Consultant – Grants Management

About IRRI

Job Purpose

The Alliance of Bioversity International delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. The Alliance works with local, national and multinational partners across Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, and with the public and private sectors. The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services.

About the position
The Alliance is seeking to recruit a Consultant – Grants Management who will support the administration and management of the assigned portfolio of grants, ensuring compliance with donor requirements, excellent donor stewardship, and timely and high quality information management for the Alliance. The consultant will also be responsible for the administration of sub-grants awarded under her/his portfolio of grants, ensuring assessment of partners’ capacity and compliance of sub-granting contracts with prime donor requirements.

Roles and Responsibilities

A. Grants Administration

• Provide support to the management and monitoring of the portfolio of projects assigned and ensure that the commitments of the Legal documents with the donors and partners are accomplished in the dates established;
• Conduct review of donor contracts against the Alliance’s policies and procedures and facilitate the process of contract clearance and signature;
• Facilitate the negotiation of contracts with donors for their subsequent execution taking into account the policies and procedures established by the organization;
• Set up new grants in the systems and communicate grant opening to internal stakeholders so they are duly informed of compliance requirements and passport information of the grant;
• Maintain an overview of reporting requirements (deadlines, templates, etc.) and communicate it regularly to relevant internal stakeholders;
• Work closely with the resource mobilization unit, finance, legal, researchers and other areas of the organization to ensure that contracts are executed on time;
• Liaise with donors on all grant-related issues, including submission of donor reports and requests for project modifications;
• Support scientists in the overall management and monitoring of grants, sharing information about compliance requirements and reviewing adherence to them.

B. Sub-grants administration

• Coordinate capacity assessment and due diligence review of prospective partners;
• Ensure Partners’ awareness of reporting requirements, research ethics and contractual compliance;
• Support the review of Sub-grant agreements connected to the assigned project portfolio to ensure compliance with prime donor’s requirements;
• Track and collect cleared reports to be filed in the appropriate digital repositories;
  Provide ongoing support to internal stakeholders and partners throughout the Sub-grant lifecycle on administrative and compliance issues including contract modifications.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in international development, International Relations, Economics, Business Administration or another relevant field;
• Experience in the administration and monitoring of grants (review and negotiation of grant contracts, donor reporting, monitoring of grant implementation, development or implementation of grant-related procedures, grants management training and facilitation);
• Experience of project management, including understanding of project budgeting, budget management and financial issues

Skills Required

Mandatory

• Proficiency in relevant software programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint);
• Excellent organizational skills including the ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines while still maintaining attention to detail and accuracy, and problem solve effectively;
• Proven track record of building collaborative relationships across and within internal teams, and with external stakeholders;
• Demonstrated to ability to work effectively as part of a team with people in a multi-cultural and multi- disciplinary environment, including with external stakeholders; excellent interpersonal skills;
• Excellent communication skills in English, both verbal and written including the ability to organize and write clear and concise reports;
• Knowledge of the CGIAR and/or international development agencies;
• Experience of implementing and/or using information management systems (grants databases, ERP systems, etc.);
• Experience and capacity to build long-term relationships with stakeholders

Terms of contract
This is a consultant position that will be based in Los Banos, Philippines and available for Philippine nationals only. The initial contract will be for one (1) year and is renewed annually based on performance and availability of project resources. The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT offers a multicultural and academic research environment, with competitive remuneration. We are an equal opportunity organization, and strive for gender, diversity, and inclusion in our staff, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status, or any other characteristic.

Applications
Applicants are invited to visit https://alliancebioversityciat.org/careers to get full details of the position and to submit their applications. Applications MUST include reference number 2024.02 – Consultant – Grants Management as the position applied for. Cover letter and CV should be saved as one document using the candidate’s last name, first name for ease of sorting (Cover letter should illustrate your motivation to apply and suitability for the above position against the listed qualifications and work responsibilities. Detailed curriculum vitae should include the names and email addresses of three professional referees who are knowledgeable about your skills and professional abilities). The Alliance collects and processes personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Applications closing date: 18 th January 2024
Please note that email applications will not be considered.
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
We invite you to learn more about us at:
http://alliancebioversityciat.org