Grants and Compliance Manager at Plan International

Role Purpose

• The role of the Grant and Compliance Manager is to contribute strategically to the overall management of Plan International Nigeria’s grants portfolio, support the finance unit in budgeting for quality project implementation.
• The role will require the job holder to coordinate and be accountable for all grants activities at Country level, ensure achievement of Country grant portfolio growth plans, ensure high quality and timeliness communications with donors and managing effective working relationships with the National Offices and bilateral and multilateral organizations at County level.
• Furthermore, provide oversight and analysis of the financial health of assigned projects while ensuring compliance to donor requirements.

Dimensions of the Role

• The role reports to the Director of Partnerships and Business Development, leads the grants team and supports other field staff to ensure the grants are implemented and reported in line with the contractual agreement.

Accountabilities

Management:

• Lead the modification, implementation and monitoring of grant policies, objectives, activity plans, timelines and make recommendations for the effective management of grants and compliance
• Contribute to the collective and informed decisions made by the Country Leadership team (CLT) on issues related to grant management and compliance.
• Facilitate the establishment and implementation of standards of accountability, effectiveness and efficiency in the achievement of organizational grant objectives.
• Represent Plan International in external engagements that are related to grant and compliance.
• Participate as a member of the Country Leadership Team (CLT)

Grant Administration and Management:

• Continue to maintain an overview of available budgets, budget versus actuals, pre-empting future realignments and advising on course correction and responding to information requests.
• Work collaboratively with Project Managers, to prepare, review, submit, and oversee project budgets and forecasts, ensuring alignment with project activities.
• Work closely with finance team to develop and implement a standardized package for quality financial management grant-funded projects including standard KPIs, budget and reporting guidelines, Gift in Kind treatment, procurement and asset management plans, compliance training, project start-up and closing procedures.

Ensure that Grants Coordinators and Officers:

• Keep relevant grant sections of SAP up to date, for allocated projects.
• Ensure Grant/FAD files & filing systems (both electronic and hard copies) are properly maintained.
• Support the effective start-up of new grants (system set-up, FAD activation, start-up workshop etc)
• Hold monthly calls with project managers to monitor progress on grants & hold quarterly updates with NO colleagues on project
• Conduct regular field office visits to support grant monitoring, compliance and reporting
• Update key grant management systems, including donor reporting trackers and grant status report.
• Receive and review narrative and financial reports on a timely basis, and submit before the NO or donor deadline.
• Work closely with project manager and finance staff to keep an overview of financial progress of active grants through regular review of expenditure against approved budget.
• Support the effective closure of grants (including assets transfer, final evaluation, audits and reporting, and final system closure).

Internal and External Donor reporting:

• Act as the primary point of contact for all grant management-related communications to/from the National Organizations; including donor opportunities, responding to donor queries; requests for visits, etc.
• Ensure Donor Financial reports and related financials are finalized and submitted on time, per donor requirements/formats, ensuring alignment with narrative reports.
• Support Field offices and project teams to setup efficient financial reporting forms in line with requirements of the project, donor and Plan financial systems.
• Participate in feedback mechanism to capture lessons learned from projects in implementation to inform future budget development and build on donor intelligence from compliance perspective.

Donor Compliance, Risk and External Audit:

• Identify areas of risk by providing regular analysis of financial health of projects against standard key performance indicators (KPIs) and develop strategies to mitigate these risks.
• Provide training and ongoing support to relevant stakeholders including project team members, Plan Nigeria’s field offices and partners on understanding donor financial compliance, identifying financial risks and other best practices related to financial management and ensuring compliance requirements are understood and adhered to at all levels.
• Ensure all project expenditures and contracts are compliant with terms and conditions of donor agreements by conducting regular desk audits as well as occasional in-field audits.
• Work closely with Country programme teams to prepare for donor audits. Oversee coordination of donor audits with field offices for assigned portfolio of projects.
•  Continuously evaluate Projects Financial Risks and update Risk Registers as required for escalation to Management, including mitigation measures.
• Review donor and partner agreements ensuring the financial terms and conditions are compatible with Plan’s systems and are favourable to quality implementation and reporting.

Technical expertise, skills and knowledge

Essential experience

• Experience developing and implementing successful programme funding strategies and of delivering income against targets.
• Development and / or humanitarian programming experience, and a good understanding of international development and humanitarian issues
• Applied knowledge of project and grant cycle management including problem analysis, project design, financial planning and management, and monitoring and evaluation.
• Experience securing institutional funding grants and contracts at a multimillion level
• Experience preparing quality narrative and financial reports for institutional donors 
• Sound knowledge of humanitarian funding policy and typical contract rules and procedures
• Experience establishing and cultivating strong donor relationships that have delivered substantially increased income
• Experience of managing a team of staff and promoting high performance
• Experience working with people from different cultures to deliver complex work tasks

Skills and Abilities

• Chartered Accountant (ACA, ACCA etc.). MBA is desired and regarded as an asset.
• At least 7 years’ experience in grants and compliance, with 4 years in a similar managerial role.
• Proven experience in financial management, including financial reporting and analysis, developing costing models / budgets at the project design stage and risk assessment and mitigation for €2M+ Proposals.
• Ability to interpret and analyse complex information from a range of sources and present to a donor in a detailed and accurate way.
• Demonstrated knowledge and prior experience working with a wide variety of international development funding agency rules, regulations and contracting structures, including experience with donor agencies such as USAID, DFID, EU, SIDA, GiZ, GFFO, BMZ, Global Affairs Canada, UNICEF, UNFPA, WFP, UNOCHA amongst other donors. 
• Proven facilitation, training and capacity building skills, ideally in supporting partners or colleagues.
• The numerical ability to analyse financial information, budget and monitor costs.
• Excellent communication skills, particularly to produce high quality written narrative.
• Confidence to operate in a strategic leadership role and to engage with senior managers
• Ability to think and work proactively and flexibly, creatively and strategically under pressure or when faced with competing demands.
• Ability to work well in a team and cross-organisationally and to establish excellent relationships with colleagues from different functions and cultures.
• Confident and proficient in the use of MS Office.