Senior Research Manager

BACKGROUND ON IMPACT AND REACH

REACH was born in 2010 as a joint initiative of two International NGOs (IMPACT Initiatives and ACTED) and the United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). REACH’s purpose is to promote and facilitate the development of information products that enhance the humanitarian community’s decision making and planning capacity for emergency, reconstruction and development contexts. REACH facilitates information management for aid actors through three complementary services: (a) need and situation assessments facilitated by REACH teams; (b) situation analysis using satellite imagery; (c) provision of related database and (web)-mapping facilities and expertise.

IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis and GIS. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO whose headquarter is based in Paris and is present in thirty countries. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, enabling IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support on its fields of intervention.

We are currently looking for a (Senior) Global Project Manager to join IMPACT’s Global Programmes section at IMPACT Headquarters in Geneva.

Title: (Senior) Global Project Manager

Location: Geneva, with occasional travels

Line management: Reports to the Head of Global Programmes

Contract duration: Open ended contract

Start date: ASAP

POSITION PROFILE

The Global Project Manager will be responsible for overseeing the effective management and implementation of a portfolio of strategic global projects secured by IMPACT Initiatives, under the supervision of the Head of Global Programmes. The Global Project Manager will work closely with Global Programmes Managers, country teams, HQ departments, donors and external partners, and maintain a functional link with the Head of Projects and Partnerships Support (PPS).

The Global Project Manager will oversee and coordinate key aspects of the programme cycle across the portfolio, including implementation follow-up, donor reporting, support to grant management processes, partner engagement, funding allocations and the identification of programme-level risks and dependencies. In doing so, they will support organisational leadership in maintaining visibility over programme performance, facilitating effective decision-making, and ensuring alignment across the various stakeholders involved in programme delivery.

The position aims to complement, rather than duplicate, existing grant administration, compliance, financial monitoring and contractual management functions led by PPS and Finance. The role leverages tracking systems and processes maintained by these teams to support programme-level coordination, oversight and decision-making. Likewise, the role complements, rather than replaces, the leadership responsibilities of Global Programmes Managers and other designated activity leads, such as country representatives for the country-level portion of project implementation, who retain accountability for programme strategy, technical direction, methodological choices and implementation approaches.

The position requires a profile combining strong project management skills with a practical understanding of humanitarian programme implementation in the field of assessments, analysis and applied research. The Global Project Manager should be comfortable coordinating across multiple countries and teams, consolidating complex information for institutional donor reporting, facilitating engagement across a wide range of stakeholders, supporting funding allocation processes, and helping resolve implementation bottlenecks in complex operating environments. Previous experience managing humanitarian programmes, familiarity with IMPACT's work and understanding of the assessment and analysis sector are therefore strongly valued.

FUNCTION & RESPONSIBILITIES

The Global Project Manager's responsibilities will be delivered under the supervision of the Head of Global Programmes and in close collaboration with all SLT members, HQ departments and country teams, particularly the Head of PPS. The role serves as a key programme management focal point across complex global programmes, supporting effective coordination, decision-making and follow-up across multiple stakeholders and functions. They will include:

1. PROJECT COORDINATION AND DONOR REPORTING

• Oversee the implementation of assigned global projects and ensure progress against approved activities, deliverables, indicators, budgets and contractual commitments, building from existing tracking tools implemented by PPS and Finance teams where relevant.

• Develop and maintain detailed project-level workplans that can be shared with all project stakeholders to increase visibility on project ambitions, timelines and status.

• Coordinate project kick off meetings and regular project progress and quality reviews with Global Programmes Managers, country teams, partners and relevant HQ departments;

• Maintain oversight of contractually required deliverables and reporting deadlines across assigned grants and coordinate/consolidate high-quality narrative reporting to institutional donors, including inputs from country teams, partners and relevant HQ departments;

• In close coordination with the Project and Partnership Support (PPS) and Finance teams, coordinate donor queries and contractual modifications, including amendments, budget revisions and no-cost extensions, as required;

2. RISK IDENTIFICATION AND MANAGEMENT

• Identify implementation delays, bottlenecks and risks, and support relevant teams in defining and following up on corrective measures;

• In the case of major risks that can have organizational implications or require cross-department engagement, ensure, via the Head of Global Programmes, that the Executive Team and the Senior Leadership Team are informed and enabled to take action.

• When required, liaise with Finance and PPS teams to initiate possible contractual realignment;

• Ensure that implementation challenges, lessons learned and associated mitigation measures are appropriately documented and leveraged in subsequent phases of the project.

