WHAT IS START NETWORK?

Start Network is a global membership of 80 organisations, working across six continents, to tackle what we see as the biggest systemic problems in the global humanitarian system. Start Network is an independent charity. We also work with Save the Children UK, which acts a grant custodian for Start Network.

Start Network’s vision is for a locally led humanitarian system that is accountable to people affected by and at risk of crises. We aim to achieve this vision by making system-level shifts in how humanitarian assistance is approached and delivered.

OUR SOLUTIONS

DECENTRAISLING & LOCALLY-LED ACTION: Shifting power and resources and decentralising decision-making to locally led networks and organisations.

EARLY & RAPID FINANCING: Building a global financing system that reduces risk, anticipates, and acts ahead of predictable crises.

COMMUNITY-LED INNOVATION: Incentivising innovative, locally led, and contextual solutions and learning from them together with people affected by crises.

JOB PURPOSE

Start Network is looking for an experienced grants management professional with strong financial acumen, a strategic mindset and the ability to influence a variety of senior stakeholders and establish new systems and ways of working. This role will be key in enabling Start Network to deliver on its strategy, and critical in setting up a robust Grants Management function that can manage several 7-8 figure grants and work with senior leadership, including the CFOO to strategically manage income and expenditure across the organisation. We have an ambitious strategy that requires the rapid growth of our income over the coming years, and this role will be critical to future proofing our grant management function to enable this organisational change to be implemented successfully. This role will guide us and enable us to set up the right systems and processes for us to manage two recently secured 7-8 figure grants, while also helping us identify what would be needed to manage a lager portfolio of complex grants in the future.

The Grants Manager will contribute to the impact and accountability of our work by ensuring transparent, compliant and accountable management and control of funds awarded to Start Network by the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Dutch MFA), plus potentially other donors in the future. Based in the Finance team while acting as a ‘business partner’ to the Resource Mobilisation team, this role will be responsible for leading the full grant cycle of large-scale awards, working closely with Resource Mobilisation, Operations, and Programmes functions, as well as project teams across Start’s global membership. This role will also hold management responsibilities in due course and more details will be provided once the role is in place.

The position is new for Start Network and will require strategic vision, gravitas, strong communication skills, extensive grant management experience and a desire to shape and lead new ways of working in an innovative humanitarian organisation, as well as a high level of technical grant and budget management expertise. Overall, we expect this person to mentor key senior team members around grant management and provide confidence across teams in terms of best practices and how to mitigate risks around underspends and donor compliance; while setting up a plan for the organisation to further develop its grant management function over the next 24 months to a level where we can manage an income of £15m + per annum effectively.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Grant Management & Reporting (60%)

Cross-cutting:

• Work closely with the Heads of Finance and Resource Mobilisation to set up an effective Grants Management function for a diverse portfolio of high value (seven to eight figure) grants

• Lead on developing systems that will enable Start Network to effectively manage a growing number of grants from donors with significant compliance requirements (such as GFFO, the Dutch MFA, ECHO, …)

• Provide strategic oversight across Start Network’s grant portfolio and advise senior management on maximising donor budgets or re-allocating underspends across the organisation

• Lead on future-proofing our grant management function so that we have effective systems in place to report back on an income portfolio of £15m+.

• Build a culture across the organisation around quality budgeting, financial management and delivery.

GFFO & Dutch MFA grants:

• Be accountable for the smooth management of GFFO and Dutch MFA grant cycles, including project start up, sub-granting, monitoring, close-out and learning processes

• ·       As part of this, work with Resource Mobilisation, Operations and Programmes teams, as well as grant custodians and partners, to put in place systems and processes to ensure compliant, timely and accurate financial reporting to GFFO and Dutch MFA

• Monitor and hold team leads to account with regards to expenditure and programme outputs according to donor contracts, ensuring timely and transparent donor communication around budget management and amendments.

• Act as a focal point for donor compliance and knowledge management, ensuring information is kept up to date and colleagues across the organisation are aware of, and adhering to, rules, regulations, best practice, and internal and external deadlines

• Build a trusting relationship with our grant custodians and lead on agreeing ways of working around management of Dutch MFA, GFFO and potentially other grants as portfolio expands.

Financial and budget management (25%)

• Work in conjunction with the Grants and Finance Advisor to establish standard operating procedures for successful budget monitoring and project implementation

• Oversight of preparation of team-specific and project budgets (as required) for presentation to prospective donors and or governance committees

• Coordinate the availability of management accounts and reports for internal and donor reporting

• Lead on development of grant-specific management reports to inform financial decision making, advise budget holders and aid in decision-making on reallocation of funds where required.

