Grants Manager, Nepal

Kathmandu, Nepal

Position Summary
The grants manager will ensure proper maintenance and functioning of the entire grants management system. This includes monitoring the entire grants management process from solicitation through closeout and ensuring proper compliance with all donor regulations. The grants manager is responsible for overseeing grants officers. S/he will be required to coordinate, design and carry out training courses for all Nepal grants staff and sub-grantees as appropriate.

Core Values
Pact employees embrace the following core values as representatives of the institution:

• all people have a right to participate in decisions affecting their lives
• gender equity is mandatory for social transformation
• resources are allocated in a transparent manner, guided by accountability to our clients and Pact’s role as steward of resources intended for the poor
• diversity in background, gender and age strengthen our capacity to be wise managers of public and private funds
• teamwork and collaboration shape our day-to-day working relationships
• innovation and risk taking to achieve impact and broad scaleable results drive strategic priorities
• gathering and sharing information are primary roles for all employees
• staff growth and advancement are a priority, including training and professional skills building to increase knowledge and competence and to stay abreast of new developments, especially in technology
• a healthy balance between work and life outside of work must be maintained for work satisfaction and fulfillment

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

Grants Management Vision, Leadership and Team Management

• Provide leadership and vision for the grants management department.
• Ensure that all grant documentation is maintained according to Pact standards and donor policies to the extent that they can be fully audited with limited or no findings.
• Develop procedural documents and processes and ensure full understanding of the grants management process at all levels within the organization.
• Ensure proper implementation of competitive processes for grantee selection and negotiation.
• Ensure that solid documentation is provided under each grant.
• Establish competitive RFA/RFP processes where possible.
• Coordinate proposal review and oversee grant selection.
• Ensure that pre-award risk assessments are carried out on each grantee and that decisions are incorporated into grant awards.
• Ensure strong link between the grants management and capacity building approach to maximize efforts to strengthen strategic partners and build in strategies to the grant making process.
• Ensure strong link between the grants management and M&E systems to improve grantee reporting and link to Pact requirements.
• Serve as the supervisor to all members of the grants staff.

Proposal/Grant Management Coordination/Oversight

• Coordinate grants management systems across programs to ensure high quality and consistency.
• Develop written grants policy and procedures to ensure clear understanding by all staff.
• Ensure responsible proposal processing and timeliness of response to agencies.
• Analyze, verify and review proposal budgets to ensure donor compliance and reasonableness.
• Coordinate proposal review process and ensure compliance with solicitations and donor regulations.
• Coordinate pre-award evaluations and/or assessments of potential grantees, as needed.
• Oversee post project assessments of both administrative and financial systems.
• Ensure proper documentation of award negotiation.
• Ensure that grant modifications for cost/program changes are completed accurately and in a timely fashion.
• Prepare grant documents that meet both grantee and donor requirements and allow for required programmatic flexibility.
• Ensure the timely and appropriate close-out of grants.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of donor rules and regulations and ensure implementation at all times.

Capacity Building Coordination

• Coordinate grantee organizational assessments of select Pact partners, identified in collaboration with the capacity building specialist and regional officers. Oversee the development of a tracking system to monitor and measure growth.
• Collaborate with the capacity building specialist to identify priority areas for training of partners and develop strategic interventions to assist grantees/partners.
• Coordinate various training courses for staff and grantees on grants management, financial management, donor compliance, proposal and budget development, and other necessary skills. Identify key areas and initiate new training.
• Coordinate, organize and facilitate (as necessary) grants management workshops for grantees and partners to provide guidance on good grants management.

Monitoring and Reporting (Financial and Programmatic)

• Collaborate with the monitoring and evaluation specialist to design reporting templates for inclusion in grants and in grantee training that directly address Pact’s M&E requirements.
• Monitor grantee advance and liquidation balances closely and ensure timely liquidations.
• Review all payment requests to ensure that they meet the standards of allowable, allocable and reasonable. Manage grantee budgets so that they do not exceed allowable amounts.
• Review program reports from grantees to ensure programmatic compliance against program description.
• Review financial reports from grantees to ensure financial compliance against grant budget.
• Review cost share reports from grantees to ensure compliance against grant commitments (link to disbursements, ie, no cost share reported means no funds advanced).
• Prepare grant reports to donors and Pact headquarters.
• Assist in the compilation of data and preparation of monthly, quarterly and annual reports.
• Oversee the updating and maintenance of the grant tracking database. Ensure consistency and accuracy of information. Use the database to produce key reports to support decisions by management.
• Closely monitor obligations from donors and grant obligations from Pact to grantees. Ensure that Pact never commits more funds than allowable.
  

Compliance Audit Coordination

• Monitor grantee procedures designed to comply with regulations.
• Coordinate the investigation of suspected violations of proper applications. Ensure that the team has the skills or readily available resources (ie identified consultants) to carry this out in a timely fashion.
• Coordinate the assistance to grantees to resolve audit problems.

Consultancy Contracts

• Oversee preparation and signing of local consultancy and STTA contracts.

Qualifications

• Analytical skills to identify organizations eligible for grants based on pre-determined criteria, and then assess the credibility of organizations and their proposed programs. Undertake awards following review, evaluation and recommendations made by a technical review committee.
• Ability to determine the responsibility and grant-worthiness of organizations through financial statements, audits and other documentation presented in a proposal.
• Ability to establish and sustain interpersonal and professional relationships with USAID Missions, international PVOs, and local CBOs.
• Ability to perform and prioritize multiple tasks.
• Proficiency in the Microsoft suite of office products.
• Ability to train PVOs and CSOs on grants management and required reporting preferred.
• Ability to work on short deadlines and multi-task.

Education and Experience Requirements

• Bachelors degree in a related business field.
• 2-5 years experience managing award and administration of Federal grants and contracts or comparable experience in law, business or finance.
• Working knowledge of OMB Circulars; Federal Acquisition Regulations; applicable legislation for USAID; and grants and cooperative agreements.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise financial oversight of sub-grant programs.
• Knowledge of and experience in qualitative and quantitative program evaluation.
• Experience supervising staff.

To apply for this position, please fill out the online application