Grants Officer at North East Regional Initiative (NERI)

Number of Positions: (1) Kafanchan

Job Location: Kaduna State

Contract Term: Full Time

Position Summary: 

The Grants Officer (GO) is responsible for supporting a distinct portfolio of program activities. This includes developing grant ideas in collaboration with the Program Team, supporting and monitoring grant implementation, closing grants and maintaining all required electronic and paper files. The GO will closely coordinate with Program Managers and the Program Team to ensure that projects are developed and implemented in a manner that advances project goals and current strategy objectives. This position is based at Kafanchan with frequent travel within the program LGA and to Abuja.

Reporting & Supervision: 

The Grants Officer in Abuja reports to the Nigeria Program Manager. Grants Officers based outside of Abuja report to the Nigeria Program Manager and maintain strong and consistent communications with the Grants Officer in Abuja. 

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES AND DELIVERABLES 

Primary responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

• Manage all aspects of assigned grant portfolio throughout all stages of project development, implementation and closure. Manage associated timelines and donor reporting requirements for individual grant activities. Maintain internal trackers, such as the grant status and closing trackers. Monitor grant portfolio pipeline of financial commitments and disbursements.
• Serve as a key point of contact for information on related project issues, coordination with partner organizations and sociopolitical and development trends.
• Develop project ideas in coordination with Program Manager and Program Team.
• Manage strategy objectives/action plan for assigned grant portfolio.
• Draft project ideas with estimated budgets and present them in internal reviews.
• Prepare potential activities in grant database incorporating project objectives, activities, deliverables, monitoring and evaluation plan, media plan, budget and timeline.
• Ensure compliance with donor and organizational policies, procedures and regulations, throughout activity implementation. Ensure thorough, audit-compliant documentation. 
• Monitor project progress against the approved project implementation timeline; identify delays and work closely with Program Team to ensure projects stay on track.
• Track overall project development and identify trends to document success stories and lessons learned.
• Engage in overall political analysis, impact assessment, and participate in strategy development to advance the project goals.
• Review and contribute to Final Evaluation Reports and prepare project documents for close-out.
• Coordinate with staff in all departments to complete assigned tasks; engage in regular coordination with Program, Procurement and Finance units to quickly resolve implementation issues.
• Travel to project sites for follow up/support on activity implementation, as needed.
• Perform other tasks, as assigned. 

Required Skills & Qualifications 

• University degree in public administration, economics, finance, business management or a related field is required.
• Three (3) years of experience in grants management is required.
• Minimum of five (5) years of general working experience is required.
• Prior experience with internationally funded projects is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated experience reviewing and negotiating budgets, reviewing financial reports, preparing for and monitoring audits of grantees, and file management.
• Proficiency at using Microsoft office software: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc. is required.
• Ability to work under pressure and efficiently handle multiple tasks.
• Ability to work under own initiative or as a part of a team.
• Experience of working in a conflict environment is a plus.
• Fluency in oral and written English is required.
• Fluency in one or more of the languages spoken in North West and North Central Nigeria is preferable.