Staff whose work requires or potentially could require any in-person interaction with Save the Children colleagues, partners, or beneficiaries must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 unless otherwise required by law. Save the Children complies with federal, state, and local laws with regard to accommodations related to this policy.

Summary

The Advisor, Award Management is responsible for actively managing a portfolio of high-risk awards, specifically Global Fund awards.  You will ensure donor compliance and successful implementation for an assigned portfolio of high-risk awards from opportunity to closeout and will be accountable for meeting award management targets and metrics for the assigned portfolio, ensuring timely implementation and effective flow of information and resources to Save the Children International (SCI) via our Award Management (AM) and Financial systems. You will coordinate with stakeholders, particularly technical, financial, procurement and fundraising staff, as well as country office colleagues, and will actively support new business development efforts for the department inclusive of cost proposals for high-risk donors.

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties)

Award Management (50%)

• Efficiently manage portfolio of Global Fund awards from start up to closeout in accordance with Save the Children and donor guidelines.
• Serve as primary point of contact on assigned portfolio with donors, Country Offices and stakeholders. Manage any escalated issues from stakeholders. When necessary, escalate further to senior management.
• Oversee independent award monitoring of implementation, reporting and procurements to ensure compliance, completion and the application of best practices.
• Support donor requirement needs, including reviewing and providing feedback in AM/Finance Progress Update/Disbursement Requests (PU/DRs), PUs and Pulse Checks.
• Review Local Fund Agents (LFA) requests and provide adequate support to Country Offices by coordinating responses/feedback across Save the Children United States (SCUS) focal points.
• Review audit reports / Management letters and address and escalate risks.
• Contribute to the bi-monthly program review meeting to review program achievements against targets and identify challenges and solutions.
• Hold regular monthly AM meetings with assigned Country Offices.
• Review draft agreement documents and negotiate donor terms and conditions in coordination with program team, Country Office and Grants and Contracts staff.
• Supervise the successful award/project start-up of the assigned portfolio of awards in collaboration with Country Office and Program staff.
• Oversee the development and management of sub-award/consultant/contract agreements in partnership with Award Operations.
• Oversee/complete award closeout process to ensure all financial and contractual obligations have been met via the Award Management System (AMS) CloseOut checklist.
• Manage portfolio risks by liaising with the Sr. Director, technical experts, Country Office colleagues, and escalating as necessary.
• Conduct periodic international visits to monitor project(s).

Support New Business Development (20%)

• Support department’s new business priorities and pipeline and represent agency its interests to potential partners and donors.
• Oversee development and submission of concept notes, and proposals, including narratives of proposal sections, cost proposals and supporting documentation in collaboration with SCI, colleagues, and relevant partners.
• Lead the process of liaising with Country Offices to provide and incorporate feedback on proposal sections and concept notes.
• Participate in capture trips and design workshops for proposals.

Budget and Financial Management (20%)

• Oversee monitoring of portfolio or award budgets to ensure compliance and other reports as needed for the department across various funding sources.
• Lead the annual budget planning process for assigned award portfolio; review budgets to ensure they are complete and accurate. Manage the annual budget planning process for the award portfolio by coordinating efforts between program, Country Office and technical staff.
• Manage all aspects of the reporting process, in conjunction with Finance, to ensure timely, accurate narrative and financial reporting for award/unit’s portfolio of awards. Ensure stakeholders have clear deliverables and deadlines so donor requirements are met.
• Review, and prepare, as applicable, interim, and final donor reports in collaboration with stakeholders.
• Ensure coordinated response to donor queries.

