Company Profile

The International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) is a public international organization (PIO) governed by an international board of directors with representation from developed and developing nations. The non-profit center focuses on increasing and sustaining food and agricultural productivity in developing countries through the development and transfer of effective and environmentally sound crop nutrient technology and agribusiness expertise.

Job Description

• Position: Grants Assistant - 2SCALE, Ghana and Nigeria
• Type of contract: Full time 
• Indicative starting date: Feb 15, 2017
• Location: Accra, Ghana
• Closing date of application:  Until qualified candidate is recruited 

Background
The program entitled “Toward Sustainable Clusters in Agribusiness through Learning in Entrepreneurship” (2SCALE) aims at improving rural livelihoods and food and nutrition security in Africa. It was created by a consortium of partners, led by the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), and comprising the Base-of-the-Pyramid Innovation Centre (BoPInc.) and the International Centre for development-oriented Research in Agriculture (ICRA). The program is supported by a grant of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (through the Directorate-General for International Cooperation, DGIS) of the Netherlands.

From 2012 to 2014, 2SCALE developed a portfolio of 53 private-public partnerships (PPPs) in selected high-potential sectors in nine sub-Saharan countries . From 2015 to 2017, 2SCALE is supporting its private partners to deepen and scale-up these partnerships. The objective is to offer significant opportunity to over 500,000 smallholder farmers to improve their livelihoods and 2,500 SMEs to improve sales and provide jobs, while sustainably supplying food to regional, national and local markets, of which 40 percent are BoP consumers.

Position Summary
The Grants Assistant for 2SCALE in Ghana and Nigeria is responsible for developing and monitoring subgrants awarded to partners in Ghana and Nigeria, and for building the capacity of grantees in subgrants management.

Duties

• Conduct and document the due diligence of potential new grantees.
• Review action plans and related budgets proposed by Partnership Facilitators or any other 2SCALE technical staff, for interventions in Ghana and Nigeria.
• Develop high quality subgrants.
• Submit subgrants for approval and monitor the subgrant making process until thesubgrant is fully executed.
• File each fully executed subgrant and related payment documentation.
• Monitor schedules for installment disbursements, alert field teams about deadlines and make disbursement projections for the following month or quarter.
• Develop and ensure excellent working relationships with project grantees and partners.
• Identify and prioritize needs and gaps of grantees in financial, management and governance systems, including operational policies and manuals. 
• In close collaboration and consultation with country teams, make periodic visits to the organizations that are implementing activities though 2SCALE subgrant funds. Monitor grantees to assess performance, attainment of targets, adherence to contractual obligations stated in subgrants and quality of interventions.
• In close collaboration with the Financial and Administrative Coordinator and country teams, track and monitor co-investments made by private sector partners into partnership activities, leveraging subgrants provided by 2SCALE. 
• Write and submit quality progress reports and notes with a strict respect of deadlines. 
• Prepare subgrant recaps as frequently as required.
• Document lessons learned, share them in reports and integrate them into subsequent project activities.
• Any other assignment that the supervisor deems necessary for the success of the project or contribution to the work of 2SCALE.

Supervision

• The Grants Assistant for 2SCALE in Ghana and Nigeria is supervised by and reports to the 2SCALE Grants Manager based in Kenya.
• S/he works in close collaboration with the 2SCALE Grants Manager for francophone countries (based in Benin), with cross-cutting thematic Specialists and with the Regional Agribusiness Coordinator.
• Position and duty station
• The Grants Assistant is a national position with a duty station at IFDC’s office in Accra.

Contract duration
IFDC will propose a contract ending on December 31, 2017, which corresponds to the end of 2SCALE. IFDC anticipates a follow-up phase for 2SCALE from 2018 onwards. Based on the incumbent’s performance, the contract could then by extended as of the beginning of the new phase.

Required Skills or Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Economics, International Studies, or a related field. No prior work experience is required. 
• Very rigorous and well-organized. 
• Excellent writing skills in Standard English.
• Skills in facilitating capacity building programs for grantees. 
• Ability to learn and adapt quickly.
• Ability to work under pressure with limited supervision. 
• Team player, able to work in a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environment. 
• Computer literate in Windows-based versions of Microsoft Word and Excel.
• Willingness to travel in difficult conditions in Ghana and Nigeria, and, if needed, in other Africa countries.