Partnerships and Grants Manager

The Partnerships and Grants Manager will provide senior leadership and oversight across the full grants and partnerships portfolio of a Sudan crisis localization Fund. The role involves strategic direction of the grants management function, ensuring compliance and quality across the grants lifecycle, managing staff, and operationalizing the Fund’s locally led approach while maintaining accountability to donors and Fund standards.

Responsibilities

• Develop and manage grant application processes, including guidelines, templates, and evaluation criteria.
• Lead the due diligence and vetting process for partner organisations, ensuring compliance with donor and Fund standards.
• Prepare and administer grant agreements and amendments in coordination with the Fund Management Unit at Head Quarters (HQ).
• Design and oversee capacity-building support to partners on grants management, compliance, and reporting, in coordination with the Technical Assistance Facility (TAF).
• Line manage, mentor and build the capacity of the Partnerships & Grants Officer(s), providing clear direction and performance oversight.
• Oversee the development and roll-out of the Fund Grant management System, ensuring it meets the needs of the Fund and its local partners.
• Coordinate with Operations Manager in streamlining operational processes including ensuring timely funds disbursements, financial tracking and risk management.
• Ensure partners comply with grant conditions, Fund Operations Manual, and donor requirements.
• Update and maintain the Fund risk register and dashboard, addressing high-risk areas.
• Track funding disbursements against budgets, flag variances and ensure timely escalation of risks and challenges to the Fund Director.
• Monitor grant implementation, ensuring timely and quality submission of financial and narrative reports.
• Oversee the design of capacity building strategies for partner organisations including on procurement, risk management and organizational development, in coordination with the TAF.
• Support design of training/guidance on grant report writing, donor compliance, and operational procedures.
• Ensure all grant-related documents are appropriately uploaded and backed up in the GMS or other systems and stored securely.
• Ensure proper information management including maintenance of detailed records of grants, including applications, reports, and feedback letters.
• Oversee the coordination of review meetings with partners and follow up on action points.
• Support Fund Director in liaising with donor representatives to ensure compliance and alignment with funding objectives.
• Coordinate with internal stakeholders, including Technical, MEAL, and Operations to ensure robust oversight of projects.
• Represent the Fund in coordination with other key local intermediary actors in Sudan.
• Perform any other tasks as required by the Fund Director.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in International Development, Business Administration, Political Science, or a related field.
• Minimum of 6 years of experience in partnerships & grants within the NGO/INGO or donor sectors, including at least 3 years in a management position.
• Proven expertise working with institutional donors (e.g., FCDO, EU, ECHO, SIDA, NORAD).
• Strong understanding of donor regulations and compliance.
• Ability to prioritize workloads, meet deadlines, and adapt to complex environments.
• Demonstrated experience in people management.
• Experience working in or on Sudan, with strong understanding of the Sudan humanitarian and civil society context.
• Proven commitment to locally led approaches and experience working with or supporting local and grassroots organizations.
• Experience working with Dynamics, SAP, Oracle, or similar ERP systems.
• Familiarity with Power Apps or internal grants systems development.
• Previous experience in partnership management or capacity building.
• Experience working with Group Cash Transfer mechanisms or cash-based programming.
• Knowledge of Arabic language (desirable).
• Certifications in grants or partnership management (desirable).

Skills

• Partnership Management
• Grants Management
• Donor Compliance
• Institutional Donor Relations
• People Management
• Local Capacity Building
• Cash-based programming
• Group Cash Transfers Management
• ERP Systems
• Dynamics
• SAP
• Oracle
• Power Apps
• Grants Lifecycle Management
• Strategic Grants Oversight
• South Sudan Humanitarian Context
• Locally Led Approaches
• Workload Prioritization
• Deadline Management

Languages

English, Arabic