Knowledge Management (10%)

• Lead the process to ensure that Knowledge Management (KM) systems are consistently followed within unit, and periodically review KM process with department leadership to ensure they reflect current technology and meet the unit’s needs. Manage KM systems to ensure award files are kept current and in a clear and organized manner, for smooth backstopping and/or handover situations.
• Maintain KM systems, along with program/technical staff, around resource development ensuring key program documents are posted on the AMS.
• Develop best practices, resources to share, and ongoing trainings in conjunction with program/technical staff.
• Ensure award specific training needs meet donor requirements.
• Contribute to sharing program’s successes in collaboration with technical experts.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of a Bachelor Degree or equivalent experience, plus at least 5 years of relevant experience
• Demonstrated success working across the full cycle of project/award management and implementation
• Proven ability to communicate effectively and work with non-finance professionals, to help them understand financial processes and procedures
• Demonstrated ability to multi-task and work well under competing priorities and deadlines
• Ability to lead portfolio financial review and analysis processes, ensuring oversight and risk management
• Willingness and ability to travel up to 25%
• Professional proficiency in MS Office suite
• Professional proficiency in spoken and written English
• Demonstrated ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with individuals and teams at all levels, both internally and externally
• Demonstrated commitment to fostering and maintaining and environment of diversity, inclusion, and belonging.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of key institutional donor rules and regulations for cooperative agreements and contracting

• Prior experience with programs, including contracts, funded by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria

• Experience in international development or humanitarian contexts
• Experience working with general ledger and financial systems

Compensation

Save the Children is offering the following salary ranges for this position, dependent on candidate location:

• Geo 1 – NY Metro, DC, and other locations with labor costs significantly above national average: Target Salary for this position is $84,150 – $94,050 base salary
• Geo 2 – Locations around the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $76,500 – $85,500 base salary
• Geo 3 – Locations significantly below the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $68,850 – $76,950 base salary

Actual base salary may vary based upon, but not limited to, relevant experience, base salary of internal peers, business sector, and geographic location (more information on job structure is available here). Employee may be eligible for an incentive program.  Save the Children also offers paid vacation, accrued at least 12 days a year, depending on paygrade and length of service, paid safety and wellness leave of at least 1 day per month worked for a full time employee which is pro rata reduced for employees working less than a full time schedule, and at least 10 paid holidays a year. Employees may be eligible for additional bonus compensation. Save the Children US also offers outstanding benefits that include health, dental, vision and life insurances, short-term and long-term disability coverage, an Employee Assistance Program, a retirement savings plan with employer contribution, family leave, paid parental/adoption leave of 60 days, commuter benefits, paid caregiver leave days, 1 paid volunteer day a year, paid critical child illness leave days, dress for your day, and much more.

Why you should join the Save the Children Team…

Save the Children US offers outstanding benefits that include health, dental, vision and life insurances, short-term and long-term disability coverage, an Employee Assistance Program, 403(b), generous vacation, personal sick leave, family leave, parental/adoption leave, commuter benefits, dress for your day, and much more. 

Click here to learn more about how Save the Children US will invest in YOU!

About Save the Children

No matter your role when you join Save the Children, each and every day you will challenge yourself to devote your skills, talent and expertise to changing the world for kids. It’s an ambitious goal, and a meaningful one no matter how you see yourself professionally: an accountant, a writer, a data analyst, a teacher, a driver, a designer, or any one of the hundreds of dozens of roles we’re looking to fill every day.

You see, Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.

Our work for children and their families requires that we commit—at every opportunity—to work together to identify and dismantle persistent systemic and structural racism, inequality, and any other forms of discrimination in this country and beyond.  As an anti-racist organization, Save the Children will not tolerate discrimination in any form—in our employment practices, amongst our staff, in our leadership or toward the people we serve. We stand in solidarity with all people to fight for equal rights, justice, inclusion, and belonging.

We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, ancestry, sexual orientation, national origin, age, handicap, disability, marital status, or status as a veteran. Save the Children complies with all applicable laws.

Save the Children is committed to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for the children it serves and helping protect the children with whom we are in contact. All Save the Children representatives are explicitly prohibited from engaging in any activity that may result in any kind of child abuse. In addition, it is Save the Children’s policy to create and proactively maintain an environment that aims to prevent and deter any actions and omissions, whether deliberate or inadvertent, that place children at the risk of any kind of child abuse. All our representatives are expected to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with this commitment and obligation.

Save the Children is committed to minimizing safety and security risks for our valued employees, ensuring all are given training, support and information to reduce their risk exposure while maximizing the impact of our programs for children and families. Our shared duty, both agency and individual, is to seek and maintain safe working conditions for all.