TEAM/PROGRAMME: Ethiopia Country Program

GRADE:  1C     

Child Safeguarding Level 3 - the responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Senior Awards and Partnership Manager (SAPM) is responsible for delivering an efficient and effective award and partnership management function in Ethiopia country program. S/he will be the lead in award and partnership management of the USAID/LEGO Foundation Childhood Development Activity. The key responsibility of this role is to provide leadership in the effective and efficient management of all the local partners under the Activity.

The Senior Awards and Partnership Manager will play a strong coordination role, working with the Government, local partners and with SC members to ensure that strong systems are in place for the effective management of both partnerships and the Award. The SAPM will identify areas of improvement as a basis for building the capacities of local implementing partners.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to:  Chief of Party

Staff directly reporting to this post:  none

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY.

Managing Sub Awards

• Take the lead for due diligence and capacity assessment of all the local partners together with Ops/PDQI team, Chief of Party and other support functions.

• Ensure award kick-off meetings with partners are conducted as per the agreed schedule and procedures.                                                                                                                                                                                            

• Design and follow up effective monitoring of partners’ program delivery, risks and financial and operational compliance and verify partners’ reports through field visit monitoring.

• Work with local partners, operations, project and country office finance team to ensure good Award budget monitoring, phasing and forecasting for smooth project implementation.

• Review partners’ financial reports and facilitate posting to financial system in collaboration with country office and project finance team.

• Build a high performing award management partner team to support good Awards management practice and high program quality delivery.

• Lead Award Management related capacity building both within the program team and partners

• Develop strong relationships with partners, the regional offices, members and other cross functional teams in the country program; escalate issues through the correct channels when and where required.

• Serve as the project Lead’s advisor on finance, partnership and administrative issues related to USAID and local government laws and procedures the project needs to follow.

• Responsible for the full consolidated budget phasing of the activity as well as the operating office budget. Budgets must be done in coordination with the Chief of Party, Country Office Awards, Finance and validated by Member office.

• Ensure that the approved donor budgets are coded in accordance with the Save the Children’s Chart of Accounts to help facilitate subsequent donor reporting.

• Develop and analyze finance reports (budgeting and forecasting) within the framework of Save the Children financial reporting systems, in liaison with program colleagues and other support functions and partners.

• Work with partners to ensure they start planning for pre close out and close out at an early stage, creating a culture of risk management.

Communication and Reporting

• Provide strategic support to the Chief of Party on all aspects of the Award and partnership management including donor compliance and partnership issues.

• Develop and maintain strong relationships with Awards & Partnership, Program, Finance and PDQ to produce high quality reports and provide necessary support for donor compliance.

• Facilitate weekly and monthly calls with member SC-US and take necessary action in coordination with relevant departmental teams especially with the program team.  

• Ensure the production of high quality and timely reports that accurately reflect the impact achieved and lessons learnt during the implementation of the award.

• Build and maintain internal and external relationships with relevant networks and staff within the Country Office, Regional Office, Member and Centre.

Compliance (systems, processes & donor):

• Engage actively at all levels in SCI in the development of Save the Children systems and processes and sharing of best practice.

• Ensure the Award Management System (AMS) is effectively maintained and up to date for the awards and sub-awards including authorization and document retention.

• To ensure that key staff (including partners) have a clear understanding of donor compliance requirements throughout the project management cycle and that there is a complete audit trail of the implementation and reporting for all awards.

• Develop and maintain close relationship with Risk and Compliance team to identify compliance risks, develop mitigation strategies and manage audit risks to country program. 

Partnership and Award Monitoring

• Working in collaboration with the Chief of Party, program team and other support functions to monitor the award budgets, phasing and forecasting.

• Ensure budget realignment is done when needed in due time and in compliance with donor requirements.

• Work with all relevant teams to ensure ‘Green’ KPIs for Award Management achieved. Activate necessary actions such as KPI improvement plans for the award.

