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Project Finance and Administration Director
JOB SUMMARY
USIU-Africa seeks a qualified candidate for the full-time Finance and Administration Director (FAD) position for an upcoming potential award being solicited through USAID/Kenya & East Africa to strengthen employment pathways for youth. The project would seek to develop and implement high-quality, industry-endorsed training directly connected to youth employment opportunities in high-priority sectors.
The Finance and Administration Director will have overall responsibility for and oversee the financial management, financial operations, management of sub-grants, accounting, procurement, managing a potential team, preparing project budgets and developing internal and external financial reports. The role will ensure that the project complies with all USAID rules and regulations and satisfies all USAID and USIU-Africa financial reporting requirements on a timely basis. The position would report to the Chief of Party, and the opportunity is an open call for interest and is contingent on contract award.
JOB DUTIES
- Lead the financial oversight and compliance management of the prospective cooperative agreement. Ensure the project’s financial activities adhere to the guidelines set by USAID and USIU-Africa.
- Provide comprehensive management of financial information, including the preparation of accurate and timely reports for USAID, such as project expenditure analysis.
- Coordinate the overall administrative operations, including logistics, procurement, budgeting, and information technology, ensuring effective systems for project administration and operations.
- Maintain a project financial dashboard for the Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of Party, and USIU-Africa Deputy Vice-Chancellor to view the project financial position at a glance.
- Direct the establishment and maintenance of financial controls, operational systems, and compliance measures for the project and its partners.
- Assume operations, logistics, and supply chain leadership.
- Manage the financial administration of partners and sub-grantees. This includes overseeing the entire financial sub-grant lifecycle, from pre-award to closure, ensuring adherence to USAID and USIU-Africa regulations and procedures.
- Proactively address any arising issues related to financial reporting, compliance, dispute resolution, and audit findings.
- Strengthen the capacity of USIU-Africa, partners, and sub-grantees to manage donor funding efficiently and in line with established procedures and policies.
- Ensure the establishment and compliance of project-specific human resources and performance management systems and procedures within alignment of USIU-Africa policies.
- Lead the development of project budgets for annual work planning and unexpected budget requests.
- Supervise financial and logistics grants staff.
- Implement technology systems and operational facilities to enhance programming support.
- Foster effective working relationships with donors and key government officials in finance and operations.
- Oversee the annual financial portion of the work plan process and participate in strategic planning.
- Build the financial management capacity of USIU-Africa and partner TVETs.
- Conduct continual analysis and planning for operating, staff, and external project expenditures.
- Monitor and pay salaries and benefits on time, ensuring alignment with budget plans.
- Ensure project contractual obligations are sound and appropriate.
- Develop internal control measures for accurate and timely financial reporting.
- Develop finance-related training and orientation materials.
- Coordinate external financial audits.
- Work collaboratively with USIU-Africa Finance Director and the USIU-Africa finance team to provide backstop support to the project.
- Offer specialized financial policy and procedure guidance to project.
- Conduct key financial analyses, review and reconcile invoices, and monitor financial expenses of sub-grantees.
- Ensure compliance with Kenya tax and statutory requirements within USAID and USIU-Africa rules.
- Manage financial transfers and reconciliations in the ERP system.
- Maintain a schedule for routine and ad hoc financial reports.
- Provide input to proposal modification budget development.
- Review award and any modification documentation for financial feasibility.
- Coach, guide, and mentor direct reports.
- Manage team performance and compliance with USIU-Africa human resources policies.
- Recruit for diverse and qualified finance and administration team workforce aligned with project goals.
The position is subject to the availability of funds and approval by USAID. The role would be in-person at project headquarters in Kenya with periodic travel to target Kenya counties up to 30% of the time.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- 10+ years of progressively responsible professional experience in accounting and finance.
- 5+ years experience in USAID-funded projects and overseeing compliance with USAID rules and regulations.
- 3+ years of supervisory experience.
- Extensive knowledge of practical implementation of USAID compliance procedures on projects.
- Experience managing local grantees or subcontractors.
- Experience utilizing an ERP system including general ledger modules is required.
- Knowledge of windows, Word, Excel (PIVOT tables, dashboards, etc.), and PowerPoint.
- Proficiency in English and strong written and oral communication skills.
- Demonstratable budgeting, financial planning, grant and fund management, and financial controlling skills within overall experience.
- Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, or a business-related discipline.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS BUT NOT REQUIRED
- A post-graduate degree in accounting, business administration or a related field from an accredited university or training school.
- Certified Public Accountant-Kenya (CPA-K) or equivalent certification preferred.
- Experience in the successful financial and administrative management of international projects of similar scope and size.
- Work specifically on USAID/Kenya & East Africa funded projects.
Curriculum Support Specialist
JOB SUMMARY
USIU-Africa seeks a qualified candidate for the full-time Curriculum Support Specialist position for an upcoming potential award being solicited through USAID/Kenya & East Africa to strengthen employment pathways for youth. The project would seek to develop and implement high-quality, industry-endorsed training directly connected to youth employment opportunities in high-priority sectors.
