Job vacancy Award Manager

IV QUALIFICATIONS (KNOW HOW)

Required:

• Master’s degree or bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline including financial management and administration or equivalent combination of education and work experience.
• 5 years of relevant experience with the first degree or 4 years of relevant experience plus post graduate degree including responsibilities for grants management, particularly financial and narrative consolidation, and reporting. 
• Proven track record of supporting program management team in an International organization
• Experience of and well developed skills in staff management, supervision and capacity building
• Knowledge of the requirements of the major donors and experience in reporting to donors.
• Adaptable, flexible, able to improvise and remain responsive and communicate clearly and effectively under pressure
• Very strong attention to detail, problem solving skills, and ability to analyze trends

Desired:

• Training of relevance to the sector
• Experience in development and working for an international NGO
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies;
• Excellent financial skills including applied knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles, budgeting, financial reporting and consolidation;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English language;
• Skills in organizing and facilitating events;
• Excellent documentation skills;
• Firm belief in teamwork and gender equity

CARE is an international NGO with local staff and community partners in more than 90 countries. We create local solutions to poverty and inequality, and we seek dignity for everyone every day and during times of crisis.  These solutions have a broad range, from clean water to access to education; from microfinance to ensuring that everyone has nutritious food; from agriculture and climate change to disaster response. CARE puts women and girls at the center of everything we do because they have proven to be the best hope for creating lasting change in the world.  Our staff live where they work, which makes us effective at understanding the challenges they face. We’ve been doing this for over 70 years, since World War II. It started with the world’s first CARE Package® of food for the post-war hungry in Europe.  Our work today is as important as ever, we believe that poverty and inequality are historic injustices that we can end within a generation, for good. If you share our core beliefs: poverty is an injustice; poverty is solvable; and together, we have the power to end it, join us.

I JOB SUMMARY

The purpose of the Awards Manager for Humanitarian and FWS Units is to work collaboratively with CARE members, Donors, implementation partners, country office (CO) program management, and other CO staff for smooth and effective management of awards and contracts. The position is responsible to  oversee the management of awards agreements in compliance with CARE’s programming principles and policies and Donors and government laws rules and regulations.   

The position is required to liaise with relevant stakeholders, particularly technical teams in the HEW ad WEJ Unit , finance and new business development (NBD) departments  to ensure  representation  in award negotiations platforms .

S/he monitors a team who provide technical support to an evolving program portfolio under the two program units , including the development of  new proposals and CO  operational  and master budgets.

II RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS: 

Coordination and Representation  (10%)

• Coordinates the overall grants management and reporting process of the Unit  through effective channels of internal and external communication.
• Represents the CO in key Donors meetings, networks and relevant  consortiums.
• Maintains a broad and deep understanding of donor policies, regulations and procedures and builds this knowledge among programs, partners, and operations team members.
• Represents award and sub award unit in the technical Selection committee (TSC).

Staff Management  (10%)

• Develops and maintains a staffing plan for the awards unit so that new hires and/or replacements are completed in a timely manner; ensures that new proposals accurately budget for awards staffing under the Unit.
• Coordinates and consolidates the units’ annual vacation plans so that day to day operations are not disrupted as a result of poor vacation utilization.
• Assists the Senior Award and sub award Manager in the development of the unit annual work plans and cascades the same to individual work plans.
• Ensures performance objectives are developed, agreed and key award management KPIs (gold standards) are internalized and considered as part of the performance objectives.
• Ensures staff APAAs include KPIs around customer satisfaction and continuously monitors and measures progress against agreed KPIs.
• Ensures that APAAs (annual and semiannual) are completed in a timely manner and submitted to HR.
• Creates a collaborative and conducive work environment for team members with the aim of strengthening team work and job satisfaction.
• Conducts periodic gap assessments for training needs and provides targeted capacity support to staff (program, Addis and Field Offices). 
• Periodically assesses the technical support requirements of Field Offices; conducts supportive supervision for Field Offices and ensures that surge support is provided to Field Offices in a timely manner.

