Senior Grants Manager At Alight

Senior Grants Manager | Sudan

Reports to: Deputy Country Director

Duty Station: Khartoum

September 2021 | 12 months |

Hello Hello! Welcome, we’re happy you’re here!

You find…

A team with deep experience in co-designing solutions that create new value around the world. We know we need to always be better, and we believe in the power and abundance of everyday people, everywhere, to change the world with us.

A culture of radical accountability to our customers –as we help build a meaningful life for and with the displaced, we ask them what they want and then deliver on it.

An organization that refuses to settle for anything less than delivering human-centered services.

Primary purpose of the position

The Senior Grants Manager leads the grants management and donor compliance oversight for the Alight Sudan country program. In this role, the Senior Grants Manager will lead the transformation of Alight Sudan’s grants management unit, bringing energy, enthusiasm, structure, and initiative to establish a formal unit for this US$30-million humanitarian, transitional, and development program. S/he will join a team of passionate, dedicated, and caring individuals determined to evolve the way humanitarian assistance is delivered in Sudan. The role is traditional in many ways in that the right candidate will further strengthen the country program’s systems, processes, and policies and procedures to strengthen donor relations and reporting, ensure compliance, and grow the donor base to support Alight in reaching more people of concern, in more places throughout Sudan. The Senior Grants Manager will also have the space and autonomy to build a unit that is forward-thinking, rooted in compliance but visionary in evolving Alight’s approach to fundraising and ensuring co-creation of program solutions with the people we serve. S/he will be senior enough, with direct management experience to serve as number two in the Program Unit, supporting the DCD in the day-to-day management of the Unit. S/he will represent the organization in the absence of the DCD in meetings with donors, UN agencies, government officials, and community leaders. The role is an exceptional opportunity for the right candidate with a balance of proven grants management and staff leadership skills and an entrepreneurial spirit to put one’s on mark on a successful grants management and donor compliance opportunity.

MAJOR AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY – PRIMARY DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Strengthen the country program grant tracking and reporting system, keeping the Country Director and DCD apprised of weekly grant status updates and monthly and quarterly fundraising successes.
• Assess, evaluate, and strengthen the country program’s grant management and donor compliance unit through establishing systems, processes, policies, and procedures to ensure success
• Establish a program cycle management approach that supports compliance and program implementation success while being nimble enough to embrace Alight’s values of ‘do the doable,’ ‘find others,’ ‘start with giving,’ ‘be human centered,’ and ‘bravely be better’
• Design and lead the organization and follow-up, tracking after grants are awarded, including but not limited to Grant Opening Meetings (GOM); monthly Grant Review Meetings (GRM); budget review (Budget vs Actual (BVA) review) meetings and Grant Closure meetings in collaboration with the Grants Manager, Senior MEAL Country Manager, Program Managers, and others as required
• Provide critical review of financial reports and cross check with technical/narrative report for discrepancies and resolve (if any) in coordination with finance and program team
• Liaise and coordinate with technical advisors (TAs) for narrative reports, ensuring quality reports and timely submission by program team, compile narrative reports and ensure exceptional quality for sharing with the global office, donors, and program teams
• Liaise with global office and donor representatives (when necessary) on narrative and financial report issues.
• Monitor and support the use of grants management tools such as FM01 (financial overview toolkit), BvAs, and AMS (Award Management system) to ensure accurate tracking of opportunities and grants reporting.
• Strengthen country program’s system for record keeping, including but not limited to hard and soft grant files of the grant portfolio, distributing and sharing documentation (grant proposals, reports, budget etc.) to relevant staff as required.
• Train, coach, and mentor program managers, budget managers, finance, operations and program teams on Alight policies and procedures and donor regulations to ensure compliance with reporting; identify and resolve compliance issues dedicatedly with program staff, finance, and operations team.
• Provide training and mentoring to program, operations, and MEAL staff on donor compliance to ensure high-quality implementation reporting.
• Lead and coordinate narrative reporting with support from Grants Manager, identifying roles and responsibilities of team and providing a clear workplan with firm deadlines for relevant teams, including kick-off meetings for each narrative/technical report, setting clear expectations of each team member, and following up to ensure accountability and exceptional quality of final narrative/technical reports.
• Oversee award modification documents in coordination with relevant program and finance teams.
• Strengthen and lead sub-award processes with local and/or international partners, reviewing and revising processes and procedures for due diligence of potential partners; quality drafting of sub-award agreements in adherence to Alight processes and donor requirements; monitoring sub-award implementation and troubleshooting on issues as they arise, keeping the DCD and Area Managers apprised of concerns and recommended solutions.
• Other duties as required.

