EU Partnership Advisor

About Trócaire 

Trócaire is an International NGO. We work with local partners in the world’s most at-risk communities and with people in Ireland to tackle the underlying causes of poverty and injustice and respond to the crises they create. Together we bring about positive and lasting change for a just world. Trócaire works in up to 20 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. We work towards five goals:  

•          Promote Access to Justice;  

•          Achieve Climate & Environmental Justice;  

•          Ensure Women & Girls’ Protection, Voice & Influence;  

•          Save Lives and Protect Human Dignity and  

•          Mobilise the Public on the island of Ireland to achieve Global Justice. 

Our work is rooted in Catholic Social Teaching and in our values of Solidarity, Courage, Participation, Perseverance and Accountability.

The EU Partnership Advisor works within the Global Partnerships and Funding team and works closely with the Humanitarian team with regards to EU humanitarian funding. The role has a particular focus on accessing EU funding and managing Trócaire’s portfolio of grants from the European Union, including NDICI – Global Europe and ECHO funding.  The post holder contributes to Trócaire’s overall institutional funding growth strategy, working closely with country teams and HQ staff to analyse, identify and pursue funding opportunities with the EU, ensuring Trócaire submissions meet the highest quality standards. S(he) remains up-to-date on key developments at EU level and participates in various EU development and humanitarian fora.  S(he) ensures EU grant management, compliance and reporting requirements are understood and adhered to throughout the organisation.

The role will report to the Head of the Global Partnerships and Funding Unit, based in Trócaire HQ in Ireland. The role can be based in Maynooth, Co Kildare, Belfast or other UK locations.

 Key responsibilities

Strategy Development

·         Manage and implement Trócaire’s organisational engagement strategy with the EU in line with the overall institutional funding strategy and vision and provide periodic reports on progress.

·         Support the implementation of the Global Partnerships and Funding strategy and support countries to engage with the EU both on development and humanitarian funding streams and assist with country funding strategies as pertains to EU. 

Donor Intelligence and Engagement

·         Keep abreast of developments in EU funding and grant requirements and ensure these are disseminated within Trócaire.

·         Provide current analysis, insight and intelligence on the EU and implications for Trócaire’s EU portfolio.

·         Develop and manage relationships with relevant EU representatives at Brussels level.

·         Represent Trócaire in EU related and Brussels based humanitarian and development networks and working groups and ensure information from these networks is disseminated within Trócaire as appropriate.

·         Maintain records of all EU donor intelligence and donor interaction in Trócaire’s donor information management system (Salesforce).

·         Link with the policy team to ensure coherent messaging across funding and policy workstreams.

·         Work closely with the Humanitarian team on funding opportunities and engagement with ECHO.

Funding Pipeline and Proposal Development

·         Identify, continuously update and disseminate information on potential sources of institutional funding from the EU (eg INTPA, FPI, ECHO, EU Trust Funds).

·         Maintain an EU funding pipeline on Salesforce.

·         Support country teams with development of EU proposals and provide surge capacity where necessary.

·         Co-ordinate and project manage strategic EU proposals (eg global calls, large multi-country applications)

·         Engage with potential strategic partners on EU consortium applications.

Grant Management, Compliance and Reporting

·         Promote a high standard of compliance with EU grant rules and regulations, including financial requirements.

·         Provide guidance on effective implementation of EU grant compliance requirements and due diligence processes and in liaison with the Standards and Compliance Unit.

·         Advise and support country teams and Business Development Managers on EU compliance and reporting requirements; provide technical reviews of reports as necessary.

·         Assist Country Teams with the organisation of grant setup workshops,

·         Assist with organisational EU audits as necessary.

·         Ensure Trócaire’s registration with the EU is kept up to date (eg PADOR, HP Certificate, Appel, PROSPECT, OPSYS, EU Funding and Tenders Portal).

·         Provide reports on Trócaire’s EU portfolio periodically, providing analysis of performance, challenges and trends.

Capacity Building, Training and Learning

·         Build capacity of Trócaire staff to access and manage EU funds through provision of training, toolkits, guidelines, mentoring and advice.

·         Undertake field trips as needed to Trócaire’s programme countries to monitor programmes funded by the EU, provide capacity building, grant and proposal development support.

·         Organise regular needs-based trainings for Trócaire staff on EU funding and systems.

·         Document, disseminate and apply learning on EU applications, compliance issues and audit recommendations.

Other

·         Play an active role in the Global Partnerships and Funding team, including surge support for and collaboration with other team members.