New Business Development   (10%)

• Provides support to CO NBD team in development of concept notes, expression of interests, RFAs/RFPs, Go/No GOs processes, budget checklists, etc.. Provides additional advice on Donor compliance requirements and CARE applicable policies.
• Reviews proposal budgets/cost proposals to ensure Donor compliance requirements and that CARE budget policies are properly adhered. Reviews due diligence reports conducted for new funding partners or pre award survey results conducted for potential sub recipients.
• Reviews pre-IPIA or IPIA documents in close collaboration with program teams engaged in new proposal processes.
• In coordination with the program team, prepare cost share or match proposals for review by the Senior Award and sub award Manager, DCD Operations and approval by CD, Regional Director, and CARE USA AMS.

Award Negotiation and Start up Review  (15%)

• Advices on alternative contracting mechanisms and financial management matters related to all new Donor award management. S/he is responsible to review grants and contracts agreements as per the agreement checklist and flags issues of organizational concern for revision/negotiation.
• Supervises the preparation of sub -award agreements for sub -recipients in line with CARE’s sub agreement management policy and advices on different contracting mechanisms and financial management matters related to sub award management. Facilitates negotiation with Donors, partners and sub recipients as required.
• Reviews and sends new award setup and budget upload requests to SSC with the required documentation and follows up with SSC for the timely completion of such requests.
• Ensures Donor codes, project Ids, budget/activity codes and other project tracking codes are prepared as per CARE policy and the reporting requirement of Donors; supervises the timely sharing of same data for key relevant actors (budget holders, finance specialists, admin assistants, procurement, Field Office finance).
• Coordinates with budget holders for project start up meetings; ensures the provision of new awards quick references and/or reference guides for  all involved in project fund management.

Implementation, Monitoring and Reporting (40%)

• Ensures that the awards management system is accurately maintained and up to date for all awards and sub-awards.
• Ensures award management systems and processes are effectively implemented, and key controls are in place to support effective portfolio management and compliance with Donor requirements.
• Ensures regular award monitoring across the CO; facilitates regular meetings with key stakeholders to ensure individual award performance is being tracked effectively, and that risks and issues are being recognized and action taken.
• Ensures that requests for fund transfers from all Donors are submitted in a timely manner as per funding schedules/terms of payment and follows up for timely collection of Donors’ advances and reimbursements.
• Reviews, analyzes, reconciles monthly grants receivable payable (GRP) position of the CO; advises senior management on alternative solutions for long overdue Donor receivables.
• Ensures on going level of expenditure on individual contracts/fund codes against active budgets and provides timely advice of likely over or under expenditure.
• Reviews the monthly SPC allocation table against current award
• Prepares cost share or match monitoring for review and approval of the Senior Finance Manager.  
• Provides technical guidance in relation to sub award implementation, modifications, monitoring and reporting.
• Coordinates the completion and timely update of supportive financial monitoring plan of the CO; ensures that supportive supervision and/or financial monitoring are conducted as per the approved plan.
• Reviews VAT fund requests; sub grantee reports and liquidations; pipeline analysis and cash flow forecasts and FAAR for awards and sub awards. Maintains a comprehensive reporting schedule so the CO can ensure the timely submission of all standard and ad hoc award and sub award reports. Reviews all Donors and partners financial reports and provides feedback.
• Manages key communications with Donors/CMPs in relation to implementation issues and coordinates and provides responses to Donors or CMPs queries as required.
• Oversees and coordinates the overall country portfolio analysis; GRP validations; BvAs; role out of SPC policy and award and sub award reports to RMU and AMS. Coordinates project audit undertakings and ensures that audit action items are followed up in a timely manner and closed.
• Assists in the overall preparation of the CO annual operating plans, board approved budget, multiyear master budget, and periodic revision of the same.

Awards and Sub Awards Close- Out   (10%)

• Participates in close out meetings.
• Ensures completion of close out checklists are prepared as per the award management policy of CARE and follows up the timely deactivation of closed awards and sub awards in the awards management system in collaboration with the SSC.
• Coordinates GRP validation for final close out.
• Reviews and inputs into letters and correspondence related to close out procedures and processes.

Others   (5%)

• Participates in project audits for the Units.
• Compiles and files all documents relevant to the award management cycle: NBD; award negotiation and start up documents; monitoring documentation and close out (includes both hard and soft copy) for the Units .
• Performs other related duties as required and assigned.

III GENDER EQUALITY

• Understanding and demonstrated commitment to the importance of gender, youth, and social inclusion issues.
• Demonstrated commitment to principles of Gender Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and PSEAH (safeguarding), as evidenced in previous positions / programming