EDUCATION, TECHNICAL SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED

• Minimum (10) experience in grants management, with minimum of three (3) years in a senior grants management with an INGO in complex emergency, conflict, or post-conflict settings.
• Minimum University degree in the Social Sciences, Business, International Policy or Administration or related field; Master’s Degree highly preferred
• Proven ability to establish and lead a grants management unit with a staff of at least four direct reports.
• Experience in managing a multi-sector program grants management, coordinating successfully with program, operations, finance, MEAL, and other teams to ensure successful grant implementation, high-quality reporting, and donor compliance
• Demonstrated ability to manage and lead through influence, vertically and horizontally across functional responsibilities.
• Strong representation, interpersonal and negotiation skills, in managing relations with colleagues, donors, community representatives, and government authorities.
• Experience in managing and working with a multicultural staff through a participatory approach and in motivating and mobilizing staff working in a complex emergency environment.
• Direct experience implementing and implementing on USAID and UN system grants.
• Experience of working in fragile states/acute emergences similar to Sudan context, e.g Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Libya, or Afghanistan.

KEY BEHAVIORS & ABILITIES

• Highly motivated self-starter who leads by example, takes initiative, and thrives in an environment where independence and strong leadership motivates staff and produces results.
• Manager who serves with humility and care for staff and the people Alight serves, embracing the leadership role as one that supports staff in times of both success and challenge.
• Comfortable serving in a leadership role that emulates Alight’s values and approaches work by choosing optimism and doing the doable to support staff in delivering high-quality services to the people served.
• Demonstrated ability to quickly analyze complex situations and take decisions to ensure timely, effective, and compliant solutions support successful service delivery and program implementation.
• Most comfortable and successful working in fast-paced, fluid work environment, effectively managing multiple priorities with grace and humor.
• An exemplary team leader/player who understands the role of a leader is to support the team and motivate staff through working side-by-side to find solutions, celebrate successes, recognize achievements, and takes corrective action with humility and to support program success.
• Calm and poised under pressure, with an ability to lead team through crisis situations with clear direction, thoughtful solutions, and a caring nature to reassure staff, partners, donors, and beneficiaries.
• Intellectually curious and culturally sensitive, with an ability to listen and learn about the context before acting and honor and respect the knowledge, insight, and perspectives of Sudanese staff.

You strive for…

• Humility. You learn from others and lead with an open heart and open mind, absent of ego and judgement.
• Inclusivity. Our diversity is our strength. You value diversity of opinion and thought. You invite all voices to the table regardless of gender, ethnicity/tribe, sexual orientation, or physical/mental ability.
• Empathy. You know how to really hear other people and understand their meaning.
• Joy. Seriously! We believe that play and joy are core to co-creating value with customers.
• Flexibility. We’re constantly designing and iterating. You’ll be working in ambiguity always – embrace it and see the possibility that it allows. The ability to roll with it will make that easier.
• Creativity. You have the ability to apply sound judgment and innovative ideas to meet challenges presented.

Benefits

Health, dental, and MedEvac Insurance – We strive to offer the best-in-class healthcare plans to our staff each year. We cover 100% of the cost for your health premium and 75% of the cost for coverage for your spouse/dependents.

Retirement – We contribute 6% of your salary regardless of your contribution amount, after one year of service.

Generous Leave Time – Between general leave, home leave, and R&R, you have ample opportunity to take time off when you need it.

Borderless Team of 2,500 staff worldwide that sees possibility, celebrates moments of abundance, shares new ideas, and strives to do a better thing every day.

Learning & Development – Access thousands of free online learning courses to take at your own pace and tailor to your professional goals.

About Alight

We are on a journey to build Alight, a new platform of amazing people and organizations providing lifesaving services and creating breakthrough solutions for and with the displaced. www.WeAreAlight.org

Alight is an Equal Opportunity Employer offering employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, citizenship, physical or mental disability, or protected veteran status. Alight complies with all applicable laws governing nondiscrimination in employment.