Manager, Grants and Compliance

Job description

This position is based in Damascus and is an unaccompanied post. It is contingent upon donor funding. While on-the-ground operations are being finalized, the position will initially be remote.

*Please Note: Hiring for this position is contingent upon final funding approval. Contracting is subject to confirmation of project award and scope.

Search for Common Ground

In a world often divided, Search for Common Ground stands for the power of bringing diverse people together to find solutions. By meeting this moment with Search, you join a powerful global peace movement that believes in the profound impact of courageous multipartiality - that all voices should be heard and respected in shaping a better, more connected world, and a collaborative vision is essential for lasting peace.

Search for Common Ground adopts a dynamic approach by developing solutions tailored to the specific needs of communities. We engage with leaders and elected officials to advance dialogue and collaboration. We are community leaders. We are youth activists. We are women. We are Peacebuilders. We have been doing this work for over 40 years, and we have developed a deep understanding of what peace looks like, enabling us to quantify our impact and design more effective programming. Peace moves at the speed of trust, so we invest for the long haul. When we’re no longer needed, we leave, leaving behind people and institutions with the ability to manage future conflicts.

Team Summary

This FCDO ISF Syria: Syria Stabilization Response Mechanism responds to the evolving dynamics of the Syrian context by advancing UK security and policy objectives through innovative, high-risk, and politically informed programming. It pilots flexible and adaptive approaches to support a sustainable and inclusive political settlement in Syria. Core interventions include technical assistance and support for Syrian-led initiatives in transitional justice, peacebuilding, social cohesion, and security sector reform. The Consortium Management Unit (CMU) for the FCDO ISF Syria program functions as the central coordinating and management body of the consortium, overseeing day-to-day operations while ensuring strategic alignment across all activities.

Position Summary

The Manager, Grants and Compliance is responsible for the overall financial and grants management, compliance, and reporting for the FCDO ISF Syria programme. This includes ensuring full compliance with FCDO and Search for Common Ground policies and regulatory requirements, overseeing subawards to consortium partners, managing grant funding for civil society organizations, and reinforcing synergy within the consortium members’ systems. The role also involves contributing to financial management, grants management, procurement, and payroll processes, while fostering collaborative relationships with various teams and stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities:

Grants Management

• Ensures all grant activities under the FCDO ISF Syria program fully comply with FCDO and Search policies and regulatory requirements.
• Provides oversight of subawards to consortium partners, ensuring transparency and accountability.
• Manages and oversees grant funding allocated to civil society organizations and community-based initiatives.
• Applies Search for Common Ground’s and donors’ rules, regulations, policies, processes, procedures, and standards to uphold compliance and confidentiality of Finance activities and data.
• Recommends improvements to Finance systems, processes, and procedures by maintaining a high-level working knowledge of organizational and donor rules, regulations, policies, processes, procedures, and standards, including but not limited to data quality, internal controls, and segregation of duties.
• Initiates and maintains collaborative relationships with Finance and Programs teams and sub-awardees.
• Reinforces synergy within the consortium members’ systems, policies, procedures, manuals, and guidelines.
• Supports consortium members in the development of high-quality financial and narrative reports, creates budgets, including but not limited to processes and procedures for budget coding, forecasting, and reporting.
• Monitors and analyzes consortium members’ budgets, including expenditures, burn rates, organizational compliance, and donor requirements.
• Analyzes irregularities and recommends corrective actions to consortium members.
• Collaborate on grant management capacity strengthening training for consortium members’ teams.

Financial Management

• Reviews and analyzes financial data to inform decision-making and proactively addresses any irregularities.
• Collaborates with the Finance, Program, and MEAL teams to reinforce data quality and internal controls for reporting purposes.
• Collaborates with Finance and Program teams to strengthen grants management capacity.
• Contributes to the development/strengthening of financial Standard Operating Procedures and reporting forms for Consortium members
• In cooperation with the Finance Manager and Team Leader, act as the point of contact for internal and external audits.
• Prepare project-specific reports, consolidate consortium members’ reports, and manage external communication.
• Conduct a budget vs. actuals review exercise with consortium members and propose remedial actions.
• Participate in a financial spot check with the finance manager to provide consortium members with recommendations based on the findings.
• Ensure the coordination of pre-audit assessments for upcoming audits.
• Liaise with the audit team regarding audit engagement, Audit sample collection, provision of supporting documents during field assessments, responses to audit findings, and development of mitigation measures in response to the findings.

Procurement

• Support consortium members’ teams in conducting procurement activities in accordance with donor policies, procedures, and processes.
• Escalate unresolved procurement matters to the manager.

Payroll

• Partners with People and Culture to establish effective and efficient payroll process flow, including but not limited to personnel actions procedures.
• Ensures accuracy of payroll deductions and payroll changes, including but not limited to statutory deductions, income taxes, mandatory withholdings,  and personnel actions.
• Ensures accuracy of payroll register to include, but not limited to, gross pay, statutory deductions, tax withholding, and leave balances.
• Ensures accuracy of mandatory deductions, including but not limited to statutory deductions, mandatory withholdings, income taxes, and personnel actions.
• Infuses organizational values in all work.
• Other duties that are broadly in line with the above key contributions are assigned.

