NGO JOBS

Africare is a leader among private, charitable U.S. organizations assisting Africa. Africare is also the oldest and largest African-American led organization in the field. Africare's programs address needs in three principal areas: Agriculture& Food Security, Health & HIV/AIDS, and Water, Sanitation & Hygiene.

Throughout its 40 year history, Africare has reached 30 million people across the continent with innovative, sustainable, culturally appropriate and life-changing projects to improve the quality of life in communities throughout Africa. We strategically invest in innovating and implementing community-based solutions to complex problems, with a strong focus on skills transfer to create leaders out of beneficiaries. Our work has transformed communities and garnered wide recognition for its impact and sustainability.

Africare’s 1,100 staff members operate in 19 countries across Africa. Headquarters is based in Washington, DC where the President’s office and the Finance, Development, and Operations Departments are based. Position Summary

The Matching Grant Facility Assistant Administrator assists The Matching Grants Facility Administrator in the day to day management of the SAPP Matching Grant Facility. Reporting to the MGF Administrator, S/he is responsible for the project’s Administrative and Financial matters in liaison with the project and the SAPPO TST PMU.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Fund Manager in charge of the SAPP MGF Coordinating timely disbursement of funds to client bank accounts and Contractors so that projects are implemented with minimum delay.

• Liaise and work in close cooperation with the TST and SAPPO/PMU (especially the Procurement Officers and the Finance Manager) on all financial, procurement and legal matters pertaining to the MGF

• Reviews financial progress reports submitted by the grant recipients to ensure grant recipients adhere to all Grant Agreement requirements of the MGF, and ensure that the disbursement of the grant tranches is done based on achieved milestones;

• Prepare accounting manuals for use by MGF clients and training them on MGF funds disbursement and accounting procedures and guidelines to ensure projects are implemented in accordance with SAPP procedures.

• Carry out information/training sessions for the selected grant recipients and their service providers/advisors to inform them about the steps, procedures and requirements related to finalization and signing of the grant agreements and inform them on the administrative, monitoring and financial requirements related to the implementation of the grant-funded projects.

• Establish and maintain a proper filing and management information system within the MGF Secretariat ensuring that financial and technical record-keeping procedure are in accordance with the rules and regulations set forth, and that they are relevant, accessible and current.

• Facilitates preparation of withdrawal applications and submission to the SAPPO PMU on a timely basis to ensure that SAPP MGF has sufficient funds to meet project needs at any one time.

• Participates in preparation of strategic plans, budgets and work plans.

• Maintaining MGF accounting records and preparation of financial reports,

• Reconcile all the disbursements and the returns and Bank account records.

• Safeguard Project assets by maintaining an up to date fixed assets register which contains asset details and their location and obtaining insurance for those assets, which need insurance cover.

• Arrange for collection and a proper registration of the applications (both concept notes and full business plans) submitted by the applicants;

• Arrange for submission of the screened concept notes to the TST reviews and the full business plans to the independent technical reviewers for review and technical evaluation based on established criteria and scoring procedures, including averaging the scores of the two evaluations per each applications and their ranking according to respective final score;

• Arrange for the preparation of the list of applications having received an average of more than 70 points by technically reviewers and submission to the MGFC members for final evaluation;

• Collate the list of applications recommended by the MGFC for award of grants and submit it to the respective higher decision making bodies, in accordance with the approved procedures;

• Any other duties assigned by the supervisor.

Qualifications

a) University degree in Accounting of Finance, business administration, marketing, economics or finance, or a related field. A higher qualification in the above mentioned fields (Masters, Master of Science, Ph.D. etc.) is desirable;

b) At least 3 years of relevant experience in Grant management and/or capacity development in finance, or similar operations, preferably linked to smallholder agriculture/rural business development projects;

c) Demonstrated knowledge of accounting, monitoring and supervision and skills in preparation of reports, administrative documents and other supporting material;

d) Experiences with organizing information sessions, seminars, workshops, information campaigns or similar processes would also be important;

e) Knowledge of the region and of Zambian agricultural and agribusiness sector would be an advantage;

f) Effective administrative, planning and organizational skills

g) Ability to work effectively under stress and with minimal supervision

h) Computer literacy (especially in Excel, Word and Outlook)

i) Effective inter-professional and inter-cultural communication skills, including verbal, listening and writing skills and the ability to set out a coherent argument in presenting and discussing issues at one-to-one and group interactions in fluent English;

Africare offers a competitive salary along with an excellent benefits package.

