Job Opportunity: Assistant Manager – Grants & Compliance, Act!

Job Summary

The Assistant Manager-Grants & Compliance will be based in Nairobi and will contribute to ensuring the proper functioning and effectiveness of the entire grants and compliance sub-unit within the finance and operations unit. This will include monitoring the entire grants management process from solicitation through closeout and ensuring proper compliance with all donor regulations. He/she will play a leadership role in supporting Act! and its partners in achieving rigorous financial and grants reporting and management. The incumbent will be part of a highly efficient team that ensures that the tools and materials Act! uses to deliver effective grants management support to downstream partners are of the highest standards.

Key Responsibilities

Specifically, the Assistant Manager – Grants & Compliance will be responsible for but not limited to:

Grants Management

• Ensure effective implementation of the grants management policies, rules, and procedures that meet industry best practices and ensure full understanding by the grants team as well as compliance with the grants management policies and processes at all levels within Act!.
• Support the periodic review and updating of grants management tools and supporting processes while ensuring the full understanding of the tools, processes, and policies by all staff, partners, and stakeholders within and outside the organization.
• Ensures Act!’s grants management policies in relation to the selection of partners are fully adhered to.
• Oversees the tracking of the grants pool while closely monitoring the obligations from donors and grant obligations to recipients/grantees. Ensuring that at no time does Act! commit more funds than are obligated by donors.
• Ensure that all grant management documentation and mandatory records are maintained according to Act! standards and donor policies to the extent they can be fully audited with limited or no adverse findings.
• Ensure that pre-award risk assessments are carried out on each potential grantee in collaboration with the programme teams (including the Capacity development team) and that accurate decisions are incorporated into the grant award process.
• Ensure that grant modifications for cost/program changes are completed accurately and in a timely manner.
• Efficiently coordinate feedback from all key functions to ensure the timely and appropriate close-out of concluded grants and sub-grants.

Capacity Development Coordination

• Offer periodic technical support to all sub-partners through strategic and or embedded interventions that strengthen their capacity to receive and manage grants effectively.
• Coordinate the inception period grants management training for new sub-awardees and refresher training for existing grantees on donor and Act! policies and procedures.
• The training workshops are to be coordinated in collaboration with Finance, MERL, and Capacity development teams.

Monitoring and Reporting (financial and programmatic)

• Monitor grantee advances and liquidation balances closely and ensure timely liquidations.
• In collaboration with the programme and finance teams, review the disbursement requests to ensure they meet the standards of allowable, allocable, and reasonable. Also ensuring compliance with the approved program description and the budget documents.
• Schedule and facilitate periodic field-based reviews of all partners’ records and progress in collaboration with the Program Management Teams. File detailed reports of findings and follow through with all the agreed remedial actions.
• Support the regular updating and maintenance of the grant-tracking database, ensuring that there is consistency and accuracy of information. Use the database to generate monthly status reports for presentation by the finance manager to the senior management team meetings.

Compliance Management

• Seek to understand all the donor award conditions, guidelines, and procedures, and monitor the same to ensure that there is full compliance at both Act! and sub-awardee levels.
• Assess and regularly review partners’ procedures to ensure there are necessary steps and controls to comply with the sub-award conditions and applicable regulations.
• Liaising with the Compliance Officer as necessary, coordinate the investigation of suspected violations of proper applications.
• Facilitate with the finance team, interventions, and partners assistance to resolve audit issues identified in their annual processes and captured in the audit management letters.

 Staff Supervision

• Provide leadership for the Performance Management of assigned staff within the grants team.
• Provide mentoring and technical support to grants officers, and ensure that officers supervising others do the same.
• Ensure that all staff within the unit are adequately supported to develop objectives and work plans in line with their agreed objectives.
• Ensure that staff are adequately appraised.

Qualification, Experience, and Skills:

 Academic Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, Accounting, or related business field. A Master’s degree in the relevant field will be an added advantage

Professional Qualifications

• Certified Public Accountant of Kenya (CPA-K) or ACCA qualifications or equivalent.

 Duration of Relevant Experiences

• Eight (10) years of post-qualification experience working in the finance and grants (contracts) department with demonstrated exposure to major donor regulations and contracts.
• At least five years of experience in administering grants and contracts.

Essential Competencies

• Excellent analytical skills to successfully perform financial reviews and other quantitative analyses.
• Familiarity with major donors’ auditing requirements and demonstrated ability to exercise financial oversight of grant programs.
• Highly proficient in MS Office, spreadsheets, and database skills.
• Knowledge of and sufficient experience working with Sage ACCPAC Accounting ERP.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to independently prioritize and successfully perform assigned tasks.

 How to Apply

If you meet the requirements as contained in the job descriptions, please submit (1) a detailed and current CV; (2) an Application Cover Letter demonstrating why you qualify for the position, quoting your current/last gross salary and three referees including their most current contact details. All applications should be submitted electronically to hr.admin@act.or.ke quoting the reference number (ACT/AMGC/12/2023) for the position of Assistant Manager- Grants and Compliance. Only candidates who are shortlisted for interviews will be contacted.

The deadline for applications is as follows:

Assistant Manager-Grants and Compliance: 01:00 pm, Friday 4^th August 2023.

 Act! is an equal-opportunity employer with zero tolerance to corruption.