Position Description

Job Title: Sr. Sub-Contracts/Grants Specialist

Project Description: The Resiliency in Northern Ghana (RING) project is a 5-year integrated project funded by the USAID Feed the Future (FtF) Initiative and is designed to contribute to Government of Ghana (GoG) efforts to sustainably improve livelihoods and nutritional status of households in Ghana.

Job Location: Tamale, Ghana

Reporting Relationship: Director of Finance & Administration

Job Summary

•   The Sr. Sub-Contracts/Grants Specialist contributes to the objectives of the Project by ensuring the integrity of the contract binding Global Communities to USAID throughout al technical, grants, contracts and subcontracts.  •   He/she ensures that any local subcontract, agreement or grant signed by USAID RING includes the appropriate contract clauses in accordance with Global Communities contract with USAID.  In close collaboration with and under the direct supervision of the DFA he/she is responsible for drafting, negotiating, executing, integrity checking, modifying, canceling, terminating, and facilitating close out for all subcontracts, agreements and grants, verifying deliverables of subcontractors, technical and administrative compliance in according to regulations.
•   He/she will also support the District Assemblies and the Governance Unit by reinforcing contract management competencies and accountability. This may include training, providing tools, and monitoring.
•   The Sr. Sub-Contracts/Grants Specialist’s Responsibilities will evolve over time as the scope and activities in the field expand.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

•   In collaboration Global Communities and USAID RING leadership, develops templates and procedures to be used for the creation, negotiation, execution, implementation, follow up, and closing of subcontracts, agreements and grants USAID RING in Ghana (subcontracts, RFQ, RFA), manage the subcontracting process under the supervision of the DFA.
•   Drafts and negotiates subcontracts, agreements, grants, and purchase orders.
•   Ensures that technical or administrative staff fulfills RING Project’s contractual responsibilities as stipulated in the RING Project contract.
•   Embeds highly-skilled technical assistance with the districts for continuous capacity building in contract management competencies.
•   Takes the lead in finalizing quarterly procurement plans, submits requests for approval for the procurement to USAID, issues requests for quotes to vendors, follows competitive bidding and evaluation procedures, and issues the resulting Purchase Order.  Also ensures that all documentation is filed appropriately, including approvals for purchases over $500.00/unit. Provides the Director of Finance and Administration with the necessary information to correct any identified non-compliance with the contractual clauses and the procedures established in the field.
•   Ensures all contract-related documents and approvals are filed appropriately.
•   With RING Project’s leadership assistance, identifies when USAID approvals are required, and alerts technical and administrative staff involved.
•   In collaboration with Finance and Operations Director, participates in the update of and adherence to procedures for purchasing goods and equipment as needed.
•   Assists the COP and Director of Finance and Administration in the prevention of conflicts of interests, or perception of, as well as the standards and requirements of "procurement integrity".
•   As a member of the Extended Team and/or other Technical committees and subcommittees, provides technical assistance to partners, government counterparts, and decentralized government units (e.g. districts, sectors) related to contractual mechanisms.
•   Performs other duties as assigned.
•   Lead the development of the sub-awards/contract program, and take opportunities to build in flexibility to this component of the program so as to optimize adaptive management processes.
•   Develop the RING Project’s Sub-awards and Contracts Manual, and ensure that the RING Project’s program is complying with the procedures and that the annexes are being used as applicable.
•   Participate in the design of RFAs/solicitations for Sub-Award/Contract opportunities, publication of RFAs/solicitations, issuing of RFA/solicitations packages to prospective applicants, manage the administrative process of receiving RFA/solicitations applicant and providing the applicants to the RFA/solicitation Review Committee, in accordance with the RING Project’s Sub-awards and Contracts Manual.
•   Administer sub-award and contract solicitation processes in accordance with the RING Project’s Sub-awards and Contracts Manual, with, for each solicitation, clearly defined and communicated steps for selecting, negotiating and awarding sub-awards/contracts.
•   Review applicant organization’s budgets and budget narratives for completeness, expense alignment with activities and compliance with the solicitation budget requirements.
•   Be responsible for pre-award financial review, as applicable, and other due diligence of apparently successful applicants.
•   Select appropriate sub-award/contract agreement type, provide COP/DFA with the required information to draft sub-awards, and negotiate agreements with selected sub-recipients.
•   Work closely with the partner organizations to ensure they are issuing, managing and monitoring sub-awards and contracts in accordance with the RING Project’s Sub-awards and Contracts Manual.
•   Draft modifications to sub-awards/contracts, as applicable.
•   Develop and conduct sub-recipient financial and compliance training workshops.
•   Review sub-recipient financial reports/invoices for correctness and completeness and ensure that reports are submitted on time.
•   Develop sub-recipient monitoring plans, conduct financial monitoring of sub-recipients and prepare financial monitoring visit reports (as applicable).
•   Follow up on all sub-award compliance issues and audits and document resolutions.
•   Maintain sub-awards in the accounting system as well as sub-award financial files in accordance with organization’s Field Finance Manual.
•   Process needed documents for sub-recipient payments.
•   Responsible for sub-award financial close-outs, including ensuring that all requirements of the sub-award agreement have been met and that sub-award funds have been properly settled.
•   Provide compliance guidance and consultations to sub-recipients on a demand-driven basis.
•   Liaise with the DFA on any other duties assigned.

The duties listed above are not inclusive of all duties at USAID/RING. USAID/RING reserves the right to change and update the position descriptions at any time.

Qualification Required & Experience

•   Master’s degree in business/public administration, Finance, Management, Economics or related field.
•   At least 8 years working experience, with a minimum of 5 years’ in grants management and financial/operational systems (i.e. with the ability to develop grant agreements, and to monitor/manage grants program) preferably with USAID-funded projects.
•   Knowledge of USAID financial regulations and procedures
•   Proficiency in English (both oral and written) is required.
•   Computer literacy in MS Office Suite (especially Excel, Access and similar database software)

General Requirements:

•   Ability to establish and sustain interpersonal and professional relationships with donors, international organizations and local CBOs
•   Excellent analytical skills and ability to work with complex financial information
•   Excellent organizational and time-management skills
•   Ability to work in a team-oriented setting and to determine priorities and respect deadlines.
•   Strong interpersonal and written and verbal communication skills
•   Knowledge of US government rules and regulations (FAR and AIDAR) required.
•   Experience working on a USAID-funded projects preferred.
•   Strong organizational skills and ability to work in a multi-task environment.
•   Flexibility to assume a workload that frequently requires an adjustment of priorities.
•   Attention to detail.
•   Strong organizational, interpersonal and supervisory skills.
•   High degree of computer literacy; MS Excel and MS Word are essential.
•   Ability to travel extensively in the northern region and other locations in Ghana as required.

Location: Tamale

How To Apply For The Job

Interested applicants should send their CVs by email to:-

hrghana@ghanaresiliency.org

Closing Date: 01 December, 2015