The Curriculum Support Specialist will cultivate and manage relationships with TVETs, as well as senior Government of Kenya officials, development partners and other stakeholders. They will oversee curriculum enhancement and instructors’ capacity development and skills to incorporate learning for a diverse cohort of youth/non-traditional learners seeking TVET skills training.
At a minimum, the Curriculum Support Specialist shall have:
- A Master’s degree in a relevant field such as education, higher education/TVET, vocational skills training, youth/adult learning, curriculum development/instructional design, international development, or other field related to education from an accredited institution;
- Strong understanding of Kenya’s TVET context;
- A minimum of five (5) years of relevant and progressively increasing responsibility leading programs focused on technical training, youth development, workforce development, higher education, private sector engagement, or other fields related to the program with at least four (4)of those years in Kenya or countries with similar context to;
- Experience designing, analyzing, and strengthening systems related to curriculum design, instructional design, material development, training facilitation, instructional design, and training evaluation and assessment;
- Leadership in capacity development of higher education institutions including coordinating training for staff, and education professionals aimed at improving curriculum enhancement and pedagogy at TVETs, colleges, polytechnics and universities levels;
- Prior experience working with senior education officials at schools/TVETs, county/national government, development partners, and the private sector;
- Ability to write, communicate, and present fluently in English.
The position is subject to the availability of funds and approval by USAID. The role would be in-person at project headquarters in Kenya with periodic travel to target Kenya counties up to 50% of the time.
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Director (MEL)
JOB SUMMARY
USIU-Africa seeks a qualified candidate for the full-time Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Director (MEL) position for an upcoming potential award being solicited through USAID/Kenya & East Africa to strengthen employment pathways for youth. The project would seek to develop and implement high quality, industry-endorsed training directly connected to youth employment opportunities in high priority sectors.
The MEL Director will have overall responsibility for and oversee the guiding the strategic metric implementation of the project, focusing on developing and overseeing robust systems for monitoring and evaluating project performance, ensuring learning is integrated into practice, and contributing to the project’s overall success and impact assessment while liaising with the USAID MEL personnel to enhance the project. The position would report to the Chief of Party, and the opportunity is an open call for interest and is contingent on contract award.
JOB DUTIES
- Guide the technical execution of the program, ensuring effective monitoring, evaluation, learning, and research efforts align with project goals.
- Develop and oversee monitoring, evaluation, and reporting systems, setting up indicators, baselines, targets, and evaluation plans.
- Report directly to the Chief of Party, ensuring strategic alignment and coherence in project activities.
- Work closely with the Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of Party, and USIU-Africa Deputy Vice Chancellor to manage MEL components, using project and relevant to youth and employment data for strategic planning.
- Implement quality assurance and auditing of data as part of leading all MEL activities, including project evaluations.
- Create opportunities for continuous learning and adapting among project staff, partners, donors, and government counterparts.
- Manage a team of MEL professionals, maintaining clear communication and defined responsibilities.
- Incorporate findings and lessons learned into project implementation to enhance intervention quality.
- Conduct research, contributing to the project’s knowledge base and strategic direction.
- Provide technical support in MEL systems and approaches to build USIU-Africa and TVET partners’ capacity.
- Lead the project’s learning questions and agendas in collaboration with affiliated researchers.
- Assist in planning and implementing MEL Plans for project programming.
- Utilize practical indicators for development outcomes, reflecting a synthesis of USAID and partner priorities.
- Integrate learning methodologies to enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of project.
- Facilitate consensus among diverse activity stakeholders, ensuring aligned decision-making.
- Capture and share learning to develop and disseminate learning products for wider stakeholder uptake.
- Monitor recipient progress in achieving objectives, communicating regularly with the Chief of Party about implementation strengths and challenges.
- Handle data management tasks, including database maintenance, dashboard development, and liaising with USAID specialized departments and partners around the world.
- Keep abreast of new developments in locally led development, actively participating in relevant events, and sharing insights.
- Operate in compliance with USAID rules and regulations and USIU-Africa policies.
The position is subject to the availability of funds and approval by USAID. The role would be in-person at project headquarters in Kenya with periodic travel to target Kenya counties up to 30% of the time.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- 10+ years of progressively responsible professional experience in monitoring, evaluation, and learning.
- 5+ years experience in USAID-funded projects in MEL functions.
- 3+ years of supervisory experience.
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in collecting, analyzing, and managing donor funded project data.
- Demonstrated experience managing monitoring and evaluation systems, consistent with USAID protocols for data collection and reporting.
- Experience with the United States Government (USG) CLA approach, including developing and integrating the CLA approach within project frameworks and leading CLA approaches across partners and technical focuses.
- Familiarity with USG administrative, management and reporting procedures and systems.
- Bachelor’s degree in international development, political economy, economics, business, quantitative methods and research, or a related field required.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS BUT NOT REQUIRED
- An advanced degree that incorporated research methods, statistics, quantitative/qualitative data analysis in the social or behavioral sciences.
- Experience in the successful MEL management of international projects of similar scope and size.
- Work specifically on USAID/Kenya & East Africa funded projects.
Method of Application
Interested candidates are encouraged to apply via email to jobs-dvcasa@usiu.ac.ke by Wednesday, January 17, 2024. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.