Grants Manager at Land O’Lakes Venture37: (Deadline 20 January 2023)

Grants Manager at Land O’Lakes Venture37: (Deadline 20 January 2023)

Job Description

Grants Manager

USAID Rwanda Orora Wihaze Activity

Kigali, Rwanda

Closing: January 20, 2023

Background: 

Land O’Lakes Venture37 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit helping communities around the world build economies by strengthening agriculture from farm-to-fork, helping businesses grow, and linking farmers to markets. Since our start in 1981, we have been leveraging nearly 100 years of expertise in crop inputs, agricultural insights, dairy and animal nutrition from our close affiliate, Land O’Lakes, Inc., a farmer-owned agribusiness committed to fulfilling its purpose of feeding human progress.

Our team is made up of nearly 350 employees who are committed to market-led approaches, and passionate about collaborating locally to create lasting inclusive economic growth. By unlocking the potential of agriculture for the last 36 years, the lives of more than 3 million people have been transformed through nearly 300 programs in more than 80 countries.

Project Description:

The Feed the Future Rwanda Orora Wihaze (Raise Animals for Self-Sufficiency) Activity is a USD $13.8M five-year (October 2019 – September 2024) Market System Development project that works with local partners and private sector actors in Rwanda to strengthen the animal sourced foods (ASF) market system. Implemented under a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) contract, the project works across 8 districts of Rwanda including Burera, Gakenke, Nyamagabe, Nyamasheke, Rutsiro, Ngororero, Kayonza and Ngoma Districts. The goal of Orora Wihaze is to sustainably increase the availability of access to, and consumption of ASF through the development of a profitable market. This will be achieved by a selection of interventions under two broad objectives i) Private Sector-Led ASF Value Chains Strengthened; ii) Increase Demand for ASF Consumption for Women and Children. To accomplish this goal, Orora Wihaze seeks to remove production, marketing and consumption constraints affecting dietary diversity of households, especially for women of reproductive age and children of 6-23 months. For households that do not produce or sell ASF, Orora Wihaze will enhance access to safe ASF through development of the existing market system.

The Orora Wihaze activity will use a private sector oriented, market facilitation approach to achieve the intended goal. The approach must sustainably increase livestock productivity, improve relationships across actors in the ASF value chains, build capacity of enterprises in the ASF sector, facilitate access to finance and increase private sector investments in ASF value chains.

Position Summary:

The Grants Manager is responsible for leading the Orora Wihaze grants team and managing an innovative grant fund through the solicitation, design, due diligence, negotiation, documentation, monitoring, reporting and closeout of grants and grant activities while ensuring compliance with Venture37 policies and process and USAID grant under contract rules and regulations. These grants under contract will assist local market innovators to increase the availability of, access to, and consumption of animal sourced foods (ASF), particularly among women of reproductive age and children (U2) through the development of a profitable market.

The Grants Manager collaborates closely with the technical teams during the conceptualization of individual innovative activities and grant solicitations and help shape their ideas into a grant design which complies with USAID regulations and delivers project results in the required timeframe. The Grants Manager also supports Orora Wihaze’s market systems design approach by engaging with the technical team and the grant applicant in a co-creation process to develop a scope of work and budget that fit both compliance standards and technical performance objectives.

The Grants Manager oversees grant compliance and monitoring of all grants from solicitation to closeout and is responsible for ensuring all Orora Wihaze team members are trained in grant compliance review when conducting site visits.  The Grants Manager also closely supports grant and contract recipients in compliance and award management ensuring timely collection of required documentation and reports. The Grants Manager facilitates environmental review processes as part of the pre-award assessments and manages site visit records to ensure partners are monitored per grant requirements.

Reporting & Supervision:

The Grants Manager will report to the Senior Finance and Administration Manager

Primary Responsibilities:

• Prepare, review, update, or adapt the Orora Wihaze Grants Plan to forecast and track the development of partnerships, award of grants or contracts, funds expended, and achievement of the sub-objectives detailed in agreements.
• Organize and lead bi-weekly grants meetings with Orora Wihaze staff including members of the Venture37 team and member of the Consortium (Catholic Relief Services, Market Share Associates, and the Manoff Group) as necessary
• Work in coordination with Market Systems, Nutrition and Behavior Change, Policy Teams to design, promote, and distribute solicitations for concept notes. Participate in the review and evaluation process, leading in the documentation of the scoring and selection. Assess grant submissions for technical and budget soundness and compliance with USAID regulations, recommending award actions to the team.
• Conduct the due diligence of grant applicants to determine their eligibility and complete all pre-award assessment paperwork required for grants, include project environmental reviews
• Support the Chief of Party and Senior Finance and Administrative Manager to submit grants approval request package to the funder for review and approval and help respond to questions from USAID’s Contracting Officer’s Representative.
• Develop grant agreements and facilitate signature of awards. Maintain grant documentation, fully utilizing and managing information in the Cobblestone contract and grant management database and document management system.
• Lead grant kickoff meetings with new grantees to review key terms and conditions of their grant agreements.
• Oversee and structure regular grantee reporting on an agreed timeline. Monitor and track leverage contributions, performance reports, and compliance with award conditions. Communicate and collaborate with MEL, Finance, and Technical Teams to gather data and share information.
• Train and provide guidance to team members to also monitor grant compliance when conducting site visits, grantee deliverables and milestones review, and training and capacity building activities. Act as resource for USAID rules and regulation compliance.
• Communicate as necessary with project grantees, assisting and training the partners to complete reports requirements and maintain compliance with the terms of grant agreements.
• Create grants closeout plan and lead the closeout process for all grants issued by the project.
• Ensure all required grant records and supporting documents are completed and stored online

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, business, management, or another related field.
• A minimum of five (5) years’ experience managing a grants portfolio.
• Experience with USAID grants under contract rules and regulations.
• Experience with a grants management database used to manage workflow and document key stages in a grant cycle
• Experience in or working with private companies and collaborating with local agencies, departments, and ministries.
• Proven ability to write clear and concise documents for donor review
• Fluency in oral and written English and Kinyarwanda.

Preferred Qualifications/Skills

• Experience conducting Environmental Review and conducting Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plans

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. No phone calls will be accepted.

Land O’Lakes Venture37 will never ask you for personable identifiable information, and we will never request money or payment during the recruitment or employment process. Please submit any questions or concerns to: Venture37HumanResources@landolakes.com

Land O’Lakes Venture37 is an equal opportunity employer and an organization striving to help global communities thrive through agriculture. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or veteran status, among other factors. Our culture values a diversity of voices. So, bring us your unique experiences, your workstyle, and your dreams — they’ll only make us stronger.

Application link:

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