Summary
The Program Manager provides award management support for a USAID-funded contract in Ethiopia, and other awards within the Emergency Food Security and Livelihoods award portfolio from opportunity to closeout.
S/he is accountable for following award management procedures to ensure the effective flow of resources to Save the Children International (SCI) and other Save the Children members in the food security and livelihoods technical sector. This work must ensure donor expectations are met and programs are successfully implemented.
Liaising with relevant stakeholders, particularly Country Office (CO), Finance, and technical staff, the Senior Program Coordinator keeps her/his Manager informed of important issues. S/he has a role in continuous improvement, ensuring better practices are disseminated across the award management function, and that program deliverables are met.
Essential Duties, Responsibilities and Impact
Portfolio Management (80%)
Serve as primary point of contact and program support for a USAID-funded contract in Ethiopia, while supporting Program Manager to monitor and manage an award portfolio based upon designated tasks and responsibilities.
General
•Work collaboratively with COs, SCUS, SCI HQ, other SC members, and relevant partners and sub-grantees. As needed, serve as liaison on assigned awards for COs and SCUS stakeholders (i.e., TA providers, other Business Teams, Finance, Grants and Contracts, HR, etc.) and ensure timely and effective communications to donors on matters related to their resources.
•Support award implementation, reporting and procurement to ensure compliance and appropriate completion for a USAID-funded contract in Ethiopia.
•Maintain and distribute all standard program implementation and planning documents to relevant financial, management and technical staff at HQ and CO, including but not limited to: job descriptions; procurement requests; timesheets; budgeting templates.
•Create, update and track all donor reporting requirements in SC’s Award Management System (AMS). Provide CO staff with timely reminders of submission requirements and templates, and coordinate review timelines with HQ staff. Provide initial and final review and editing of all documents.
•Create and update a list of key project staff, contact information, and roles and responsibilities.
•Support management of sub-award agreements to SC Member countries or partners as needed, including wire transfers, ad hoc support and closeout.
•Escalate issues or risks as appropriate.
•Coordinate SCUS consultancy agreements, as needed, including processing agreements, wire transfers and ad hoc support.
•Execute Fee for Service agreements with other SC members, as needed.
Award Workflows •Complete all data entry and follow all processes to ensure funds can be tracked on SCUS and SCI systems, including ensuring that project information contained in internal systems remains current and accurate. •Draft fund summary for AMS and Internal Obligated Budgets for Agresso. •Review draft agreement documents.
•Adapt to new processes and systems as they are developed.
•Process amendments as needed.
Budget and Financial Management
•Work with Finance and relevant technical staff leads to regularly monitor rate of spending in COs and SCUS home office including charges such as personnel, travel, consultancy, and sub-grant agreements; troubleshoot and escalate as needed.
•Run monthly financial reports and review general ledgers for assigned awards to share with the Program Manager; work with COs and Finance to ensure expense charges are allowable, allocable and reasonable; follow up to ensure errors are corrected.
•Assist COs with budget tracking and planning.
•As requested, support the Program Manager in preparing and reviewing annual budgets, budget realignments, and cost and no cost extension budget requests, reviewing for formula errors and budget appropriateness.
•Work with COs and Finance to monitor match reporting when required by donor.
•Draft donor communications and requests; when requested, communicate donor feedback and approvals to the relevant SCI offices and record/store for future reference.
•Track and monitor project-specific Level of Effort (LOE) reporting as needed for awards in his/her portfolio and/or departmental sharing of LOE as directed.
Project Start-up
•Support planning and facilitation of the startup call/meeting with CO – review project timeline, deliverables and donor requirements in detail.
•Create and distribute award overviews for HQ and CO staff at the launch of each project.
•Ensure CO capacity building support (such as technical advice, award management, donor information/compliance, SCUS structure) needed from SCUS is identified and coordinate with the relevant SCUS departments and staff (IP, Finance, and Account Managers) to meet those needs.
•Coordinate and communicate project-specific budgeted LOE to home office staff.
Donor Reporting
•Coordinate with Finance and the CO as needed on financial reporting, leading timely, accurate, financial reporting to donors; coordinate response to donor queries.
•Facilitate communication and ensure timely, accurate narrative reporting to donors: prepare a report development calendar and ensure adherence; review and edit draft narratives for grammar, clarity, and adherence to donor reporting requirements, and provide feedback; coordinate the collation of feedback from relevant technical staff.
•Coordinate with Resource Development and/or the appropriate Account Manager on submission of donor reports to private donors.
