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 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

The USG made public the new Post-Earthquake USG Haiti Strategy: Toward Renewal and Economic Opportunity on January 3, 2011. This five-year strategy has two objectives: 1) to catalyze economic growth through investments in agriculture, energy and infrastructure; and 2) to ensure long-term stability through investments in public institutions.

While new USAID programming is coming on board over the next year, USAID/OTI is well-positioned to support the USG’s reconstruction and long-term development plan. This plan seeks to support new and diverse economic opportunities in key development corridors (Port-au-Prince, Saint Marc and Cap Haitian) using focused and catalytic investments in four focus areas or “pillars” of investment critical to achieving economic growth and stability: (A) infrastructure and energy, (B) food and economic security, (C) health and other basic services, and (D) governance and rule of law.

USAID/OTI programming will remain responsive to urgent priorities as they arise and cross-cutting in support of these four pillars. However, given the timing of future programming and the comparative advantages that USAID/OTI brings, the HRI program will focus on:

• Contributing significantly to return of thousands of IDPs to no more than three (3) residential neighborhoods in greater Port-au-Prince;
• Supporting local governments and communities in the ‘development corridors’ so that they are better prepared to absorb and benefit from long-term USG resources; and
• Enhancing the Government of Haiti’s ability to govern effectively in key sectors.

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 Assistant will support the Grants Manager in ensuring grants compliance with USAID rules and regulations after award and adherence to Chemonics grants management policies, procedures, and practices. S/he will be responsible for the administrative aspects of grants management, including conducting reference check and database checks and managing the grants documents from activity start to close out. S/he will also work with the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer and Information Officer to share grant implementation data in HRI’s monitoring mechanisms. The Grants Assistant will report to the Grants Manager.

Tasks

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

1) Responsible for grant documentation and compliance with USAID rules and regulations. Maintains grant files up-to-date (both hard and soft copies).
2) Responsible for regular monitoring of grant activities. Under the supervision of the Grants manager, contributes to the activity note.
3) Ensures that proper documentation is prepared in a timely fashion. Assists with building strong relationship/partnership with grantees.
4) 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.
5) Works with the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer to assess performance of grantees and to inform impact assessment of projects, as needed.
6) Other duties as assigned by the Grants Manager or other HRI program leadership.

Job Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• 2 years of progressively responsible experience in administration or grants management.
• Experience in project administration tasks, including filing and ,budgeting
• Attention to detail.
• Adherence to deadlines.
• Experience with a USAID-funded project preferred.
• Proficiency in French and Haitian Creole required; English proficiency strongly preferred.

The employee will report to the Grants Manager. Chemonics may amend the SOW for this assignment in consultation with the employee.