Grants Manager

Action Against Hunger Lebanon

The Grant Manager, in close collaboration with the Deputy Country Director Programs and the SMT members, will ensure regular oversight, monitoring, and support to the management of the Mission s grant portfolio, all through the lifecycle, from early discussions with the donor and/or organizational partners, proposal preparation, to grant compliance checks, donor visibility requirements and reporting.

The Grant Manager will take the lead and coordinate the process of development of high quality funding proposals, concept notes and reports in compliance with donor regulations, and shall follow HQ and mission-level related established processes, and ensure all documentation is in line with Action Against Hunger s internal Guidelines.

In order to ensure efficient processes and contract monitoring, the Grant Manager is expected to create and maintain tools and grant files and records, including the GESPRA system and stay updated on donor requirements. In addition,

This is an extremely dynamic and rigorous role, requiring strong coordination and organisation skills, to ensure that all deliverables are produced in a timely manner, which can be a challenge at times. The Grant Manager will keep in regular contact with all staff involved in the implementation of grants, as well as donors focal points in charge of tasks related to the management of contracts, reporting, communication and monitoring.

Objective 1: Identification, coordination, preparation, writing and submission of quality and timely proposals/concept notes, following Action Against Hunger s validation processes and taking into account the donor guidelines

• Under the direction of the Deputy Country Director, and in consultation with Technical Coordinators, MEAL, Logistics, HR, and Admin/Fin Coordinator, the GM will design, coordinate, gather inputs, collect relevant information to draft full proposals (including proposal narratives, and other required annexes, such as the budget and PPP) or Concept Notes to be presented to donors.
• The GM will ensure that the proposals are validated and submitted on time.
• The GM will assist programme teams in designing Project proposals in response to various proposals such as Call for Proposals (CFP), Requests for Proposal (RFP) or Concept Notes (CN), and as such, will participate to early technical discussions with the donors, when and if feasible.
• The GM will work closely with Budget Holders, programme teams, and finance as well as other stakeholders to compile accurate proposal budget.
• The GM will follow Action Against Hunger s Lebanon Strategic Framework and promote the harmonization of indicators and means of verification.
• The GM will ensure the respect for Action Against Hunger s Lebanon standard operating procedures and the validation procedure defined by HQ.
• The GM will ensure that proposals take into consideration Gender, Protection and Accountability Guidelines, according to Action Against Hunger policies.
• The GM will ensure proposals/CN are in accordance with donor frameworks, guidelines and language.
• The GM will coordinate any donor feedback and ensure timely submission of requested feedback and resubmission.
• The GM will liaise with either HQ or donors in following-up/tracking of submitted proposals, so as to support the Mission s budgetary planning

Objective 2: Coordinate and lead the production and submission of quality and timely donor reports

• Coordinate donor reporting processes as outlined at mission and HQ level, with the relevant departments to collect the information/inputs and ensure the timely submission of high quality programmatic reports.
• Coordinate with Admin/Finance Coordinator or Deputy Country Director to ensure timely submission of financial reports.
• Assist field teams in drafting of donor reports by ensuring that reports are in accordance with donor requirements and are submitted on time.
• Coordinate the finalisation of donor reports ensuring consistency between narrative and financial reports and that they meet quality standards.
• Liaise with either HQ or donor in following up/tracking of submitted reports.
• When feasible, ensure that reporting requirements are kept minimal for the Mission and that processes are streamlined and efficient.

Objective 3: Grant Management & donors relations and Intelligence

• Maintain an updated calendar of project report obligations and project development, and ensure key staff are aware of it and respect the deadlines by sharing it regularly with the SMT and HQ project manager. This includes the maintenance of the related sections in GESPRA (Online Project Management Tool), at least on a weekly basis.
• In coordination with the Deputy Country Director, liaise with HQ staff (throughout the Action Against Hunger International network, including the Donor Relations Unit and with Madrid HQ Operations) on potential funding opportunities, as and when requested, including donor s mapping/intelligence.
• Ensure comprehensive grant files are created and regularly updated and are available for use. Provide briefing papers and support the development of external communication tools relevant for donor visits/meetings.
• Set up and constantly update database for donor guidelines and regulations and create fact sheets for main donors.
• Inform programme and support teams on any changes to existing donor guidelines and regulations
• Act as a focal point for the Mission for external communications with donors for all grant management and reporting matters
• Coordination with Admin/Finance Coordinator, Compliance Manager on donor compliance issue and contractual issues
• Follow up with Programme Managers and Technical Coordinators on Programme Implementation and collection of data according to means of verification, from kick-off meeting to contract closure, to allow pro-activeness in the monitoring of the grant and related tasks (such as ad-hoc donor requirements or extension/amendment requests)
• Support Programme Teams (and if applicable, communication officer) in ensuring donor visibility requirements are met and in the planning and organisation of donor field visits.
• If time allows: Efficiently coordinate with and provide support to Deputy Country Director in coordination tasks with consortium partners and organisational partners (sub-grants)