• Work with the Resource Mobilisation teams to support donor-related internal and external audit requirements

Build knowledge and capacity within the organisation (15%)

• Advise on donor contract negotiations, donor compliance, effective financial reporting, working closely with Start’s programmes, resource mobilisation and operations teams

• Mentor Heads and other team members around quality grant management, donor compliance and reporting

Line Management responsibility (TBC)

• Line management responsibilities of other grant management team members as the team expands

Start Network Culture

• Carry out the responsibilities of the role in line with the Start Network Code of Conduct and with a commitment to safeguarding adults and children

• Demonstrate a commitment to the Start Network vision, principles, values, and approach

• The Start Network team is an agile group of individuals who use their experience and skills across the network, so flexibility to work in and with different teams and functions is a part of our culture.

• Ability to empower and enable colleagues to deliver on their duties around grant management with confidence

PERSON PROFILE

ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Strong understanding of best practice in grant management

• Working knowledge of humanitarian institutional donor regulations and compliance processes (experience with GFFO and the Dutch MFA desirable)

• Experience in either building or leading change within a grant management function and mentoring colleagues around grant management

• Ability to empower and enable colleagues to deliver on their duties around grant management with confidence

• Proven ability to develop and manage complex budgets, and to draft high quality financial reports for colleagues and donors

• Experience of taking decisions around budget management, consulting a wide range of stakeholders

• Knowledge of and ability to work with financial systems, and experience of setting up and implementing administrative and financial processes

• Line management experience is required as there might be opportunities to manage and grow a team over time

• Ability to work collaboratively with others, with the confidence to set timelines and objectives for peers and more senior colleagues

• Demonstrable experience of managing multiple deadlines

• Experience of building relationships across diverse teams and geographies

• Excellent communication skills in English; ability to communicate complex technical issues information to a range of audiences

DESIRABLE SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Experience of setting up grant management functions in rapid income growth environments

• Experience of disbursing subgrants to humanitarian actors is preferred

• Experience with rapid portfolio change (scale-up/diversification) is desirable

• Additional languages

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Ability to flex communication style to convey complex information concisely to different audiences, avoiding jargon and using simple language

• Influence stakeholders to address difficult or complex issues by listening to diverse perspectives, finding common ground and avoiding criticism or complaint

• Hold both a strategic perspective and enough detail to work with one part of the organisation whilst understanding the impact on other parts of the organisation and network through listening and engaging with other teams

• Actively promote collaboration by spotting and breaking down barriers to siloed working, connecting colleagues, teams and initiatives

• Able to reprioritise and shift focus in response to changing needs of the organisation or network by being aware of how your role sits in the system

• Deliver results in pursuit of our mission by holding yourself to account for your work, taking decisions relevant to your role and supporting colleagues whilst having fun

• Anticipate the ‘what ifs’ and actively plan to navigate them together with the team, seeking collaborative solutions and drawing on those with relevant expertise

• Seek to understand and act upon own areas for growth, reflecting and learning from things that have not gone so well by showing vulnerability and openness to change

OUR OFFER TO YOU

• Being part of a network bringing change to the humanitarian sector

• Centrally located office space with free onsite hot drinks, bike storage and gym access

• Hybrid working with options to work from home and remotely

• Flexible working arrangements

• Contributory pension

• Life Assurance

• Family friendly policies

• Learning and development opportunities for individuals and cross-organisationally

• 25 days’ holiday plus 2 company days over the End of Year period

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

Our roles are open to discussion about flexible working. For part-time working and job-shares, please get in touch with us for a conversation about possibilities.

Start Network is committed to protecting people, particularly children, at-risk adults and affected populations from any harm. We are also committed to safeguarding staff from any forms of bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and abuse of power as outlined in the Dignity at Work policy. Start Network embraces diversity, promotes equality of opportunity and eliminates unlawful discrimination. We are an equal opportunities employer and treat every application on merit alone. We particularly encourage applications from disabled, BAME, LGBTQ+ and non-binary candidates. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants who meet our essential selection criteria set out in the Person Profile.

APPLICATION

If you have any questions or need support with your application, please email us using peopleandculture@startnetwork.org

Closing date: Sunday 26th March 2023, 11.59 GMT

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, so please apply early where possible

Any offer of employment will be conditional subject to relevant checks. Please refer to our privacy statement and candidate privacy notice regarding treatment of your data. Start Network also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. The core of the scheme is that participating organisations share information about safeguarding-related misconduct (i.e., sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment) that a candidate has been found to have committed during employment, or incidents under investigation when the candidate left employment. For more information regarding this scheme, please visit their website: https://misconduct-disclosure-scheme.org/