Associate Grants Officer

The Associate Grants Officer, as part of the grants management team, will be responsible for working flexibly and collegially in offering support to the Country Team in pre-award and post-award functions. S/he will support country teams, including the In-country Grants Officer and the HQ Grants team, to execute grants-related functions such as financial reports reviews, expenditure validation, and grantee compliance with AGRA’s internal policies and processes.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day project and In-Kind grants management of grantees within their portfolio.
• Create and maintain a grant tracking database through AMIS and other tools to monitor the flow of project proposals from the time full grant documentation is received in the grants unit to the time a grant award is issued, and the first payment is made.
• Identify grantees requiring technical assistance and provide relevant training on AGRA grants compliance and reporting requirements.
• Conduct pre-award due diligence for potential grantees, including organization capacity assessments.
• Ensure adherence to donor compliance requirements by grantees during the life of the grant post-grants issuance.
• Provide advice to the country leadership on In-Kind grants compliance requirements.
• Collaborate with country leadership and HQ regional grants officers in implementing systems, policies, and procedures related to In-Kind grants administration in Kenya.
• Collaborate with the program staff to analyze, revise, and formalize any necessary modifications and/or amendments to grants and contracts.
• Build capability of the AGRA In-Kind grantees within Kenya through providing trainings and technical backstopping on M&E systems and tools as required.
• Advocate for compliance with donor and AGRA-specific regulations for In-Kind grant making and all applicable delegation of authority policies, as they relate to signatory powers and thresholds.
• Engage and follow-up with the program staff for timely grants closure.
• Track grant-making pipeline, RFCN processing, and GAL issuance.
• Ensure complete and accurate expenditure support documentation is uploaded by grantees and AGRA to AMIS in compliance with MCF and other donors as appropriate.
• Organize grants charter reviews and compile grant materials for GC review.
• Conduct grantee monitoring and portfolio performance health checks.
• Prepare and conduct start-up orientation workshops for new awards and coordinate monthly/quarterly meetings with project staff to ensure grant contract clauses and all project-related requirements are complied with.
• Assess that all grant and contract documentation assembled by program staff is complete and accurate and complies with all AGRA and donor policies and procedures.
• Organize and schedule reporting requirements and payments for all new grants.
• Ensure accurate data entry and filing of AGRA's annual grant-making budget in AMIS.

Key Qualifications and Experience Required

• At least a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, Finance, or related field.
• An accounting certification.
• Experience in a grant-making environment and demonstrated donor compliance.
• Demonstrated experience in financial management.
• Ability to train grantees on grants & compliance.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a motivation to improve policies and procedures systematically.
• Excellent organizational skills, commitment to accuracy and to maintaining a timely and efficient workflow, and extremely detail-oriented with the ability to work under pressure.
• Excellent interpersonal skills: courtesy, tact and patience.
• Ability to multi-task and to prioritize work.