Grants Assistant | Pretoria, South Africa | 2023

Chemonics seeks a Grants Assistant for the Power Africa Empower Southern Africa (ESA) Program funded by USAID. ESA is a 5-year regional program that covers South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Madagascar, Comoros and Sao Tome and Principe. The primary purpose of ESA is to increase the availability of, access to, and use of affordable, reliable, sustainable and clean energy in Southern Africa in order to reach measurable development outcomes. Measurable development outcomes include economic growth, reducing poverty, improving livelihoods, and increasing inclusive access to electricity-enabled services in such areas as health, education, sanitation, and food security. This position will be based in Pretoria, South Africa. We are looking for individuals who have a passion for making a difference in the lives of people and communities around the world.

Responsibilities include:

Operations & Logistics

• Coordinate and manages service contracts for office space, vehicles and equipment.
• Assists the Human Resource and Operations Director with the management of vendor relationships and maintains relationships with office building management and maintenance.
• Ensure successful in-house events, by organizing venues, setting up meeting rooms, ensuring IT equipment is working properly, and making sure the venue provides teas, snacks and lunches as needed.
• In collaboration with the Human Resource and Operations Director, maintains and tracks in country events; assists with travel, hotel accommodations, and in country transportation for all office-related travel, including local and international consultants.
• Monitor and manages the South Africa regional office inventory tracker, ensuring all inventory is tracked and updated regularly in alignment with Chemonics policies and procedures.
• Provides administrative support to Chemonics Washington teams utilizing the regional office as assigned.

Procurement

• In collaboration with the Human Resource and Operations Director assists with procurement tasks and that all procedures are adhered to by collect quotations from vendors, analyze quotations, conduct vendor reference checks, issue local purchase orders and subcontracts.
• Monitor and document the receipt of goods/services purchased, ensure procurement files are up to date on SharePoint, and follow up with suppliers for invoices and other documentation as required.
• Maintain procurement tracker and procurement filing system to ensure all PARs, POs, and other supporting documents are saved and easily identifiable.

Finance

• Undertakes petty cash duties, if required and assists the finance team with occasional expenses verifications i.e., phone invoices and travel vouchers.
• Support with following up of vendor payments and ensures proofs of payment are sent to suppliers.

Information Technology

• Provides basic IT troubleshooting support for South Africa regional office staff, liaising closely with headquarters IT & external technology partners to minimize disruptions in service.
• Provides D365 support to Chemonics Washington teams utilizing the South Africa regional office as assigned.

Security

• Ensure security procedures are followed and updates circulated to relevant staff.
• Work with the Safety and Security Focal Point (SSFP) to draft contingency plans, the emergency action plan, telephone tree, and emergency contact list.

Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree is required; a degree in accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related field is preferred.
• At least four years of relevant operations and logistics management experience in South Africa.
• Experience working for a multi-national organization is highly preferred.
• Familiar with the MS world, outlook, PowerPoint, and MS Excel software.
• Strong organizational and work prioritization skills with attention to detail.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective, sustainable relationships with the office staff and the general development and business community.
• Demonstrate leadership, versatility, and integrity.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English is required.