Africare is a leader among private, charitable U.S. organizations assisting Africa. Africare is also the oldest and largest African-American led organization in the field. Africare's programs address needs in three principal areas: Agriculture& Food Security, Health & HIV/AIDS, and Water, Sanitation & Hygiene.

Throughout its 40 year history, Africare has reached 30 million people across the continent with innovative, sustainable, culturally appropriate and life-changing projects to improve the quality of life in communities throughout Africa. We strategically invest in innovating and implementing community-based solutions to complex problems, with a strong focus on skills transfer to create leaders out of beneficiaries. Our work has transformed communities and garnered wide recognition for its impact and sustainability.

Africare’s 1,100 staff members operate in 19 countries across Africa. Headquarters is based in Washington, DC where the President’s office and the Finance, Development, and Operations Departments are based. Position Summary

The Matching Grant Facility (MGF) Administrator will be the Head of the MGF Secretariat and responsible for the overall management and coordination of project activities in Africare’s implementation of the Smallholder Agribusiness Promotion Program (SAPP) MGF. Reporting to Africare’s Agriculture, Food and Environment Manager within Africare & the Technical Support Team (TST) at SAPP, the successful candidate will ensure that the project achieves its overall objective of supporting relevant interventions in the selected SAPP agricultural value chains through medium and large scale matching grants. The MGF Administrator will be supported by an Assistant and other Africare Technical and Administrative staff. The MGF Administrator will work very closely with staff of the Smallholder Agribusiness Promotion Program Office (SAPPO) TST to ensure effective project delivery.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide Overall management and day to day coordination and guidance of activities under the SAPP MGF.

• Solicit proposals through promotion and publicity campaigns and arrange provision of information, advice and technical assistance to shape and improve applications according to the requirements and priorities of the MGF;

• To identify eligible agribusinesses by conducting initial screening of applications in accordance to the approved criteria in order to determine if basic criteria are met for inclusion in the scheme;

• To manage the Matching grant fund’s proposal process including objective evaluation of agribusiness project concept notes and proposals and arrange these for submission to the TST reviews and the full business plans to the independent technical reviewers for review and technical evaluation based on established criteria and scoring procedures respectively.

• Arrange meeting schedule, including drawing-up the draft of agenda and provide the services of the Secretary to the MGFC, including recording of the minutes of each meeting and support the MGFC in drafting and preparation of its decisions, recommendations and communications;

• Work in close coordination and coordinate with the IP-contracted service providers and MAL provincial/district staff to carry out the field verification for the applications recommended by the MGFC for award of grants.

• Carry out necessary negotiations and clarifications of the grant agreements (including detailed schedules of implementation, procurement, disbursement, definition of agreed milestones, etc.) and work with the TST and SAPPO/PMU Procurement Officers to finalize the Grant Agreements between the grant recipient and MGF,

• Monitor progress of the overall MGF portfolio and prepare periodic and annual progress reports on MGF implementation, including also lessons learned.

• Take other necessary actions pertaining to the MGF as directed by the MGF Committee and the TST.

Qualifications

• University degree in business administration, marketing, economics or finance, or a related field. Masters or higher is an added advantage.

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in management or implementation of financial support programmes using competitive approaches, or similar operations, preferably linked to smallholder agriculture/rural business development projects;

• Demonstrated knowledge of financial management, accounting, monitoring and supervision of such programmes and skills in preparation of reports and other supporting material;

• Experience in agricultural marketing and agribusiness operations linked to the smallholder sector;

• Experiences in running workshops and similar processes and providing training would also be important;

• Knowledge of the region and of Zambian agricultural and agribusiness sector would be an advantage;

• Excellent analytical skills. effective planning and organizational skills;

• Effective leadership, team building and problem solving skills;

• Ability to work effectively under stress and with minimal supervision;

• Computer literacy (especially in Excel, Word and Outlook); and

• Effective inter-professional and inter-cultural communication skills, including verbal, listening and writing skills and the ability to set out a coherent argument in presenting and discussing issues at one-to-one and group interactions in fluent English;

• Holder of valid and clean driving license.