Grants and Fundraising Manager

BACKGROUND

Welbodi Partnership (WP) is a UK-registered charity working to reduce maternal and child mortality and morbidity in Sierra Leone. Since 2008, Welbodi Partnership has worked in partnership with hospital management, health facility staff, and the Ministry of Health to improve maternal and child health outcomes in Sierra Leone. We do this through a range of bold innovative partnerships models across health system strengthening activities, healthcare worker training, hospital improvement projects, research and community engagement.

Our vision is that all women and children in Sierra Leone will have access to effective essential healthcare services characterised by respect and dignity for all. Our mission is to build the capacity and effectiveness of the health system in Sierra Leone using evidence-based practice to reduce the number of women and children who are sick, suffer, or die unnecessarily.

The organisation’s guiding principles are:

1. Deliver Lasting Results
2. Working in Partnership
3. Quality improvement and patient safety
4. Valuing People
5. Evidence Based Approach

For further information, please see: www.welbodipartnership.org

CONTEXT

One in ten children in Sierra Leone die before their fifth birthday, mainly from preventable and treatable diseases. A lot of work remains to be done if Sierra Leone is to reach Sustainable

Development Goal 3; ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages. Whilst there are interventions which address child health, there are few providing the high-level technical support needed, meaning care remains rudimentary? There is an urgent need for quality tertiary healthcare for children, requiring trained staff and well-equipped facilities to enable clinicians to make appropriate decisions about care.

The maternal mortality rate (MMR) in Sierra Leone is the highest in the world, 1 in 17 women are will die during pregnancy or childbirth. Maternal deaths account for 36% of all deaths in women aged between 15-49 years. Although not all deaths in the community may be accounted for due to low levels of reporting, maternal death review and surveillance reports indicate that the majority of these women will die in a health facility (81.8%).

The recent Ebola outbreak highlighted severe challenges to Sierra Leone’s health system: a limited health workforce in numbers and quality, ineffective supply chains and challenged management systems. Sierra Leone has one of the weakest health infrastructures in the world and continues to be liable to outbreaks and other considerable public health issues.

ODCH is a national teaching hospital with over 300 clinical staff; around 75% are nurses, as well as a continuous stream of nursing and medical students who rotate through the facility as a part of their undergraduate training. Since students and junior doctors, who may later take up jobs at district hospitals, have mandatory rotations through the paediatric hospital, our capacity building work has the potential to impact the quality of clinical care across the country.

MAIN PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

Welbodi Partnership is looking for a strategic-thinking, analytic, and multidonor-grounded grants senior leader with the ability to oversee fast-paced resources/funding oversight whilst ensuring best practices in compliance. We are looking for an incumbent with experience in donor relationships management, country portfolio resourcing, large complex grants administration and pedigree in single entity and consortium structure compliance processes.

The successful candidate will report to the Country Director and provide inputs towards annual strategic planning, grants mapping and resourcing cycle tracking processes with backstopping responsibility to identify, track, manage, and improve grants, country office and partners compliance processes and systems.

Key Responsibilities:

Reporting to the Country Director with oversight mandate of donor controls; the Grants and Fundraising Manager will deliver the following:

Donor reporting, grants regulations/performance and contracts management

• Lead the drafting, reviews, submission, and feedback Processes involved in all grant cycles.
• Provide support to programmes implementation teams on donor standards/requirements for key submissions.
• Under Country Director Supervision, lead management to review grant contracts for alignment with extant laws and labour standards.
• Conduct regular, necessary, and timely budget variance analysis (BVA) processes/reports.
• Guide the Finance teams in PFR (period financial review) processes for institutional grants.
• Track under- or overspend across grants and mitigate poor performance of donor contracts.
• Lead the programmes implementation, finance, and operations teams to ensure careful adherence to Welbodi partnership as well as donor/grants contracts compliance including adherence to supply chain/procurement and financial management and policies and procedures.
• Serve as the pivot between the program implementation and operations/finance side of Welbodi and in aligning Welbodi Grants health with country office program quality.
• Keep up to date with donor regulations, especially relating to the NIHR, FCDO, USAID, JICA, EU, Irish Aid, KFW, SIDA, NORAD, GAC, QFFD, WAHO, and others, and communicate relevant changes to staff and partners, ensuring links with headquarters in terms of global donor strategies and updates on regulations.
• Support the Welbodi Country Office in administering donor/grant team checks and balances including desk-based reviews, periodic audits etc.
• In collaboration with the Country Director, review and sign relevant grants and contracts amendments in line with Welbodi Partnership strategic direction.

Strategic Excellence and compliance standards

• Conduct periodic grants performance review sessions with the finance, operations, and programs implementation teams.
• Conduct continuous real-time performance tracking against Grants’ KPIs.
• Under supervision of the Country Director and in collaboration with management teams, develop strategies and donor compatible internal systems to sustain high compliance performance across the Welbodi Country Program.
• In collaboration with Operations, Finance and Programs implementation teams carry out high quality reporting of all institutional funding grants/ contracts in Sierra Leone.
• Support overall overarching compliance of all teams to Welbodi Partnership high standards of operations.

