Grants Assistant at British Council Nigeria

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.
 
We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Grants Assistant

Location: Abuja, Nigeria  
Role Type: Business Delivery
Pay Band: 4/H
Duration:  Fixed Term 3+ years
Reports to: Grants Officer

Role Purpose

• The purpose of this post is to support the Grants Officer in contributing to the effective co-ordination and management of the programme grant funds, in line with programme’s strategic direction and in line with clients requirements.

Geopolitical/SBU/Function Overview
The British Council in Nigeria is implementing the European Union Conflict Management in Nigeria programme under their Trust Fund (EUTF) and the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption programme in Nigeria under their Development Fund programme (EUDF). We are implementing the Agents for Citizen-driven Transformation (ACT) Programme under the European Union development fund.

In partnership with COFFEY, we are delivering the Policing work under their Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) and are managing the Programme Coordination Office for DFID’s Deepening Democracy in Nigeria Phase 2 (DDiN2) Programme. To support our existing contracts as well as future contracts, we are developing flexible structures that meet the global British Council standards to provide support to our FCR (Justice, Security and Conflict) work in Nigeria.

The Conflict Management programme in North Eastern Nigeria is a €21m EUTF-funded Programme (2017-2021) and works with the overall aim of enhancing state and community level conflict management capability to prevent the escalation of conflict into violence in a number of locations in North-Eastern Nigeria. The Programme has an annual turnover of around £5-£6m and work in 3 states – Adamawa, Borno and Yobe as well as in Abuja. The programme is being delivered alongside a partner (International Alert) with the British Council leading the contract.

The Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC) programme in Nigeria is a €25m EUDF-funded Programme (2017-2021) and has the overall aim of enhancing good governance in Nigeria by contributing to strengthening of the rule of law, curbing corruption and reducing impunity. The programme has an annual turnover of around £5-£6m and work in 4 states – Adamawa, Anambra, Kano, Lagos, as well as in Abuja. The RoLAC programme will be extending to Edo State. The Agents for Citizen-driven Transformation (ACT) programme is an EU funded programme being implemented by the British Council.

The programme is funded under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) and will be implemented over a period of five years from July 2018, with the first 6 months serving as the programme Inception Phase for the development of strategies for full programme implementation. The ACT programme will contribute to the progressive achievement of several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as to the national development priorities identified in the Nigeria Vision 20:20 Economic Transformation Blueprint.

The Overall Objective of the programme is to contribute to more inclusive, effective, accountable and gender-responsive development in Nigeria; while its specific objectives is to enhance the credibility and role of CSOs as drivers of change for sustainable development in Nigeria. The programme has an annual turnover of around £3-£4m and will be implemented at the Federal level and in selected states where EU programmes concentrate. The Nigerian context is generally challenging, having poor infrastructure and currently facing a volatile security situation.

There is still a significant reliance on the cash economy, corruption is high and the regulatory and compliance structures that exist are highly ineffective. The overall economic situation is not good with the low oil prices leading to high unemployment, increasing inflation and a shortage of foreign currency causing the value of the Naira to weaken considerably. This makes Nigeria a very challenging environment in which to deliver programmes.

The Programme Support Office is located in Abuja, but in an office that is separate from the main British Council office. The post holder must therefore have the ability to work in an ambiguous and difficult environment in which British Council processes need to be adapted or developed to cope with unusual requirements and difficult context. The post holder will work closely with the programme delivery and management teams as well as having significant interactions with the technical teams and Nigerian partners.

Accountabilities, Responsibilities and Main Duties
Project Management and Delivery:

• To support the management of the programme grant system
• To support the Grants Officer in working with grant recipients to ensure they follow and fulfil requirements in grants implementation and to strengthen their capacity for grants management
• Support the review of partners’ financial reports and supporting documentations in line with contractual requirements and standards as set out in the Grants Manual
• To support the grants selection process and ensure eligibility requirements are met by prospective grant recipients
• Support the processing and administering timely requests for grants payments, after due diligence checks have been carried out in line with contractual requirements and standards as set out in the Grants Manual.
• Support in organising meetings where required to support programme/partners’ grants activities
• To support the process of programme planning and financial reporting by all grants recipients
• Support adequate monitoring of grants recipients
• To support the Grants Officer to maintain the grants database
• Carry out any other task as may be assigned by the Grants Officer.