• Prepare regular financial analysis of the Award to inform quick decision making.  

• Work collaboratively with the finance department to provide technical advice regarding strategic donor cost allocations with a view to minimize compliance issues where possible.

Engagement and Capacity building of Partners

• Assess the current partners, conduct analysis to identify their strengths, weaknesses and opportunities and threats and inform the decision making process.

• Support partners on budget development and monitoring and ensure all activities are adequately costed and resourced and implemented as per plan.

• Coordinate effective relationships between partners and relevant country office thematic sectors as well as staffs to facilitate collaborative support and mutual learning.

• Ensure regular supportive monitoring supervision visits are undertaken for partners jointly with the engagement of program and other concerned staff.

• Provide regular donor compliance refresher trainings to partners to ensure effective Awards Management within the partners and the Country Office project team.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values

• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieve

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages others to do the same

• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others

• Future orientated, thinks strategically.

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters

• Commitment to member services, capacity building and development of partners through oversight and collaboration

• Organizational development support to implementing partners. It is specifically support in developing their systems like HR system, finance system, procurement and admin systems etc.

• Willingness to work in emergency contexts and deployment on emergency programs as part of our commitment to dual mandate.

• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength

• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions

• Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency commitment to Save the Children Values.

Job Requirements

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• A Bachelor Degree in relevant field such as Commerce, Economics, Finance, Social Science, Business Administration, Sociology… (Masters Preferred)

• Minimum of 10 years work experience in INGO sector

• Proven experience in partnership and grant management  

• Strong program development and management experience

• Sound knowledge of the requirements of major institutional donors including budgeting, eligibility issues, compliance management, and reporting.

• Proven experience of establishing and running the award management function in the field.

• Action-oriented analytical skills; demonstrated experience in setting up and maintaining quality assurance /compliance systems

• Excellent planning, management and coordination skills, with the ability to organize a demanding workload comprised of diverse and challenging tasks and responsibilities.

• Experience of working in child focused organizations with excellent understanding of the child rights and safeguarding issues

• Computer literate (i.e. WORD, advanced Excel, Outlook, Internet Explorer, financial systems).

• Patient, adaptable, flexible, culturally aware and able to improvise and remain responsive and communicate clearly and effectively under pressure

• Strong cultural sensitivity, with highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation, problem solving and coaching.

• Experience of working in networks, consortia and alliance resulting in strong working relationships.

• An excellent team player with good skills in team work and decision making ability.

• Excellent oral (fluency) and written communication skills in English language.

• Commitment to the values, mission and principles of Save the Children.

Desirable

• Experience with Save the Children’s Award Management policies, procedures and systems (AMS)

• Able to use Agresso accounting software

• Experience of Partnership Management, Project Management, M&E Management, Funding Coordination

 KEY COMPETENCIES

Generic Competencies

•   Child Rights: Promotes an enabling environment for participation, and accountability to children

• Be the Innovator: Promotes innovation to find new and better approaches to driving progress for children

• Deliver Results at Scale: Promotes a clear focus on impact in a project and programme design, management, and oversight

Generic Competencies

• Being the Voice of Children: Promotes evidence-based policy and public engagement that includes the voices of children and their communities

• Advancing Equality & Inclusion: Displays a commitment to ensuring everything we do considers the most deprived and marginalised children and adolescent

• Building & Strengthening Partnerships: Promotes working with diverse partners as critical to delivery

Child Rights: Promotes the rights of children in own work and in work with colleagues and peers,

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI’s global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Gender Equality Policies, supported by relevant procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Safeguarding our Staff:

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy.

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SC Health and Safety policies and procedures.

We offer a competitive package in the context of the sector. The duty station of the position holder will be in Addis Ababa This role is offered on the basis of national terms and conditions only.

The Organization
We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realize the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:
• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

Application Information:
How to Apply

Interested applicants who meet the MINIMUM requirements should apply using the this link CLICK HERE