Grant Specialist at Heartland Alliance

Job Summary

 The Grants Specialist will oversee the grants administration of HALG in conformity with the donor’s policies and procedures. Monitoring grantee financial reporting processes and all grantees’ funding obligations.  S/he will be responsible for securing funding from the U.S. Government and multilateral donors by identifying funding opportunities for the organization across the several thematic areas. Developing plans to compete for these funding opportunities; executing those plans, including oversight of pre-solicitation/pre-proposal activities, as well as proposal preparation and submission. Contribute to the HALG’s fundraising efforts as they relate to USG donors or other donors. S/he leads fund raising and new business development team in order to make the grant process work effectively and efficiently. S/he identifies potential grant support from government agencies, foundations, and corporations to meet the financial and operational needs of HALG. In all, he/she has the ability to perform grant research, grant writing, grant program design and implementation, compliance and grant reporting. He/she will be part of the leadership team, while supervising all grant related jobs of HALG.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• The Grants Specialist provides support to the Senior Grants Officer in facilitating grant review process and selection of successful awardees for approval by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Manages overall grants efforts, documents summary of all payments and expenditure, optimizing the grant administration process, overseeing/leading fund-raising, preparing progress reports on the grant, ensuring compliance with donor regulations and organizational policies, reviewing grants proposals, managing grants databases and reporting on progress of the grants managed by HALG.
• Advise senior leadership team on matters of concern and elements of risk that could be detrimental to the successful implementation of a subward and recommend alternative approaches to overcome any negative impact.
• Support the Senior Grants Officer as the need arises with financial monitoring of the sub-awards including pre-award financial/management surveys, review requests for advances periodically, funds disbursements and expenditure reconciliation, financial reporting, audits, and close-out process.
• Liaise with the Finance team on budget development during proposal writing.
• Provide training and technical assistance on financial and grants management as needed to the local implementing partners; responsible for monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the grants.
• Identify and track relevant upcoming USAID and other funding opportunities – through advance intelligence gathering, partner relationships, and other available resources – and inform relevant HALG staff and local implementing partners that implement programs for HALG.
• Manage actions for pre-solicitation proposal preparations and bid planning including teaming, bid strategy, development of win-themes, oversight of and contribution to technical design, drafting management and other sections of the proposal in advance of the solicitation.
• Manage major open USAID solicitations and other proposal submissions, including teaming agreements, oversight of technical design and cost proposal, capacity statements, internal review/quality control processes, drafting sections of the proposal where appropriate.
• Represent HALG’s business development interests at relevant meetings, events for resource mobilization or donor-specific peer networks, as it relates to USG or other donors funding streams.
• Ensures that grants implementation is based on donor requirements. Identify and develop strategies to optimize grants administration process. Keep the relevant staff informed about upcoming deadlines and deliverables, thereby ensuring smooth completion of work responsibilities.
• Monitor paperwork and other related documents connected with grant-funded programs.
• Maintain records of all payments and receivables and prepare monthly records for all grant related activities. Provide training to the new staff on grants management and reporting requirements.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with physical challenges to perform the essential functions.

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance or a related field; an advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum 8-10 years of progressively responsible experience in grant management including at least 5 years experience in similar position as a Grant Specialist with International NGO administering grants and sub-awards.
• At least 3-5 years of experience in successful proposal development for USAID and other USG donors, including pre-solicitation preparation. Experience with USAID solicitations is required; substantive relevant experience in proposal development for other multilateral or bilateral donors may be considered.
• Previous experience in building or enhancing local implementing partners’ financial management capacity through grant or subaward administration.
• Advanced knowledge of donor (USG and non- USG) rules and regulations.
• Excellent technical skills in writing, editing, formatting, research, negotiation, and verbal communications.
• Understands the methodological and analytical approaches of a grant management.
• Understands the need to provide clear communication of proper rules and regulations for approving grants, its specifications, requirements and objectives across HALG

Other Competencies:

• Time Management – Ability to prioritize tasks, manage time and complete projects in a fast-paced, changing environment with minimal supervision.
• Quality Management - Looks for ways to improve and promote quality; Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness.
• Written Communication - Writes clearly and informatively; Edits work for spelling and grammar; Varies writing style to meet needs; Presents numerical data effectively.
• Adaptability - Adapts to changes in the work environment; Manages competing demands; Changes approach or method to best fit the situation; Able to deal with frequent change, delays, or unexpected events.
• Cultural Sensitivity – Respects cultural environment in which person is working and does not act in a manner that is outwardly offensive to the local community.
• Non-discriminatory- Do not discriminate persons based on sexual orientation or gender identity, age, preferred jobs or behavioral habits.

Language Skills:

• Excellent oral and written English communication skills.
• Knowledge of Local Language preferred.
• Demonstrated competency in public speaking.