Development Officer

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) is a premier research-to-policy institution, generating evidence, strengthening research and related capacity in the African research and development ecosystem, and engaging policy to inform action on health and development. The Center is Africa-based and African-led, with its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, and a West Africa Regional Office (WARO), in Dakar, Senegal. APHRC seeks to drive change by developing strong African research leadership and promoting evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) across sub-Saharan Africa.

Key Responsibilities

Opportunities Identification and Acquisition

• Track funding needs, gaps, and aspirations of research and non-research themes and sub-themes.
• Research and identify funding opportunities from traditional and non-traditional bilateral, multilateral, and private donors- ensuring alignment with the Strategic Plan.
• Monitor funding trends and provide intelligence on opportunities.
• Organize and coordinate stakeholder prepositioning and brainstorming meetings, turning input into compelling narratives.

Business Information Systems Management

• Manage and update the Go-No-Go module in the proposal platform with requisite business information.
• Develop synopses outlining call details, merits, and demerits, including strategic alignment, in-house expertise, proposal lead time, overhead coverage, geographic coverage, and partner prospects.
• Submit synopses for approval to the Deputy Executive Director and divisional director.
• Register all approved opportunities in the ERP proposals module, ensuring to also update the proposal tracker.
• Register forecasted opportunities with long lead times under the pre-planning phase for early strategizing.

Proposal Development

• Constitute proposal teams comprising the technical lead or PI, subject-expert researchers, a program accountant, a grants officer, and a relevant policy engagement and communications (PEC) representative.
• Review all proposal submission guidelines and funder requirements, including submission portals. Ensure active registrations for federal funding submissions.
• Provide guidance to the proposal team on submission requirements and processes. Convert ideas into compelling narratives.
• Create checklists and activity plans with assigned roles, responsibilities, and internal deadlines.
• Adhere to the internal review process as stipulated in the research governance framework.

Grants Management

• Review contracts and engage the legal office for guidance as necessary.
• Complete due diligence forms and submit for signing according to internal thresholds.
• Request project codes from Finance to update project details in the ERP awards module.
• Create alerts for all project milestones and reporting reminders.
• Conduct inception meetings within the first month of award, agree on work plans, and burn rate drivers.
• Maintain funder communication and report any significant project delays.
• Mitigate emerging risks and develop catch-up plans. Seek approval for reprogramming where necessary.

Partnership Sub-Contracting and Management

• Facilitate the sub-contracting process, including conducting due diligence and engaging auditors where necessary.
• Develop Partner Agreements and customize clauses on payment terms, reporting, monitoring, audits, and intellectual property rights.
• Ensure partners’ reporting timelines align with the parent agreement.
• Organize monitoring visits and meetings in alignment with approved budgets.
• Provide capacity building on grants management and compliance as necessary. 

Project Close-Out

• Commence close-out steps ahead of the end date, ensuring all activities are completed, reports submitted, assets disposed of according to guidelines, and discussions for renewal or scale-up initiated.
• Request for No-Cost Extensions (NCEs) or Cost Extensions (CEs) where necessary, with finance guidance.
• Facilitate the compilation of lessons learned in collaboration with the knowledge management team.
  
• Conclude project activities within the donor-agreed timeframe.
• Submit final reports and complete the closeout checklist.

Minimum qualifications required:

• A Bachelor’s degree and postgraduate training in a relevant field from a recognized university.
• At least 6 years post-qualification work experience as a Development or Grant Officer.
• Proven experience in fundraising and grants management.
• Knowledge of, and experience in using various business development information systems.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to effectively work with diverse teams.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their application letter and detailed CV in one PDF document. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and will be required submit a Police Clearance Certificate at a certain stage of the recruitment process.

Special Notice

APHRC is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and organizational needs. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process.