Grants & Funding Calls Manager

EIT Food

Poland, Spain, Germany, UK or Belgium

ABOUT EIT FOOD

EIT Food is Europe’s leading food innovation initiative, working to make the food system more sustainable, healthy and trusted by consumers. Established by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) in 2017, EIT Food is a fast-growing partnership organisation focusing on entrepreneurship and innovation in the food sector.

EIT Food is a member organisation bringing together key industry players, agri-food startups, research centres and universities from across Europe representing the food value chain in Europe. In addition to thematic leadership, EIT Food is also responsible for coordinating a multi-million euro EU grant allocation from the EIT and distributing it among its partners and stakeholders for the implementation of projects.

EIT Food headquarters (HQ) are based in Leuven (Belgium) and it has 5 regional offices (Co-Location Centres or CLCs) in Europe (based in Poland, Spain, Germany, the UK and Belgium), each working with and for partners in several EIT Food partner countries.

Visit our website: https://www.eitfood.eu.

JOB DESCRIPTION

The Grants & Funding Calls Manager (Calls Manager) is a senior position that, within the team of Business Operations, will be responsible for the implementation of multiannual Activity Plans through the design and organisation of competitive calls for the award of funding.

EIT Food is an Institutionalised European Partnership and the majority of the calls, at this moment, award Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) in the context of a cascade funding scheme (EU Funds, Horizon Europe). In the future, as the type of funds managed by EIT Food diversify, additional types of calls are to be expected. The Calls Manager will deal with several EU grant-cycle procedures, and also have contact with grant-awarding bodies such as the EIT.

This role has three main components:

Lead and line mange a team of Call Officers;
Ensure the successful launch of open calls for proposals, their implementation and compliance with Horizon Europe/EU and EIT/donor regulations. The Call Manager will take ownership for all stages of the call process;
Be responsible for the success of the EIT (or other funder) monitoring and evaluation of the call process, including the selection of the project portfolio and compliance with grant conditions.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Ensure compliance with EIT Food policies, EIT requirements and HE/EU regulations such as openness and transparency in any grants and funding award, having the right policies and procedures, communicating them and ensuring the compliant implementation of the call;
Create, manage and implement a calendar of calls, ensuring they are planned within the required grant-cycle timelines and respecting funding conditions;
Be the first point of contact for all EIT Food teams looking to award funding and guiding them along the process until the proposals are selected;
Participate in the Calls Committee; ensuring compliance with budget and regulations;
Oversee the process of creating and distributing Call Guidelines and application templates, and other supporting documents, coordinating with the legal, grants and finance team to ensure that disclaimers and other standard legal texts are always updated and reflected in the call documents;
Steer the process and be responsible for setting up and executing the evaluation and selection processes achieving a compliance and successful funding award being for example responsible to:
- Ensure eligibility of the proposals, form and run evaluation panels, collect and manage scoring from evaluators, calculate the results of the call and communicate funding decisions, ensure the proposals are transferred to the project portfolio to the grants team etc.;
- Ensure the selected funding recipients undergo due diligence, validation and onboarding, in cooperation with the Grants and Business Support teams;
- Coordinate redress mechanism, ensuring that the claims are addressed as needed;
- Ensure the Calls are public to the extent they need to be (published) and coordinate their publication.
Ensure the process allows for the collection of the necessary data as required by EIT for monitoring and reporting purposes (CORDA and others);
Manage the selection of external evaluators, including setting objective criteria, launching an open call, and coordinating their selection, ensuring absence of conflict of interest. Maintain a quality pool of evaluators;
Participate in the roll out of a new platform (Salesforce) to manage calls; share requirements to Tech Team to ensure the platform is future (and multi-funder)-proof; play a key role in the adoption of this technology by the Calls Team and the participants;
Multi-funder Call Process engineering: Develop and implement novel strategies to manage and coordinate calls for proposals, ensuring alignment with the diverse requirements and expectations of multiple funding sources (that may or may not include EIT funding).

EXPERIENCE & SKILLS

Leadership and confidence to drive decisions and manage Calls Team;
Implementer and Finisher;
High resilience and adaptability, able to deal with ambiguity and comfortable working under pressure and to tight deadlines;
Master’s degree in a relevant field or a university degree coupled with relevant professional experience;
Minimum five years of relevant project/Calls/EU funding management experience, preferably in an international environment;
Demonstrable experience in designing and implementing open calls for proposals for awarding EU Funds;
Knowledge of public funding mechanisms including EU grants is essential; knowledge of the Horizon Europe programme is considered an asset;
Experience in Cascade Funding and/or EIT is a plus;
Experience working with the e-grants portal and/or the EU Funding & Tenders Portal is a strong asset;
Process-oriented, methodical and logical thinker with attention to detail and respect for timelines and deadlines, committed to delivering results;
An engaged team player, also able to work independently and flexible to work in small (multi-national) teams/matrix organisation, in a fast- paced changing environment;
Strategic and creative mindset around multifunder approach ensuring compliance with different funding regulations;
Organization sensitivity and Business Acumen: ability to think outside the box, proactively detect risks and propose mitigation measures, and translate the business needs into practical solutions which comply with funding conditions;
Strong communication and drafting skills, with a proven ability to establish good communication with internal and external stakeholders;
Excellent written and oral communication in English is essential;
Computer literacy in the use of standard MS Office applications, email, internet is essential, as well as a willingness to learn and develop the processes for new IT systems.

WHAT WE OFFER

Working at EIT Food means joining a team of like-minded individuals who are dedicated to creating a better future through food innovation. We cultivate a culture of collaboration, inventiveness, inclusivity, and constructive feedback. All employees are encouraged to contribute their ideas and expertise towards our mission of creating a more sustainable and inclusive food system.

Together, we're making a real impact on the food industry and we're looking for talented individuals like you to join us.

As a valued member of our team, we'll provide you with a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package.

CONTRACT TYPE

Full-time permanent position.

LOCATION & TRAVEL FREQUENCY

This position can be based in any of our EIT Food locations.

Occassional travel within Europe.

Please note that all applicants must be legally authorized to reside and work in the EU.

APPLICATION

Interested candidates are asked to upload their CV and Cover Letter in English in electronic format to CV Warehouse before 20/09/2024.

Shortlisted candidates may be invited for an interview and may be asked to prove their background, qualifications, skills and experiences by providing relevant documents.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

EIT Food is an equal opportunity employer, offering each candidate matching the minimum obligatory qualifications and experiences an equal chance in employment and promotion procedures.

Apply Now

Don't forget to mention EuroBrussels when applying.

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