Subgrants Officer at Colleges and Institutes Canada

Job Summary

CICan Kenya seeks a Subgrants Officer who will be responsible for day-to-day oversight and management of applied research partnership grants and mentorship funds provided to CICan’s subgrantee public partner TVET institutions. These subgrants will support approved activities at partner institutions.

The Subgrants Officer should be an individual experienced in grants management, reporting, and compliance. Excellent communication and organizational skills are essential in this role. The Subgrants Officer will be the focal point for in-country correspondence and report submissions with Kenyan subgrantees related to applied research grants and mentorship funds. In addition, the Subgrants Officer will coordinate and manage any due diligence requests on behalf of the project, and in coordination with the Canadian office and bring forth issues in a timely manner, as needed, to the project management team for review and/or discussion.

The Subgrants Officer will report to the Admin/ HR Manager. He/she will work collaboratively with the program team and the finance and operations team. The position is expected to involve some travel within Kenya.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Maintain in-depth knowledge of CICan internal policies and donor rules and regulations pertaining to subgrants, and monitor the subgrants for technical, financial and administrative compliance throughout the project implementation period
• Coordinate, in collaboration with the Senior Technical Advisor and Admin and Finance Officers, timely and quality review and processing of subgrantees vetting, assessments, and proposal evaluation
• Draft subgrantee agreements, amendments, and modifications and coordinate their review with the CICan team.
• Ensure all subgrantee report deadlines and submissions are being accurately tracked and communicated to subgrantees in order to be met.
• Work collaboratively with the subgrantees to ensure financial and narrative reports are submitted on-time, providing support as needed, in report coordination and collation
• Review subgrantee reports prior to official submission to CICan for coherence and accuracy, ensuring high-quality, well-written, and timely reports meeting donor and CICan requirements. Review and ensure all supporting documents for expenses incurred are submitted with the reports
• Monitor implementation of applied research subgrant activities by tracking activities against workplans and flagging potential issues to program management team
• Monitor subgrantees budgets and ensure timely follow-up of action items surfaced and escalate issues, as needed to the program management team, for resolution and successful implementation of activities
• Coordinate information on subgrantee targets and results achieved with the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning team for reporting purposes and keep abreast of progress against targets/indicators
• Lead capacity development of subgrantee staff to ensure that they have the skills and knowledge to write narrative and financial reports
• Assess the financial management capacity of subgrantees and lead capacity development of subgrantee institutions to ensure that they have the financial systems and processes to support the implementation of subgrants
• Ensure that partners have updated records and documents for all subgrants and that partners are provided information on changes to financial regulations or relevant communications, where applicable
• Ensure meetings with subgrantees are regularly conducted for all current subgrants and that they are documented, and action points are disseminated and followed-up in a timely manner
• Ensure CICan’s subgrant tracking tools are maintained and are up-to-date and be able to provide updates to Supervisors and other key staff on the status of all subgrant applications, reviews, awards and activity implementation
• Ensure key achievements and challenges related to subgrants are communicated to the program team in a timely manner.

Reporting

The employee will work under the direction of the Kenya-based Admin/ HR Manager in close collaboration with the Kenya-based STA. The employee is expected to work with a high degree of independence and autonomy.

Minimum Qualifications

• Full fluency in English and Swahili
• Kenyan citizen or legally permitted to work in Kenya. Note: CICan will not provide a work permit or sponsor individuals
• Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Business or related subject area
• Familiarity with Kenyan public sector financial regulations as applicable to public TVET institutions
• A minimum of 5 years’ experience in grants management, including, but not limited to, experience preparing grants reports for programs, budgets, and reconciliations
• Demonstrated experience managing subgrants (i.e. funds/grants disbursed from donor recipients onwards to in-country subgrantees)
• Demonstrated ability using Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel where advanced knowledge is expected
• Demonstrated competence in the planning, implementation, administration, and reporting of donor-funded projects
• Ability to prioritize and organize work effectively and efficiently under pressure and tight deadlines
• Ability to establish and maintain effective linkages with both internal and external partners
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively on a teamExcellent organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• At least CPA II or equivalent qualification is preferred
• Experience working on international development projects with an international organization is desirable