Grants and Compliance Coordinator at CARE International

CARE is seeking a Grants and Compliance Coordinator to provide technical leadership and support on assigned portfolios throughout the grant management cycle and maintain organization-wide adherence to meet internal and external grant management quality standards, donor guidelines, and related compliance processes. He/She will play a central role in advancing the organization’s localization and partnership strategy by coordinating the identification, development, and management of strategic and implementing partners. The role will ensure compliance and strengthened controls with the administration and management of activities associated with the successful performance of designated grants, partners, and funding agreements.

Location: Maiduguri, Borno State.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS:

Job Responsibility #1: Grants Management 

• Support the full cycle of grants management activities from pre-award assessments, monitoring/compliance visits and close-out procedures.
• Provide technical support to the Grants and Compliance Manager in coordinating and monitoring the implementation of donor funded projects and programs for the country program.
• Ensure effectiveness and efficiency in the full cycle of grants management activities from pre-award assessments, monitoring/compliance visits and close-out procedures.
• Work with project and finance teams to ensure donor reports (interim and final) and other award deliverables are of high quality, coherent, accurate and are submitted on time in accordance with donor and CARE Nigeria internal requirements.
• Monitor grant tracking mechanisms and management tools to ensure all grant management performance indicators for effectively monitoring of grant activities to ensure progress and KPIs are met and timely alerts to potential challenges.
• Ensuring projects are implemented in compliance with CARE International guidelines and relevant donor regulations.
• Support the preparation and dissemination of the country master budget in a timely manner.
• Draft and mange review and approval of funding documents including amendments and negotiations and ensure timely set-up of all awards in the financial system.
• Support the Resource Mobilization team in resource mobilization activities, making inputs to non-technical documents, reviewing budget and consolidating inputs.
• Liaise with CMPs and donors on grant management and partnership related communication, including donor opportunities, responding to donor queries and request for visits.

Job Responsibility #2: Partner Management 

• Coordinate and facilitate partnership mapping and stakeholder analysis in alignment with the organization’s localization strategy to advance country office positioning, influence, and resource mobilization efforts.
• Support the development and maintenance of a strategic partnership database to track and assess potential and existing partners, fostering collaboration with local actors, the private sector, academia, and civil society.
• Coordinate partner compliance visits, organizational health checks, due diligence assessments, audits, and spot checks of partner procedures, practices, and documents, identifying areas for improvement and risk mitigation with the support of the project, finance, and compliance teams.
• Provide technical support to partners in financial management, reporting, and compliance, ensuring timely liquidation of advances and prevention of ineligible expenditures.
• Lead or participate in joint partnership performance reviews and learning sessions to assess effectiveness and strengthen collaboration
• Support the design and delivery of capacity strengthening plans for partners, focusing on institutional systems, governance, financial management, program delivery, and sustainability.
• Participate in external coordination forums, clusters, and partnership networks to represent the organization’s partnership and localization agenda
• Facilitate documentation and dissemination of best practices, lessons learned, and success stories that demonstrate progress toward localization and partnership excellence

Job Responsibility #3: Compliance Management

• Support the development of annual compliance monitoring plan and evaluation tool to evaluate project implementations at various office locations and implementation sites to determine compliance and provide recommendations.
• Ensures that grants are implemented in compliance with CARE Nigeria guidelines and relevant donor regulations.
• Support the development, implementation and strengthening of compliance framework for the unit including compliance checklist for various standard operations, transactions, and business processes in line with donor requirements.
• Periodic review and update of the compliance monitoring checklist and other tools to stay in line with current best practices and CARE Nigeria procedures and policies.
• Support in training and providing guidance to project teams, partner and country program teams on donor compliance, report writing, project and budget monitoring, record keeping, and grants management.
• Works with Grants Manager and all support teams to ensure that key processes and systems are in place to manage grant risk, donor financial compliance, and reporting management processes.
• Work closely with Grant and Compliance Manager to identify and close key risks linked to donor funded projects.
• Conduct routine compliance reviews of grant programs and ensure properly coordinated audit exercise that would result non-disallowances.
• Participate in regular audit of CARE’s procedures, practices, and documents to identify possible areas of improvement.
• Identify timely project and partner compliance issues and escalate for timely mitigation. 
• Document and share key compliance issues with CARE International staff and partners setting ground for compliance management.

Other Responsibilities:

• Other Responsibilities as Assigned
• Contribute to CARE’s resource mobilization efforts

QUALIFICATION/EXPERIENCE/TECHNICAL SKILLS:

Required

• A Degree in Development Studies, Business Studies, or Social Science (Master’s Degree or equivalent in international affairs, development or related subject will be an added advantage). Professional Qualifications such as ICAN, ACA etc. Is an added advantage.
• At least five (5) years of experience working in project and/or grants management and proposal/business development/design.
• Experience in developing and interpreting donor budgets.
• Knowledge of development issues, trends, challenges and opportunities and implications to community.
• Proven ability to develop and write grant proposals and concepts and track record in winning proposals.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively in a multidisciplinary team environment.
• Good communicator with strong organizational, time management and analytical skills.
• Excellent inter-personal, cultural and diplomatic skills.
• Strong writing and editing skills with close attention to detail.
• Ability to juggle competing priorities, meet demanding deadlines and work under pressure in unstable security environments.

Desired:

• Excellent proven skills in developing, writing grant proposals
• Good research, negotiation and problem-solving skills
• Effective working with and through partners
• Strong planning and organizational skills
• Strong strategic thinking and interpersonal skills 
• Excellent communication skills.
• High proficiency in MS office tools (with excellent Microsoft Excel skills).

Competencies:

• Approachability                                 
• Building Effective Teams
• Customer Focus
• Integrity and Trust
• Drive for Results
• Comfort around Higher management
• Business Acumen
• Negotiating
• Organizational Agility