Grants Officer, Regional East Africa.

The Grants Officer, in coordination with the Partnerships and Compliance Manager, will support effective and efficient grant management and administration to achieve programme goals, working with staff and partner organisations of all levels. The role will provide administration of the grants including managing deliverable timelines, monitoring and ensuring compliance with rules and regulations, and managing complete files and data management for each grant. The Grants Officer will be line managed by the Partnerships and Compliance Manager with a dotted line to other Grant Managers in the region.

Roles and responsibilities:

Grant management and administration

• Work with the Partnership and Compliance Manager, to ensure systems, processes and workflows for grant management and compliance are in place including developing or updating them when required. This includes maintaining a calendar of key donor deliverables and deadlines, and regularly communicating these to country teams.
• Work with the Partnership and Compliance Manager and other Grant Managers to support the process of the grant set up for new contracts, working with relevant teams in the region and in London to ensure staff and partners are aware of their roles and responsibilities in relation to compliance, budgets and deadlines.
• With the Partnership and Compliance Manager and other Grant Managers, support monthly grant management meetings with finance and project staff, including acting as rapporteur, to ensure that finances are reconciled, and the project is on track with contracted obligations
• Ensure the fundraising and grant management database is kept up to date, including as new grants are agreed, and that grants, contracts and donor communication is accessible and accurate.
• Coordinate timesheet reporting and allocations compliance across the grants for Headquarter staff

Donor reporting

• Under the guidance of the Partnership and Compliance Manager, support the reporting process in the region – including working with the project and finance teams to support the production of timely and accurate narrative and financial reports.
• Support the submission of payment requests and updated budget forecasts and amendments for approval.
• With the Partnerships and Compliance Manager, work with the country and financial teams to support the refinement of financial systems and procedures for grant management and compliance where required.
• Follow up on payments as required, e.g. donor payment requests, consultant payments, partner disbursements
• Support country and HQ finance teams with project audits, mainly in organising project documentation including from partners.

Donor and partner compliance, quality and learning

• Work with Grant Managers and the Finance team to carry out updates of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) database
• Work closely with the Partnership and Compliance Manager and other Grant Managers to develop working relationships with Saferworld partners, including signed Project Agreements and SDN checks adherence to partnership agreements and processes, financial receipts and expenditure reports, developing and managing systems to track partners’ spend against income in relation to the project, contract compliance, and donor financial and narrative reports – including IATI where needed.
• Organise and maintain documentation in relation to partner organisational capacity assessments and budget verification exercises, including the tracker with agreed actions and recommendations arising from these assessments
• Maintaining Saferworld’s partner database in the region, and liaise with Saferworld’s global CSO partnerships adviser to ensure Saferworld’s organisational data on partners is up to date.
• Support fundraising colleagues to provide relevant data and documents in support of donor due diligence processes

Key working relationships

• Country/project managers and other country programme staff – working collaboratively, sharing information, and supporting project managers and teams to ensure donor contractual requirements are met.
• Regional Africa and HQ finance staff – collaborate with finance colleagues in order to support the submission of timely and accurate financial reports and invoicing.
• Colleagues in Fundraising and Programme Development Managers – working collaboratively to coordinate on developing and cultivating relationships with donors
• Partners – working with partners (as needed, which varies across Saferworld’s country programmes) in order to support timely donor reports and fulfil other donor requirements; provide grant management capacity support to partners (as required and with the Partnership and Compliance Manager).
• Colleagues in Programme Support & Learning Team, particularly the CSO Partnerships Adviser – work collaboratively to ensure adherence to Saferworld partnership processes and documentation.
• Other grant managers in the Africa region and across Saferworld – work collaboratively to exchange learning on best practices in grant management.
• Donors – from time to time this role may communicate with external donors as part of donor stewardship, developing relationships, and donor reporting.

Scope and accountability

Decision making and limits of authority

Decisions related to relevant information to share widely within the region to all levels of staff

Financial resources

Whilst this post does not have budget responsibility, the accurate recording of financial information is critical and contributes to analysis of income projections, match funding requirements etc.

Other resources

• Maintaining the fundraising and grant management database and ensuring high standards of data input
• Working with fundraising colleagues to refine the database in line with evolving data needs

People management

N/A

Legal, regulatory and compliance responsibility

• Become familiar with IATI standards and regulations and support colleagues to ensure that the organisation is IATI compliant
• Support fundraising colleagues to provide relevant data and documents in support of donor due diligence processes

Person specification

Knowledge, qualifications and experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Development Studies, International Development, Sustainable Development, Peace and Conflict Studies or related discipline.
• Post graduate diploma in project planning and Management is an added advantage.
• Demonstrable experience of project and budget management (e.g. project planning, grant management, compiling and monitoring budgets, narrative and financial reporting), preferably in an INGO setting (at least two years of experience).
• Experience in developing and maintaining systematic and transparent records in order to keep track of projects and for accountability and auditing.
• Experience of working in an organisation that has a commitment to partnership or works with partners.
• Experience of donor compliance.
• Demonstrable ability to carry out administrative duties effectively
• Experience of managing and refining databases and extracting data for analytical purposes.
• Familiarity with peacebuilding and/or international development issues
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team, as the task requires

Skills and abilities

• Fluency in English (written and spoken); fluency in a second language (desirable)
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and ability to condense complex information, including for reports
• Strong coordination and team-working skills applicable to a remote management context.
• Ability to negotiate and understand priorities of colleagues, applying a problem-solving supportive approach
• Ability to work proactively, on own initiative and well under pressure
• Facilitation and training skills (desirable)
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including experience of communicating effectively across cultures and with diverse audiences, both verbally and in writing.
• Excellent organisational skills, accuracy and attention to detail and ability to meet tight deadlines
• Ability to work in a non-partisan and neutral manner, particularly in high-stress and highly politicised environments, appreciating gender, cultural and ethnic diversity.

Personal qualities

• Commitment to and compliance with Saferworld’s safeguarding principles
• Commitment to respect and value equality and diversity, and understanding of how this applies to own area of work
• Commitment to own continuing personal and professional development
• Commitment to the vision, mission and values of Saferworld

Other requirements

• Ability to travel within the region, up to 2-3 months a year (non-consecutive)