Grants Administrator at Palladium Group

Job ID.: req11916

Project Overview and Role

• Palladium provides grant management support services to GSMA Mobile for Development's Innovation Fund. The Fund will focus on inclusion, innovation and scale, and will offer equity-free grants for digital solutions that improve the lives of low-income citizens in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia Pacific.
• We are looking for a dedicated individual to join our team, working with the Grants Lead and Grants Manager in the oversight, management and administration of all funded grants. This will involve financial, communication and compliance management. You will be responsible for supporting the delivery of Palladium’s responsibilities in the grant cycle, and tasks will include:
• Act as the first point of contact for applicants, managing all communication (confirmation receipt, notify successful and unsuccessful applicants).
• Work in collaboration with the Grants Team (comprised of a Grants Lead, Grants Manager and other officers) throughout the grant implementation to perform Due Diligence on potential grantees such that the team can take the necessary care, attention and discretion prior to signing grant agreements and during the implementation. These include:
• Ensuring adequate and transparent governance structures, and robust and reliable financial internal controls.
• Assessing the capacity of grantees and subcontractors to effectively implement actions to strengthen their administrative and financial management systems.
• Performing spot check visits and compile visit reports.
• Identifying projects in extreme risk markets that require enhanced due diligence.
• Collating and verifying all documents received (e.g. references, background checks, etc.)
• Confirming eligibility of grantees. Perform formal evaluation of each application.
• Review all proposed budgets and project activities during the proposal stage to assess each applicant’s capacity to utilise budgets in the project time frame and ensure that all budgets are compliant with the guidelines set for the round.
• Review final work plans, evidence requirements and budgets with successful applicants taking into account any conditions imposed by the Panel.
• Contribute to and prepare the grant allocation, disbursements, and forecast schedules, as required. (the GSMA will be responsible for processing payment to grantees).
• Contribute to training all grantees on the grant reporting requirements and the use of the reporting templates.
• Obtain and review evidence submitted by grantees as proof of milestone achievement.
• Contribute to identifying risks and maintaining a risk dashboard at portfolio level highlighting potential risks and issues and mitigation plans for each grant.
• Support in coordinating monthly portfolio review meetings with the GSMA team and provide updates including on the risk dashboard.
• Review of grant reports to ensure accuracy and completion of activities and KPIs against proposals, timelines and project plans, and request additional information if necessary.
• Contribute to the provision and maintenance of portfolio level report per round with analysis on the financial status of each grantee, project progress, and highlighting potential risks (including delays) to the GSMA.
• Maintain relevant filing for key documents. Archive all grant-related documents and share them with the GSMA
• Collect end of grant reports (project and financial).
• Work with team members in the preparation and completion of financial audits as required.
• Write an overall assessment of the grant; provide feedback to grantees.
• Ensure that goods and services are purchased by each grantee according to Palladium Procurement policy and guidelines.
• Develop strong working relationships and regular dialogue on project progress and challenges with the Palladium team working on the project
• Provide necessary training, capacity building and information to grantees to enable compliance with the financial accounting, reporting and procurement requirements of their funding agreements.

Required Qualifications

• Recent experience in a grants/funding or international development role
• Demonstrated financial acumen and experience with budget or project management
• Strong attention to detail and diligent approach to compliance matters
• Experience supporting clients and technical managers in project delivery
• A positive teamwork ethic, and supportive attitude
• Experience communicating with different audiences/stakeholders.
• Fluency in English is essential. Fluency in French is desirable but not a requirement.
• Interest in International Development and/or Digital Technology Development would be an advantage
• Confident working with IT systems, including databases and Microsoft Excel.

Job Information

• This role can be located either in the United Kingdom or Nigeria.
• Our team on this project is based in offices near Bristol, UK and in Abuja, Nigeria.
• We are open to remote working circumstances, but you must be able to travel to the nearest office on an agreed basis.
• Please note that we are unable to sponsor visa applications for the UK or Nigeria.