We are hiring a Grants & Pipeline Lead
ABOUT SPARK MICROGRANTS
Spark Microgrants believes in a world where everyone lives with dignity and determines their own positive future. Decades of prescriptive aid have side-lined the poor from the very programs meant to uplift them. We believe in local solutions grounded in inclusive and community-based decisions and actions. At the heart of Spark’s model, the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP), are ‘town-hall’ style weekly meetings, in which women, men, young, old, plan together for their community’s future. Each village elects a leadership committee, establishes a village savings account, and launches a project of their choice. Members receive training on financial management, transparency, leadership, village planning, and advocacy. Each village then receives a village block grant and additional management support to operationalize their project ideas.
Spark trains partner organizations and works with governments to scale the FCAP to advance social and economic development, and secure lasting change. Spark is now active in 500+ villages in 6 countries, improving the lives of over 500,000 people.
As a team, we share a set of common values that shape how we work. These are:
- Facilitators. We don’t impose; we enable others to generate impact.
- Community-driven. We are motivated by what is best for the community.
- Process-centred. The how of what we do is just as important as the what.
- Authentic. Our vision and values live in everything we do.
- Dynamic. We seek opportunities and are willing to take risks to serve our community partners better.
ABOUT THE ROLE
The Grants & Pipeline lead will support Spark in bringing the FCAP to scale. They will be responsible for the successful management of bilateral/multilateral grants. The person will also lead on submission and pipeline of bilateral/multilateral facing funding opportunities. You will work closely with Spark’s East-Africa teams – initially the Rwanda team – to coordinate proposal submission, grant management, reporting, and donor relationships.
Spark’s is currently implementing the Advancing Citizen Engagement (ACE) Project – a World Bank supported project covering 249 villages in the Northern and Southern provinces in Rwanda from 2021-2024. You will directly lead reporting and grant management linked to the ACE project, while also supporting pipeline development across East Africa. You will directly report to the Spark Policy Director, and play a key role in strengthening funding partner relationships, towards the goal of developing a National Framework for Participatory Village Planning (NFPVP) in Rwanda by 2023.
We are looking for candidates with experience in coordinating and implementing bilateral or multilateral partnerships; who are energized about building a coalition across development partners and the government; and demonstrate operational excellence. The right candidate will not want to do ‘development as usual’ but question ‘how’ aid works. You will have a keen eye for compliance, be comfortable managing data and writing reports, and help to build and manage systems for grant management which meet funders needs, while ensuring that Spark’s program is ultimately accountable to the villages we serve. You will have a nuanced understanding of leveraging different functional teams to support your role.
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Pipeline Management & Proposal Writing
- Research leads and manage the addition of new opportunities into the pipeline.
- Liaise with teams in East Africa and the United States on content, strategy for proposals and impact numbers.
- Draft, review and submit grant proposals to bilateral and multilateral institutions.
- Lead on the drafting and circulation of strategic reports shared with all core stakeholders.
Grant reporting
- Ensure grants are well administered and that program and support teams are fully compliant with relevant donor regulations.
- Support implementation teams with work plans and workflow management, expenditure analysis and reporting, and cross-team coordination on aspects of project management and monitoring.
- Own all reporting timelines, requirements, and processes related to the ACE project, including collating, consolidating, and getting approval for reports with content from different teams.
- Support operational teams to understand and operationalise safeguarding requirements, monitoring frameworks, and other aspects of grant compliance.
- Support coordination across teams to design and deliver on grants, track progress, and flag any discrepancies between progress and the annual work plan and budget.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR:
- You are driven by a world with a strong civil society where communities are in the driving seat of local change
- You have relevant development experience, ideally in either community-driven development, governance, citizen engagement, social accountability, livelihoods, or other related areas and/or policy-driven change,
- You have an excellent track record of report writing for institutional, multilateral or bilateral donors, preferably for the World Bank, with strong writing, editing, and critical analysis skills
- You have supported or managed coordination of large projects, including successfully tracking activities against a project timeline and budget and ensuring clean audits and compliance checks, preferably for a large donor such as the World Bank
- You have a strong process orientation, have managed streamlined and effective compliance and reporting workstreams, and can show success in coordinating across teams
- You have supported or managed relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including donors and government actors.
- You have excellent written communication skills, preferably including experience writing reports and program documents
You have the cultural fit to work with us here at Spark, if:
- You are dynamic, self-driven, and proactively seek out feedback.
- You keep yourself organized, yet lift your head up to think strategically on the regular and relish the challenge of applying a range of approaches to answer complex questions.
- You are a leader with a passion for transforming bold ideas into actionable strategies. You drive new initiatives, embrace and push for change, and aren’t afraid to try something new.
- You are a facilitator, you listen intently, integrate feedback, and create an environment where everyone feels comfortable to speak up and develop ideas together.
- You drive thoughtful processes to make strategic decisions and problem solve. You collaborate and prioritize an inclusive process that can be replicated in the future.
- You are authentic. You speak your mind, and you live your values.
WHY WORK WITH US:
- You will be joining a dynamic team that hails from ten countries around the world and is committed to our vision
- You will have the freedom and autonomy to make your role your own. We want to hear your innovative ideas, your vision for the future, and your critical questions.
- We respect and value work-life balance and your need for downtime, vacation, and reflection.
- You will join a dynamic and growing organization with a clear pathway to learning and career advancement.
- We are looking for someone who is committed to this role for at least 2 years.
OTHER INFORMATION:
Location: Kigali, Rwanda preferred, other locations negotiable.
Application end date: Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, with preference given to early applicants.
Start Date: May/June 2022
HOW TO APPLY:
To apply, please submit an application with the required information by following this link: https://sparkmicrogrants.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=40&source=aWQ9MQ%3D%3D
- Attach your resume and cover letter
- Your cover letter should explain why your experience and background make you the ideal candidate for this position, and should be no more than one page.
- Upload a writing sample relevant to this position’s responsibilities.
- No calls, emails, visits, or recruiters associated with this position, please.
- Please do not contact Spark Microgrants to inquire as to the status of your application. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Equal Opportunity
Spark Microgrants provides equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals. Employment decisions at Spark are based on merit, qualifications, and abilities. Spark does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by the law. Spark will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities unless doing so would result in undue hardship to daily operations.
