Save the Children Awards Manager (Kenya Country Office)

Save the Children Awards Manager (Kenya Country Office)
March 19, 2015 Job Description
Job Title: Awards Manager – Kenya Country Office
Position Code: AWD 001 SCI
Team / Programme: Programme Operations (Interim arrangement)
Location: Nairobi
Contract Duration: 1 YearGrade: 2
Post Type: National (1 year contract with possibility of renewal)
Child Safeguarding: Level 1 – The role holder will not have contact with children and/or young people, or access to personal data about children or young people, as part of their work.
Role Purpose: The Awards Manager will provide country programme leadership of all Awards Management functions.
He/she will manage a team of 5-10 staff and will liaise with all relevant departments to ensure the effective management of donor awards (currently 35-45 in number).
He/she is responsible for ensuring the management of all Awards in the country programme, from the coordination of Awards Management System (AMS) processes at proposal stage, through to the analysis of Budget versus Actuals (BVA) for budget holders, taking required action during programme implementation, leading on any amendments, Cost Extensions, or No-Cost Extensions required and for all reporting and close out of awards in accordance with SC policies and guidelines.
The post-holder will initially report to the Director of Programme Operations, but after a transitional restructuring phase, will report directly to the Country Director.
Scope of Role:Reports to:
Director of Programme Operations (DPO)Key contacts: Budget Holders and Area Programme Managers, Director of Programme Development and Quality, Awards Finance Coordinator/Officers, Finance Director, SC Members.
Dimensions: Save the Children has been operational in Kenya since the 1950s, providing support to children through developmental and humanitarian relief programmes delivered both directly and through local partners. Current programming focuses on child protection, child rights governance, education, health, HIV/AIDS, livelihoods, nutrition and WASH.
In 2012, as part of a global reorganization process, Save the Children combined the programmes of SC UK, SC Canada and SC Finland to create a single operation in Kenya.
In February 2014, we completed a second transition, which saw us join forces with the British INGO, Merlin, and merge their health and nutrition programmes with our own.
Save the Children now has an operational presence in Bungoma, Dadaab Refugee Camp, Garissa, Mandera, Nairobi, Turkana and Wajir. We work through partners in many other parts of the country. We have a staff complement of around 300 staff and an operating annual budget of approximately US$20 million in 2015.Staff directly reporting to this post: Reporting Coordinator, Awards/AMS Officer, Awards Finance Coordinator(s)
Key Areas of Accountability:
Proposal development
When new funding opportunities are identified by Programme Development and Quality (PDQ)/member, coordinate all parties across departments involved to ensure all documentation required as per SCI guidelines is managed in a timely manner and uploaded onto AMS by the Awards/AMS Officer.
This will involve follow up against a defined check list and close coordination with the PDQ lead on the development of the proposal and budget and review of operational sections.
Lead on RO approval into the system if required to allow budget uploading into Agresso (financial/accounting system in use in the country office).
Review all award agreements for management nuances and brief programme management on potential areas of risk, providing a summary of key areas.
Directly link with the Member for timely issuance of necessary workflow and Fund Summary once award is approved.
Awards Management & AMS Management
Ensure all award cycle processes (opportunity identification to award closeout) are followed through workflows on AMS by the Awards/AMS Officer, including that all relevant information is uploaded in the system and maintained in hard copy.
Put in place structures to support the effective dissemination of award information so that all key contributing staff have a clear understanding of requirements and expectations throughout the lifecycle of an award (opportunity to close-out).
Ensure kick off meetings are done promptly for all new awards and that proper coding structure and budgets are communicated to budget holders.
Lead member engagement and relationship management as the SCI focal point on awards, coordinate SCI /member reviews and revisions of proposals, budgets and agreements.
Provide information directly to the Finance Director on new awards that impact the Master Budget gap analysis on a regular basis.
Play the lead role in developing overall analysis of budget vs actual expenditures (BVA) for monthly award review meetings with budget holders. Work with budget holders to ensure they develop and implement remedial plans based on agreed action points and closely review achievements in following month.
Provide advice to staff on budget coding and reallocations in collaboration with Director of Programme Operations (DPO) and budget holders.
Provide management information (awards summary) to Senior Management Team (SMT) and SC members via a portfolio analysis report on a monthly showing information on pipeline, active, awards under amendment, high risk awards and closed awards.
Coordinate budget realignments, amendments, cost and no-cost extension requests going to the member and donor in a timely manner.
Coordinate with program operations to ensure close out meetings are conducted in a timely manner.
Ensure that all meetings are minuted and these minutes filed on AMS and follow up actions done.
Ensure that the Awards Management System (AMS) is effectively maintained, up to date and accurately records the audit trail for all awards and sub-awards.
Support the programme and operations team on master budget development, cost allocation, monitoring of award budgets, phasing and forecasting, in particular ensuring alignment between the master budgets and funding tracker.
