Donor Engagement Officer – US Government

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world’s largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you’re a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

We’re striving to build an organization that is a supportive, kind and inspiring place to work. We encourage bold leadership, innovation, creative partnerships and accountability to those we serve.

The Global Awards Management Unit (AMU)

The AMU is a global unit with teams in New York, Washington DC, London, Nairobi, Berlin, Stockholm and Amman with staff presence in many other locations around the world.

The AMU’s mission is to lead IRC’s work to engage and influence government donors, secure funding, and enable compliant and effective program delivery for our clients.

Global Business Development (GBD)

The Global Business Development Team, within which this role sits, leads IRC’s public business development strategy for the organization’s international work. The team raises the funds to deliver to those in greatest need, striving to increase the scale and quality of funding to ensure the effectiveness of IRC’s work.

The Purpose of the Role

Reporting to the Director of Donor Engagement for US Government (USG), the USG Donor Engagement Officer will support IRC’s work to deliver its Business Development (BD) Strategy, supporting donor engagement and influence with key Washington DC based donors and partners, in particular United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State (DoS).

Working in close collaboration with the Director, Donor Engagement – USG, the role holder will coordinate an internal and external account management function of the complex USG portfolios. This will include establishing effective positive working relationships and standards of collaboration with colleagues across the organization, including with technical and proposal development teams, AMU more broadly, CRRD (international division), Policy & Solutions, and Advocacy & Influence, as well as with other Washington based counterparts. The role will use these relations and networks to help build a portfolio of tools and assets that allow IRC to proactively and effectively engage with USAID and DoS to pursue priority funding strands.

Major Responsibilities:

Strategy

• Project manage the USAID Donor Engagement Strategy and delivery, supporting the USG Donor Engagement Director who will lead its oversight and delivery.

• Develop and manage action plans related to the strategy implementation, reporting progress, managing and mitigating risk.

• Identify, research and update relevant data and analysis on donor strategies, peer activity and priorities.

External Representation

• On behalf of the USG Donor Engagement Director, coordinate and develop a network of stakeholders within relevant USAID/DoS teams to facilitate effective engagement, influence and winning BD approaches.

• Coordinate meetings between donors and Regional and Technical Leadership, Country Directors, Regional Vice Presidents and the President/CEO as well as support the preparation for these engagements.

• Prepare for key meetings with USAID/DoS officials, including Desk/Program Officers, Heads of Unit, Director-General/equivalent, advisors and other officials. This includes relevant analysis, briefing materials and participation as necessary. The role will also lead follow-up and disseminate information across the organization as required.

• Represent the IRC at external meetings, events, and forums as appropriate.

• Coordinate with the Long-Term Funding and Regional BD teams to provide relevant donor information and intelligence to USG bid teams at the global level.

Information and Knowledge Management

• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of donor strategies relevant to IRC’s work, such as funding priorities, geographical interests and political climate, providing analyses and synopses of press releases, policies and other announcements, and disseminating this information internally.

• Map USAID/DoS organizational structure and identify key contacts.

• Maintain and contribute to the improvement of tools and resources to support donor engagement and relationship building with donors.

• Coordinate meetings and action plans between key staff across the organization to support USG business development planning and implementation, routinely engaging with operational BD teams at global, regional and country levels to review long term pipeline, plan strategic engagement and mitigate portfolio risk.

• In collaboration with donor engagement colleagues, equip IRC staff with the skills, tools and information to manage local, or technical donor engagement.

• Facilitate the dissemination of content for USAID/DoS with global, regional and country based colleagues to contribute to effective fundraising.

• Support the Director of Donor Engagement for USG to develop and improve donor tracking tools and resources to support engagement and relationship building.

Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications:

Please note that diversity of experience counts (i.e., paid and volunteer work; lived experiences; transferable skills from another industry etc.)

Job Requirements:

• Substantial (3 years plus) experience in humanitarian or development business development, donor relations, policy or advocacy or a combination of these.

• Knowledge of having worked with humanitarian and development donors in US markets.

• Experience of working directly with USAID and/ or US State (ideally BPRM) as a donor

• Strong collaboration approaches, in a large organizational setting.

• Excellent written, verbal and presentation skills, including development of briefing documents.

• Ability to work well under pressure in a fast paced and changing environment with multiple stakeholders.

• Good analytical skills and first-class attention to detail. Experience undertaking reviews of policies and reports, producing associated written and verbal guidance to relevant staff.

• Excellent interpersonal skills. Ability to collaborate with others and work as part of a team.

Preferred experience & skills:

• Experience working within US Government (particularly USAID or US State Department)

• Relevant additional language skills, particularly French or Spanish.

Candidates must have the right to work within the country they are applying. IRC is committed to building a diverse organization and a climate of inclusivity. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who can demonstrate that they can contribute to this goal.

Compensation:

Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

US Benefits:

We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days depending on role and tenure, medical insurance starting at $143 per month, dental starting at $6.50 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with immediately vested matching, disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.

**Standard of Professional Conduct:**The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.

Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.