Senior Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) Manager at USAID Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities in Ukraine (AGRO)

Background:

USAID Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities in Ukraine (AGRO) Activity is a seven-year cooperative agreement between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Chemonics International, Inc. It began on November 15, 2019.

The AGRO Activity is to accelerate the economic development of rural Ukrainian communities with the greatest need through a better governed agricultural sector that encourages more productive, modern, and profitable micro, small, and medium agricultural enterprises (MSMEs) that are successfully integrated into competitive markets both in Ukraine and internationally.

The Activity objectives are aligned with the three elements of the market systems conceptual framework: the core value chain, supporting functions, and rules and regulations.

To effectively address the food crisis that emerges in Ukraine and internationally, AGRO works for the restoration of the agricultural sector, in particular its modernization, efficiency improvement, and diversification, which contributes to the long-term economic recovery of Ukraine and the improvement of global food security.

Within the USAID Agriculture Resilience Initiative (AGRI-Ukraine), AGRO will provide assistance enabling Ukraine to store roughly 1.5 million tons of grain as part of the USAID’s broader efforts to maintain the rate of production and export of grain from Ukraine to other countries of the world.

AGRO operates on the basis of the market system conceptual approach.

In September 2022, the estimated cost of the Activity was extended to US$120,000,000, and its implementation period was extended through November 13, 2026. AGRO employs 73 long-term CCN employees.

To contribute to achieving AGRO’s overall goals, the Senior Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) Manager reports to SIF Team Lead and is responsible for the overall management and coordination of subaward and contracts teams under assigned program objectives, and collaboration with respective technical teams.

Principal Duties and Obligations (Essential Functions):

• Responsible for administrative and financial management of activities under SIF within the assigned program objectives.
• Working in coordination with other team members including the COP, DCOP, SIF Team Lead, and technical team leads, ensuring compliance with USAID and Chemonics policies and procedures throughout the design, development, and implementation of subawards and contracts.
• Ensure effective liaising between project staff and subrecipients, contractors, providing technical advice and assistance as needed in areas such as subawards initiation, management, procurement requirements, and implementation planning.
• Work closely with all program staff to ensure adherence to established USAID and Chemonics subaward/contract management policies when evaluating subaward concepts and sub-agreement/contract documents. Provide necessary guidance to SIF managers and other responsible team members.
• Ensure proper negotiation of final terms and conditions for subawards, including by reviewing and analyzing budget estimates for allocability, allowability, reasonableness, and consistency. This includes working with project staff and subrecipients to develop or revise detailed subaward budgets that are realistic and appropriate to the activity’s needs.
• Review required documentation for subaward disbursements, including subaward agreements, negotiation memos, budgets, modifications, etc. to ensure quality and compliance prior to transmission for SIF Team Lead and Chemonics’ Washington office review.
• Mentor, coach, and effectively manage SIF manager(s) and other assigned staff to ensure required tasks are completed in a timely and compliant manner. Regularly meets with assigned staff to provide feedback in real-time, discuss professional development needs, plan to achieve those needs, and ensure overall positive and effective working relationships of the SIF subcontracts and contracts management team within the larger AGRO project team. Evaluates staff performance and ensures adherence to Chemonics’ AGRO human resource policies. Review and approve timesheets, leave requests and other administrative requests.
• Lead by example and model transparent, communicative, and collaborative cross-unit working relationships to achieve program objectives.
• Duty of care responsibilities ensuring team members are encouraged to use their leave and are aware of, and supported to use staff care resources available to them and their families.
• Responsible for creating a climate of empathy and compassion that places a high premium on work-life balance and the pursuit of individual and family mental health.
• Contribute to weekly, semi-annual, annual, and ad hoc program reporting as requested.
• The Senior SIF Manager may be assigned ad hoc tasks and duties as required to ensure the overall efficient implementation of AGRO activities.

One-year fixed term employment agreement with possible extension each work year up to the end of the Project implementation (November 13, 2026), subject to availability of respective tasks in the successive Annual Work Plans of the Project.

Work place location: Kyiv Office (Kyiv, Ukrane, remotely if required).

Periodic travel to other parts of Ukraine.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• At least Bachelor’s degree required. Relevant graduate degree preferred.
• Three (3) to five (5) years of progressively responsible grants/subawards management work experience on donor-funded projects, such as activity management, financial management, procurement, and/or sub-contracting/contracting.
• Demonstrated experience in grants management focused on ensuring that procurement, finance, logistics, and programmatic aspects are being implemented on time and in accordance with the specifications of the approved activity.
• Demonstrated experience in assessing recipient organizations’ grant-worthiness, as well as their financial, administrative and program planning capacities.
• Ability/willingness to travel to locations where AGRO works.
• Familiarity with USAID contract and grants management policies and procedures is required.
• Ability to practically demonstrate successful experience with all of the core competencies listed above.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, to prioritize multiple work assignments in an extremely fast-paced environment, to meet deadlines, and to exercise good, professional judgment that reflects positively on the image of the AGRO program.
• Experience leading, mentoring, and coaching teams is preferred.

• Prior work experience with Chemonics in a Grants Management role preferred.
• Fluent written and oral Ukrainian required.
• Proficient written and oral English required.

Application Instructions

Send electronic submissions by June 17, 2024. Please submit your CV and cover letter. No telephone inquiries, please. Only finalists will be contacted.

Chemonics is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factors.

2024-05-22T14:40:40.000 2024-06-17T23:59:59.000 Full time / Повна зайнятість Кімонікс Інтернешнл Інк. Програма USAID з аграрного і сільського розвитку (АГРО)