Global Grants and Compliance Manager at Living Goods

Purpose of role:

The Global Grants and Compliance Manager focuses on driving end-to-end grants management and reporting processes, working in collaboration with other Grants and Compliance staff, Business Development and Program Operations to produce high-quality and timely donor reporting, and conducting staff capacity building on grants and reporting. The Global Grants and Compliance Manager will be responsible for providing program and support teams with general grants management support and advice on donor compliance and LG policy & regulations to ensure grants are implemented on track, on time, and on budget while adhering to funding and reporting requirements from grant inception to close.

Key Responsibilities:

Grant Management and Compliance:    

• Ensure grants or contracts are well administered and that program and support teams are fully informed of relevant donor compliance regulations and LG procedures to support on-track, on-time, and on-budget implementation.
• Coordinate regular grant monitoring, using appropriate grant management tools and through facilitation and support of regular and timely Grant Review, Opening, and Closing Meetings.

• Oversee comprehensive information management and filing system, ensuring donor contractual documents, reports, and key correspondences are consistently and frequently filed.
• Maintain a broad and deep understanding of relevant donor policies, regulations, and procedures.
• Provide support to the Director of Compliance and Grants, Director of Financial Planning and Analysis, Country Heads of Finance and Administration, BD team, and Project Managers in liaison or representation to donors, and tracking key donor correspondence.

• Ensure effective channels of internal and external communications relating to grants are established and respected, confirming senior management and technical leads understand donor communication protocols and provide copies of correspondence for files.
• Proactively identify compliance risks throughout the portfolio and advise programs, support teams, and senior management on necessary actions.
• Liaise with the GET, Project Managers, and BD teams about specific compliance issues, clearly communicating issues to relevant colleagues.
• Study all proposed sub-contract and sub-grant agreements and applications to ensure compliance with the terms of contract and grant agreements between Living Goods and its donors/funders.

• Collaborate with financial analysis, planning, and program teams to ensure that key processes and systems are in place to manage grant risk assessments, donor financial compliance, and reporting management processes.

Budget Management:

• Ensure compliance with approved program/project budgets and spending policies, and initiate improved policies and systems regarding spending guidelines, cost allocation, and annual planning.
• Lead program and finance staff in grant revisions, modifications, no-cost extensions, or budget realignments.
• Collaborates with program staff in the development and input into comprehensive annual program budgets incorporating funding from restricted / loosely restricted funding sources.
• Assist with the development and maintenance of organizational indirect cost rate.
• Ensures grants and contract budgets are aligned with institutional budgets and forecasts.

Reporting:         

• Manage all external reporting to ensure timely delivery of high-quality reports which meet donor and LG requirements, coordinating closely with program and finance managers and coordinators.
• Ensure quality information management related to reporting by overseeing the regular maintenance of grant files, reporting calendars, and updating of internal LG documentation and Grant Management Tools.
• In concert with the finance team, assist program technical leads and operations staff with understanding the reporting and other compliance requirements on their grants.

Sub-award management and Administration:    

• Development, maintenance, and updates to the Grant and Contracts manual, tools, templates, policies, SOPs, and guidance documents for sub-award management and administration
• Oversee sub-award due diligence and monitoring procedures to ensure donor compliance in line with LG internal policies and donor regulations.
• Develops, and reviews sub-award templates and tools, prepares assessments, monitoring plans, and takes corrective actions.
• Reviews sub-award modifications and provide expert advice to Program/Project staff on sub-award-related matters.
• Collaborate with Program/Project staff on sub-recipient/subcontract monitoring of deliverables, invoices, compliance with regulations, as well as terms and conditions.
• Advises program/project staff on matters related to preparation, administration, and closeout of grants and sub-awards.
• Oversees maintenance and timeline updates to the program sub-award tracker and regulatory reporting requirements.
• Coordination, planning, and execution of annual audits from sub-awardees.
• Participate in the assessment and induction of new partners/sub-awardees.
• Facilitate partner/sub-awardee institutional capacity strengthening plans to ensure effective, efficient implementation of projects.

Capacity Building:          

• Conduct ongoing capacity strengthening of staff in report writing, editing, and critical analysis.
• Provide capacity building for grants management, spending tracking, and compliance staff.
• Support training to program staff related to LG and donor regulations and processes for visibility and communications.

Qualifications & Experience Required

Required Experience & Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in business management, Finance, Accounting, or a related field with at least 12 years of relevant work experience (5 of which should be at the supervisory level).
• A Master’s degree will be an added advantage with at least 13 years of relevant work experience with at least 5 years of Leadership/Management experience.
• Excellent skills in analysis, and training.
• Proven skills in project management, documentation, and project budget management
• Excellent networking and relationship-building abilities for effective collaboration with other functions.
• Grants management experience within INGOs.

Professional Qualifications / Membership in professional bodies

• CPA, CA, ACCA, or equivalent preferred.