Grants & Procurement Assistant - ARE Activity

 BACKGROUND

The Lebanon Agriculture and Rural Empowerment (ARE) program is a multi-year project funded by USAID to develop rural economics in Lebanon through support to the agro-food sector and other industries to unlock local and export sales potential while also creating jobs and increasing farmers’ and worker’s incomes. ARE will increase jobs; improve incomes; improve female participation and employment opportunities; increase domestic and export sales; increase private sector investment; improve access to finance; link value chain actors to domestic and international markets; and improve farm production through improved practices, technology, increased volume, and/or decreased cost.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The Grants & Procurement Assistant will serve as a member of the Operations, Finance and Grants component, and will report to the Senior Grants and Procurement Manager. The Grants & Procurement Assistant will work closely with, and assist, two Grants Managers and a procurement specialist in performing evaluations and assessments of potential grantees, monitoring financial and operational implementation, and ensuring that close-out is done in accordance with all applicable Chemonics and USAID rules and regulations. The Grants & Procurement Assistant, under the direction of the Procurement Specialist, will also ensure that procurements are solicited using adequate price competition, and that they comply with all relevant USAID regulations and Chemonics policies.

DETAILED RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Specific Duties and Responsibilities _Grants

• Ensure Proper screening for applications received under Annual Program Statements (APS) or Requests for Applications (RFAs).
• Note-taking and drafting meeting minutes.
  • Arrange Grants meetings as needed.
• Assist in creating financial and administrative procedures for monitoring grant expenditures, including appropriate reporting and authority delegation;  
• Assist in managing the evaluation and selection committee process for potential grantees; 

• Assist in updating the Grants Database Tracker
• Keep complete files of all documentation generated with each grantee, including applications, contracts and deliverables, communications (posters, press releases, printed documents, media documents), documentation of emails and letters, brief records of all phone conversations; 
• Assist in documentation related to closeout of grant. 

• Promote the highest levels of honesty, integrity, openness and transparency in administering grants and subcontract award processes and procedures;  

• Travel to field locations, as needed, to support grants managers in negotiations, implementation, and close-out;  
• Perform any other relevant duties as assigned by the Senior Grants and Procurement Manager and/or the Operations, Finance, and Grants Director.  

2. Specific Duties and Responsibilities _Procurement

• Arrange procurement meetings as needed.
• Assist the procurement specialist in ensuring that all procurements are compliant with USAID regulations and Chemonics policies.
• Works directly with local, regional, or international vendors and service providers to obtain quotations and/or initiate procurements of requested commodities and services.
• Assist in issuing written solicitations (Request for Quotations and Request for Proposals, etc.) on behalf of operations and/or technical teams and participates on selection panels to ensure transparency and compliance at all steps.
• Assist the Procurement specialist in Liaising with vendors and subcontractors throughout the procurement process: arranges bidder meetings; compiles clarification questions from bidders and work with the ARE operations and/or technical teams to prepare responses; coordinates evaluation committees; vets vendors and service providers; etc.
• Responds in a timely manner to procurement requests as needed.
• Makes efforts where possible to streamline the procurement process through establishing appropriate agreements with vendors.
• Assists operations staff on the procurement of commodities and professional services for the field office.
• Monitors contracts and purchase orders issued to vendors and follow up as necessary to ensure compliance with terms and conditions.
• Maintains the overall integrity of the procurement filing system by ensuring that appropriate documentation is included in each procurement file.
• Assists with record management by filing, scanning, and maintaining documents.
• Maintain an updated procurement tracker.
• Keeps the Vendor Database up to date.
• Ensure proper screening for vendors
• Travels as required to inspect equipment at delivery sites.
• Assists in preparing periodic inventory reports to USAID, as required.
• Perform any other relevant duties as assigned by the Senior Grants and Procurement Manager and/or the Operations, Finance, and Grants Director.  

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or relevant field
• Minimum of two years of experience preferably working on donor-funded projects in a related role and with demonstrated financial skills experience; Applied financial/business skills in agricultural programs are a plus.
• Demonstrated experience in assisting technical teams in day-to-day program operations, basic financial modeling and analysis, and report writing.
• Knowledge of USAID, or other donors preferred.
• Excellent/fluent written and spoken English and Arabic.
• Excellent knowledge in Microsoft Office specifically Excel.

LOCATION OF ASSIGNMENT

The Grants & Procurement Assistant will be based in the project’s main office in Beirut, with travel throughout the country as needed.

REPORTING

The Grants & Procurement Assistant will report to the Senior Grants & Procurement Manager.