Grants Adviser Sudan Nairobi Based at Norwegian Refugee Council

What you will do: 

• The purpose of the Grants Adviser position is to provide advanced grant management support to the Grants Manager, implementation, and operations team in the delivery of timely and quality proposal development, including identifying opportunities for funding. The role also ensures effective grants management including, internal and donor compliance requirements, timely and quality reporting.
• The position ensures NRC programme/support teams are fully informed of relevant donor compliance regulations and NRC procedures, manages donor and other external reporting, and coordinates grant revisions. The position supports donor communication by ensuring effective channels of internal and external communications relating to grants are established and respected. The Grants Adviser will be responsible for the completion of key mandatory activities under NRC’s Project Cycle Management (PCM) framework and will contribute to supporting a culture of accountability and high performance.

The following is a brief description of the role.
Generic responsibilities:

• Adherence to NRC policies, guidance, and procedures
• Develop and maintain an overview of all grants, donor requirements, rules and regulations, and deadlines, including filing of grant documents.
• Lead the process of developing concept notes, proposals, revisions, and reports in close collaboration with programme and support teams across the Country Office and Area Offices to ensure timely and high-quality submission.
• Support budget-holders ensure donor compliance and quality control across the project portfolio.
• Responsible to set up and continuously improve internal grant management systems and processes; document, analyse and share learning from proposal and reporting processes, and compliance with donor rules and regulations.
• Represent NRC with relevant partners, donors, and other external stakeholders, as delegated by the Head of Programme.
• Facilitate Project Cycle Management (PCM) activities, including inclusion of cross-cutting programme elements and MEL structures throughout all stages of the PCM.
• Responsible to provide technical Grants support, guidelines and trainings across the Country Office, and share knowledge with Grants staff to ensure that they meet NRC’s standards and requirements.
• Promote the rights of IDPs/returnees in line with the advocacy strategy.
• Any other tasks as delegated by the Grants Manager. 

Specific responsibilities:
Funding Identification and Proposal Development:

• Working under the direction of the Grants Manager, organise proposal planning meetings and coordinate dissemination of relevant information to relevant staff;
• Build positive working relationships with other teams in the Country Office to coordinate and support development of high-quality proposals using relevant NRC Grant Management tools and guidance (proposal development calendar, internal log-frame, procurement plan, internal budgeting tool);
• Work closely with Budget Holders, programme teams, and finance as well as other stakeholders to compile accurate proposal budget and assess whether all necessary costs have been included. 

Grant Agreement:

• Work with finance team to support/advise them in development of internal budgeting tool and communication with field offices on allocated budget;
• Together with the Grants Manager, summarise in writing, key reporting and compliance requirements, including potential issues for Grant Opening Meetings;
• Coordinate with respective budget holders and finance in order to ensure budgets are correctly allocated and aligned as per provided top-down;
• Work with the relevant Area Manager (s)/ Core Competency PDMs/ Specialist (s) to ensure Grant Opening Meetings are arranged and take place within 30 days of the grant being activated and all mandatory internal documents are in place (internal logframe, internal budget, procurement plan, M&E matrix). 

Donor Reporting and Monitoring/ Review:

• Coordinate the development and review of donor and partner reports with relevant programmes and support colleagues, ensuring consistency between narrative and financial reports and that they meet quality standards;
• Highlight critical financial issues such as under/overspends to Managers and Budget Holders, and follow up in writing when discussed verbally;
• Monitor grant payment schedules and income requests for respective portfolio, working closely with finance to ensure this done in a timely manner;
• In collaboration with the Communications and Advocacy team, support the Grants Manager in the development of country factsheets and other relevant information pieces for donor visits/meetings. 

Donor Compliance:

• Be familiar with all NRC organisational and donor portfolio compliance requirements and ensure high quality management of grants through meeting of KPIs and deadlines;
• Support and advise programme colleagues with queries related to donor compliance on grants within portfolio;
• Work with other departments (i.e. programmes, finance, MEL, Risk & Compliance, logistics) to ensure all documentation required is ready and available for audits (e.g. vouchers, distribution lists);
• Support openings and close out of grants, including grant opening meetings and close-out meetings, in respective portfolio;
• Assist in training and capacity building of field staff on NRC grants management/donor compliance and PCM as required.
• Act as the primary focal point for NRC's implementing partners under the assigned grants portfolio, ensuring timely and consistent communication. 

General Administration:

• Ensure all documentation required to be kept by donors is available by maintaining high standard of information management/filing systems (both soft and hard copies);
• Assist the Grants Manager as necessary, including representation and attendance at meetings as required, minute taking and coordination with teams to follow up action points identified;
• Coordinate with the Grants Manager to ensure accurate and up-to-date maintenance of an up-to-date grants/ funding tracker;
• Grants will be assigned as per line manager requirements and may vary over time. 

What you will bring:
Generic professional competencies for this position:

• Minimum 5 years of relevant and related experience in a similar level working in a humanitarian/recovery context. (e.g., with institutional humanitarian and development donors);
• Bachelor degree in Economics, Communications, International Development, or any other related field. A master's degree is an asset.
• Experience in at least one NRC’s core competency.
• Experience of donor relations and grants management (e.g. with institutional humanitarian and development donors);
• Good understanding of donor rules and regulations; knowledge of institutional donors’ rules, regulations, priorities, and compliance requirements;
• Proven skills and experience in report and proposal development;
• Strong personal organisational skills, including time management, and ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;
• Willingness to travel to area offices and work in difficult environment according to travel requirements.
• Above average computer skills, particularly in Microsoft Windows Word and Excel; 

Context/Specific skills, knowledge and experience:

• Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Knowledge of the NGO operations and the dynamics of the humanitarian sector;
• Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts.
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities.
• Ability to work under pressure, independently and with limited supervision.