Finance Administration:

• Provide support in maintaining all financial documentation pertaining to grant management (contracting, disbursements and retirements)
• Support the Grants Officer in providing support to partners by training them on efficient financial management system
• To ensure risk is minimized by strict application of corporate British Council financial principles in all programme grant related activities
• Support in monitoring grant expenditures against set budgets to ensure financial targets are met.

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E):

• To support initiatives led by M&E technical lead developed to monitor activities and interventions
• Support in documenting lessons learned to improve the quality of events and their outcomes for the implementation phase of the programme.

Knowledge Management:

• To provide support to Knowledge Management consultant to broaden the reach of programme impact and improve its sustainability
• Support activities to facilitate replication of good practices in granting (Demonstrate ‘value for money’)
• Support in liaising with Knowledge Management team to provide summary reports and stories that feed into the quarterly impact reports, newsletters and other knowledge management products.

Team Support and Contribution:

• Ensure professionalism is demonstrated in own work area and that customer / client needs and perspectives are reflected in own behaviours and focus
• To support the embedding of continuous learning and improvement into the team
• To seek to understand the inter-dependencies and connections programme team has with other functions and teams within EU programmes and the wider organisation
• To proactively share best practice and learning across the wider EU programmes team.

Other Administrative Work:

• As required.

Key Relationships
Internal:

• Programme Managers, Technical Lead, Operation Managers, State Teams, Procurement and Estate Manager, HR Manager, Finance Manager, Grants Officer,
• Other Programme Officers, Admin and Resource Assistants
• All Visiting National and International Consultants
• Other Project Teams.

External:

• External relationship management where appropriate (i.e. linked to function of role), to include: EU, consultants, Civil Society Organizations, MDAs, etc.

Role Requirements
Threshold Requirements:

• Passport requirements/Right to work in country: All applicants should have a pre-existing legal status to live and work in Nigeria. British Council will not facilitate/sponsor visa applications and work permits.
• Direct contact or managing staff working with children? Appropriate child protection assurance checks in accordance with British Council policy
• Notes: Some unsocial hours, weekend work and travel may be required where the need arises.

Person Specification
Qualifications:

• Essential: Bachelor's Degree
• Desirable: Evidence of continuous professional development.

Role Specific Knowledge & Experience:
Essential:

• 2 years of experience in Grants administration or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Experience of working as part of a successful team/function
• Experience of supporting grants and internal stakeholders / external partners management

Desirable:

• Experience of working in an FCR project
• Experience of operating in a complex, multi-cultural context.

British Council Core Skills

• Planning and Organising (Level 1): Able to plan own work over short timescales for routine or familiar tasks and processes.
• Analysis Data and Problems (Level 2): Reviews available data and identifies cause and effect, and then chooses the best solution from a range of known alternatives.
• Managing Risk (Level 1): Demonstrates understanding of risk management policies and procedures and record of following them
• Managing Finance and Resources (Level 2): Uses financial systems and processes - Uses corporate financial systems and processes appropriately as part of the job and on behalf of a team.
• Using Technology (Level 1): Able to use office software and British Council systems to do the job and manage documents or processes.

British Council Behaviours

• Being accountable (Essential): Delivering my best work in order to meet my commitments
• Making it happen (Essential): Delivering clear results for the British Council
• Working together (More demanding): Ensuring that others benefit as well as me
• Creating shared purpose (Essential): Communicating an engaging picture of how we can work together
• Shaping the future (Essential): Looking for ways in which we can do things better:
• Connecting with others (More demanding): Actively appreciating the needs and concerns of myself and others.

Remuneration
N5,431,443 per annum.

Application Closing Date and Time
30th June, 2019 (23:59 UK Time).

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Click here to download Job Details (Pdf)

Click here to download BC Behaviour (pdf)

Click here to download BC Core Skills (pdf)

Note: Applicants must have existing legal right to live and work in Nigeria