Resourcing, grants strategy, portfolio management

• Facilitate and participate in periodic planning Processes for all donor submissions.
• Identify and engage key stakeholders relevant to nurturing Welbodi Partnership’s in-country portfolio.
• Participate in and facilitate decision making around resourcing, fund raising, and commitment of WP to contract processes.

Compliance policies’ development, cascade, and risk management

• With the oversight of the Country Director, assess relevant compliance policy needs to improve Welbodi Partnership internal systems.
• Conduct regular central and field level checks for relevant policy compliance.
• With the Country Director, the Grants and Fundraising Manager will identify, Isolate, mitigate, manage, and prevent live and potential Welbodi Country Program operational risks.
• Maintain and update in-country risks register in line with global best practices.
• Develop a risk and compliance RAG rating system for grants and donor processes.

All other duties/functions as designated by Welbodi Partnership Country Director in line with the Country Program strategic priorities.

Skills

• Familiarity with performance management tools and systems including MRPs (monthly reporting packs), MERs (month end reviews), SUN, Info BI.
• Demonstrated management and organisational skills, with meticulous attention to detail.
• Strategic and innovative thinker with proven ability to communicate a vision.
• Excellent IT, interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated financial skills: budget monitoring and financial reporting.
• Demonstrated problem solving skills: providing solutions to challenging situations.
• Demonstrated management skills in emergency situations.
• Ability to communicate complex ideas with others.
• Ability to learn and apply new skills and techniques on the job.
• Ability to work effectively with others in a cross-cultural environment, as a leader and influencer.

Personal attributes

• Auditable pedigree in resource/contracts management
• Integrity and an ethos of incorruptibility.
• Motivated and hardworking.
• Openness to learn, relearn and unlearn.
• Strong ability to manage time well and work to multiple and strict deadlines under pressure.
• Reliable and conscientious approach to duties.
• Passionate about improving maternal healthcare in Sierra Leone and a keen interest in Health System Strengthening.
• Absolute commitment to teaching and learning and skills improvement of others.

Other

• Fluent written and spoken English.
• Willingness to accept basic living and working conditions.
• Commitment to the goals and principles of Welbodi Partnership.

DESIRABLE CRITERIA

Qualifications

• Bachelors and/or Masters qualification/degree(s) in grants management, accounting, business administration, public health, or another related field.
• Additional Post-graduate certifications and charters are an added advantage. (and/or background of relevant pedigree in fast-paced performance-driven social enterprise organizations is also equivalent).

Experience

• Previous experience working in business-focused health organizations with social enterprise models and performance tracking tools such as SUN, Power/Info BI, Kobocollect is critical
• Experience in local partner, consortium partner oversight and management are key.
• Familiarity with donor registration platforms like PADOR is an advantage.
• Familiarity with NGO sector compliance requirements with the Government of Sierra Leone.
• At least four years’ upper middle/senior management experience is preferred.
• Management- level experience to include contracts oversight, budgets holding responsibility, fundraising, operations, and finance management.
• Experience in proposal and report writing with a proven ability to secure donor funding.
• Experience in the charity sector and/or in impoverished, post-conflict, or other challenging environments.

**We are open to considering exceptional and committed candidates with less management experience if they possess the energy and skill set to drive our organisation forward.

Knowledge

Knowledge of relevant evidence-based approaches to improving maternal, neonatal, and child health, and of national and international strategies and frameworks in these areas.

Other

Fluency in Krio and/or other local languages desirable.

GENERAL POLICIES PROCEDURES AND PRACTICES

In addition to the key job responsibilities detailed in this job description all employees and volunteers at Welbodi Partnership are expected to comply with the general duties outlined below and detailed in full in our policies.

SAFEGUARDING

Welbodi Partnership is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults. All staff and volunteers are therefore expected to behave in such a way that supports this commitment. Applicants for this position should be aware that if successful, they will be requested to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, or equivalent in countries other than the UK. The Welbodi Partnership complies fully with the DBS Code of Practice.

DATA PROTECTION

Welbodi Partnership complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY

Welbodi Partnership is committed to a comprehensive policy of Equal Opportunities in volunteering and employment in which individuals are selected and treated based on their relevant merits and abilities and are given equal opportunities within the organisation. It is the Welbodi Partnership’s policy as an employer to treat all people equally irrespective of race, ethnic origin, nationality, sex, marital or parental status, gender, sexual orientation, creed, disability, age, or political belief.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Welbodi Partnership operates in tertiary and primary healthcare facilities in one of the world’s poorest countries. Consequently, working conditions can be challenging, including many things we take for granted in other working environments, such as running water, power, communications, staff competency and regular supplies of essential medicines and equipment – many of these things are not a given in the environments where we work. Whilst every reasonable effort is made to ensure a safe working environment, this is a challenging context, much of which is out of our control. Welbodi Partnership places a strong emphasis on staff health and well-being and strives to always ensure staff comfort.

JOB REVISION

This job description should be viewed as a guide to the duties required and is not definitive or restrictive in any way. The duties of the post may be varied from time to time in response to changing circumstances.

SALARY/BENEFITS

Based on job competency alignment to internal pay scales. The full remuneration package will be discussed with shortlisted candidates.