Competency Behavior Indicators (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)

• Builds and maintains collaborative relationships with FCDO, partners, and other stakeholders.
• Manages and contributes to routine activities and initiatives while also making progress on continuous improvement efforts.
• Juggles multiple demands and adapts to new situations with fresh ideas or innovative approaches.
• Contributes to the development and implementation of the Consortium, aligning with its goals and objectives.
• Confirms and socializes standards across functions globally while allowing for thoughtful collaboration in an international context.
• Practices ethical behavior to meet Search’s expectations for conduct, minimizes ambiguity, and sets an example for others.
• Builds a framework and sets in motion a plan to overcome challenges by making sense of complexity and an uncertain future, staying cognizant of the implications of choices for the department, and being decisive while also applying flexibility for further change as needed and in response to changing work plans that meet environmental factors.
• Sets up procedures and team building to ensure high quality of work (e.g., review meetings).
• Seeks out creative solutions within a complex and international environment while working within an organizational framework that emphasizes compliance, ethics, best practices, and established standards.
• Shares information, advice, and suggestions to help others to be more successful; provides effective coaching.
• Serves as an expert to provide advice or solutions in their technical or functional area.
• Convenes groups or teams through the problem-solving and creative thinking processes, leading to the development and implementation of new approaches, systems, structures, and methods in a consortium environment.
• Involves team members in thought leadership discussions and decision making to lead to continued growth and development for team members and partners.
• Remains alert and responsive to any safeguarding risks, acquires relevant knowledge and skills that will enable them to promote strong safeguarding practices, understands the safeguarding policy and procedures, and conducts themselves in a manner consistent with the Safeguarding Policy.

Education and Experience

BS/BA with a minimum of 9 years of experience in grants management and compliance or a related field.

Regional experience in the MENA region is required.

Preferred Education and Experience

Experience with FCDO contracts is highly desirable.

In-depth knowledge of or experience in the Syrian context is strongly preferred.

Type and Nature of Contacts

Routinely coordinates with colleagues and consultants on-site and in the field and resolves problem situations with tact.

Interacts with consortium members, their finance and logistics teams, and consortium management colleagues

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements

This position is based in Syria, where security conditions are highly volatile and may pose significant risks, requiring strict adherence to safety protocols.

Ability to travel internationally at least 5%.

Supervisory and Budget Responsibility

Manages one or more direct reports and/or consultants and/or manages one functional area.

As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities.

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Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls, please. Please see our website www.sfcg.org for full details of our work.All Search Employees must adhere to the values: Collaboration- Audacity - Tenacity - Empathy - Results. In accordance with these values, Search enforces compliance with the Code of Conduct and related policies on Anti Workplace Harassment, Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Conflict of Interest, and Anti-fraud. Search is committed to safeguarding the interests, rights, and well-being of children, youth, and vulnerable adults with whom it is in contact and to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for children, youth, and vulnerable adults.Search for Common Ground does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.View our code of conduct here and our privacy policy here.

Les descriptifs de pouvant ne pouvant être exhaustifs, le titulaire du poste pourra être amené à entreprendre d’autres tâches qui correspondent globalement aux responsabilités clés ci-dessus.

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Seuls les candidats invités à un entretien seront contactés. Pas d’appels téléphoniques s’il vous plaît. Veuillez consulter notre site Web www.sfcg.org pour tous les détails de notre mission.

Tous les employés de Search doivent adhérer aux valeurs de Search : Collaboration- Audace - Ténacité - Empathie - Résultats. Conformément à ces valeurs, Search fait respecter le code de conduite et les politiques connexes sur la lutte contre le harcèlement au travail, la protection contre l’exploitation et les abus, la protection des enfants, les conflits d’intérêts et la lutte contre la fraude. Search s’engage à préserver les intérêts, les droits et le bien-être des enfants, des jeunes et des adultes vulnérables avec lesquels elle est en contact et à mener ses programmes et ses opérations d’une manière qui soit sûre pour les enfants, les jeunes et les adultes vulnérables.

Search for Common Ground ne fait pas et ne doit pas faire de discrimination fondée sur la race, la couleur, la religion (croyance), le sexe, l’expression de genre, l’âge, l’origine nationale (ascendance), le handicap, l’état matrimonial, l’orientation sexuelle ou le statut militaire, dans aucune de ses activités ou opérations.

Consultez notre code de conduite ici et notre politique de confidentialité ici.

Dado que la descripción de funciones no puede ser exhaustiva, el titular del puesto puede tener que realizar otras tareas que coinciden en líneas generales con las responsabilidades clave mencionadas.

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Sólo se contactará con los candidatos invitados a una entrevista. Se agradece no recibir llamadas telefónicas. Consulte nuestro sitio web www.sfcg.org para conocer todos los detalles de nuestro trabajo. Todos los empleados de Search deben adherirse a los valores de la organización: Colaboración - Audacia - Tenacidad - Empatía - Resultados. De acuerdo con estos valores, Search hace cumplir el Código de Conducta y las políticas relacionadas con luchar contra el acoso en el lugar de trabajo, la protección contra la explotación y el abuso, la protección de la infancia, los conflictos de intereses y la lucha contra el fraude. Search se compromete a salvaguardar los intereses, derechos y bienestar de los niños, jóvenes y adultos vulnerables con los que está en contacto y a llevar a cabo sus programas y operaciones de una manera que sea segura para los niños, jóvenes y adultos vulnerables.  Search for Common Ground no discrimina ni discriminará por motivos de raza, color, religión (credo), género, expresión de género, edad, origen nacional (ascendencia), discapacidad, estado civil, orientación sexual o condición militar, en ninguna de sus actividades u operaciones. Consulte nuestro código de conducta aquí y nuestra política de privacidad aquí.