Global Awards and Donor Compliance Manager

Role Overview

As a senior awards management specialist, you will guide donor-funded programmes from early proposal review and negotiations through delivery, amendments and close-out. You will help country teams interpret donor rules, address award and partnership risks, and maintain strong compliance across Relief International’s country programmes.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee awards across their full lifecycle, advising on proposal review, donor negotiations, implementation changes and close-out requirements.
• Advise country programmes on donor regulations, organizational policies, compliance obligations and award-related risks.
• Contribute to Go/No-Go decisions and proposal development, reviewing donor agreements and supporting quality assurance and risk mitigation.
• Assess country office performance against awards management standards and KPIs, identify gaps, and help teams agree and carry out corrective actions.
• Improve donor reporting by reviewing reporting frameworks, supporting compliance checks and contributing to donor communications.
• Provide technical guidance on partner due diligence, partnership agreements, sub-awards and localization approaches.
• Support audit preparation, award closure and the use of lessons learned to improve future compliance and programme delivery.
• Develop and deliver practical training and guidance for Country Office teams, while maintaining tracking systems, dashboards, compliance matrices and knowledge tools.
• Represent Awards Management in discussions with donors, partners and other stakeholders on compliance and partnership practices.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Master’s degree or an equivalent advanced qualification in a relevant discipline.
• At least seven years of experience in awards or grants management, donor compliance and partnership management within an international NGO or comparable international organization.
• Strong working knowledge of institutional donors, including US Government agencies, European donors, foundations and other international funding bodies.
• Track record managing complex donor-funded portfolios and maintaining compliance throughout the award lifecycle.
• Experience reviewing proposal budgets, donor agreements, reporting obligations and compliance frameworks.
• Sound understanding of partner due diligence, sub-awards, partnership management and donor expectations relating to localization.
• Proficiency with grants management systems, databases and reporting tools; NetSuite experience is highly desirable.
• Excellent English writing, editing and communication skills, including the ability to prepare and review polished donor-facing documents.
• Strong analytical, organizational and problem-solving abilities, with the judgement to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced setting.
• Experience in developing countries and knowledge of internal controls, fraud prevention, investigations and safeguarding are advantageous. Arabic or French language skills are also desirable.