Awards Management Team Lead, Latin America and the Caribbean

Location: Washington, DC; Portland, OR; Edinburgh, UK, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Colombia, GuatemalaPosition Status: Full-time, Regular UK Starting Salary: Starting salary for this role will be £53,360  - based on local benchmarking and commensurate with professional experience.
US Starting Salary: Starting salary for this role will be $76,800 - $91,200 - commensurate with professional experience.Netherlands Starting Salary: Starting salary of € 63,040 - based on local benchmarking and commensurate with professional experience.
The salary range will be based on local benchmark for candidates outside of the US, NL or UK, and will be provided upon request.Reporting To: Deputy Regional Director Programs – Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Supervisory ResponsibilityThe Leader supervises three Program Officers and an Assistant Program Officer.Budget Management ResponsibilityNonePosition SummaryThe AMT Leader provides strategic direction, vision, and leadership to the LAC Awards Management Team (AMT) to ensure country teams have the resources, tools, and information they need to succeed in the implementation of high-quality programs. The AMT Leader will champion a unified and collaborative approach to awards management across both US and Europe portfolios, fostering strong relationships within the regional team and across global support offices. This role is critical in ensuring effective and compliant award administration throughout the program lifecycle, from opportunity identification to project close-out. The AMT does so by: 

• Stewarding award management from kick-off to close out, supporting adherence to donor requirements, aligning donor contractual deliverables with internal program quality and compliance standards to deliver program impact, resolving compliance issues, and promoting knowledge management;
• Contributing to strategic new business development by supporting high-quality program design and leading submission efforts aligned with donor requirements; and
• Serving as liaison between Mercy Corps' country and regional program teams and their most critical relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Essential Responsibilities STRATEGY & PLANNING

• Oversee award performance pertaining to programmatic deliverables across the regional portfolio for the effective administration of all donors (inclusive of, but not limited to, US donors, European donors, United Nations, and other Emerging Institutional Donors) to ensure compliance with donor policies and internal procedures to safeguard program integrity and quality.
• Ensure that Awards Management team members based across offices globally work together as a cohesive regional program support unit and collaborate closely with country teams to ensure effective grant administration.
• Partner with the Deputy Regional Director – Programs (DRD-P) to contribute to the effectiveness of the Awards Management Team, providing strategic direction for regional awards management while ensuring alignment between country-level strategies, regional goals and Mercy Corps’ Pathway to Possibility.
• Enhance strategic alignment and effectiveness across regional and country programs, leveraging specialized knowledge and effective communication.

PROPOSAL AND AWARD MANAGEMENT

• Ensure efficient and compliant management of awards (grants and contracts) per Mercy Corps and donor requirements from review and negotiation through to close-out.
• Maintain effective internal knowledge management and streamlined communication channels with a range of internal and external stakeholders to enhance organizational capacity and contribute to successful program outcomes.

• In support with the relevant Grant and Contract Compliance partners and within established organizational and donor guidelines, lead on the intake of award compliance queries, including ensuring interpretations of donor regulations are documented, advising on general award compliance, escalating any compliance issues to Award Compliance partners in accordance with established organizational guidelines.
• Collaborate with Regional Business Development Advisor and the Institutional Donor Engagement Division to effectively and efficiently analyze calls for proposals, assess eligibility, share relevant opportunities with country teams, and plan pre-positioning efforts in business development.
• Oversee (or support, based on opportunity) proposal development processes within the AMT to ensure proposals meet internal quality standards and donor requirements. This includes making decisions about timelines, assigning responsibilities, and coordinating inputs from different stakeholders.
• Monitor the reporting schedule, ensuring that the preparation of narrative and financial reports is completed in a timely manner by country