Senior Advisor, Donor Engagement – Sida

Position description

Over the past 90 years, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has developed unparalleled expertise in responding to emergencies and helping uprooted communities to rebuild. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster.

The International Rescue Committee is a global network with its headquarters in New York. The IRC is on the ground in close to 40 countries, providing emergency relief, relocating refugees and rebuilding lives in the wake of disaster.

The IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and, most crucially, accountability to those we serve. The IRC is a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable.

Crisis Response, Recovery and Development Department (CRRD):

IRC’s Crisis Response, Recovery and Development Department (CRRD) implements a portfolio of humanitarian relief, post-crisis recovery, and development programs. CRRD is made up of four teams, each with a specific area of expertise: the Awards Management Unit, the Emergency Unit, Program Delivery, and Technical Excellent. CRRD’s work focuses on five key areas: ensuring safety from harm, improving health, increasing access to education, improving economic well-being and ensuring people have the power to influence decisions that affect their lives. In all CRRD programs, there is a drive to address the unique needs of women and girls (who represent the majority of those displaced) – and the universal barriers they face.

The Awards Management Unit (AMU), within which this role sits, is a global department with the responsibility for identifying, securing, and managing funding from statutory/government donors. AMU is composed of four teams: Donor Compliance and Partnerships; Global Business Development; Program and Award Support; and Strategy and Transformation.

The AMU is a bridge between donors and country programs: providing expert technical advice to the country teams while maintaining portfolio-level visibility to ensure consistency and compliance and manage risk. This unit ensures that donor compliance policies and procedures are implemented consistently and supports all staff working across the award management cycle for all restricted funding from global government sources.

The Purpose of the Role

The Senior Advisor will lead, guide and coordinate IRC’s funding focused engagement with Sida. The post holder will provide an internal and external “account management” function to support engagement with these donors. The role is responsible for providing expertise and leadership on donor relations. It will work closely with Policy & Solutions as well as Advocacy & Influence.

The Senior Advisor will lead the development and implementation of strategies for proactive donor and partner relationships on behalf of IRC. The role will develop and maintain positive working relationships and standards of collaboration with senior colleagues across the organisation, including the Awards Management Unit, International Programmes (CRRD) and External Relations. The role will also lead Sida liaison on Business Development with the President’s Office, advising on relevant trends in Sida funding.

The Senior Advisor is responsible for the relationship management and engagement between IRC and the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), including coordination and management of IRC’s Sida Humanitarian Framework Agreement (HFA). The role is expected to have oversight across the project lifecycle, including donor engagement, business development, implementation, and monitoring and reporting. The Senior Advisor supports learning initiatives among countries implementing HFA projects and is also responsible for developing internal guidance documents for managing and implementing the HFA. The Senior Advisor is also responsible for managing the overall relationship with Sida, including providing them with regular progress updates and strategic communications and leading for IRC in annual analytical and planning meetings with the donor, as well as engaging with Sida beyond the Humanitarian Unit.

Scope and Authority

Line management of Portfolio Advisor(s)

Key Working Relationships

• Reports to the Director, Donor Engagement - Europe
• Line manages a Portfolio Advisor(s)
• Works in close coordination and collaboration with the Global Business Development and colleagues across AMU at global and regional levels
• Supports and coordinates with CRRD teams, including technical, emergency and regional/country colleagues.
• Works closely with Finance, and the Programme Delivery unit.
• Closely coordinates and collaborates with Advocacy & Influence, Policy and Solutions, the IRC Sweden office and Comms.
• Leads on Sida liaison with the President’s Office at all levels.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Oversight and overall management of the Sida HFA

• In collaboration with the Line Manager, manage the IRC’s strategic relationship with the Sida Humanitarian Unit; build strong working relationships with key individuals within the donor head office and embassies where relevant; manage the IRC’s profile and engagement with the donor;
• Serves as the lead manager of IRC’s HFA and is responsible for all communication with the focal point at Sida.
• Manage and cultivate professional relationship with Sida Humanitarian Unit on the HFA, facilitating meetings and engagement as needed including for the annual allocation process, providing updates on implementation and grants management issues and supporting IRC colleagues in preparing materials for briefing events and meetings.
• Lead on contract negotiations with the donor on new agreements or agreement amendments.
• Coordinate the annual funding allocation process, including analysis of donor priorities, internal decision-making on strategic development of the partnership, as well as advising on, reviewing and collate inputs for expressions of interest, concept notes, and proposals.
• Prepare and consolidate budgets, coordinate internal reviews and approvals before submission.
• Lead on supporting any issues related to HFA project implementation and management of the HFA global portfolio.
• Continuous monitoring of performance and expenditure of the HFA portfolio, including specific support to country programs and Technical Units where needed and through field visits as appropriate.
• Ensure high quality, compliant and timely delivery of contractual requirements, including narrative and financial reports, amendment requests, critical updates, audits, evaluations, funding applications, and organisational updates.
• Develop internal processes and guidance documents and provide relevant and timely advice for the effective and compliant management of HFA awards.
• Provide guidance and advice on standard donor compliance rules and regulations as required by IRC’s internal policies and best practice.
• Develop and maintain internal systems for data management (e.g. Box, OTIS, Salesforce).
• Carry out regular lessons learned exercises to improve HFA processes and contribute to organisation wide learning initiatives.

Strategic Donor Engagement

• Develop, lead and coordinate IRC’s multi-year Donor Engagement Strategy for Sida, ensuring a cross-departmental approach to engagement with Sida globally.
• Engage and build IRC’s reputation to position us as a go-to expert for Sida, beyond the Humanitarian Unit.
• Represent the IRC at donor meetings and conferences, presenting the organisation's work; undertake direct representation with donor officials and support the development of the IRC’s donor relationships.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of donor strategies relevant to IRC’s work, such as funding priorities, geographical interests and political climate.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of IRC’s position on Sida, including its funding portfolio, business development pipeline, implementation and compliance issues, risks, influencing aims, and senior-level HQ-HQ engagement.
• Support the development and maintenance of tools and resources that improve donor engagement and relationship building across the organisation.

General

• Contribute to IRC Sweden’s (RESCUE) market strategy and support delivery of specific projects.
• Promote and facilitate cross department collaboration, including with the Regional Program & Award Support Teams, and ensure regular liaison between Finance Department(s), and CRRD/AMU.
• Play an active role in the global IRC network as required, with a particular emphasis on maintaining effective partnerships between IRC headquarters, regional, and country offices.
• Other duties as assigned by the manager.

Qualifications

Preferred experience & skills:

• Previous experience of working for Sida/the Swedish MFA or equivalent experience of working in partnership with the Swedish government.
• Demonstrable experience of driving coordinated advocacy, communications and fundraising programs to access funding.
• Strong understanding of programmatic and financial contractual arrangements with donors and partners, including experience of negotiating with donors, submitting proposals and deliver high-quality reports.
• Experience of working in developing countries, preferably in the context of a UK donor, NGO or International Organisation.
• Fluent in Swedish as mandatory requirement, fluency in English and relevant additional language skills, particularly French or Spanish
• Legal right to work in Sweden

*PLEASE NOTE: APPLICATION DEADLINE IS May 12th, 2026 midnight CET.

Application instructions

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