Senior Grants Specialist Africa at Nature Conservancy

WHAT WE CAN ACHIEVE TOGETHER

Reporting to the Lead Grants Specialist, the Senior Grants Specialist will provide highly specialized finance and accounting-related services to the Africa business unit. They will provide highly specialized services in one or more of the following functions: review and approval of budgets for public fundraising, review and negotiation of prime awards funded by public funds, setting up of new awards in the ERP system, financial analysis and reporting; financial management and compliance; project audit assistance; Sub grantees Due diligence, drafting of sub agreements, administration of sub awards, capacity building and internal controls strengthening for sub grantees. They will have a high level of expertise in Grants and finance management. The position will ensure finance and accounting activities are undertaken in accordance with TNC policies and procedures and best practices in international NGOs. The Senior Grants Specialist will supervise and assist Grants Specialists and Grants Associates in their area of speciality. They will respond to complex employee and management questions and problems based on advanced knowledge of Grants and finance management.

WE'RE LOOKING FOR YOU

The ideal candidate should have exceptional communication and collaboration skills and experience in the management of controls and reports of a business unit. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the ongoing mission of conservation by directing and shaping the work of our team!. Specifically, the Senior Grants Specialist will be responsible for the following.

• Ensuring public awards management to ensure programmatic commitments, TNC policies and procedures, financial standards and legal requirements are met.
• Review, negotiation and approval to sign Prime agreements in collaboration with Legal and other reviewers.
• Strengthen TNC management and administration of sub-awards grants. Ensure that partners adhere to donor and TNC operating procedures.
• Engagement and collaboration with Africa grant team members, international grants team and the global Grants services network.
• Participating in proposal development in collaboration with the Africa Public Funds Business Development team and program teams to submit competitive proposals to donors                                       
• People management and capacity development of new staff through trainings and mentorship                                              
• Management of huge and more complex public awards with new donors e.g. CAFI, IFAD, NORAD and IKI
• Maintaining of comprehensive and up to date E-files as per TNC and GSN policies
• Participation in Special projects and initiatives as recommended by the Lead Grants Specialist

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, Business Administration or related field and 4 years' related experience or equivalent combination.
• Experience with relational databases.
• Technical experience with grants award accounting issues.
• Experience, coursework or other training with U.S. Federal Uniform Guidance, state and local regulations, multilateral and international regulations, and standard contract clauses, as applicable.
• Experience using accounting and financial reporting systems. Preferably ERP systems
• Experience with government regulations related to grants and contracts.
• Professional certification such as a CPA or ACCA, or a candidate for same.
• People management Experience

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Over 7 years’ experience in International Non-profit in a comparable position.
• Experience supporting public fundraising/ proposal development.
• Working experience with Multiple Government funds and Multilateral donors including USAID, UN Agencies, WorldBank, CAFI, IFAD, GEF, IKI, NORAD, DEFRA, FCDO, GCF among others.
• Multi-lingual skills and/or multi-cultural experience appreciated.
• Excellent analytical and quantitative skills.
• Working experience in supporting multiple countries in African countries
• Experience in manipulating, analyzing and interpreting data with Advanced expertise in Microsoft Excel.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Knowledge of current trends in specific field.
• May require fluency in a foreign language to support global operations.
• MBA, CPA or ACCA may be preferred.