Job Experience: Experience of 4 years

The Grants Officer is responsible for providing support to the Afya Jijini Small Grants (AJSG) program, including in supporting the grant solicitation process; assessing and evaluating grantees and grant applications; participating on the Grant Selection Committees (GSCs); working closely with the Afya Jijini program and finance teams to ensure responsible programmatic and financial day-to-day monitoring of grant-funded activities; identifying areas of improvement of the grantees; and building the grantees’ capacity.
 
The Grants Officer will work in collaboration with the Afya Jijini Grants team to provide assistance in the management and delivery of the AJSG Program and contribute to overall program effectiveness and efficiency.
The Grants Officer will report directly to the Sub-grants Manager, and will work closely with the Senior Finance Director, Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP), M&E Director, and other Senior Management and Technical team leads in supporting and overseeing financial deliverables from a management perspective to ensure grantee financial and program activities are mobilized efficiently and timely.
Specific Responsibilities and Essential Functions
Compliance:
The Grants Officer will ensure compliance with IMA World Health policies and procedures, USAID rules and regulations, especially those related to grants under contract, GOK laws, regulations, and practices, specifically in the issuance, day-to-day support, and continued monitoring of grantees, including:
Reviewing day-to-day grant activities and expenditures for compliance with USAID rules and regulations and IMA World Health’s policies and procedures;
Periodically reviewing and auditing specific transactions reported, as well as the internal controls and policies of the grantees, and advise on strengthening these internal controls and policies through reports and monitoring;
Drafting memos and other guidance documents and acting as the primary point of contact and resource for grantees on all financial compliance-related issues; and
Working with Afya Jijini finance and program teams to verify and track budgets and expenditures against grantee terms and conditions, ensure proper reporting, documentation, and overall deliverables are reviewed by the Afya Jijini Senior Management, and signed off on prior to issuance of payments.
Grantee Management
The Grants Officer will provide input and suggestions for improving the Afya Jijini Small Grants (AJSG) Manual and grant processes and procedures, including assessing, selecting, and managing grants;
Assist in identifying areas of improvement for partners/grantees to work on and include these recommendations in their implementation plans. Provide suggestions to the Sub-grants Manager on how IMA can provide the support required in terms of building the programming, financial management, and reporting capacity of the grantees;
Provide support in the preparation and review of grant agreements, grant budgets, ensuring necessary clauses are added, and review all grant documents (programmatic and financial) for completeness;
Oversee grantee budgets, cash projections, financial reporting, and spending. The Grants Officer will liaise closely with the grantees in tracking expenditures and request regular budget vs. actuals reports from the grantees;
Ensure accurate and timely payments are made to grantees throughout the life of the grant;
Assist in preparing periodic updates required for the Afya Jijini senior management team and programmatic meetings to discuss the status of each grant, as required;
Assist with grant close-outs, including ensuring that all requirements of the grant agreement have been met and that grant funds have been properly settled for sign-off by the Sub-grants manager (followed by the final sign-off by the Senior Finance Director); and
Prepare a calendar of critical activity dates/key milestones per grantee.
Documentation
Maintain hard copies and electronic copies of all documentation pertaining to each grant file, ensuring that these files are complete and up-to-date, as per IMA World Health documentation requirements;
Ensure that all files are in order and grantee payments and file checklists are satisfactorily completed prior to submission to other functional managers for final approval to pay, extend, close out, etc;
In coordination with the technical program leads, monitor the implementation progress of each grantee to ensure that implementation is carried out and that all administrative and financial outputs as stated in the grant are achieved; and
Support the drafting of grantee-related correspondence.
External audit facilitation
Under the guidance of the Sub-grants Manager, the Grants Officer will work with the grants team, the finance and HQ teams to develop specific Terms of Reference for audits that are in compliance with IMA policies and procedures and USAID rules and regulations.
S/he will be responsible for coordinating all the external/donor/mission audit functions and assignments.
Others
The Grants Officer will also perform other tasks assigned by the Subgrants Manager that are consistent with the Grants Officer skills and experience and this Scope of Work.
Job Requirements, Skills and Knowledge:
Bachelors’ degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Management or related field; Master’s degree will be an added advantage.
4 – 6 years of hands-on experience working on a USAID-funded grants under contract (GUC) program required; experience with international NGOs in the health sector will be an added advantage;
Excellent operational knowledge of USAID rules and regulations, including USAID contracts, GUC, and grants management policies and procedures;