GEF Grants Manager, CI-GEF Agency at Conservation International

Grants management:

• Provide financial and operational oversight to projects to verify compliance with strict CI and donor fiduciary standards and grant agreement terms by: approving and monitoring annual project budgets and procurement plans; reviewing detailed quarterly financial reports; reviewing procurement packages and sub-award agreements, as applicable; coordinating with the Project Manager to ensure expenses are in line with project delivery and targets; and conducting in-depth transaction testing, desk reviews, and/or site visits to projects and grantees around the world.
• Review annual Progress Implementation Report (PIR) for donor submission.
• Draft grant agreements and amendments, in coordination with other CI divisions.
• Hold grant kick-off meetings to review grant agreement terms and financial reporting templates with grantees.
• Manage the grant closeout process with grantees, and coordinate with other divisions of CI to ensure compliance with CI’s and donor’s policies.
• Build and maintain grantee financial and operational capacities through regular communications, training on donor and CI requirements, and the development of tools and guidance materials for grantee, coordination with the grants management team.
• Record and track incoming and outgoing grants in SharePoint, Business World (Enterprise Resource Planning software), ConservationGrants (Salesforce Grants Management Platform), and Raiser’s Edge (fundraising software).

Proposal development:

• Work closely with grantees to align their project needs with complex and restricted donor requirements during proposal development.
• Working with interdivisional colleagues, review complex project budgets ($50,000-$25 million), co-financing requirements, and procurement plans to be submitted to restrictive public donors and incorporate financial information throughout funding proposal.
• Conduct awardee financial due diligence and recommend mitigation measures and appropriate implementation arrangements to ensure appropriate controls are in place for the successful implementation of projects.
• Ensure quality control and ensure that CI and GEF policies are followed during the project development stage of a project.
• Work with the Project Manager to monitor the progress of proposal deliverables, following up with the grantee and other stakeholders as necessary to ensure strict timelines are met.

Agency and Compliance:

• Develop, maintain, and update grants-management templates, policies, and procedures including but not limited to agreement and amendment templates, budget and reporting templates, grantee selection and review process, and other grant monitoring or compliance requirements.
• Act as a subject-matter expert to teammates, colleagues in other CI divisions, and grantees.

Other duties as assigned by the supervisor.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Based in a CI Office within the Africa Field Division.
• Employees should be local citizens with a permit to work in their country. 
• For South Africa: the successful candidate must be a South African National. 
• For Kenya: the successful candidate must be a Kenyan National. 
• Travel is expected internationally around 10-15%, but up to 20%.
• This is a hybrid position and office presence is not mandatory, unless in those days the office requests core days or for engagement with team members from the local office or other offices. 

QUALIFICATIONS

 Required

• Bachelor’s Degree.
• Fluent in English.
• 4 to 6 years of relevant and transferable experience, with 3 years of experience in providing grants-management support.
• Strong organizational skills; ability to prioritize and manage high-volume and varied tasks and meet deadlines.
• Resourcefulness, adaptability and creativity, problem-solving skills, and ability to work proactively and independently.
• Service focus, courteous, tactful, and proven ability to work collaboratively and effectively with others from a variety of disciplines, cultures and backgrounds.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills to internal and external audiences.
• Strong work ethic and willingness to take ownership for wide-ranging responsibilities.