Position Title:  Grants Manager

Organization: Partners Albania for Change and Development (Partners Albania)

Location: Tirana, Albania

Employment type: Full-time position

Background: Partners Albania (PA) is an independent Albanian NPO established in 2001, working to support civil society and facilitate inter-sector cooperation in order to strengthen democratic institutions and advance economic development. PA has organized its interventions into four key programmatic areas:

1. Enabling Environment and Sustainable Development of CSOs, contributing to the empowerment of civil society actors and civic engagement through capacity-building programs, monitoring and advocacy for an enabling legal and practical environment for CSOs operation, and financial support for the sector.
2. Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation, developing and supporting the ecosystem of entrepreneurship and social enterprises (SEs) through research, advocacy, financial support mechanisms, expertise, and networking opportunities.
3. Philanthropic Activity and Support Infrastructure, developing and promoting philanthropic activity in the country through research, advocacy actions for an enabling environment, awareness raising, and promotion activities on the economic and social value of philanthropy.
4. Transparent and Accountable Participatory Governance contributing to the development and growth of civil society practitioners and public administration officials in their efforts to build strong institutions, manage open and transparent processes, and overcome corruption.

Responsibilities (General)

Partners Albania is seeking a Grants Manager, who will be responsible for the management of an EU-funded project sub-granting scheme, under the Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation (ESI) programmatic area.

The main objective of the programmatic area is to support the ecosystem of entrepreneurship and social innovation through 1) evidenced-based advocacy 2) integrated services as part of the DUA PARTNER INVEST platform to support startups and new enterprises 3) networking and institutional dialogue at the European level 4) promotion of self-employment through vocational education programs and support for women and youth to enter the labor market.

The Grants Manager participates in the preparation and implementation of the sub-granting scheme, in compliance with the rules and procedures of the donor and Partners Albania. She/He should carry out the responsibilities and duties described as below independently, with minimum supervision, but also in the context of a professional team.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Prepares the sub-granting scheme, including the application package and all related documents, in close collaboration with the Project Manager;
• Drafts the Call for Proposals, and all materials needed for the launching of the Call;
• Organizes the information sessions during the launch of the open call for proposals of the sub-granting scheme, in close collaboration with other members of the project team;
• Conducts the first administrative check and evaluation of the applications submitted, prepares relevant reports, and submits them to the Project Manager, providing recommendations on the applications submitted;
• Ensures effective management and administration of the sub-granting scheme, ensuring that contractual obligations are respected by all signatory parties;
• Keeps regular communication with sub-grantees, to ensure proper implementation of the sub-grants, in compliance with the methodology, plan of activities, timelines, products, and the budget approved;
• Coordinates with the Communication Manager to ensure wide outreach, promotion and visibility of the sub-grantees, through social and other media;
• Conducts adequate planning and monitoring of the sub-grantees, prepares periodic reports indicating progress towards expected results, and proposes plans of action;
• Participates in and monitors the activities of the sub-grantees, conducts monitoring visits in the field, and prepares monitoring reports;
• Revises and approves the narrative reports submitted by the sub-grantees, in compliance with the timelines stipulated in the sub-granting contract;
• Revises and coordinates with the Finance Manager for the approval of the financial reports and disbursement of funds to the sub-grantees, in compliance with the timelines stipulated in the sub-granting contract;
• Provides recommendations to improve the sub-granting scheme, based on the results of the monitoring and lessons learned from the implementation of the scheme.

Experience and Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Economics and Finance;
• At least 3 years of working experience in management of sub-granting schemes / financial support to third parties;
• Previous working experience with NPOs;
• Very good knowledge of Monitoring and Evaluation processes;
• Experience with implementation of EU procurement procedures;
• Able to work in a fast-paced environment;
• Very good interpersonal skills and abilities to develop and maintain effective working relationships with other members of the staff (teamwork) and third parties;
• Excellent command of spoken and written Albanian and English;
• Very good computer skills, data processing, and report writing.

Salary:  Commensurate with experience

Expected Start Date:  June 2023

Duration: Three (3) years, with potential for extension of the contract.

Application procedure:

Interested candidates are requested to apply, by submitting: 1) a cover letter indicating your interest and motivation, 2) a relevant CV (EU format) and copies of documents supporting your academic and/or professional experience, 3) a short essay about your experience and how it relates to the position (up to 500 words), 4) Three reference letters. Please, feel free to include any other documents that you think are relevant.

Only candidates that submit all the above-mentioned documents will be considered for review.

Please send your full application package with the heading “Application for Grants Manager” to ktavani@partnersalbania.org, no later than June 2^nd, 2023.

Partners Albania will contact only those applicants who will be invited for an interview. Before applying, we encourage applicants to consult Partners Albania’s webpage in order to familiarize themselves with our work.

Partners Albania embraces diversity in its hiring, welcoming individuals of all religions, ethnicity, gender, and orientation to apply.