Job Details

Awards & partnerships assistant - Kenya Country OfficeTeam/programme: Awards Department     Location:  Nairobi Grade: 5    Child safeguarding: Level 3-  the role holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. Once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. Four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work in country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.Role purpose: 
The purpose of this post is to support the awards & partnerships management team in the planning, securing and managing of both development and humanitarian awards. The position involves supporting award information management and compliance with systems and processes. Under the direction of the head of awards and the awards coordinator, the role will be responsible for supporting the team to adhere to all award management and partnership obligations internally within save the children and externally with donors and partners. This role will work closely with pdq, finance, internal controls and compliance, and program operations on proposal support, award management system (A.M.S) support, financial and narrative reporting, budget monitoring and analysis, donor compliance processes as well as partner mapping, engagement and oversight.  In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.
Scope of role:
Reports to: Head of Awards and Partnerships
Key contacts: Awards and Partnerships Coordinator, Program Operations, Finance, I.C.C, and P.D.Q.
Dimensions: Save the Children has been operational in Kenya since the 1950s, supporting children through both development and humanitarian relief programs. These initiatives are delivered directly and in collaboration with local partners. Our current programming focuses on child protection, child rights governance, education, health, HIV/AIDS, livelihoods, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).
In 2012, as part of a global reorganization, Save the Children unified the operations of Save the Children UK, Canada, and Finland into a single entity in Kenya. In February 2014, we completed a second transition by merging with the British INGO Merlin, integrating their health and nutrition programs into our portfolio. Today, Save the Children maintains an operational presence in Nandi, Kajiado, Dadaab Refugee Camp, Kakuma Refugee Camp, Garissa, Mandera, Turkana, and Wajir, and works through partners in many other regions across the country. We employ approximately 230 staff, including members of the Global team who are hosted and hired in Kenya, but support Save the Children International (SCI) global operations. In 2025, our annual operating budget was approximately USD 20 million.
Staff directly reporting to this post: None
Key areas of accountability:
Proposal development
•    Work with the relevant teams such as project managers, supply chain, business development and technical specialists to support the timely completion of the proposal and awards risk tool (part) as well as support in ensuring timely uploading to ams.
•    Support in ensuring all award documentation at opportunity and proposal stage is managed, processed and uploaded onto awards management system (ams) in a timely manner and that the related workflows are run in a timely manner.Compliance (systems, processes, donor)
•    Learn and follow sci processes especially around awards and partnership management.
•    Understanding of the awards management system (ams) and driving data quality .
•    Ensure that ams is effectively maintained, up to date and accurately records the audit trail for all awards and partner records.
•    Ability to use ams reporting to monitor awards and plan for key processes around partner reporting.
•    Basic understanding of donor compliance and development of compliance checklists if needed.
Portfolio management, monitoring and analysis
•    Provide management information to the am team via a portfolio analysis report for the periodic functional meeting showing information on awards in pipeline, active awards, awards under amendment, high-risk awards and closed awards.
•    Support into getting high quality ‘donor ready’ reports as designated by the awards coordinator.
•    Financial analysis skills to perform award monitoring processes and support in identifying any issues for further analysis
•    Support in ensuring donor budget lines (drcs) in ams are as needed for donor reporting requirements especially for directly received awards.
•    Maintain and update the income and funding tracker and any other management information system that require award management input on a timely basis
•    Support and ensure award kick off meetings are done promptly.  
•    Lead in developing award progress review meetings (aprms) templates for the monthly review meetings as well as sharing calendar invites with all relevant teams in a timely manner.
•    Support in coordinating with pdq, program operations and finance to ensure close out meetings are conducted in a timely manner. 
•    Ensure that all meetings are minuted and these minutes filed on ams and follow up action points well captured.
•    Lead in ams close out of awards that are due for close out as well as close follow with relevant functions and member offices for the few awards in close out back log
Partnership management
•    Create partner records in ams and submit for legal vetting.
•    Maintain partner records so that inactive partner records are archived. 
•    Lead in initiating partner contracts and amendments as well as running the related workflows on ams.
•    Support in planning partner monitoring visits and coordinating with other functions as relevant
•    Lead in initiating of timely partner payments
•    Lead in coordinating monthly partner progress review calls
•    Lead in timely close out of partner agreements on ams for ended partner contracts.
Awards management system champion
•    Manage user permissions in ams and ensure user lists in ams are kept up to date. 
•    Ensure handover of award responsibilities in ams (such as award point persons, person responsible for report submission etc.) When staff members leave their positions.
•    Support in providing orientation to award and non-award staff that need to use ams. 
•    Monitor award data quality in ams and liaise with relevant award managers to improve it. Provide monthly data quality reports and analysis to am team. 
•    Participate in the ams champions’ network and share experience, tips and best practices on usage of ams. Identify trends of issues and report to the team.
•    Build capacity of staff on ams use.
Developing self and others
•    Work with other team members to support team activities and outputs
•    Build relationships with members of other teams/functions within the organization
•    Involvement in capacity building to build skills in awards and partnerships management
Communicating with impact, negotiation and coordination
•    Effective and efficient communication with the other team members of the awards and partnerships team to ensure seamless delivery
•    Communication with budget holders, other program staff, pdq, finance and partners to obtain inputs into key processes and up to date budget figures
 
BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)Accountability:
•    Holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
•    Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.Ambition:
•    Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
•    Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
•    Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.Collaboration:
•    Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
•    Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
•    Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.Creativity:
•    Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
•    Willing to take disciplined risks.Integrity:
•    Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrityQualifications  
•    Professional qualification in business and/or international development, finance/accounting or similar
Experience and skills
•    University degree in international development, business administration, finance and/or accounting or related field
•    Experience managing grants, contracts & sub agreements with knowledge of major funders’ guidelines  
•    Relevant experience managing donor funded projects with international ngo’s particularly those addressing human/children’s rights and those applying partnership approaches 
•    Strong analytical skills, computer literacy and excellent documentation skills are necessary.
•    Ability to work well with a team and establish relationships with other teams/offices
•    Cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. 
•    Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing and negotiation
•    Experience working with implementing partners and managing partner awards/grants 
•    Excellent time management and planning capacityAdditional job responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.Equal opportunities 
The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the sci equal opportunities and diversity policies and procedures.Health and Safety
The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.
THE ORGANIZATION
We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realise the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.
We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:
No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday.
All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
Violence against children is no longer tolerated.
Save the Children is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to employ and assign the best-qualified talent.
Female Candidates are encouraged to apply.
Disclaimer:
Beware that there are individuals who may take and use SCI’s name in an attempt to solicit fees from interested job-seekers. We do not use recruiting persons or agencies to help us identify candidates for employment. If you’re contacted by a person promising you recruitment or placement at SCI for a charge, do not accept, and please get in touch with us at SCIFraud@savethechildren.org.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.