Senior Advisor, Projects at Living Goods

The position:

• The Senior Advisor Projects, focuses on driving end-to-end project management related to restricted grants and reporting processes, working in collaboration with the Grants and Compliance unit, Business Development, Program Operations, and the entire project teams to support effective grant implementation and management, produce high-quality and timely donor reporting, and conducting staff capacity building on projects and reporting.
• The Senior Advisor Projects will be responsible for providing program and support teams oversight on deliverable management and report compliance in line with donor compliance and LG policy & regulations to ensure restricted projects are implemented on-track, on-time, and on-budget while adhering to funding and reporting requirements from project inception to close.

Responsibilities:
Processes and Procedures:

• Maintain and enhance organizational processes, guidelines, and tools that support project and restricted grant management, in collaboration with the Grant and Compliance team. This includes:
  • Collaborating with key stakeholder to improve existing resources to make them more user-friendly and fit for purpose.
  • Identifying outstanding gaps, developing solutions, and fostering buy-in and approval.
  • Regularly gathering insights from users and other stakeholders to inform changes or improvement.
• Guide the Business Development team to fill out the hand off form and store grant related documents in alignment with organizational guidance.
• Ensure familiarity with all contracts and related documents.
• Facilitate project kick-off by guiding project team in the development of the Project Management toolkit, providing support as needed to ensure : clear and realistic workplan is developed, including key milestones, reporting, etc; the workplan with budget and budget restriction roles and responsibilities clearly assigned; project risks and mitigation plans are identified and detailed; a stakeholder engagement plan is developed as needed; and other tools for supporting effective management of the grant are utilized as appropriate.
• Support regular grant monitoring, using appropriate grant management tools and through facilitation and support of regular and timely Grant Review, Opening, and Closing Meetings.
• Serve as a member of the project team, participating in regular workplan reviews to:
  • ensure that the project team is leveraging the Project Management toolkit and regularly updating the workplan, issue log, and other PM tools.
  • proactively support identification and mitigation of risks and advise programs, support teams and senior management on necessary actions.
• Track progress against deliverables, milestones, and targets. Advise project manager based on incongruencies and risks of not meeting these targets on time.
• Oversee a maintenance of comprehensive information management, ensuring donor contractual documents, reports, and key correspondences are duly filled.

Stakeholder Management:

• Donors: Maintain a broad and deep understanding of relevant donor policies, regulations and procedures and; advise and support Director of Compliance and Grants, Director of Financial Planning and Analysis, Country Heads of Finance and Administration, BD team and Project Managers in liaison or representation to donors.
• Partners:  Coordinate partner engagement by:
  • Reviewing sub-award modifications and provide expert advice to Program/Project staff on sub-awards related matters.
  • Monitoring progress of subs in line with contract deliverables, engaging them regularly as needed to ensure alignment. Ensure any issue or changes are understood, communicated early, and receive appropriate approval. Collaborate with Project staff on subrecipient/subcontract monitoring invoices, compliance with regulations, as well as terms and conditions.
  • Liaising with Prime and/or consortium partners on logistic and administrative issues, as well as facilitating regular collaboration as needed, in alignment with the Project Manager. Ensure any issue or changes are understood, communicated early, and receive appropriate approval.
  • Overseeing maintenance and timeline updates to the program sub-award tracker and regulatory reporting requirements.
  • Facilitating partner/ sub awardee institutional capacity strengthening plans to ensure effective, efficient implementation of projects if needed.
• Advise and support program/project staff on matters related to preparation, administration and close out of grants and sub-awards.

Reporting:

• Work with the Project Manager and relationship manager to coordinate and support the development of timely donor/prime updates and reports, including engaging other internal stakeholders in the process as needed to gather necessary insights and feedback.
• Ensure donor reports are produced in alignment with donor guidelines and all required report elements are included.

Capacity Building:

• Train staff on effective practices for managing grants, including:
  • Internal governance structures and decision making.
  • Effective creation and management of workplans and how to leverage them to provide updates and track progress.
  • Effective ongoing documentation on and management of project issues
  • Roles and responsibilities including project team roles, support roles, and expectations.
  • Understanding how contracts and proposals are integrated into project implementation.
  • Best practices for effective planning and monitoring budget against project activities
• Developing instructions and conducting training for any new or updated resources.
• Support training to program staff related to LG and donor regulations.

Skills and Competencies:

• Experience in an International NGO managing restricted multi-country projects with a budget of more than $8 million annually.
• Broad experience managing grants with including the US government, other country governments, other bi-and multilateral donors and corporates and foundations.
• Experience with the rules and regulations of multilateral donors.
• Strong written and verbal communication in English.
• Demonstrated understanding of grants management and project management, with proven experience in managing large donor portfolios.
• Familiarity in capacity building of staff, especially with regards to program oversight and reporting (Financial and Programmatic).
• Demonstrated proficiency in donor reporting, with strong writing, editing, and critical analysis skills.
• Solid ability to communicate concisely, respectfully, and with impact.
• Flexibility to adapt to changing requirements and needs.
• Experience working in Africa.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Public Health or related field; Post graduate or Masters preferred.
• At least 10 years’ experience in project and grant management.
• PMP Certification preferred.