Grants, Partnerships and Communication Coordinator

Country: Colombia Organization: International Rescue Committee Closing date: 31 Jan 2027 This position is open to candidates with existing work authorization in the location where the position is advertised. Fluency in both English & Spanish required. Funding until September 30, 2027, potential to extend. BACKGROUND Venezuela continues to face a protracted humanitarian crisis. Inside the country, millions of people have limited access to food, health care, safe water and other essential services, and needs are most acute among people on the move and returnees, Indigenous communities, women and girls at risk of gender-based violence, and children at risk of acute malnutrition. In 2026, an earthquake affecting La Guaira, Miranda and Caracas added new humanitarian needs. At the same time, more than 7 million refugees and migrants have left Venezuela, making this one of the largest external displacement crises in the world, with Colombia hosting the largest number of them. In Colombia, the escalation of the internal armed conflict has deepened humanitarian needs. Disputes between non-state armed groups over territorial control are driving forced displacement, confinement, movement restrictions, the recruitment of children and adolescents, and gender-based violence, particularly in border and Pacific regions such as Norte de Santander and Nariño. The crisis in Catatumbo alone, which began in January 2025, has displaced more than 100,000 people. Mixed migration flows continue in several directions, including Venezuelans in transit and pendular movements across the border, as well as reverse flows of people returning south from Central and North America and returns to Venezuela, which add complexity to the response. The IRC is addressing these needs through an integrated, population-based response in Colombia and Venezuela, covering health (including sexual and reproductive health and mental health), protection and women’s protection and empowerment, child protection, multipurpose cash and economic recovery, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, and education. The IRC employs a mixed modality, providing lifesaving services directly and with local partners, and in Venezuela a significant share of funds is channeled through local organizations. Activities are financed by a diverse portfolio of donors, including ECHO, Sida, GFFO, OCHA-managed pooled funds (such as the Venezuela Humanitarian Fund and the Regional Humanitarian Pooled Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean), the Disasters Emergency Committee, UN agencies and private foundations, among others. Purpose of the role: IRC Colombia and Venezuela is seeking an experienced business development, grants, and partnerships professional for the role of Grants, Partnerships and Communications Coordinator. This role is responsible for leading resource mobilization and the timely production of high-quality funding proposals, modification requests and donor reports; playing a lead role in the full award management cycle, including compliance; facilitating partnership development and management processes; leading the communications strategy that positions the IRC’s work with donors, partners and the public and protects the organization’s reputation; and coordinating grants management-related capacity building efforts among IRC staff and partners. The Grants, and Partnerships Coordinator ensures the quality of and efficient processes for proposal development and grants management, and manages the delivery of the IRC’s partnership ambitions while supporting program coordinators and country leadership to ensure that IRC Colombia and Venezuela lives up to the partnership principles of responsibility, results-oriented approaches, equality, transparency, and complementarity. The postholder will need to work under tight deadlines and deal with competing and changing priorities. The postholder will need to gather inputs by influencing other functions and roles while submitting quality and timely deliverables, will work with diverse country, region and headquarters-based teams, and will need to ensure adherence to organizational and donor compliance requirements. The position will be based in Bogota with frequent visits to field sites in Colombia and Venezuela. Scope and authority: The Grants, Partnerships and Communications Coordinator will lead a team of 15 members (both direct and indirect) divided in three sub-teams: grants, partnerships, and communications. The postholder will line manage 6 direct reports. Key Accountabilities & responsibilities: Business Development and Resource Mobilization: • Lead the development and annual update of a resource mobilization strategy for IRC Colombia and Venezuela, aligned with the country Strategy Action Plan, with clear targets by donor, sector and geography. • Manage the funding pipeline: investigate and track funding opportunities, maintain an up-to-date pipeline tracker, and regularly report on its status to country leadership. • Lead the Go/No-Go analysis for each opportunity, assessing strategic fit, competitiveness, implementation capacity, risks, cost recovery and compliance requirements, and facilitate timely decisions with country leadership. • Drive donor diversification and positioning beyond traditional institutional donors, including pooled funds (such as the Venezuela Humanitarian Fund and the Regional Humanitarian Pooled Fund), multilateral agencies and development banks, the private sector and foundations, and funding dedicated to localization and to partnerships with local organizations. • Lead program design workshops for new business development opportunities with relevant IRC staff, and partners’ staff where applicable. • Develop, lead, and track proposal development processes, including consortium proposals, directly coordinating and managing the development of proposals and concept notes in collaboration with multiple departments and stakeholders; write sections of proposals and conduct final reviews, editing, and polishing of proposal documents for accuracy and quality control. • Assist in compiling and editing proposal budgets and ensure communication and coordination between all departments (finance, programs, and operations) in drafting of budgets, bringing a strategic and competitive lens to the process. Grants/Sub-Grants Management: • Ensure that IRC awards and sub-awards in Colombia and Venezuela are well-administered and implemented in compliance with the relevant donor regulations and IRC procedures throughout the full award cycle. • Lead award start-up, including grant summaries and kick-off meetings (pre-award and opening meetings) with programs, finance, operations and partners, so that all teams understand donor requirements from the outset. • Lead the review and negotiation of grant and sub-grant agreements, in coordination with the Awards Management Unit, finance and other relevant departments. • Coordinate award modifications, including cost and no-cost extensions, budget realignments and changes in scope, ensuring timely submission and donor approval. • Take the lead on internal and external reporting in coordination with programs, MEAL, and finance, ensuring high-quality, well-written and timely reports meeting donor and IRC requirements. Maintain close collaboration with all relevant departments in preparation of donor reports. • Maintain award tracking systems, including the grants tracker, reporting and deadline calendars and award dashboards, ensuring that information is accurate and available to budget holders and senior management. • Supervise the GPU in the coordination and facilitation of project cycle meetings. • Lead award close-out processes, ensuring that final reports, financial reconciliation, asset disposition and