Kenya: Procurement and Grants Specialist

The Procurement and Grants Specialist will supervise all granting and procurement activities under the proposed project. S/he will be expected to have a strong knowledge of gender and conflict, program implementation, peace building during elections, and monitoring and evaluation skills.

Responsibilities:

Training and Mentoring for Sub-grantees and IRC Staff Ensure potential sub-grantees are familiar with IRC sub-grant policies and procedures; Disseminate guidelines about, and train potential sub-grantees in, the process of submitting sub-grant proposals responsive to this project’s needs and in line with IRC regulations; Offer refresher trainings, as needed, to IRC program staff about managing relationships with sub-grantees and adhering to IRC sub-grant requirements; Prepare, in collaboration with program staff and sub-grantees, individual capacity building plans for all sub-grantees and conduct and document regular mentoring; and Train sub-grantees, in collaboration with program staff, how to apply for funding from donors.

Compliance and Reporting-related Activities Conduct, in collaboration with program staff, pre-award assessments of all new sub-grantees prior to sub-grant award; Ensure submission and approval of Anti-Terrorism Compliance documents for all new sub-grantees prior to sub-grant award; Negotiate and finalize sub-grant agreements for all sub-grantees; Ensure timely submission of sub-grantee technical and financial reports, and ensure the reports adhere to IRC requirements; Coordinate with IRC’s Finance Department to facilitate timely processing of all sub-grantee payments; Provide ongoing compliance technical advice to sub-grantees; Manage sub-grantee audits, as appropriate.

Monitoring of Sub-grantees Prepare monitoring plan for all sub-grantees; Conduct and document regular post-award monitoring of sub-grantees (e.g., ensure agreement between programmatic results and expenditures; review procurement procedures and practices; identify significant concerns related to sub-grantee policies or practices); Prepare and disseminate monitoring report with recommendations; and Develop Corrective Action Plan based on identified deficiencies and work collaboratively with program staff and sub-grantees to resolve issues and strength sub-grantee capacity and compliance.

Coordination and Administration Conduct regular meetings with sub-grantee partners and program staff; Inform program staff about key compliance issues and support program staff to address problems; Maintain filing system (both hard and soft copy) for all sub-grantees’ agreements, amendments, proposals, reports, payments and important correspondence; and Develop sub-grantee tracking sheets and data bases that capture key information.

Requirements: Master’s Degree or higher in Social Sciences, such as international development, social work, or public policy;
Minimum five years of experience managing sub-grant programs or facilities, including extensive experience overseeing the sub-grant cycle; Strong knowledge of USAID rules and regulations, including OMB circulars, and 22 CFR 226; Demonstrated skills and experience working and collaborating with international and local non-profit organizations; Experience with programs dealing with gender and conflict preferred. Strong communication and interpersonal skills; Ability and interest to work with a diverse and multicultural team in a collaborative, respectful and culturally appropriate manner; Solid understanding of the Kenyan context; previous experience in Kenya preferred Ability to perform detailed-oriented work with high level of accuracy Ability to multi-task and manage a number of different initiatives at one time, with flexibility and creativity in a complex environment; and Fluency in spoken and written English, Swahili required

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