Capacity Building and Small Grants Lead for CEERC Project

The USAID-funded USAID Conservation Through Economic Empowerment in the Republic of the Congo (CEERC)] Project in the Republic of the Congo implemented by Tetra Tech (www.tetratech.com/intdev) is currently accepting expressions of interest for a Capacity Building and Small Grants Lead. The purpose of CEERC is to reduce threats to biodiversity, carbon-rich forests and peatlands in the Republic of Congo (ROC). This five-year activity takes a market systems approach to promote conservation-friendly development and strengthen green value chains.

Position Description/Summary:

The Capacity Building and Small Grants Lead oversees the CEERC Grants Under Contract (GUC) program, including development of the grants manual and other protocols to support grant management. The Lead will develop and oversee capacity-building to empower local organizations to manage USAID funding, such as planning and conducting training programs for grantees and other stakeholders as appropriate to strengthen organizational capacity to manage grants. With the technical team, the Lead will determine the best mechanisms to engage grantees for compliant grant implementation, reporting, monitoring, and evaluation. The Capacity Building and Small Grants Lead reports to the Chief of Party (COP) and is based in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.

Responsibilities:

Grants Management

*Supervise the CEERC Activity GUC portfolio of up to US$2.5 million;

*Collaborate as necessary with the Tetra Tech Project Management Team at headquarters and the Grants Manager in particular, including by participating in regular scheduled meetings;

*Support the development and finalization of the grants manual as needed;

*Ensure compliance with the project’s grants manual as well as Tetra Tech and USAID GUC management policies and procedures;

*Coordinate with CEERC technical leads and project team for annual work planning to ensure grant program technical objectives are clearly defined and estimated timelines for solicitations (RFAs, APSs) are appropriate;

*Build the capacity of staff and grantees in GUC management, train staff in use of the GUC manual and annexes;

*Ensure that all documents related to the grant (i.e., tenders, grant agreements, competitive review processes, grantee reports) meet the quality standards of USAID and Tetra Tech;

*Carry out on-site visits to potential and existing beneficiaries, as needed. Facilitate support for capacity building of beneficiaries, including leveraging the expertise of technical staff, the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) specialist, or identifying appropriate Short-Term Technical Assistance (STTA) to strengthen the overall capacities of beneficiaries;

*Perform other duties as assigned to support CEERC objectives.

Grantee Organizational Capacity Building

*Assess, plan and execute training programs for grantees and other stakeholder staff;

*Design and oversee the implementation of relevant training programs to strengthen organizational management and leadership skills for grant recipients and other CEERC stakeholders, in accordance with the activities and objectives of the annual work plan;

*Develop training materials to train project staff in grant management practices such as financial management, good governance, human resource management, and reporting;

*Provide relevant contributions on capacity building programs for the preparation of the annual work plan, quarterly and annual reports;

*Working with the Communications Specialist and the MEL Specialist to capture and share lessons from CEERC grant and capacity-building programs.

Program Management

*Supervise field staff and/or STTA as assigned;

*Support annual work planning, quarterly and annual performance reports and other project management tasks assigned by the COP;

*Assist the COP in providing relevant and regular updates to USAID on the implementation of grant-related and capacity building activities.

Qualifications:

*Master’s degree in a field related to capacity development, education or training;

*Minimum of 10 years’ experience managing grants programs in challenging conditions;

*Proven ability to assess and mentor organizations and networks toward sustainability, and experience in developing networks and alliances across different types of organizations (private sector, faith-based, technical);

*Demonstrated capability to work effectively with local government officials, local stakeholders, public interest and community groups, and private industry representatives;

*Experience and/or knowledge of USAID’s “Collaborating, Learning, & Adapting (CLA)” approach (http://usaidlearninglab.org/learning-approaches/cla) preferred;

*Excellent team building and leadership skills;

*Strong MS Office skills, including Excel;

*Good (FS 3 level) command of written and oral English and French.