Major Responsibilities

The EQUAL Research Programme Coordinator supports overall contract management and sub-contractor management for the EQUAL project, working closely with the Project Management Team, Research Directors, and consortium partners to deliver an ambitious programme of research, research uptake and capacity sharing activities. The role involves liaising with multiple research and programme specialist units within IRC, as well as IRC country offices, consortium partners, and FCDO to deliver the project in a high-quality, effective, and efficient manner. A significant focus of the position is to ensure that the project meets the high standards and requirements of FCDO commercial contracts by supporting IRC and the consortium partners to meet their compliance and reporting requirements.

Project Management

• Develop and/or refine project management systems and guidance documents to ensure efficiency, transparency and accountability across consortium activities; regularly assess the use of project tools and processes to adapt and improve as needed.
• Work closely with others in the EQUAL PMU to track consortium progress on key deliverables using workplans and financial forecasts; develop and communicate mitigations for areas that are off track.
• Manage and update the partner-specific and consortium-level workplans; meet with key stakeholders from IRC and partners to ensure programme quality controls are in place, and provide analyses for senior management decision-making.
• Maintain the project risk register and systems to assess risks throughout project lifecycle.
• Maintain comprehensive and standardized electronic files for the project, and ensure project team and partners have access to relevant records.

EQUAL consortium partner subcontract management, coordination and compliance

• Collaborate with partners to develop workplans and monitoring plans.
• Manage communication with partners for issues related to implementation against workplans, subcontracts, reporting, and regular meetings.
• Coordinate due diligence, compliance checks, subcontract amendments, and other subcontract management processes according to guidance from IRC’s Awards Management Unit.
• Maintain an in-depth knowledge of FCDO policies and support partners on contractual compliance.
• Identify partner capacity strengthening needs and help to address these needs, which could include areas such as FCDO commercial contract compliance, project management, and risk management.
• Work with IRC’s Awards Management Unit to ensure that partners’ responsibilities for donor compliance are tracked and evaluated and that updates on contract performance are communicated in a timely and professional manner to appropriate stakeholders.

Reporting

• Lead coordination for FCDO quarterly reports, including but not limited to developing report templates, communicating deadlines, and providing timely feedback for IRC and partner teams.
• Identify, document and communicate areas of improvement for donor reporting.
• Prepare annual reports and documents according to contract requirements for submission to FCDO; coordinate response to other donor inquiries as needed.
• Support the EQUAL Finance Controller to obtain additional financial report inputs and documents from consortium partners, as needed.

Key Working Relationships

• Position reports to: EQUAL Deputy Project Director
• Position directly supervises: N/A
• Internal contacts: EQUAL consortium staff, Research and Innovation department teams, Health Technical Unit teams, Awards Management Unit staff, and IRC country office staff.
• External contacts: Researchers, finance and grants teams from partner organisations in the consortium.

Minimum Requirements

• At least 5 years of professional experience with demonstrated project management skills, including developing project management documents and tools such as workplans.
• Demonstrated experience of partnership management.
• Working knowledge of FCDO commercial contract T&Cs and compliance requirements is preferred.
• Excellent critical thinking skills to problem-solve independently.
• Excellent organizational skills: the ability to multi-task, learn quickly, and work independently and productively in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: the ability to effectively collaborate with and motivate a variety of people in a multi-cultural environment.
• Excellent digital literacy: MS Word, Excel, and web-based project management tools (e.g., Asana). Proficiency in Excel strongly preferred.
• Dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion and a passion for IRC’s mission.
• Excellent written English, including the ability to synthesise information and draft high-quality reports.
• Professional fluency in French is preferred.