job Description

Global Communities is an international development non-profit organization. Our mission is to create long-lasting, positive and community-led change that improves the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable people across the globe.

Global Communities is seeking a Program Officer to join the Programs team at the headquarters in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland or San Diego, CA.

The primary responsibility of the Program Officer is to coordinate and provide Program Management and backstopping support to a portfolio of assigned projects within the Americas. The Program Officer provides direct support across the project life cycle from start-up and implementation, to close-out, and is the primary point of contact at Headquarters (HQ) for project information, status, performance, donor requirements, and communication.

The Program Officer’s country and project portfolio will be determined based on regional needs and priorities and may shift from time to time based on the evolving nature of the regional program portfolio.

Responsibilities

1. Award Management

Provide effective award management and first-line donor compliance support across the award life cycle for assigned projects. Ensure compliance with contractual requirements, donor regulations and internal policies and procedures.

Serve as the official point of contact for external communication with donors in relation to donor agreement, prior approvals, budget, modifications, and donor deliverables (for mission or locally funded awards, s/he may serve as the secondary point of contact after the Chief of Party). Serve as the internal point of contact for communication around budget, contractual requirements, and donor regulations.

Coordinate the review, negotiation and approval process for new donor agreements, sub-agreements, and modifications. Coordinate process to modify agreements and realign project budgets, including securing donor approvals.

Coordinate project start-up and close-out processes in collaboration with Program Support Teams, field leadership, and other HQ functions.

Request and secure donor approvals as needed (including prior approvals, deadline extensions, and deliverable approvals).

Track donor deadlines, status, and completion of donor deliverables. Coordinate planning, review, approval, and submission of donor deliverables.

Maintain and disseminate updated knowledge on donor guidelines, rules, and regulations. Contribute to strengthening the capacity of country and project teams on award management and donor compliance.

Ensure compliance with internal policies and procedures for sub-award management. In coordination with the field, track sub-grantee agreements and modifications, budgets, deliverables, approvals, and changes.

Ensure accurate project records are created, updated, and maintained on Salesforce, the internal award management system for donor awards and sub-awards.

2. Financial Management

Support the development of accurate fiscal year and life-of-project budgets. Coordinate and facilitate the development, review, internal approval and submission of annual budgets and monthly forecasts.

Analyze project budgets and recommend solutions to ensure full indirect cost recovery, in compliance with donor regulations and organizational policies and procedures.

Ensure project budgets are uploaded, updated, and maintained on the internal budget management system (Adaptive). Coordinate process to assign cost centers to projects.

Coordinate and facilitate review and approval of monthly cash requests, in coordination with country leadership and Finance.

Monitor program expenditures against approved workplans, donor budgets and obligations, forecasts, and cost share requirements. Analyze burn rates and other financial trends; recommend mitigating actions as appropriate; communicate issues to the Senior Regional Manager for further action. Develop and generate reports on Adaptive for Senior Regional Manager and Senior Director as needed.

Monitor cost share performance against contractual commitments; advise on cost share requirements and document as needed.

Assist approval requests for organizational resources to address country operational needs, reduce risk and/or ensure business continuity in assigned countries. Monitor budget vs. actuals against approved allocations of non-project resources in assigned countries.

3. Program Management & Support

Organize, facilitate, coordinate, and ensure the optimal implementation of Project Support Teams, the organization’s primary vehicle for cross-functional project support, for assigned projects. Function as the “hub” and first-line liaison and coordination focal point at HQ for COPs/Project Directors and Country Directors in relation to projects.

Partner with the Senior Director, Program Operations and Management to establish and train HQ and field teams on project management standards, operating procedures, and tools.

Organize and facilitate periodic Project Support Team meetings across the project life cycle with focus on project planning, progress, performance, quality, compliance and results.

In close coordination with Project Support Team, COPs, and other country leadership, organize and facilitate regular program management and support, in line with program management standards and operating procedures, across the project life cycle.

Coordinate the development, review, approval, and timely submission of donor reports, annual workplans, budgets, and other donor deliverables. Partner with COPs to ensure the quality of donor reports and deliverables. Disseminate final deliverables to team members, Senior Regional Manager and Senior Director, and other relevant internal stakeholders.

Coordinate the development, review, concurrence, and adjustments to technical assistance plans and HQ budgets. Coordinate to ensure appropriate HQ resources are available and aligned to project support needs. Communicate updates to technical assistance plans to team members country and project leadership.

Mobilize, link and/or provide technical and operational support to projects to ensure program quality and enable achievement of program scope, budget, schedule, and quality objectives and intended program outcomes. Coordinate with Technical Leadership and Support on technical assistance and oversight to projects.

In coordination with the Project Support Team, monitor, analyze and investigate project performance, trends, and variances, including for partners. Develop and/or support the development of data analytics in relation to workplan progress, Budget Performance, program performance, program quality, data quality, and program outcomes to inform decision making. Follow-up, coordinate and facilitate action planning to resolve performance or quality gaps. Communicate performance progress and issues to relevant internal stakeholders.

Identify, track, coordinate efforts to resolve project issues, challenges, or bottlenecks; escalate project issues to the Senior Regional Manager and Senior Director for further action and decision-making.

Identify promising practices, trends, learning, and generate insights related to program effectiveness. Support efforts to document best practices, program achievements and evidence of/learning around program effectiveness and impact.

