Location: Damascus
Travel: 10% to the field locations
Pre hire checks: This role is classified as requiring advanced background checks.
At Relief International, we are committed to building a representative, inclusive and authentic workplace. We strongly encourage applications from candidates from minoritized backgrounds those who bring lived experience of the contexts in which we work.
Scope
Responsibility: Country Level
Department: Grants and Reporting
Reporting to: Deputy Country Director - Programs
Direct reports: Grants and Reporting Coordinator
Budget responsibility: None
Relationship management
- Interface with technical specialists, project managers, MEAL, and Awards and Partnerships functions
- Interface with support functions, incl. Finance, HR, and Supply Chain and Operations
- Collaborate with Comms and Advocacy Manager
- Engage with DESK management at HQ level for proposal development and reporting
- Interface with current and prospective donors
About Relief International
Relief International (RI) is an international non-profit organization that partners with communities impacted by conflict, climate change and disaster to save lives, build greater resilience and promote long-term health and wellbeing.
Our team of more than 4,500 staff and local volunteers work in 14 countries across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, providing Health and Nutrition, WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), Education and Livelihoods programming that creates the foundation for community resilience.
We do this by working with local actors to develop safe and inclusive local programming that is evidence based, conflict sensitive, climate smart, and reaches those in need.
About the role
The Grants & Reporting Manager (GRM) plays a central role in ensuring high-quality program development and reporting across Relief Internationalโs Syria response. Reporting to the Deputy Country Director โ Programs, the GRM leads the development of donor proposals, concept notes, and reports, ensuring compliance with donor and organizational standards. The role coordinates closely with technical specialists, program and support function focal points in the Syria country office and hubs, as well as global Program Development and Reporting teams. The GRM also supports capacity strengthening of RI and partner staff in program development and reporting, ensuring that RIโs programs in Syria are well-designed, accountable, and effectively communicated to donors.
Key Responsibilities
Accountability and Complexity
- Oversees the full cycle of grants management, ensuring compliance with RI and donor requirements in a highly complex, multi-hub operating environment.
- Balances competing deadlines for donor reports and proposals, ensuring quality and timeliness despite challenging operating contexts.
- Coordinates information flows between Syria country level, hubs, and HQ stakeholders to produce unified, high-quality program documents.
- Serves as a key focal point for donor engagement on reporting and program development, ensuring alignment with donor priorities as mandated by the Country Director and Deputy Country Director - Programs.
Reporting and Compliance
- Maintain an up-to-date calendar of donor reporting obligations, ensuring timely submissions through coordination with relevant stakeholders.
- Lead the drafting and quality assurance of donor reports, consolidating inputs from program, MEAL, and support teams.
- Ensure compliance with donor formats, guidelines, and online submission portals (e.g., grant management systems).
- Collaborate with the Advocacy and Communications Manager to integrate success stories and evidence into donor reports.
Program Development and Grants Management
- Establish and maintain a funding opportunities tracker to support timely decision-making and applications.
- Lead the design and drafting of high-quality proposals and concept notes, ensuring technical rigor, donor compliance, and operational feasibility.
- Facilitate Go/No-Go meetings with CO and HQ DESK to support informed decision-making.
- Lead on program modifications in response to contextual changes, ensuring donor and RI regulations are upheld.
- Engage with technical focal points to ensure program proposals reflect RIโs strategic and technical direction.
Training and Capacity Building
- Deliver training and mentoring to RI and partner staff on proposal development, donor regulations, and report writing.
- Organize workshops on donor requirements and RI programmatic/technical strategies in coordination with DCD-P and technical specialists.
- Build the capacity of field-level program and support staff to contribute effectively to grants management and reporting processes.
- Provide ongoing coaching and feedback to strengthen institutional knowledge on donor compliance and program development.
Management and Leadership
- Provide technical leadership on grants and reporting across the Syria response, ensuring alignment with organizational strategy.
- Work closely with technical specialists, project managers, and support functions to foster collaborative proposal and reporting processes.
- Represent RI with donors as delegated by the CD/DCD-P, building and maintaining strong relationships.
- Contribute to strengthening a culture of accountability, learning, and continuous improvement in program quality and donor engagement.
Behavior and Conduct
- Ensure the highest standards of behavior inside and outside of work promotes the values in RIโs code of conduct and safeguarding policies.
- Be a model for ethical conduct standards for other team members.
- Ensure own actions and the actions of the teams members they manage do not impact the safety of the RI team and the vulnerable communities we serve.
- Ensure external stakeholders are aware of RI conduct and reporting mechanisms.
- Report any concerns.
About You
Skills, knowledge and expertise required for the role.
Essential criteria
- Advanced university degree in International Development, Humanitarian Studies, Social Sciences, or related field, or equivalent professional experience.
- Minimum 7 years of relevant professional experience in humanitarian or development programming, with at least 3โ5 years in grants management, reporting, or program development.
- Demonstrated experience leading donor proposal and report development processes, including narrative, budgets, and compliance.
- Strong understanding of major humanitarian donors (e.g., ECHO, USAID/BHA, FCDO, UN agencies) and their reporting and compliance requirements.
- Excellent English writing, editing, and communication skills, with the ability to produce clear, compelling, and donor-ready documents.
- Proven ability to coordinate across multiple stakeholders (technical, programmatic, and support functions) and consolidate complex information into high-quality outputs.
- Knowledge of the full project cycle, including design, implementation, monitoring, reporting, and modification.
- Ability to manage competing deadlines in complex, rapidly changing humanitarian contexts.
Desirable criteria
- Previous work experience in Syria or the broader Middle East.
- Working knowledge of Arabic.
- Experience supporting local partners in proposal development, reporting, and compliance.
- Background or familiarity with key humanitarian sectors such as Health, Protection, WASH, or Livelihoods.
- Experience setting up or improving grants management systems, trackers, and processes across multiple hubs/offices.
- Previous direct engagement with donors on proposal development and reporting.
RI Values
Guided by the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, as well as โDo No Harm,โ Relief International Values:
- Integrity
- Adaptability
- Collaboration
- Inclusivity
- Sustainability
Research shows that women and people of colour are less likely to apply to jobs, unless they meet every single requirement. If youโre excited about this role, but your experience doesnโt align with every criteria described, we encourage you to apply anyway, you could be exactly what we need!
How To Apply
To apply for this post, click on the โApplyโ button in the job advert page.
- You will be asked to upload a CV and Cover Letter.
- The cover letter should be one page, and explain why you are interested in this post with Relief International and how your skills and experience make you a good fit.
As a humanitarian organization, Relief International is committed to the safeguarding of all those we come into contact with through our work. We are committed to the core humanitarian principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. Relief International expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment and uphold the values and behaviors outlined in the Code of Conduct.
Recruitment to all roles in Relief International include a criminal records self-declaration, references, and other pre-employment checks, which may include police and qualifications checks.