Grants Manager, USAID/Southern Africa Mobilizing Investment 32 views

Grants Manager – SAMI/Southern Africa Mobilizing Investment, USAID

About Palladium:
Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 3,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities.
Palladium Americas:
Our Americas’ business team has brilliant and passionate colleagues working in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America as well as the Caribbean, fulfilling projects and assignments for clients from institutions, corporations, governments, and foundations based in the Americas. We have offices in Washington, DC, New York City, and Raleigh-Durham, NC.
This Opportunity:
USAID/Southern Africa’s Regional Development Cooperation Strategy (RDCS) hypothesizes that an increase in investment, coupled with the expansion of the private sector, will act as a catalyst for inclusive economic growth, which is a prerequisite for the development of countries in the region. USAID Southern Africa, through the Southern Africa Mobilizing Investment (SAMI) Opportunity, will partner with businesses and capital providers (e.g., banks, development finance institutions, institutional investors, private equity funds, and venture capital funds), and other nonbank financial intermediaries, to support the ability of investors and funds to catalyze and mobilize greater volumes of private capital into sectors that can increase employment, decrease poverty, and reduce inequality within the Southern Africa region. To achieve results, SAMI will make substantial use of Grants Under Contract (GUCs) to:
Mobilize catalytic capital to establish sustainable investment flows into sectors that were previously underserved by investors;
Develop the capacity of fund managers that would traditionally have difficulty accessing capital;
Work with financial and non-financial intermediaries to identify and perform the due diligence necessary for bankable investment opportunities;
Facilitate connections between U.S. and Southern African capital providers.
The Grants Manager will be a member of the USAID/SAMI Activity. The incumbent will provide advice, assist in the design, development and oversight of grants management policies, procedures, and practices. The incumbent will provide policy guidance and interpretation for staff as well as grantees, analyze and evaluate grant applications, proposals, and awards to ensure adherence to grants management policies. The incumbent will ensure proper negotiation of the terms and conditions for grants and views and analyze budget estimates for allowability, allocability, reasonableness, and consistency. The incumbent will ensure that all due diligence in terms of USAID and statutory requirements are complied with.

Location: Johannesburg or Pretoria, South Africa
You and Your Career:
If you are a problem-solver, collaborator, and doer, and you have expertise in grants management, we are interested in hearing from you. We are a learning organization and provide growth opportunities from the start. We pride ourselves on giving you the freedom, resources, and guidance to chart a fulfilling career!

Reporting and Supervision:

Reports to the Director of Finance and Administration, SAMI. Liaises closely with members of the Palladium Project Management Unit, other staff, implementing partners, and clients.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

Administration and Compliance
In accordance with Palladium’s modified, USAID-approved GUC manual, develop and execute all aspects of the GUC process.
Act in the capacity of subject matter expert to provide staff with guidance on and interpretation of Federal, State and local, as well as all USAID, regulations, terms and conditions as they relate to the grant’s life cycle and administration of grants.
Provide appropriate guidance to SAMI home office to ensure Palladium policies and procedures are followed and/or amended to coincide with prevailing requirements.
Provide guidance to SAMI field office staff to ensure process standardization and compliance with Palladium policies and procedures.
Liaise with Palladium Contracts & Compliance (C&C) team to keep the staff informed of any changes and/or updates to the relevant regulations as they relate to the administration of grants.
Technical Support
Support, in coordination with the SAMI technical team, the design, development, implementation and program monitoring and evaluation of grant making and grant management policies, procedures, and practices and in the development of terms of reference for grant activity.
Ensure effective liaison between project staff and grant recipients and refer technical issues encountered during grants implementation to the Director of Finance and Administration.
Monitor completion of grants milestones and report issues hampering the smooth implementation of grants to the Director of Finance and Administration.
Monitor activity expenditures by updating grants activity trackers.
Contractual and Financial Support
Facilitate the evaluation of grant proposals by organizing the evaluation committee, preparing the necessary scoring sheets and negotiation memo and ensure that required grant documentation is maintained and complete for each grant activity.
Conduct reviews of grant application budgets and monitoring of same during grant implementation.
Review and approve draft grants agreement in compliance with applicable Palladium policies and procedures and USAID conditions.
Maintain the approved GUC Manual and relevant templates and tools in accordance with applicable regulatory and contract requirements.
Maintain audit-ready grant files and facilitate external grants audits as required.
Maintain grants files and trackers.
Serve as the primary point of contact for all disputes with SAMI grantees.
Resolve in a timely manner internal and external issues/problems related to grants administration.
Conduct training and capacity building, as needed, for grantees and those unfamiliar with USAID funding.
Contribute to the project’s financial forecasts by closely tracking grantees’ expenditure projections.
Track use of small businesses for client reporting.
Participate actively in weekly meetings to assess compliance with terms and conditions of awards and assume leadership in ensuring that deficiencies in compliance are corrected.
Key Competencies Required:
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Economics or other relevant field.
At least five years professional experience in grants management of donor funds.
Demonstrated excellent oral, written, and interpersonal skills.
Fluency in English.
Sound project management skills – must be able to lead and manage multiple, complex grants/awards simultaneously.
Excellent interpersonal, teamwork, and collaboration skills.
Professional Expertise/Competencies Preferred:
Extensive experience managing USAID Grants under Contract (GUC) with partners of varying capabilities, with the management of multi-country programs a plus.
Expert level knowledge of various types of Grants (ADS 303).
Strong analytical skills to successfully perform financial reviews, determination of responsibility, and other forms of qualitative analysis.
Extensive experience in budget preparation, award negotiations, grants management, performance auditing, and dispute resolution.
Ability to analyze financial data and prepare financial reports.
Demonstrated capacity to use ERP system an advantage.
High level of attention to detail and accuracy.
Proven ability to work closely with technical staff to develop grant solicitations.
Strong organizational and planning skills.
Excellent skills in Microsoft Office, particularly advanced Excel.
Familiarity with the inclusive finance, blended finance, and impact investing field a plus.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com.

Safeguarding – We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.

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