documentation are completed on time. • Coordinate the preparation for and follow-up of donor audits, verifications and monitoring visits, including the implementation of their recommendations. • Play a significant role in efforts to strengthen and maintain country program project management capacities. • Ensure that sub-grantees are being monitored for donor compliance and progress against objectives, and that key compliance monitoring information and learning are documented. • Assist program technical leads, operations staff, and partners with understanding the reporting and other compliance requirements on their grants and sub-grants. • Proactively identify compliance risks throughout the portfolio and advise programs, operations, finance and senior management on necessary actions. Partnerships Management: • Play a lead role in stakeholder analysis and potential partner mapping and vetting. • Working closely with other senior staff, play a lead role in identifying, liaising on, and negotiating teaming arrangements with potential partners; collaborate with other departments as needed to verify and issue various types of partnership agreements. • Ensure and coordinate adherence to IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS) in the selection and management of IRC Colombia and Venezuela’s partnerships. • Co-lead the review of the performance of different partnerships, including successes, challenges and lessons learned. • Support country leadership in promoting an enabling environment for effective work in partnership. • Provide a quarterly Partnership Management Report to the CD, incorporating input from technical coordinators and operational leads as appropriate. Staff management and capacity building • Maintain a broad and deep understanding of donor policies, regulations, and procedures and build this knowledge among grants team members. • Build grant management capacity of field staff, and provide supportive supervision in report writing, budget management, indicator tracking, IRC-specific tools, and other topics as/if needed. • Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions. • Maintain documentation of institutional knowledge and program activities in coordination with relevant sector coordinators and department leads. Communications • Communications strategy: Lead the development and implementation of a communications strategy for IRC Colombia and Venezuela, aligned with the country strategy, resource mobilization priorities and IRC regional and global communications. • Brand management and visibility: Ensure consistent and appropriate use of the IRC brand across materials, events, field sites and partner activities; provide advice on donor visibility requirements and proactively engage with program teams to ensure appropriate IRC and donor visibility. • Creation of communication materials: Lead Colombia and Venezuela’s efforts in designing, writing and editing key communication materials (factsheets, capacity statements, stories from the field, digital content or special reports on IRC’s activities) in coordination with DDPs, program leads, and sector and field coordinators. • Crisis communications and reputational risk: Develop and maintain protocols for crisis communications and reputational risk management, and advise the CD and senior management on sensitive issues, including security, data protection and the political context in Colombia and Venezuela. • Internal communications: Promote clear and timely internal communication across offices and teams in Colombia and Venezuela, so that staff are informed about the country program’s priorities, results and key decisions. • Media: Support media and communications activities in coordination with IRC regional and global communications teams, ensuring the safety, dignity and informed consent of clients. • Advocacy: Support the CD and DDPs as needed. Key Working Relationships: Position Reports to: Country Director, Colombia and Venezuela Position directly supervises: Grants, Partnerships and Communications Unit staff Other Internal and/or external contacts: Internal: Venezuela Country Manager and Venezuela senior management team, with whom the postholder works closely on the Venezuela portfolio; Colombia/Venezuela Deputy Directors of Programs and leads of programs, Finance and Operations, Budget Officers/Managers, HR Lead, Access & Security Department; MEAL Unit; Awards Management Unit (Regional), regional partnerships advisor, regional and global communications teams, and Technical Advisors. External: Donors and pooled fund managers, consortium partners, local partner organizations, UN agencies and humanitarian coordination mechanisms, other NGO counterparts and media, as needed and indicated by Country Director, Country Manager or Deputy Director of Programs. Qualifications • Bachelor’s degree in relevant discipline, Master’s degree desired. • At least five years international work experience in humanitarian and development programs; experience in a similar position/role is desired. • Demonstrated, successful experience in program design and writing proposals for public and private donors. • Solid knowledge of donor rules and regulations, including ECHO, Sida, GFFO, UN agencies and OCHA-managed pooled funds; knowledge of other European, multilateral and private donor requirements is an asset. • Demonstrated experience managing the full award cycle, including compliance, modifications, audits and close-out, and in managing partnerships with local organizations. • Experience in communications, brand management or external relations in a humanitarian or development organization is desirable. • Demonstrable understanding of project planning and management cycles. • Highly organized, close attention to detail, and ability to effectively prioritize tasks in a fluid environment. • Demonstrable high-level performance management and team-working skills, and well developed negotiation skills. • Highly developed interpersonal, communication and relationship skills, with the ability to influence and represent the organization with external organizations and stakeholders. • Effective people- and program-management skills in acute emergency contexts: can train and lead staff productively under stressful circumstances. • Flexible, focused and reliable, with the ability to work well under administrative and programmatic pressures in an environment of changing demands. • Experience in the region is an asset; knowledge of the Colombian and Venezuelan contexts is strongly desired. • Digital literacy and strong computer skills: MS Word, Excel & email applications required. Language Preference • Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Spanish, with high quality copywriting and editing skills in both languages. Compensation: (Pay Rate around: 10,051,500 COP/monthly). 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. Equal Opportunity Employer: IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Professional Standards: All International Rescue Committee workers must adhere to the core values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. Our Standards are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Safeguarding, Conflicts of Interest, Fiscal Integrity, and Reporting Wrongdoing and Protection from Retaliation. IRC is committed to take all necessary preventive measures and create an environment where people feel safe, and to take all necessary actions and corrective measures when harm occurs. IRC builds teams of professionals who promote critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity to deliver the best possible services to our clients. How to apply Visit IRC Careers: https://theirc.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/External_Careers/job/Bogota-Colombia/Grants--Partnerships-and-Communication-Coordinator_JR00006007