Programme Grant Officer, Nairobi, Kenya

CANDIDATES MUST BE LEGALLY AUTHORISED TO WORK IN KENYA - NO RELOCATION ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE. ONLY LOCAL CANDIDATES WILL BE CONSIDERED*


PURPOSE OF POSITION:

To generate grant income for World Vision UK by working with a select group of National Offices in East Africa Region (EAR) to engage DFID at a strategic level, to lead the proposal development process and to build their capacity to manage donor relations, acquire grants and implement successful grant-funded projects.


KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

World Vision Strategy:
• Develop a good understanding of WV’s regional and country.
• Strategies and how World Vision United Kingdom (WVUK) is supporting these, including through grant funding.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across P&P Group to ensure donor engagement and grant acquisition plans align with WVUK strategy.
• Develop and maintain familiarity with and detailed understanding of donor calls for proposals, guidelines and procedures, including eligibility requirements, for specific donors and their funding schemes.
  
  Donor Engagement:
• Proactively identify grant funding opportunities by developing a detailed knowledge of regional and country level donor environment and funding mechanisms, including keeping abreast with changes in the funding landscape.
• Build and maintain strong donor relationships at country level by developing engagement strategies for each donor or group of donors, especially DFID,EU and UN.
• Serve as the primary contact person for managing and securing identified large multi sector grants and manage the timely submission of all the components.
  
  Relationships with National Offices:
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with colleagues in Regional Offices as well as National Offices, especially with those responsible for grants acquisition and management.
• Support NO’s in the preparation and submission of issue letters and follow up negotiations with donors as necessary.
• Ensure complete smooth transition to management program of awarded grants, including active support of the grant start up process.
• Work with colleagues in National Offices and the P&P Group to develop and submit high quality concept notes and proposals on behalf of WVUK ,managing the application process with support from the Grants Team’s Compliance Unit.
• Work with and through WV National Offices and in collaboration with P&P colleagues, especially in International Programmes, to build and maintain strong donor relationships at country level, developing engagement strategies for each donor or a group of donors, especially for DFID,EU and UN.
• Develop an exit strategy to ensure the National Office has in place sustain able grant acquisition and project implementation capability attend of a 2 to 3 year period.
  
  Capacity Building:
• Provide on-site support through training and mentoring of National Office staff, including senior management, on developing and implementing successful donor relations and grants acquisition strategies, as well as providing project start-up support for limited periods where needed.
• Coach National Office leadership in their representational roles with key decision makers in local UK embassies, missions organisations and foundations.
  
  Grant Management:
• Support the Grants Team’s Compliance Unit by ensuring the successful implementation of WVUK-funded grant projects, including managing reporting and donor liaison, and using the support of WV’s Regional Grant Managers(E. Africa, S. Africa, Asia) as necessary.
  
  Coordination with World Vision:
• Coordinate with the Regional Office and other Support Offices on grants, including EU Support Offices for accessing EU funding.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across the P&P Group to ensure readiness to deploy at short notice to support grant acquisition in response to humanitarian emergencies.
  
  Networking:
• Build contacts and relationships with other NGOs and local CSOs to learn from, share and apply best practice in acquisition and management of grants.
  
  Learning:
• Through the donor debriefing process, disseminate lessons learned to relevant parties for defined proposals.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES:

Required:
• A Masters degree or significant equivalent experience in a relevant discipline (International Development).
• Minimum 5 years experience working in grants, 3 of which must be in a position working closely with government multilateral on funding proposals to institutional donors.
• Experience of government donor relations and knowledge of funding requirements, particularly with DFID and the EU.
• Excellent ability to work cross-organizationally with multiple stakeholders in realisation of shared goals.
• Able to share passion for and knowledge of donor engagement and grant acquisition strategies and techniques through training and/or mentoring.
• Proactive, inquisitive and tenacious in identifying and pursuing new grant funding opportunities.
• Confident communicator and able to engage relevant stakeholders at high level.
• Strong interpersonal skills to work cross-organisationally and with different cultures in a professional and Christian environment.
• Solid interpersonal, negotiating and networking skills.
• Good project management skills, able to work on multiple tasks and prioritise these to meet deadlines.
• Budgeting and financial management skills ,able to understand link between finance and operations.
• Knowledge of and experience with government grant regulations and financial reporting requirements preferred.
  
  Preferred:
• A Masters degree or significant equivalent experience in a relevant discipline (International Development).
• Minimum 5 years experience working in grants 3 of which must be in a position working closely with government multilateral on funding proposals to institutional donors.
• Experience of government donor relations and knowledge of funding requirements, particularly with DFID and the EU.

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