Subawards Specialist - USAID DRM Activity at Research Triangle Institute (RTI)

Subawards Specialist - USAID DRM Activity

Employer: Research Triangle Institute (RTI)

Employment: Full-Time | Contract

Place of Work: Addis Ababa, Addis Abeba - Ethiopia

Posted date: 7 months ago

Deadline: Submition date is over

Research Triangle Institute (RTI) has over 30 years of experience assisting governments, communities, and the private sector. As a not-for-profit, independent research institute based in North Carolina, USA, RTI has roughly 6,000 employees with global experience implementing international development projects. RTI's Sustainable Growth & Resilience (SG&R) technical unit within the International Development Group brings together RTI experts and capabilities across food security, agriculture, energy, environment, water, governance, and economic opportunity. SG&R will leverage RTI's experience designing and delivering multisectoral programming and technical solutions to respond to climate change, build resilience, and promote economic growth around the world.

SG&R’s Global Food Security and Agriculture portfolio is working to strengthen agricultural markets, engage youth and women as critical leaders in the workforce, address climate change, and tackle the dual burden of malnutrition around the globe. RTI’s work is helping foster stronger food systems, build resilience to climate and man-made shock, and engage the next generation of local leaders. RTI is currently partnering on nearly 30 projects in East Africa, including activities focused on private sector-driven agricultural growth in Rwanda and market systems development in Kenya and Ethiopia.

Project Description

The Ethiopia Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Activity is a five-year USAID-funded program implemented by RTI International. The purpose of the USAID DRM Activity is to strengthen DRM planning and preparedness capacity, improve DRM coordination, enhance resource mobilization and management, and enable timely implementation of anticipatory actions to preempt crises and reduce the impacts of shocks. The activity will also strengthen gender in emergencies (GiE) capacity, increase private sector engagement in DRM, and expand local organizations’ capacity to engage in DRM. The Activity will provide strategic support to DRM institutions in the implementation of Ethiopia’s new Disaster Risk Management Policy and Disaster Risk Finance Strategy.

Position Description

RTI is seeking a Subawards Specialist for the USAID Ethiopia DRM Activity. The Subawards Specialist will support the Subawards and Procurement Manager and will be responsible for preparing, issuing, and managing local subawards and grant awards in support of the achievement of the project objectives.

This position will be based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and will report to the Subawards and Procurement Manager.

Responsibilities

• Conduct market research on potential sub-awardees, including small and diverse businesses and organizations
• Document market research and source selection information advocate for the inclusion of small and diverse businesses in RTI’s subcontracting
• Conduct due diligence of potential sub-awardees, including suitability for partnering and small business classification(s)
• Liaise with technical team members on the development of scopes of work and project descriptions and guide technical teams on appropriate agreement types (subcontract, purchase order, grant, consulting agreement).
• Coordinate and lead end-to-end sub-award and grant procurement processes, including developing and issuing Requests for Proposals (RFP), compiling supplier applications, managing competition and selection, coordinating negotiations, and preparing agreements and supporting documentation for internal and client approvals, under RTI processes and procedures and donor rules and regulations.
• Review sub-award and grant proposals and supplier documentation for completeness and accuracy against RTI processes and procedures
• Create and maintain a tracking system for all sub-award and grant solicitations and proposals in the process
• Manage the full life cycle of sub-awards and grants from, i.e. prepare the sub-awards and grants following established procedures and thresholds for reviews and approval of agreement, and, execution to closeout.
• Perform supplier monitoring activities.
• Create and maintain a tracking system for awarded sub-awards and grants, with information relating to each signed agreement, progress against work plan schedules, and funds disbursement, including pipeline review for each respective agreement.
• Coordinate with and support regional office counterparts in the planning, solicitation, competition, and management of local sub-awards and grants.
• Support periodic audits of active and closed sub-awards and grants, including funds disbursements and required documentation, and assist in the development of processes that ensure compliance.
• Maintain detailed, complete, and well-organized proposal, award, and closeout documentation.
• Conducts quality assurance reviews of data in the sub-award system and prepares reports for management review.
• Perform reviews, analysis, and audit sub awards and grant agreements to ensure compliance with respective terms and conditions, RTI policies and procedures, donor rules and regulations, and government regulatory requirements.
• Support updates to the project’s Grants Manual as needed
• Escalate risks, issues, and potential process improvements to his/her supervisor
• Other duties related to the job as assigned by his/her manager

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree and 5 years of experience, Master's degree and 3 years of experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Excellent knowledge of MS Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, and SharePoint.
• Strong understanding of sub-award and/or grant procurement and management principles, terminology, and basics of contract administration, finance, and accounting
• Demonstrated, a solid understanding of governmental regulations to ensure compliance with relevant procurements and sub-award/grant implementation
• Prior experience working on a USAID-funded project is highly desirable
• Ability to perform duties and a variety of activities that require close attention to detail.
• Strong ability to prioritize workload and competing tasks, and follow tasks through to completion.
• Ability to understand prime contract contents to ensure procurements and agreements comply.
• Ability to understand and implement RTI processes and procedures for sub-award/grant procurement and management.
• Effective interpersonal, and, strong project management and organizational skills.
• Ability to research and interpret information to respond to inquiries.
• Very strong communication skills and ability to communicate effectively with various teams and external partners in person and remotely.
• Ability to travel and work throughout Ethiopia in difficult terrain/conditions at times.
• Verbal and written fluency in English is required.