Arizona State University
Position Title: Grants Specialist
YOUNG AFRICAN LEADERS’ INITIATIVE LEGACY AND LOCALIZATION
SUMMARY
The Young African Leadership Initiative Legacy and Localization (YALI L&L) project, led by Arizona State University, seeks qualified candidates to serve as the Communications Director on a USAID project supporting the next-generation expression of the Regional Leadership Centers (RLC) component of the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI), the United States’ premier investment in young African leaders. As the on-continent component of the YALI program, in 2015 USAID launched four YALI RLCs at higher education institutions in Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa. The RLCs have provided access to leadership and functional training to 22,000 young leaders aged 18–35 from 49 sub-Saharan countries in three tracks: business and entrepreneurship, public management, and civic leadership. YALI 2030 will build on the RLC foundation to create an expanded pan-African youth development model that will harmonize training curriculum, serve underrepresented/underserved youth, build alumni network capacity and professional development opportunities, and develop new program-related partnerships with the private sector and other stakeholders and donors. ASU has hosted YALI Mandela Washington Fellows annually since 2014, led public management cohorts at the East Africa Regional Leadership Center, collaborates with the Mastercard Foundation on an eLearning Initiative with African universities, implemented higher education projects for USAID with multiple universities on the continent, and maintains an African hub and a network of alumni through ASU-Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Position location: This is a full-time position and will be based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Main Purpose of Job
We are seeking to recruit a results-oriented Grants Specialist.
The holder of this position will report to the Chief of Party and will be responsible for conducting pre award assessment, post award management, and grants close out. S/he will also support efforts to build capacity of partners. The Grants specialist will also be responsible for review of records both soft and physical to ensure that the partner files are up to date.
Key Responsibilities
- Participate in the solicitation and selection of grantees, working closely with the technical team to identify potential areas of support, eligibility and evaluation criteria
- Work with selected grantees to ensure budgets are in line with program activities and that costs are reasonable, allowable and allocable.
- Conduct pre award assessments on all grants including business feasibility, evaluate environmental requirements and pre-award assessment of financial responsibility.
- Assist with drafting and reviewing of sub-contract agreements, ensuring use of correct agreement templates, standard terms and conditions are included, follow up with both YALI L&L and grantee signing and ensure that a fully executed subcontract agreement is filed by both parties.
- Develop financial monitoring plans for grantees
- Conduct post-award trainings for the grantee on grants administration, applicable donor regulations and reporting requirements.
- Identify grantee capacity building needs and provide technical assistance where needed and trainings to assure compliance.
- Conduct financial monitoring office visits to ensure that the use of funds and the activities performed are in compliance with the terms and conditions of the subcontracts.
- Review grant reports for accuracy and completeness and regularly monitor their budgets vis-a-vis financial reports
- Review grant funds requests for accuracy and completeness and process payments/reimbursements as appropriate.
- Maintain complete and accurate files for all grant files as per the Grants Manual.
- Facilitate grant modifications
- Maintain a log of details of all grantees including name of grantee, contact details types of services provided and duration of grant contract
- Facilitate grant close-out
Key competencies
- Demonstrated leadership and management skills.
- Expertise delivering performance excellence
- Analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent strategic planning skills, Strong judgement and decision-making skills.
- Excellent verbal communication skills and excellent report writing skills.
- Experience with the use of the internet, including social media for fundraising purposes.
- Ability to work in a team and be a self-starter.
Required Qualifications
- A Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Economics or relevant field; an advanced
degree is preferred.
- At least five (5) years of demonstrated professional experience managing grants, subcontracts, procurement and compliance with donor regulations, preferably Donor-funded projects.
- Demonstrated experience applying clauses and negotiating without heavy management oversight including developing amendments and modifications as a result of negotiations.
- Experience providing capacity-building training to staff partner organizations.
- Strong analytical and computer skills, with emphasis on budget and financial analysis and advanced computer skills in MS Office, particularly Excel are required.
- Knowledge and application of best practices in grant management.
- Knowledge of grants management software and information technology skills.
- Ability to communicate technical, budgetary and program details to staff, grantees and applicants.
- Demonstrable planning and organizational skills and ability to meet tight deadlines.
- Flexibility and initiative, as well as the ability to work independently, combined with the skills for thriving in a team environment to achieve institutional goals.
- High professional and ethical standards for handling confidential information.
A willingness to travel and work evenings and w
How to apply
How to Apply
Interested qualified candidates are invited to submit their application and Curriculum Vitae indicating full contact details of three professional referees to YALI@asu.edu by 24th October, 2023.
Applicants must include the POSITION TITLE in the subject line of their email. Please do not attach copies of certificates.
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interview. YALI L&L is an equal opportunity employer.