Grants Officer at THET

 GLOBAL HEALTH WORKFORCE PROGRAMME (GHWP) 

JOB DESCRIPTION – GHWP MALAWI GRANTS OFFICER 

Job title	Grants Officer
Location	Lilongwe, