Background

On January 12, 2010 an earthquake registering over 7.0 on the Richter scale struck the Republic of Haiti killing more than 200,000 people, displacing over a million and affecting a total of 3,000,000.
The epicenter of the quake was close to Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince, destroying and heavily damaging homes, schools, churches, and critical infrastructure. The Government of Haiti (GoH) was also devastated by the earthquake, which destroyed most public buildings and records and took the lives of many key staff. More than one year after the earthquake, Haiti’s peace and recovery are threatened by a growing cholera epidemic, a disputed national election and challenging political transition, abject poverty, and lack of basic services. The goal of USAID/OTI’s efforts in Haiti post-earthquake is to reinforce stability and lay the foundation for longer term development.

In January 2010, USAID/OTI launched an 18-month-long quick-response program in partnership with Chemonics known as Haiti Recovery Initiative (HRI), or An’n Leve Kanpe (“Let’s stand up together!”) in Haitian Creole. Over the course of the last year, activities have focused primarily on the following three country objectives:

1.) Community Stabilization
2.) Enabling the GoH to Function
3.) Increasing Citizen Engagement

In recent months there have been two significant developments which have shaped – and will continue to shape – OTI’s program over the next year. First, a new USG assistance strategy for Haiti, which has been under discussion and review for the last year, is due to be formally approved in the coming months. Second, presidential elections are taking place which will usher in a new government. OTI will seek to engage with this new government and reinvigorate its efforts to provide material and technical assistance to the GOH in key areas of state functioning. Country program objectives are expected to shift over the life of the program to account for changes in the political environment.

USAID/OTI has been working with Chemonics under the follow-on to HRI (known as HRI-II) since March 14, 2011, and the program is expected to run for a period of 18 months.

Position Purpose

The Grants Manager is responsible for the implementation of grant activities and will work with grantees, GOH structures and suppliers to mobilize resources. Under the supervision of the Deputy Chief of Party, she/he will ensure grants compliance with USAID rules and regulations after award and adherence to Chemonics’ grants management, policies and practices. The grants manager will be the primary focal point for grant implementation and maintenance of grant files. She/he will also work with the HRI procurement unit to define and procure in-kind contributions and oversee and monitor project implementation. She/He will work with the Program Development Specialists to incorporate lessons learned from program implementation in grant development. She/He will also work with the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer and Information Officer to input grant implementation data in HRI’s monitoring mechanisms. The Grants Manager will report to the Deputy Chief of Party.

Tasks

The principal tasks to be completed under this SOW are as follows:

• Responsible for implementation of activities under the GoH operations and support to Haitian media components of HRI.
• Responsible for grant documentation and compliance with USAID rules and regulations.
• Responsible for regular monitoring of grant activities through the Activity Note and the OTI Activity Database.
• Supervises Grants Assistant and ensures that proper documentation is prepared in a timely fashion. Along with Grants Assistant, contributes to building strong relationship/partnership with grantees.
• Works with Program Development Specialists to inform program development, building on lessons learned from implementation in consultation with other teams at Chemonics and OTI.
• Works with Procurement Manager to maintain proper documentation of disbursement and purchase requests. Makes sure that disbursements are up-to-date and in-kind procurements are delivered to grantees.
• Works with the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer to assess performance of grantees and inform impact assessment of projects, as needed.
• Other duties as assigned

Job Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Three years of progressively responsible grants management work experience.
• Experience in grants management and budgeting, specifically in assuring procurement, disbursements, logistics, and programmatic aspects are implemented on-time and according to approved specifications.
• Familiar with USAID grants management rules and regulations.
• Experience in community participation projects, experience working with host country counterparts.
• Ability to interface between GOH and beneficiary communities.
• Proficiency in French and Haitian Creole required; English proficiency strongly preferred.

The employee will report to the Deputy Chief of Party for Implementation. Chemonics may amend the SOW for this assignment in consultation with the employee.

Recruitment HRI II

2011-04-08