SCOPE OF WORK

Based in Nairobi, the Grants and Partnership Manager will be fully dedicated to providing grants and partnership support to TeachWell, a private foundation-funded, five-year project that will start in September 2023 and aims at strengthening children’s holistic skill development through improvement of teacher professional development in refugee counties in Kenya. This position does not currently have supervisory responsibility. Occasional travel to field sites and refugee camps may be required. The Grants and Partnership Manager will work collaboratively with all members of the Grants Unit, including two Princeton in Africa (PiAf Fellows), as well as with technical coordinators, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and the finance and operations teams. The Grants and Partnership Manager will primarily be responsible for maintaining strong local partnerships across geographic areas where IRC Kenya works, and for ensuring effective management of the project partnerships. S/he will coordinate and manage the sub-award lifecycle in accordance with the IRC’s Partnership for Excellence and Equality System (PEERS), including conducting due diligence, ensuring partners understand applicable donor regulations, and managing receipt and review of partners’ deliverables. They will also contribute to overall grants management efforts and work to ensure adherence to donor regulations and compliance across grants and sites.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Partnership Building & Management

Partner Identification & Mapping

• Contribute to development of a clear framework on identification of local partners/organizations, and maintain clear, accessible documentation of identified organizations.
• Prioritize engagement with local partners/potential partners and lay the groundwork for long-term relationships with partners, rather than project- or funding-specific engagements, with the aim of ensuring there is a mutual, collaborative effort by IRC and partners.

Partner Vetting

• Lead the partner engagement process according to the IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS) including: (1) partner project capacity review (PPCR), (2) anti-terrorism checks (ATC), (3) partner identity and background review (vetting) (4) preparation of the required partnership documents such as the internal signing memorandum, draft partnership agreement, monitoring schedule, or other, and (5) review partner’s proposal documents.

Review Requests for Proposals & Partner Submissions

• Prepare and/or review solicitations and requests for proposals from Program team(s) before publishing to ensure compliance with IRC policy and donor rules and regulations.
• Lead in drafting sub-grants/partnership agreements and modifications for compliance with donor rules and regulations, act as focal point with HQ for review and approval and facilitate signature by IRC and partner.

Support Partnership Agreements / Project Cycle Management

• Provide oversight and coordination of all IRC Kenya Teachwell Partnerships according to IRC’s PEERS methodology, ensure needed support is provided to partners, and act as focal point during the project cycle. Sub-grant related administrative processes and procedures should be standardized and consistently implemented throughout the project cycle, such as for disbursements, reporting and monitoring. This includes organizing, participating in, and facilitating partners’ financial and technical monitoring and verifications led by the IRC, as well as tracking of partner deliverables.
• Support IRC Kenya program and operations staff to ensure any emergent compliance concerns are addressed during the term of the partnership/sub-grant agreements.

Partner Capacity Building

• Support IRC Kenya program and operations staff in assessing partner’s capacity building needs and coordinate discussions with partners to develop a capacity building/development plan which is based on the outcome of the assessment (PPCR). Ensure the plan is tailored, targeted, and responsive to their organizational needs and priorities.
• Design tools to effectively monitor progress made against the agreed upon partner capacity building plans to best support partners in their organizational development.

Sub-grant Tracking

• Maintain a sub-grants tracker for all partnership/sub-grant agreements including basic sub-grant details, funds disbursed, and liquidations received. Contribute sub-grant updates to the country program’s monthly internal financial report template (FM01) and provide analysis of all current Partnerships, as required.

Grants Reporting

• Ensure partner inputs are received and incorporated into the initial grant report draft and ensure the relevant technical coordinators and M&E team have sufficient time to review inputs and raw reporting data submitted by the partner; solicit feedback from partners as questions arise on content of reports, and ensure revisions are managed in a timely manner; edit report inputs as needed. Overall, seek to provide high-quality, well-written and timely reports meeting IRC and donor requirements.
• Ensure partners remain apprised of grant report due dates and submission dates for partner inputs are kept updated on IRC’s internal tracking sheets.
• Ensure all partner report submissions are filed in the Grants Unit’s Box folder system, and maintain hard copy files of report submissions, as appropriate.

General Grants Management/Administration

• Records Management: Support comprehensive information management and filing system to ensure all grant and sub-grant agreements, reports, key correspondences, T codes, etc. are appropriately filed in up-to-date and consistent soft (Box) and hard (physical) files managed by the Grants Unit.
• Communication and information management: Provide overviews of partners and projects, as needed, for correspondences and communications materials such as IRC Kenya’s quarterly publication, Darubini. Take minutes during grants-led meetings, as well as bi-monthly Senior Management Team (SMT) meetings, and following up action points, as required.
• Support other program initiatives / work streams / tasks as assigned.

Requirements

Qualifications

• University degree in international relations, or other relevant field.
• Master’s degree desirable.

Required Experience & Competencies:

• 3 to 5 years’ experience working with sub-grantees and/or local partner organizations and demonstrated ability to form effective and productive relationships with stakeholder counterparts.
• Experience in grants management, proposal development (program narratives and budgets) and donor reporting.
• Previous experience with institutional and private donors (e.g. international foundations) compliance.
• Ability to work with tight deadlines for report writing/ information requests.
• Excellent organizational skills, ability to determine and juggle multiple priorities, and attention to detail is critical.
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural context as a flexible and respectful team player. Patience, cultural sensitivity, and application of contextual understanding in day-to-day work is required.
• Willingness to travel to IRC Kenya’s field sites or to new locations for partner assessment, as needed.
• Excellent written and spoken English essential.
• High-level of knowledge and practice with Word, Excel, Teams, Outlook, etc. required.