Act! Grants Manager Job in Kenya

Act Change Transform (Act!), is a Kenyan non-governmental organization whose mission is to enable communities in Kenya and neighbouring countries to be active participants in their development through capacity strengthening, grant management and advocacy whilst its vision is empowered communities living a life of dignity. 

Act! focuses on supporting and strengthening local organizations through capacity building, organizational development and through grant making and grant management. 

In executing its mandate, the organization works around four main thematic areas of Environment and Natural Resources Management, Peace Building and Conflict Transformation, Democracy and Human Rights and Livelihoods.
 

Grants Manager

Ref: ACT/GM/08/2014

Job Summary: The Grants manager will ensure proper functioning of the entire grants management function. 

This will include monitoring the entire grants management process from solicitation through close out and ensuring proper compliance with all donor regulations. 

He/she will play a leadership role towards supporting Act Change Transform (ACT) and its partners in achieving rigorous financial and grants reporting and management. 

The incumbent will be in charge of the quality standards of the tools and materials Act! uses to deliver effective grants and financial services to its partners.
 

Key Responsibilities
 

Specifically, the Grants Manager will be responsible for but not limited to:
 

Grants Management

• Ensure that all grant documentation is maintained according to Act! standards and donor policies to the extent they can be fully audited with limited or no adverse findings.
• Develop procedural documents and processes and ensure full understanding of the grants management process at all levels within the program.
• Ensure that pre-award risk assessments are carried out on each grantee and that decisions are incorporated into grant awards.
• Ensure strong links between the grants management and M&E systems to improve grantee reporting and link to Act! requirements.
• Ensure responsible proposal processing and timeliness of responses to agencies
• Ensure that grant modifications for cost/program changes are completed accurately
• Ensure the timely and appropriate close-out of issued grants

Capacity development coordination

• Coordinate grant recipients organizational assessments, identified in collaboration with the capacity-building officers.
• Oversee the development of a tracking system to monitor and measure growth.
• Collaborate with the capacity building specialist to identify priority areas for training of partners and develop strategic interventions to assist partners.
• Coordinate the development of training materials for potential grantees on proposal preparations and budgeting skills.
• Coordinate, organize and facilitate (as necessary) grants management workshops for grantees/partners to provide guidance on good grants management and on compliance with donor regulations.

Monitoring and reporting (financial and programmatic)

• Collaborate with the monitoring and evaluation team to design reporting templates for inclusion in grants and in grantee training that directly addresses Act! M&E requirements.
• Monitor grantee advance and liquidation balances closely and ensure timely liquidations.
• Review all payment requests to ensure they meet the standards of allowable, allocable and reasonable-manage grantee budgets so that they do not exceed allowable amounts.
• Review program reports from partners to ensure programmatic compliance against program description.
• Review financial reports from grantees to ensure finance compliance against grant budget.
• Assist in the compilation of data and preparation of monthly, quarterly and annual reports.
• Oversee the updating and maintenance of the grant-tracking database. Ensure consistency and accuracy of information. Use the database to produce key reports to support decisions by management.
• Closely monitor obligations from donors and grant obligations to grantees to ensure that Act! never commits more funds than allowable.

Compliance audit coordination

• Monitoring grantee procedures designed to comply with regulations.
• Coordinate the investigation of suspected violations of proper applications. Ensure that the team has the skills or readily available resources (i.e., identified consultants) to carry this out in a timely fashion.
• Coordinate the assistance to grantees to resolve audit problems.
• Coordinate the assistance to grantees to resolve audit problems identified in audit management letters.

Qualification, Experience and Skills:
 

Academic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, Accounting or related business field,
• a Master’s degree in the relevant field will be an added advantage

Professional Qualifications

• Certified Public Accountant of Kenya (CPA-K) or ACCA qualification

Relevant Experience

• Eight years work experience managing financial administration of major donor grants and contracts
• At least five years’ experience in administering grants and contracts

Essential Competencies

• Highly proficient in MS Office, spreadsheets and database skills.
• Good analytical skills to successfully perform financial reviews and other quantitative analyses.
• Effective written and oral communications skills
• Ability to independently prioritize and successfully perform assigned tasks
• Familiarity with major donors’ auditing requirements and demonstrated ability to exercise basic financial oversight of grant programs

How to Apply
 

If you meet the requirements as contained in the job descriptions, please submit 

(1) a detailed and current CV; 

(2) an application cover letter demonstrating why you qualify for the position, quoting your current and expected gross salary and three referees including their most current contact details. 

All applications should be submitted electronically to hr.admin@act.or.ke quoting the reference number (ACT/GM/08/2014). 

Only candidates short-listed for interviews will be contacted.

Deadline for applications submission is 5:00pm Thursday 5th June 2014