Head of Awards, Localisation and Partnerships at Save the Children

• Job Type Full Time
• Qualification BA/BSc/HND , Professional Certificate
• Experience 10 years
• Location Nairobi
• Job Field Finance / Accounting / Audit , Project and Program Management
• Coordinate the submission of all required information and documentation into AMS by relevant functions in a timely manner as new funding opportunities are identified.
• Review award agreements to identify potential risks and provide summaries of key risk areas.
• Participate in go/no-go decision-making processes with Members and the Senior Management Team (SMT), including opportunity and risk assessments.
• Develop funding optimization strategies in collaboration with the Finance team, including match plans, CAM, and other funding mechanisms.
• Support the Country Director (CD) and SPD Manager in strengthening engagement and relationship management with Members and donor representatives on award management and compliance matters.
• In collaboration with the PDQ team, provide strategic portfolio information to the SMT and Save the Children Members through a monthly portfolio analysis report, highlighting pipeline opportunities, active awards, awards under amendment, high-risk awards, and closed awards.
• Ensure all award lifecycle processes are completed through AMS workflows in a timely manner and that all relevant information is accurately maintained within the system and in hard-copy files where required.
• Liaise directly with Members to ensure timely issuance of workflows and fund summaries following award approval.
• Establish mechanisms for disseminating award information to ensure all key staff understand award requirements and expectations throughout the award lifecycle.
• Ensure kick-off meetings are conducted promptly for all new awards and that coding structures and budgets are effectively communicated to budget holders.
• Lead Member engagement and relationship management as the SCI focal point for awards, coordinating SCI/Member reviews and revisions of proposals, budgets, and agreements.
• Provide regular updates to the Finance Manager on new awards that impact Master Budget gap analysis and co-lead the maintenance of the CAM calculator.
• Lead the analysis of Budget versus Actual Expenditure (BVA) reports for monthly award review meetings. Work with budget holders to develop and implement corrective action plans and monitor progress against agreed actions.
• Coordinate monthly award review meetings and maintain a tracker of action points and outstanding issues.
• Provide guidance on budget coding and reallocations in collaboration with budget holders.
• Coordinate budget realignments, amendments, cost extensions, and no-cost extension requests to Members and donors in a timely manner.
• Work closely with Programme Operations to ensure timely award close-out meetings. Ensure all meetings are documented, minutes are filed in AMS, and follow-up actions are completed.
• Ensure AMS is accurately maintained, up to date, and provides a complete audit trail for all awards and sub-awards.
• Support Programme Managers in budget development, cost allocation, budget monitoring, phasing, and forecasting, ensuring that phased award budgets are uploaded into Agresso.
• Coordinate the award reporting process to ensure high-quality reports are submitted within agreed timelines.
• Share the award reporting schedule with the Extended Senior Management Team on the first working day of each month.
• Support the preparation of financial reports, with responsibility transitioning to Finance once appropriate staffing capacity is established.
• Review all award reports prior to submission to Members and donors to ensure completeness, accuracy, and compliance.
• Share Members' qualitative feedback on reports with relevant stakeholders on a monthly basis.
• Ensure donors and Members are informed of any significant award-related issues.
• Manage contractual relationships with donors and Members through effective communication on reports, contracts, amendments, and audits.
• Collaborate with relevant functions and Members to strengthen project staff capacity in quality reporting.
• Ensure donor compliance requirements, including reporting deadlines, amendment procedures, audit requirements, and SCI award management policies, are clearly understood and adhered to.
• Ensure potential compliance issues and amendment requests are promptly communicated to donors through the relevant Save the Children Member.
• Develop business cases and support negotiations where donor waivers or derogation requests require detailed justification.
• Collaborate with Member focal points to ensure all donor compliance requirements are captured in AMS before fund summary workflows are initiated.
• Lead the implementation of the Country Office Localization Strategy, in line with Save the Children’s Global Partnership Framework, Localization Policy, Grand Bargain commitments, and CHS standards.
• Ensure partnership and localization priorities are fully integrated into country strategic planning, annual plans, and humanitarian response strategies.
• Drive the operationalization of localization across its seven dimensions, identifying and addressing operational bottlenecks and influencing systems, processes, and decision-making.