Grants Officer at Creative Associates International

Creative Associates International is a dynamic, fast-growing global development firm that specializes in education, economic growth, democratic institutions and stabilization. Based in Washington, D.C

Creative has a field presence in more than 25 countries with a strong client portfolio that includes the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department, among others. Since its founding in 1977, Creative has earned a solid reputation among its clients and is well-regarded by competitors and partners alike.

The Grants Officer will report to Lead Grants Manager based in Abuja, Nigeria.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Review sub-grantees’ liquidation and financial reports and provide summaries to the project’s Lead Grants Manager on a monthly basis;
• Implement procedures and templates to be used for formulating, negotiating, executing, monitoring, and closing grants according to USAID regulations and the project’s Grants Manual;
• Monitor grantee to ensure compliance with USAID regulations, Grants Manual and the content of sub-agreement;
• Responsible for maintaining grant files and ensuring they stay up-to-date;
• Support project audits, grantor’s audit, or monitoring visits;.
• Responsible for entering and maintaining Trade Hub online System for the Management of Activities, Reporting and Tracking (SMART) for sub-grantees;
• Support the Lead Grants Manager in enforcing and maintaining policies for grant processes;
• Provide mentoring support to strengthen and improve sub-grantees’ management capacity for improved performance;
• Administer petty cash operations, and provide accountability and reporting in full compliance with USAID and Creative standards;.
• Assist Field office staff in cash disbursement of items paid in petty cash and submitting expense report periodically;
• Ensure quality and streamlined data entry from grantees into Creative corporate web-based MEL platform MEDAL (Monitoring and Evaluation Database for Adaptive Learning);
• Ensure that grantees submit reports within the agreed time schedule;
• Conduct project site visits to collect quantitative and qualitative data; including site visits for secondary verification of data results; and
• Perform other tasks as assigned

Required Skills and Qualifications

• High school diploma is required, Bachelor’s Degree or professional accounting/financial qualification is preferred;
• Minimum two (2) years’ experience in grant management, including disbursements and reporting and four years of general experience.
• Demonstrated experience in financial administration, budget and cost control management is essential;
• Knowledge of USAID Rules and Regulations, previous experience working on USAID-funded projects is preferred;
• Ability to analyze data and suggest areas of improvement
• Excellent record-keeping, and documentation skills;
• Have a good computer literacy;
• Understanding of cost-share and/or leveraging preferred; and
• Good communication and interpersonal skills.