3. POOLED FUND MANAGEMENT

• In collaboration with the Head of Global Programmes and the Head of PPS, support the coordination internal pooled funding and allocation mechanisms, from the preparation of allocation processes through tracking of activity progress and deliverables;

• Coordinate the review and follow-up of allocations, ensuring processes are appropriately documented and aligned with project objectives and donor requirements;

• Monitor implementation, deliverables and reporting across recipient countries and maintain a consolidated overview of progress;

• Liaise with the Projects and Partnership support team Finance Department to ensure organizational visibility around implementation delays, under-spending and other risks and facilitate corrective action, reprogramming or reallocation where required.

4. DONOR AND PARTNER ENGAGEMENT

• Engage with project focal points on the donor side to provide updates on activity progress, and help orient them to the right focal points within the organization depending on their queries (for example, re-direct questions around contracting and payment modalities to the PPS or finance teams).

• For projects delivered in a consortium (as of October 2026, the ECHO Policy HIP project) :

  • Track partners’ activity progress against project level workplans, and consolidate reporting.

  • Facilitate and chair partner meetings to provide and collect progress updates on the delivery of the project, identify and troubleshoot delivery issues.

• Ensure partners understand and comply with relevant project, donor and IMPACT programmatic, financial and reporting requirements, and communicate any compliance risks promptly with PPS for action.

• Identify partnership-related challenges or compliance issues and facilitate their timely resolution with the support of PPS and Finance teams.

5. FUNDRAISING

• In close coordination with the Head of Global Programmes and the PPS team, initiate engagement with existing donors around project renewals or extensions

• Convene project activity leads and key partners around the identification of programmatic priorities for the next iteration of projects in the context of a renewal

• In support of the Executive Team, contribute to funding diversification by supporting the implementation of an organizational fundraising appeal, which may require engagement and relationship building with new institutional donors as well as philanthropies.

• With the support of the Communications and Advocacy and Global Programmes team, develop fundraising materials that can help convey IMPACT’s value added to a wide variety of potential funding partners across the humanitarian, development and private sectors.

KEY DELIVERABLES

• Assigned global and multi-country projects are implemented in line with agreed workplans, budgets, deliverables and donor requirements.

• High-quality donor reports and other contractual deliverables are consolidated and submitted on time.

• Up-to-date consolidated project monitoring provides clear visibility on implementation progress, expenditure, risks and upcoming milestones.

• Pooled fund allocations are effectively managed and monitored from allocation through implementation and close-out.

• Implementing partnerships are effectively established and followed up, with timely identification and resolution of implementation and compliance issues.

REQUIREMENTS

• Excellent academic qualifications, including Master's degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. project management, development, humanitarian studies, international relations, research methods, social sciences).

• At least 10 years of experience in the development or humanitarian sector; experience in field-based roles and across multiple geographies an asset.

• Familiarity with needs assessments and analysis, applied research in humanitarian or development settings.

• Familiarity with the humanitarian system and global humanitarian policy frameworks, in particular the Grand Bargain, the HPC and the JIAF.

• Demonstrated experience directly managing and implementing humanitarian projects, preferably including experience at country/field level. Experience with complex, multi-country and/or multi-partner projects is a strong asset;

• Demonstrated experience managing institutional donor grants throughout the project cycle, including implementation follow-up, donor reporting and contractual compliance;

• Strong understanding of institutional donor requirements; prior experience with ECHO, Sida, SDC, GAC and/or comparable institutional donors is highly desirable;

• Demonstrated experience working with implementing partners, including partnership set-up, implementation follow-up and reporting; example leading complex consortia a strong asset.

• Excellent organisational, coordination and planning skills, including the ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines and coordinate effectively across teams, countries and functions;

• Excellent communication and drafting skills for effective reporting.

• Strong interpersonal skills, including good external engagement and coordination skills.

• Willingness and ability for short term deployments, including to complex and challenging security environments.

• Ability to operate in a cross-cultural environment requiring flexibility.

• Fluency in English and French required, given the regional remit of the position; Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese or Ukrainian an asset.

• Ability to operate InDesign is a plus.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

• For this position, gross salary between 5,892 CHF and 6,221 CHF monthly (before income tax). NB - IMPACT salaries are strictly determined by our salary grid depending on the grade of the position and the level of education and experience of staff. A contribution to medical insurance of 489 CHF per month is already included in the salary figure.

• Insurance covering professional and non-professional accidents throughout the period of employment with IMPACT

• Health insurance, life insurance and repatriation assistance in case of field visits/temporary deployments

• Enrolment in IMPACT Initiatives Research Foundational Learning Programme within the first 3 months from the start of contract.

• Applicants must hold a valid work permit for Switzerland or be EU/EFTA citizens

• Up to 40% of remote work on a weekly basis