Grants Officer, East Africa

Summary

Innovations for Poverty Action, an international non-profit, seeks two qualified applicants for the position of Grants Officer to serve as a main point of contact and maintain quality oversight of a portfolio of grants led by IPA’s East Africa and West Africa country offices. Reporting to the Senior Grants Manager of Africa, these positions will work closely with in-country and Project Teams and members of Grants, Global Finance, Grants Financial Management, and Legal Teams to review, negotiate, and accept incoming agreements and set-up awards in IPA’s business systems. The Grants Officers will conduct regular and reoccurring portfolio compliance review meetings, ensure compliance standards are met, and initiate award close-out. This position includes data entry and maintaining data integrity in IPA’s business systems. The Grants Officer is also responsible for supporting the subrecipient process, as needed, by participating in the subrecipient due diligence and risk assessment process, drafting subawards and subcontracts, and participating in compliance monitoring.

Responsibilities 

• Lead assigned functional area of grants management, coordinating closely with internal and external stakeholders, from pre-award through closeout
• Serve as a primary resource for Country Office staff and Project teams on grant awards and donor requirements
• Ensure compliance with donor requirements by tracking the terms and conditions of grants and contracts via regular and reoccurring portfolio review meetings
• Work with project teams to request and secure award modifications on a timely basis
• Serve as the primary liaison with donors for awards within assigned portfolio
• Review draft award agreements including amendments, negotiate terms with donor, and coordinate internal approvals and set up of awards in IPA systems
• Manage the subrecipient process within assigned portfolio in coordination with Project and Legal teams including: Performing due diligence on potential subrecipients; preparing and negotiating subaward agreements; and monitoring subrecipient performance for compliance
• Maintain accurate grant records
• Coordinate preparation and submission of award agreement deliverables per donor requirements
• Ensure the timely processing of all grant closeouts
• Support or facilitate trainings aimed at building the capacity of program and country staff in the area of compliance with grants and subaward terms and conditions and IPA’s internal grants administration policies

Qualifications

• At least two years’ professional work experience in grants management, sponsored research and/or contract administration. Experience should not be exclusively finance related.
• Bachelor’s degree in Management, Business Administration, Economics, or any related field.
• Excellent spoken and written communication in English, French is a plus/added advantage
• Demonstrated capacity to handle a portfolio of grants ranging in award size and volume
• Very good computer proficiency, particularly in MS Office and Google Suite
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced and changing environment and to handle multiple tasks and demands, and establish priorities, while maintaining a positive attitude and providing exemplary customer service
• Detail oriented approach with an ability to effectively liaise across multiple departments, countries, and time zones.
• Excellent interpersonal skills including patience, diplomacy, willingness to listen, and oral and written communication skills, with an ability to effectively communicate with internal and external customers
• Experience with international, non-profit organizations (larger than $10M), as well as a multi-office, multi-national environment is a plus/added advantage.
• Experience with Salesforce is a plus/added advantage.

About IPA 

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a research and policy nonprofit that discovers and promotes effective solutions to global poverty problems. IPA brings together researchers and decision-makers to design, rigorously evaluate, and refine these solutions and their applications, ensuring that the evidence created is used to improve the lives of the world’s poor. In recent decades, trillions of dollars have been spent on programs designed to reduce global poverty, but clear evidence on which programs succeed is rare, and when evidence does exist, decision-makers often do not know about it. IPA exists to bring together leading researchers and these decision-makers to ensure that the evidence we create leads to tangible impact on the world. Since its founding in 2002, IPA has worked with over 600 leading academics to conduct over 900 evaluations in 52 countries. This research has informed hundreds of successful programs that now impact millions of individuals worldwide. 

IPA's Commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) 

As an organization, IPA is dedicated to improving the lives of the world's most vulnerable populations through evidence and policy. We also recognize how important it is for our staff to reflect the diversity of the places where we work and the communities we work with. As such, IPA is committed to hiring from a diverse pool of candidates, from a range of backgrounds, beliefs, experiences, and perspectives. We know that this makes our work stronger and more responsive to the challenges faced by those we work with and for and we encourage people from historically underrepresented groups to apply. Click here to learn more about IPA’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.