Partnerships – Sub-awards and sub-grantee management duties
In collaboration with the Operations Manager, have the Awards Management team support in undertaking partner assessments, legal vetting on AMS and preparation of partner agreements to ensure donor compliance requirements are factored into this.
Capacity building and compliance support with all new and existing partners including regular monitoring and systems in place so that partner delivery meets donor expectations and requirements, in collaboration with programme operations.
Ensure that all partner documentation including reports is uploaded onto AMS through spot checks of AMS data.
Donor Compliance
Take part in all new award kick- off meetings leading on donor compliance to ensure requirements such as reporting deadlines, implementation period, amendment timing/procedures, audit and SCI award management policies are well understood and a plan is in place to ensure these are met.
Ensure potential issues and amendment requests are flagged promptly to donors via the relevant Save the Children member. This may include developing business cases where donor waiver/derogation requests need to be more thoroughly articulated or negotiated with donors.
Collaborate with the member focal point to ensure that all donor compliance requirements are input into the AMS system before the fund summary workflow is ran.
Reporting
Coordinate the Award Management team to ensure accurate and quality progress and financial reports are submitted to members and donors according to set timelines.
Review all grant reports before being submitted to member/donor.
Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development
Support the Award Management team to strengthen knowledge and capacity of staff across all functions to manage awards and comply with donor requirements as relevant to their role by providing induction, training and coaching consistent with their various roles and responsibilities.
Manage performance of direct reports in the awards management work area through:
Effective use of the Performance Management System including the establishment of clear, measureable objectives, ongoing feedback, periodic reviews and fair and unbiased evaluations;
Coaching, mentoring and other developmental opportunities;
Recognition and rewards for outstanding performance;
Documentation of performance that is less than satisfactory, with appropriate performance improvements/workplans.
Desired Competencies
Delivering Results
Translates complex contextual information into planning and achieving results effectively
Ability to take a range of potentially complex and conflicting information and make decisions
Designs and reviews large and complex operations to ensure maximum impact
Ensures measures and metrics are in place to track performance in large and complex programmes
Establishes clear and compelling objectives with teams and individuals and monitors progress and performance
Holds others accountable for achieving results and challenges underperformance
Working effectively with others
Puts mechanisms in place to ensure effective collaborative working across boundaries
Enables people from a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives to contribute to positive outcomes
Breaks down silo working and challenges behaviours that are not collaborative
Knows when to follow and lend leadership to strengthen other leaders
Problem Solving and decision making
Identifies and addresses root causes of long-term problems facing the country programme
Brings in external perspective to ensure strategic decision making remains relevant and future focused
Provides a strategic framework to support decision making
Explores and analyses external trends and their potential impact on strategic choices
Takes calculated risks and has the courage to stand by decisions despite resistance
Leadership and Developing Others
Delivers needs-based results in complex and fast-changing contexts
Evaluates the opportunities and risks of each idea and solution to make informed strategic decisions
Demonstrates managerial courage by willingness to confront difficult situations and take potentially unpopular decisions
Actively encourages a team environment where team members feel able to contribute, champion or challenge decisions
Conveys complex strategic issues with clarity, brevity and confidence
Develops and implements processes to ensure that the workplace is inclusive and the talents of individuals are harnessed to achieve individual and organisational success.
Qualifications and Experience
Essential
Post graduate qualification in Finance management, Grants management or equivalent.
At least 5 – 7 years’ experience in a similar position.
Excellent planning, management and coordination skills, with the ability to organise a demanding workload comprised of diverse and challenging tasks and responsibilities.
Proven track record of active contribution to a senior management team, and providing strategic support across multiple sectors and/or regions.
Extensive experience with NGOs with increasing responsibilities including a proven experience of establishing and running the award management function in the field.
Knowledge of the requirements of major institutional donors including budgeting, eligibility issues, compliance management, and reporting.
Experience of engaging with donors at country strategy levels.
Experience of and well developed skills in staff management and supervision. Proven strong coaching and capacity building skills.
Very strong capacity for attention to detail, problem solving, and analysis of trends.
Computer literate (i.e. WORD, advanced Excel, Outlook, Internet Explorer, financial systems).
Cultural awareness and ability to build relationships quickly with a wide variety of people.
Patient, adaptable, flexible, able to improvise and remain responsive and communicate clearly and effectively under pressure.
Strong communication (written and spoken), and interpersonal skills in English, with experience in managing multicultural teams.
Desirable
Experience with Save the Children award management policies, procedures and systems and Save the Children’s award management system (AMS).
Understanding of how to produce financial reports from Save the Children’s overseas accounting software (Agresso).
Experience of project management, M&E management or funding coordination.
How to Apply
Interested candidates are required to submit a CV and mandatory Cover letter to Kenya.jobapplications@savethechildren.org indicating the Position Code on the subject line by 31st March 2015.
Due to the urgency of these positions, applications will be reviewed as when we receive them.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.