Grants Officer

Job Description

Job Type: Full time 

Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone 

Start Date: 15th March, 2024 

End Date: 14th March, 2025; Annual contract (renewable) 

Reports to: Program Director 

Open to Expatriates: No 

Grade: I  

Introduction 

Helen Keller International is a global health organization dedicated to eliminating preventable vision loss,  malnutrition, and diseases of poverty. Helen Keller Intl partners with communities that are striving to  overcome longstanding cycles of poverty and is devoted to scaling up evidence-based, cost-effective  solutions to improve care practices and ensure that basic health interventions reach vulnerable people, with  a focus on women, youth, and children.  

Helen Keller Intl has been operating in Sierra Leone for nearly 20 years in support of the Nutrition and  Neglected Tropical Disease (NTDs) components of the National Health Development Plan of the Ministry of  Health and Sanitation, as well as food security component of the ministry of Agriculture. 

Scope of Work 

The Grants Officer will support the programs in donor grant management, donor reporting, and new  business development and helping to ensure effective management of donor grants. S/he will work under  the direct supervision of the Program Director with technical support from the Senior Grants & Contracts  Manager (based in the US office). The post will work in close collaboration with the program leads, Human  Resources, finance team, partners and other teams within the Country Officer (CO).  

Key Responsibilities :

• Maintain, file and update all compliance-related documents (including award agreements,  modifications, and all program and finance deliverables) and information as per Helen Keller and  donor policies/requirements and help ensure readiness for internal and external audits 
• Maintain up-to-date information on all donor compliance guidelines relevant to the country office  portfolio; ensure relevant internal and donor communications, regulation changes/revisions, etc., are  appropriately disseminated to relevant CO staff 
• Co-lead budget versus actuals meetings for all active awards in the CO and flag any concerns to the  relevant program leads and the supervisor  
• Support the coordination, writing/compiling, editing and dissemination of high quality donor reports  within internal and donor deadlines  
• Contribute to tracking of all relevant ongoing and new business development  applications/opportunities for the CO 
• Review new donor agreements (grants) and/or amendments, update information systems  appropriate, share with relevant staff and ensure their relevant filing 
• Co-lead grant kick off and close-out meetings for all initiatives in the CO  
• Co-lead all subrecipient orientations and close-out meetings for all initiatives in the CO, leading the  compliance piece of the meetings to ensure subrecipients understand key subaward terms and  conditions.  
• Coordinate with relevant program and financial managers in order to input monitoring data into the  Subaward Monitoring System, ensuring data entry is accurate and up to date. 
• Collaborate with the Global Grants & Contracts team to promote best practice and awareness in CO  relevant staff 
• Represent Helen Keller in relevant fora and meetings – both internal and external • Work with Global Safeguarding Advisor to ensure adherence to all relevant safeguarding policies  and procedures of the organization 
• Deliver other tasks delegated by supervisor. 

Qualification and Experience :

• Advanced degree in a relevant field – international development, social science, economics, etc., or  equivalent  
• At least 3 years of proven grants compliance management experience 
• Familiarity with multiple international donor compliance requirements and regulations
•  Experience in fundraising in an international organization – an added advantage
•  Experience in providing support and advise across multiple teams  
• Ability to effectively facilitate and present at high level meetings 
• Detailed oriented and proven effective writer for reporting 
• Ability to work with minimal guidance 
• Excellent inter-personal skills 
• Must be able to work in a dynamic and complex environment 
• Excellent written and verbal English language skills

 To apply, please send your CV and cover letter to SierraLeone.Recruitment@hki.org

Please mark your application as per the references stated in the positions above (referencing the SUBJECT  heading)  

Closing date for the receipt of applications is 17:00hrs on Friday 16 February, 2024

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. 

“Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply”