Project Officer - Grant Management & Financial Capacity Development

The GIZ project “Support to Stabilisation and Violence Prevention in Iraq” (SSVPI) supports the stabilization process in Iraq and contributes to the prevention of violence and violent extremism through contributions to the coordination on stabilization, a funding facility addressing drivers of radicalization, and a component on dealing with the past for social cohesion.  

We are a motivated, and dynamic team that values ownership of one’s areas of responsibility while working in a team and showing a cooperative spirit. We welcome applications from personalities with similar qualities. The duty station for this position is the GIZ Baghdad Office, with travel within central Iraq. 
 

Responsibilities:
After the Iraqi armed forces succeeded in liberating the areas occupied by IS with the support of an international anti-IS coalition, a comprehensive stabilization process began in all parts of the country. SSVPI supports the dialogue between the Iraqi Government and the international community on stabilization efforts.  
The SSVPI project is looking for a Project Officer who will focus on managing the grants and local subsidies allocated to partners in central Iraq through a funding facility aiming at violence prevention by addressing drivers of violent extremism. In addition, the Project  Officer will be responsible for the financial capacity development of grant recipients and supporting them in the management of the allocated funds. 
 
The funding facility will provide financial and technical support to selected community-based projects targeting vulnerable communities with conflict-related grievances and groups at risk  for radicalization and possibly violent extremism. 
Key responsibility will be ensuring that the allocated funds are being spent in accordance with GIZ rules and regulations.  
The grant manager works in close cooperation with the project management, the technical  Officer on the Funding Facility, and the finance manager on the design and conclusion of grant  agreements under the project.  
 

The grant manager is responsible for: 

• Developing financial criteria to determine the eligibility of applications to the funding  facility for the various funding instruments available (local subsidies, grants, etc.) - Evaluating financial proposals submitted to the funding facility  

• Ensuring that administration of grants by partners/recipients is in accordance with GIZ  standard procedures as well as rules and regulations 

• Financial planning, monitoring and advisory services for grants in the project, incl.  management of auditing process 

• Designing and implementing trainings for / capacity development of partners/grant  recipients 

• Effectively coordinating with the staff of the Finance/Admin Team of the Cluster and  with the Commercial Affairs Department at GIZ Head Office

Task 
Funding Facility and Grant Management 

• Supporting the development of criteria for financial and administrative aspects for  selection of grant recipients under the fund, with specific criteria for each funding  instrument (local subsidies, grants, etc.) 

• Conducting commercial and legal eligibility check of applicants and assesses  financial proposals of applicants  

• Content alignment of grants with implementing partners/recipients according to the  rules of GIZ together with the technical Project Officer – Funding Facility 

• Monitoring of coherence of implementation with proposal/ budget and objectives of the fund and project together with the technical Project Officer – Funding Facility 

• Preparing and conducting interim-audits on-site to review compliance of  partners/grant recipients on a rolling basis 

• Organizing and monitoring external audit processes as requested by GIZ  

Financial Capacity Development 

• Providing advisory services to applicants to the funding facility (for local subsidies and  grants) to ensure the quality of financial proposals  

• Designing training materials in Arabic for each type of funding instrument based on  GIZ rules and regulations  

• Conducting training and on-site financial capacity GIZ grant management, incl. on  GIZ rules and regulation, anti-corruption, compliance, and reporting 

Communication and Cooperation 

• Communication with and advisory services to partners on all issues related to grant  agreements/local subsidies according to the GIZ rules and regulations 

• Regular contacts to the grant recipients for verification of reports in cooperation with  the team, especially the technical Project Officer – Funding Facility 

• Regular updates to the unit, team, and management about the implementation of grants  and cash flow 

• Communication to Admin/Finance Team of Cluster and GIZ Commercial Unit in HQ  about all grant-related matters 

• Ensuring regular communication and alignment towards technical units of the fund  and project 

• Contribution to regular reporting about grant issues 

• Regular updates of data of grant recipients to the management for the steering of the  fund and project 

Knowledge Management 

• Monitoring the grants within the fund and project, and keeping an updated overview of the remaining value of the fund, ongoing grants/ local subsidies, payment-schedules and deadlines, incl. for audits 

• Providing regular overviews for management decisions and keeps respective databases up-dated 

• Regular reporting on grant monitoring and information management between finance  monitoring and overall monitoring of the project 

• Supporting the development of tools and processes in grand administration and  monitoring in close cooperation with the Finance/Admin Team of the Cluster and  respective units at HQ 

• Ensuring filing and documentation of paper files and digital files in accordance with  GIZ rules and regulations 

Other duties/additional tasks 

• Reporting all problems with grant administration and compliance without delay ▪ Performing other duties and tasks at the request of management  

Required qualifications, competencies, and experience 
Formal Qualifications 

• University degree (BA) in business administration, finance, accounting, and auditing or  similar areas 

• Overall minimum of 5 years relevant professional experience in a comparable  position, preferably within the field of Finance  

• Working experience with GIZ processes on regulations refinance and admin ▪ Experience with grant administration 

• Experience in budget planning for projects an explicit advantage 

• Experience in administering training /capacity development, or at least receipt of  formal training such as “train the trainers” 

• Experience in the implementation of measures to prevent of corruption 

Other knowledge, additional competences 

• Excellent working knowledge of ITC technologies and computer and online applications (e.g. Excel, MS Office, MS Teams) 

• Confidential handling of data and information, and personal integrity ▪ Very good knowledge of English and Arabic. Knowledge of German is an asset.  

• Willingness to upskill as required by the tasks to be performed – corresponding  measures are agreed with management  

Requirements for application: 

• The subject line of the application should clearly indicate the vacancy applied for. • CVs and motivations letters that are in the form of IMG, pictures, screen-shots, and links will not be accepted.  

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. 

• Applications past the expiration date of the advertisement will not be considered.