The Grants and Partnerships Specialist plays a key role in ensuring effective and efficient grants management, compliance, and partnership coordination for the a multi-donor facility working on localisation in Sudan and the region. This position oversees the grants lifecycle, provides guidance to partners/local actors, and ensures compliance with donor regulations and Fund standards.**
Experience and Technical Competence** **
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Minimum 3 years of experience in grants management within the NGO/INGO or donor sectors.
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Proven expertise working with institutional donors (e.g., FCDO, EU, ECHO, SIDA, NORAD).
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Strong understanding of donor regulations and compliance.
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Experience working in Sudan and strong understanding of the Sudan context.
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Ability to prioritise workloads, meet deadlines, and adapt to complex environments.
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Previous experience in partnership management and capacity building.
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Fluent written and spoken Arabic language.
Desirable:****
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Experience working with Dynamics, SAP, Oracle, or similar ERP systems.
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Familiarity with Power Apps or internal grants systems development.
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Experience working with Group Cash Transfer mechanism.
Education****
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University degree in international development, business administration, political science, or a related field.
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Certifications in grants or partnership management are an advantage.
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Grants and Partnership:**
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Support the development and execution of application processes, including guidelines, templates, and evaluation criteria.
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Support partners on proposal development, conduct due diligence and vetting processes for partner organisations, ensuring compliance with donor and Fund standards.
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Prepare and administer grant agreements and amendments in coordination with the Partnerships and Grants Manager and partner onboarding.
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Provide Technical Assistance Facility linkages, especially on partner monitoring and provide capacity building support to partners on grants management, compliance, and reporting.
Grants Management and Compliance**:**
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Oversee the development and roll-out of the Fund Grant Management System (GMS).
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Ensure partners comply with grant conditions, Fund Operations Manual, and donor requirements.
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Update and maintain the Fund risk register and dashboard, addressing high-risk areas.
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Monitor grant implementation, ensuring timely and quality submission of financial and narrative reports.
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Follow up in regular meetings with the partners and ensure timely escalation of risks and challenges.
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Liaise closely with the Operations Manager to ensure that grants are processed in a timely manner.
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Track partner spending against budgets and flag variances.
Technical Support and Capacity Building:****
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Support partners in developing procurement plans, risk registers, capacity-building strategies, and staffing plans.
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Provide partner training on grant report writing, donor compliance, and operational procedures.
Administrative Support and Reporting**:**
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Ensure all grant-related documents are appropriately uploaded and backed up in the GMS or other systems.
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Maintain detailed records of grants, including applications, reports, and feedback letters.
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Coordinate review meetings with partners and follow up on action points.
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Review partner reports on a rolling basis as per submissions and provide qualitative feedback.
Stakeholder Engagement:**
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Coordinate with internal stakeholders, including MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning), TAF, support teams, to ensure robust oversight of projects.
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Provide an effective interface with prospective and current fund partners.