Maintain accurate and up-to-date information on projects; track and communicate project status, health, and issues. Communicate project updates and Analysis to HQ senior management.

Coordinate internal processes to update or modify project design, workplans, budgets, indicators and/or targets as needed. Secure donor approvals for program or budget adjustments, as needed.

Stay current on donor guidance, disseminate to relevant internal stakeholders, and coordinate changes to project as needed.

Facilitate coordination and integration across all teams within Global Operations, and home office support functions (Finance, People and Culture, Contracts, IT, Legal, and Global Security) to ensure comprehensive and integrated support to projects.

Conduct visits to country offices and project sites as needed to provide technical or operational support, increase awareness and understanding of program context and approach, partner with country and project leads to strengthen operational processes and address issues.

Compile and draft program documents, meeting materials and communications, as appropriate. Assist with development of periodic project, country or regional updates to the Senior Director and the Strategic Growth & Partnership team.

As needed and appropriate, support the use of virtual tools such as Microsoft Teams enhance field-HQ and intra-HQ communication and coordination, and assist in organizing project-related documents, meeting minutes, facilitating collaborative work.

4. Business Development

Coordinate process to assign cost centers to proposal team budgets.

Lead or coordinate the development of project continuation applications and/or cost modifications in coordination with country and project leadership, Strategic Growth & Partnership, Technical Leadership & Support and MERL-KM.

Support the Pricing Team to develop proposal budgets and cost applications.

Provide and/or coordinate input on proposal budgets including cost accuracy and appropriateness, operational feasibility, and local operational requirements.

As needed and appropriate, participate and contribute to resource mobilization efforts including conducting background research, opportunity assessments, field assessments, and developing project design sessions.

Contribute to proposal development as needed and appropriate, including background and situational analyses, competitor analyses, development of management and staffing plans, organizational capacity statements, and/or other components as appropriate.

Assist the Regional Program Management Team to keep abreast of relevant events and emerging trends in international development in the region, and business intelligence on opportunities.

5. Learning & Knowledge Management

In coordination with the Senior Director, Operational Analytics and Support, support the development of program Management Systems, policies and procedures, and provide training and capacity strengthening to field and HQ counterparts. Continuously improve program management processes based on feedback, best practices and lessons learned.

Ensure project files and document library is created, updated and maintained on the internal content and knowledge management system (Sharepoint).

Collaborate with field teams, Technical Directors, MERL-KM and Communications to develop knowledge products that promote Global Communities’ thought leadership and branding priorities.

As appropriate, support internal and external communications in relation to assigned projects.

Represents Global Communities at meetings, conferences, and workshops as appropriate.

6. Other

As appropriate and under the direction of the Senior Director, Senior Regional Manager or Senior Program Officer, support other projects or organizational initiatives, as appropriate.
As needed, provide administrative, logistical, data and knowledge management, procurement, communications, and other surge support to the regional program management team for program and award management, financial management, and business development.
Train, coach and strengthen the capacity of Program Associates. As needed, cover Program Associate responsibilities for limited periods of vacancy or leave.
As needed, support administrative processes for country office support, such as country registration, including coordinating the preparation and submission of legal documents, liaising with various embassies, consulates, and notaries public.
As appropriate and under the direction of the Senior Director, support strategic organizational initiatives (such as localization)
Other duties as assigned.

POSITION SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

Travel internationally and domestically up to 20 percent of time.
Promote a culture of excellence, inclusion, learning, support, diversity and innovation
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
Growing knowledge of the international development field, including public and private sector actors, and donor trends at both global and regional levels
High level of proficiency in USG rules and regulations and their application, especially in relation to the Administration of cooperative agreements. Experience with USG contracts highly desirable.
Demonstrated skills in financial management including budget management, Financial Analysis, cost share management, indirect cost recovery.
Excellent knowledge of and skills in standard project management methods and practices in international development. Recognized project management certification (e.g., PMP, PMD Pro) a plus.
Strong working knowledge of operations, finance, administration, procurement, logistics, HR, legal, and security functions.
Demonstrated ability to develop financial, programmatic, and contractual trend analyses. Excellent analytical skills.
Excellent written and oral communication skills. Proven ability to write and edit successful work plans, donor reports, and other program management documents. Proven ability to effectively communicate with others.
Excellent organizational skills. Accuracy and attention to detail. Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment and meet conflicting deadlines with minimum supervision.
Fluency in English (written and verbal) required; proficiency in Spanish highly desirable.
Advanced computer skills in a Windows based environment including the Microsoft Suite. Comfortable working with large amounts of data and Excel spreadsheets. Demonstrated ability to utilize technology solutions to support effective program management and operations.
Able to work in a diverse, multi-cultural team environment across geographies, and involving matrix relationships with other functions and departments.
Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills.
Demonstrated strong sense of team, a positive attitude and a commitment to operational excellence.
Strong problem-solving skills.
Excellent facilitation and coordination skills.

Qualifications

Undergraduate degree and a minimum of two years of related work experience or six years of related work experience.
Demonstrated progressively greater levels of responsibility in a program management, Grants Management or operations role with an international NGO.
Professional experience from an international assignment strongly preferred, with a preference in the region.

Proficiency in Spanish highly desired.

A passion for the mission and values of Global Communities.
Must have U.S. work authorization.
Global Communities is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran

APPLY HERE

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