South Sudan: Director of Grants and Compliance Officer

POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT

Director of Grants/Compliance Officer

Effective with the release of this position announcement, Winrock International is recruiting applicants for Director of Grants/Compliance Officerwith the Room to Learn South Sudan project with responsibilities, duties and qualifications as described in the attached position description.

GENERAL:

Winrock International is a nonprofit organization that works with people in the United States and around the world to increase economic opportunity, sustain natural resources, and protect the environment. Winrock matches innovative approaches in agriculture, natural resources management, clean energy, and leadership development with the unique needs of its partners. By linking local individuals and communities with new ideas and technology, Winrock is increasing long-term productivity, equity, and responsible resource management to benefit the poor and disadvantaged of the world.

SALARY:

The annual salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

POSITION TITLE: Director of Grants/Compliance Officer

LOCATION: South Sudan

GROUP: Civil Society and Education

REPORTS TO: Deputy Project Director – Programs

BACKGROUND:

Room to Learn South Sudan, a USAID-funded program implemented by Winrock International under a Cooperative Agreement, offers safe access to quality education for children and youth, with a special focus on increasing access to the most disadvantaged groups: girls, the disabled, pastoralists, returnees, internally displaced individuals, and others suffering from poor quality, disrupted, unsafe, and/or total lack of access to education. Room to Learn South Sudan uses a community-based approach to rapidly reach out-of-school children with an emphasis on early grade literacy, gender equity, conflict mitigation, psychosocial support, and disaster risk reduction. The project aims to reach children, either directly enrolling them in school, improving retention by addressing the quality, safety and relevance of their instruction, or via distance learning, such as radio instruction, for the hardest to reach populations.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The RtL (Room to Learn) program components will require utilizing a $40 million grants pool to provide support to school communities and NGOs and the related competition, awarding and monitoring. The Director of Grants/Compliance Officer will be responsible for managing grants and oversight components of the program. He/she will provide a vision for conducting due diligence and pre-award assessment on potential subrecipients and ensuring sound financial management and compliance among successful organizations. The Director of Grants/Compliance Officer will be responsible for seamlessly collaborating with the program, procurement, operations, and finance departments to deliver cash and in-kind grants and overseeing them through liquidation and completion.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

· Oversee the conceptualization, development, and delivery of in-kind and cash grants packages to community organizations and subrecipients.

· Coordinate with members of the program teams to ensure timely delivery of appropriate grants items, including technical assistance, physical infrastructure, and materials related to community needs.

· Manage the conduct of diligence tests and pre-award assessments during the solicitation and selection of potential sub-grantees.

· Identify areas for building capacity in subrecipient organizations and work with Winrock teams to help address these needs. .

· Conduct periodic reviews including site visits to the grantees.

· Communicate and liaison with counterparts at various levels of government and/or private sector.

· Oversee grant activities, including pre-awards assessments, awards, implementation, subrecipient monitoring and evaluation, and final disposition and close-outs.

· With grants management team, create and oversee overall policies, practices and procedures related to all aspects of subrecipient monitoring and awards management.

· Facilitate award management by proposing and implementing financial and administrative control systems and tools.

· Lead the grants team and provide guidance to monitor and supervise management of award funds and provide feedback to client and senior management on financial procedures and management.

· With grants management team, analyze, assess, and implement budgetary and financial aspects of proposals, recipient financial management capacities and needs, and disbursement of grants.

· With the program and finance teams, ensure the preparation and execution of subaward documents and grant disbursements in line with Winrock and client procedures and practices*.*

· Supervise compliance with implementation plans and procedure manuals among grantees.

· Promote effective communication between project staff and grant recipients.

· Develop systems and support team efforts to monitor, track and report related grants fund management and audit recommendations.

· Assist with internal & external audits, as necessary, for the organization.

· Work with the RtL team to support the preparation of grant work plans, associated beneficiary targets, and projections and monitor the pace of grant award generation and delivery of in-kind materials on an on-going basis.

· Train project staff on procedures and requirements.

· Develop systems and supervise staff to maintain complete grant files and grants database.

QUALIFICATIONS AND BACKGROUND:

Required Skills and Expertise

· Degree in business, accounting, economics, public administration, or a related field;

· A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible professional experience;

· A minimum of five (5) years grants and contracts experience required;

· Financial management skills and experience;

· Demonstrated experience in leading sub award solicitation, selection, awarding, monitoring and closeout of a large grants program;

· USAID grant making experience is required;

· Extensive experience working with counterparts at various levels of government and/or the private sector;

· Experience in conducting due diligence tests in the form of pre-award assessments; financial reviews or audits; or some other form of accountability assessments;

· South Sudan experience strongly preferred;

· Previous experience in post-conflict countries would be a distinct asset;

· Strong communication and English writing skills.

Demonstrated experience in soliciting for grantees, awarding grants and managing and mentoring grantees for results; Experience in conducting due diligence tests in the form of pre-award surveys and risk assessments; financial reviews or audits; or some other form of accountability assessments. Strong communication and English writing skills.

APPLICATIONS:

Applicants may go to Winrock’s job link at www.winrock.orgto complete an online application, submit a current resume and cover letter referencing Director of Grants/Compliance Officer by June 30, 2015.

Winrock International is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.