Grants Support Officer at icipe - International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi, Kenya

    Posted

    4 days ago

    Apply by

    2 Sept

    Full Time
    On Site
    Mid
    Charity, NGO & Non-Profit
    Management & Business Development

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    Job Description

    The Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (Rsif) is the flagship program of the African Government-led Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET) that aims to address the human resource gap in the fields of applied sciences, engineering, and technology (ASET) by training high quality PhD and post-doctoral scholars and building research and innovation capacities in those fields in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The post holder will play a key role in supporting the implementation of the program's Research and Innovation Grants component, coordinating administrative and technical aspects to facilitate successful implementation of the funded research and innovation projects.

    Key Responsibilities

    • Assist the competitive selection process and onboarding of new grantees.
    • Support the review of narrative technical reports from grantees, analysing key issues and providing feedback loops to inform program implementation.
    • Track grantee project contract deliverables and timelines, sending regular reminders to grants project teams to ensure that they are on track to complete on time and alerting teams of possible challenges.
    • Support planning and implementation of key activities in annual workplans under the Research & Innovation component.
    • Liaise with finance teams to facilitate payments to grantees.
    • Update the Grants Monitoring & Evaluation Indicator Tracker based on the grantees project technical reports.
    • Update the Grants Management Information System (MIS) Database with relevant information for all grant projects.
    • Support the filing of relevant grant documents for grantees projects and overall grant close-out of projects.
    • Support development of knowledge dissemination products to share results of the research & innovation grant projects.
    • Participate in relevant meetings with grantees and other team members.
    • Perform any other tasks as assigned.

    Required Qualifications

    • Bachelor's degree in social sciences, international development, education, project management, or related field.
    • Certification in Project Management.
    • At least four years' experience in Grants or project management for a non-profit organization.
    • Experience in coordinating development programs.
    • Ability to identify procedural inefficiencies and make recommendations for improvements to systems and tools.
    • Ability to develop, organize and present information to small groups.
    • Advanced organizational and planning skills, project planning and management skills.
    • Proven ability to set priorities, meet deadlines and multi-task with minimal supervision.

    Job Details

    Job Function

    Management & Business Development

    Minimum Experience

    4 years

    Education Level

    Bachelor’s Degree

    Area of Study

    Social Sciences

    Field of Study

    Project Management

    Languages

    English

    Additional Information

    How to Apply: Interested and qualified? Go to icipe - International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology on recruit.icipe.org to apply.

    Show Grant-Lifecycle Savvy in Your Application

    This role sits at the heart of a flagship regional program, so the hiring team will be looking for someone who can juggle grantee reporting, deadlines, and data tracking without dropping the ball. Your application should prove you've handled grant cycles from kickoff to close-out.

    1. Map your experience to the grant lifecycle: Walk through a past grant you managed—from selection and onboarding to reporting and close-out. Use concrete numbers: how many grants, what value, how many grantees you supported. This shows you understand the full arc of the role.

    2. Highlight your MIS and tracker skills: The job explicitly mentions updating a Grants MIS Database and an M&E Indicator Tracker. If you've used tools like Salesforce, Open Data Kit, or even advanced Excel, say so. Give an example of how you kept data accurate and used it to inform decisions.

    3. Show your feedback loop mindset: The role involves reviewing technical reports and providing feedback to grantees. Prepare a story where your feedback helped a grantee improve their project outcomes or reporting quality. This demonstrates you're not just a paper-pusher but a partner in success.

    4. Prove your multi-tasking and deadline muscle: With multiple grantees and timelines, you'll need to prioritize. Describe a time you managed competing deadlines, how you organized your work, and the tools you used (e.g., Asana, Trello, Gantt charts). Show you can keep teams on track.

    5. Connect to the development sector: This is a non-profit role, so emphasize your experience in development programs. Talk about your understanding of donor requirements, reporting standards, and the importance of results-based management. If you've worked with international partners, even better.

    6. Prepare for competency questions: Expect questions like 'Tell me about a time you identified a procedural inefficiency and improved it.' Have a clear example with a problem, action, and result. Also, be ready to discuss how you handle grantees who are behind on deliverables.

    7. Tailor your CV to the job description: Use keywords from the posting—grants management, project management, M&E, MIS, workplans, close-out. Make it easy for the recruiter to see you match. Keep it to two pages, with a strong summary at the top.

    8. Show your communication finesse: The role requires presenting information to small groups and liaising with finance teams. Give examples of how you've communicated complex information clearly, whether in writing or in person. This shows you can handle the coordination aspect of the job.

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    Tags

    grants management
    project management
    monitoring and evaluation
    non-profit
    research