TIF - Grants Officer

Project Background:

The USAID/Lebanon Trade and investment Facilitation (TIF) Activity will facilitate the export of Lebanese goods and services to generate foreign exchange through investments and business enabling environment reform that simultaneously promote job creation, income generation, and improved livelihoods throughout the country. TIF has three objectives: 1) increased exports of Lebanese goods and services, 2) investment facilitation leading to increased domestic investment, and 3) improved business and investment enabling environment. Communicating results through outreach and sharing knowledge with private and public sectors is a crosscutting objective.

Purpose:

The Grants Officer will play a role in implementing the grants fund guided by the TIF work plan needs.  The individual will be responsible for learning and adherence to project’s Field Operations Manual (FOM), USAID regulations, contract requirements and limitations, grants policies, procedures, controls, and reporting systems. The individual will proactively coordinate with all staff on implementing grants through open communications. 

Responsibilities and Key Tasks:

Planning and Implementation

• Proactively sit with technical staff to listen to work plan ideas; assist with developing timeline required for any activities needing grants.
• Ensure compliance with USAID regulations and DAI Field Operations Manual grants policies, procedures, and instructions during implementation.
• Generate reports of status of grant activities, such as forecasting payments, inventory, amendments, close outs, and sector specific data (i.e. monthly and quarterly reporting).
• Coordinate with Finance and Technical teams to ensure on-time deliverables, payments, and cash flow requests by monitoring milestones and payment schedules.

Compliance

• Provide guidance and direction to project staff on planning, implementation, and compliance of grants policies, procedures, and instructions, specifically their role in the process.
• Responsible for ensuring documentation requirements are met with various departments, i.e. technical, procurement, and finance.
• Assist in the grants evaluation process and reach out to applicants with evaluation results.
• Assist in the grant pre-award assessment including reviewing applicant’s legal document, financial statements, relevant certifications…etc, and ensure all-pre-award documents are completed.
• Responsible for screening applicants, Key Individuals, grants staff, and trainees and assist on the vetting process. Ensure all required documentation is uploaded in the grants database, TAMIS, and the project’s shared files.
• Train on and enforce policies and procedures to prevent improprieties, intentional and unintentional.
• Assist in the audit of grant files no less than annually.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required. Degree in business or related field preferred.
• At least 3 years of professional experience, including increasingly responsible grants or procurement experience.
• Demonstrated experience working with diverse teams in a fast-paced environment.
• Previous experience with grants, procurement and management information system (MIS) database preferred.
• Ability to identify alternative solutions in solving complex problems.
• Strong communication skills - both written and oral – in English and Arabic.