•Coordinate response to donor queries when needed.
•As requested, assist with and ensure timely reporting to donor in the Food for Peace Management Information System (FFPMIS).
Project Close-out
•Support project close-out and ensure that awards in SC systems are closed/deactivated.
Resource Mobilization (10%)
Support the development of concept notes and proposals through discrete tasks as requested, or through an assigned role on the proposal development team:
•Support the development of components of concept notes as assigned; review drafts and provide feedback to COs; incorporate reviewer feedback into concept notes.
•Support country-specific proposal development as requested: support cost coordinator; review narrative and budgets; draft or review sections of proposals (capability statements, budget narrative, management plan, representations and certifications, etc.) as assigned.
•Draft, edit, and coordinate staffing documents for proposals (1420 Biodatas, CVs, Bio-statements, Skills Matrices, etc.) as assigned.
•Serve as the proposal coordinator for small bids: create and ensure adherence to proposal development calendars with clear roles and responsibilities across the proposal team for assigned tasks; acquire necessary approvals at HQ and field level within expected submission timeframe, and submit all final documents to donors with proper formatting and grammar; coordinate issues letter and donor requests with relevant technical and management staff.
•As requested, upload final concept note and proposal documents to the FFPMIS online portal.
•Support the department/agency to maintain knowledge management systems around resource development (ensuring documents are posted on AMS, as applicable, maintaining libraries, storing capability statements, Past Performance References, 1420s, bio statements etc.).
Continuous Improvement, Capacity Building & Knowledge Management (10%)
•As requested, support departmental leadership to improve award management systems, policies, procedures, and knowledge management (proposals, budgets, capacity statements and related award documents).
•Participate in developing best practices, sharing resources, and ongoing trainings.
•Support the department/agency to maintain knowledge management systems (ensuring award files are kept up to date in consistent manner to support backstopping and handover).
•Support CO capacity building with training on SCUS donor requirements.
Required Background and Experience, Skills and Behaviors
Minimum 3-5 years of experience required, with at least one year of demonstrated experience working on a USAID-funded contract. Bachelor’s degree required in relevant area of study.
Requires a professional level of functional program management and financial monitoring skills, attention to detail to support complex tasks, programs or projects, and problem-solving skills. Accountable for day to day execution of job. Organizes self and manages time to get things done. May exercise independent judgment and discretion on operational matters related to specific tasks. Requires minimal supervision to review work progress and results. Keeps manager informed of important issues. Builds effective relationships within their immediate or peer workgroup. Ability to travel, occasionally, on short notice.
Required:
•Previous experience supporting or managing a USAID-funded contract
•Knowledge of USG rules and regulations
•Proactive approach to work and ability to identify and implement effective processes for achieving outcomes
•Excellent organizational skills – ability to juggle large amounts of details while still maintaining big picture
•Strong written and verbal communication skills
•Excellent MS Excel skills
•Attention to detail
•Ability to follow through on tasks to completion
•A high degree of flexibility and adaptability in order to respond to changing needs; comfort dealing with ambiguity
•Committed team player with strong interpersonal skills
•Commitment to goals and values of Save the Children
•Ability to travel nationally and internationally to liaise with colleagues in Connecticut and to provide Country Offices with project management support for start-up, implementation and close out of projects.
Desired:
•Fluency in French/Spanish
Save the Children invests in childhood – every day, in times of crisis and for our future. In the United States and around the world, we are dedicated to ensuring every child has the best chance for success. Our pioneering programs give children a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. Our advocacy efforts provide a voice for children who cannot speak for themselves. As the leading expert on children, we inspire and achieve lasting impact for millions of the world’s most vulnerable girls and boys. By transforming children’s lives now, we change the course of their future and ours. Save the Children is committed to conducting its programs in a manner that is safe for the children it serves and helping protect the children with whom Save the Children is in contact. As a humanitarian agency, Save the Children is obliged to create and maintain an environment that aims to prevent the sexual exploitation and abuse of children and promote the implementation of its child safeguarding policy. All representatives of Save the Children – employees, volunteers, interns, consultants, Board members and others who work with children on Save the Children’s behalf – are expected to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with this commitment and obligation. Save the Children provides an attractive benefits package including competitive salaries, a matching retirement plan, health and welfare benefits, life insurance, an employee assistance program, generous time off and much more. We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, ancestry, sexual orientation, national origin, age, handicap, disability, marital status, or status as a veteran. Save the Children complies with all applicable laws.
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