The Organisation

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.

ROLE PROFILE

role PURPOSE

Plan International is a rights-based development and humanitarian organisation working for better lives for all children. We are independent of government and have no political or religious affiliation.

Our purpose is to strive for a just world that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We have been building powerful partnerships for children for more than 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries

Our global strategy has a specific focus on girls, as they are often the most marginalised and most often left behind. We have committed ourselves to the ambitious target of reaching 100 million girls over 5 years, to ensure they can learn, lead, decide and thrive. This is our contribution to reaching the sustainable development goals, and in particular the goals on gender equality.

Our organisation is transforming itself to meet this enormous challenge everywhere we work.

We need bold, forward-thinking and innovative individuals to lead our country operations, driving change and delivering results that will allow us to reach our target of 100 million girls

The Grants Compliance Manager will report to the Business Development Manager and directly supervise and coach two full time Grant Compliance Coordinators deployed in the country office. S/he is accountable for grant management with a strong focus on donor and National Organisation compliance in line with grant agreements.  This will support an increasing country grants portfolio through smooth running of grant management.

The Grant Manager will play a critical role in ensuring transparency, accountability, effective grant management and compliance in all aspects of Plan International Uganda’s grant portfolio.

Dimensions of the Role

• The Grants manager will ensure proper functioning of the entire grant management function.
• Proactively working with National Organisations (NOs) counterparts and a wide range of multilateral and bilateral donors to maximize quality grant management as well as donor compliance.
• Monitoring the entire grants management process from solicitation through to close out and ensuring proper compliance with all donor regulations.
• Playing a leadership role towards supporting Plan International Uganda in achieving rigorous financial and grants reporting and management.
• Taking responsibility for the implementation of the quality standards and related tools and materials that Plan Uganda uses to deliver effective grants for high quality programme delivery.
• Uphold Plan’s Core Values, promote mission and vision, programme principals (transparency, gender equity and diversity) and ensure modelling of Plan’s values among staff.
• A member of the Country Management Team (CMT)
• The Business Development Unit (BDU) consists of 4 persons and this role will supervise two Grants Compliance Coordinators.
• S/he will be based in Kampala Country Office with occasional travel to Programme Areas and will report to the Business Development Manager.

Accountabilities

• Organise and conduct grant start-up and close-out processes and workshops including orientation for Programme staff on grant/donor procedures and requirements, project timelines, budgets and other necessary compliance requirements.
• Initiate, draft and manage Funding Agreement Documents (FADs) and Sponsorship Project Agreement Documents (SPADs) and ensure they are submitted in a timely manner.
• Provide continuous oversight and support of compliance to donor procedures and requirements;
• Proactively engage with NOs and donors to build strong relationships backed with evidence of grant delivery. This includes facilitating donor/NO field visits in collaboration with the programmes and communications staff.
• Ensure that donor reports (both narrative as well as financial) are submitted timely to respective donors/NOs maintaining donor compliance;
• Implement an effective grant compliance and management system that provides assurance that all grants are being implemented as per quality standards and grant agreements;
• Provides periodic (monthly) grant reports to Plan Uganda Senior Management regarding financial and narrative submission deadlines, grant pipeline, business intelligence and opportunities.
• Responsible to ensure all grants have adequate apportioned costs that are then recovered and charged on a regular basis.
• Ensures project activities are implemented in line with approved project proposal and FADs, esp. with regards to compliance requirements
• Liaises regularly with all key internal departments (viz. Programme, Finance, Admin, Human Resource, Risk etc) to ensure there is a joined-up approach to the management of grants with regards to compliance requirements
• Supports capacity building on grants compliance and management and donor compliance requirements to both Plan’s staff and Plan’s international/local partners
• Contributes to the management of the annual operational budget of the Business Development Unit that is based at the Country Office.
• Coordinates funding gap analysis process, which helps to identify specific programmatic funding needs for prioritisation;
• Supports the BDM in identification of potential/suitable donors;
• Collaborates with the BDM to identify grant opportunities and provide inputs in grant proposal development based on needs;

• Child Protection and Gender Equality & Inclusion

Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Key relationships

Internal:

• Business Development Unit
• Country Programme and Country Operations Team
• Project Managers
• Programme Area Managers and field staff
• Plan International National Organisations

External:

• National and local authorities (national government, municipalities, etc.)
• Partners, civil society members and alliances
• Other INGO leaders and networks.
• Relevant UN cluster group, including UN and donor representatives

Technical expertise, skills and knowledge

Essential

• 3-5 years of leadership and grants compliance and management experience in a similar position in an INGO.
• Understanding of multiple donor policies and procedures particularly EU, DFID, GAC, MoFA, SIDA, USAID etc and UN Agencies
• Excellent planning, management and coordination skills, with the ability to organise a workload comprised of varying and changing tasks and responsibilities
• Experience of staff management, supervision and capacity building in grants management and compliance.
• Proven experience in effective donor reporting and communication.
• Ability to build relationships quickly with a wide variety of people
• Patient, flexible, able to improvise and communicate clearly and effectively under pressure
• Conceptional and analytical skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and the ability to analyse and synthesise complex issues will be essential as will strong networking, influencing and negotiation skills.

Desirable

• Knowledge and experience of gender transformative programing in the sectors of education, health, WASH, youth economic empowerment etc.
• Knowledge of child rights-based approach to programming

Behaviours

• Ability to maintain strategic vision and link with everyday work
• Clear and effective communication that builds relationships in order to influence others
• Proactively organises and manages performance
• Accountability and responsibility for own decisions
• Cooperates and work with team members
• Demonstrate high degree of professionalism and integrity
• Confident in taking initiative and exploring new opportunities
• Behaves consistently in approach to work and decision making
• Strongly drives performance in the area of responsibility with the team

Plan International’s Values in Practice

We are open and accountable

• Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.
• Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.
• Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.
• Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.
• Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people

We strive for lasting impact

• Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.
• Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.
• Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.
• Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.

We work well together

• Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
• Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
• Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
• Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

We are inclusive and empowering

• We empower our staff to give their best and develop their potential
• We respect all people, appreciate differences and challenge equality in our programs and our workplace
• We support children, girls and young people to increase their confidence and to change their own lives.

Physical Environment

Typical office environment with 25% travel locally in programme areas and internationally.

Level of contact with children

Mid contact: Occasional interaction with children

Additional Responsibilities:

Child Protection Policy Responsibilities (mandatory for all staff)

• Adhere to the Child Protection Policy, Code of Conduct and reporting any CPP issues.
• Responsible for the implementation of the CPP standards as they apply to area of responsibility plus the development of actions to address identified gaps and monitoring their effectiveness.
• Ensure that all Plan International partners, visitors and associates in his/her area of responsibility are provided with, are made aware off and have signed and returned a copy of the child protection policy. Inform the partners, visitors and associates that they must comply with the policy in all contacts and communications with children during their visit.