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 Grant Manager is responsible for serving as the point person for HRI activities, from beginning to end (from the activity development phase to the activity closeout phase). As part of the activity development cycle, the grant manager shall work on identifying potential grantees and designing and developing grants and other programmatic activities. S/he will work with representatives from relevant GoH representatives, local and international NGOs, community-based organizations, media outlets, and other organizations through transparent consultative processes to design grants, STTA, and direct procurements. The Grants Manager is also responsible for the implementation of grant activities and will work with grantees, GOH structures and suppliers to mobilize resources. Under the supervision of the Senior Program Officer, she/he 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 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 Senior Program Officer.

S/he will be required to work independently or as part of a team to prioritize multiple work assignments in an extremely fast-paced environment to meet deadlines and to exercise good, professional judgment that reflects positively on the image and communicates the established program message of HRI. In collaboration with OTI, the chief of party, and other staff, the grant manager will also engage in on-going strategic and political context analysis required to design and implement effective and relevant activities.

Tasks

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

• Identify potential grantees, and work with them to design and develop grant concepts and activities, through networking and outreach, under the overall strategic guidance of the OTI Country Representative and the supervision of the Senior Program Officer.
• Proactively identify and conceptualize potential activities that respond to the political situation in Haiti and HRI’s established program objectives.
• Develop budgets in accordance with standard templates and in collaboration with the compliance and procurement teams.
• Provide technical assistance to grantees and potential grantees during the program development process and in the implementation process.
• Use the HRI-developed Activity Idea Template (AIT) and Yellow Concept Note (YCN), as well as the OTI Activity Database for grant writing
• Liaise with Compliance team to determine the appropriate implementation mechanism for each specific grant prior to activity submission to OTI
• Liaise with the HRI Engineering team to develop scopes of work for Infrastructure-related RFPs
• Works with potential consultants to complete biodata forms for revision by the Compliance team
• Conduct regular monitoring of grant activities and performance monitoring of grantees, and documents visits through the Activity Notes included as part of the OTI Activity Database.
• Ensures that grant documentation is prepared in a timely fashion for review by the compliance team, presents grant documents to grantees for signature.
• Works with Procurement Manager to submit procurement action requests (PARs).
• Monitors activity expenses against activity budgets
• Receives and provides program concurrence for grantee and subcontractor invoices for compliance team's review, approval, and submission to finance department
• Ensures that in-kind procured materials are delivered to grantees in a timely manner.
• Works with the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer to assess performance of grantees and inform impact assessment of projects, as needed.
• Other duties as assigned

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• At least three years of progressively responsible experience in project design, development, and management of development-type projects.
• Experience in grants management and budgeting, specifically in assuring procurement, disbursements, logistics, and programmatic aspects are implemented on-time and according to approved specifications.
• Strong written and verbal communications skills required
• Ability to work in a professional and cordial manner with fellow staff members, visitors, partner institutions including international and local NGOs, governmental entities, and the general public.
• 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 Senior Program Officer. Chemonics may amend the SOW for this assignment in consultation with the employee.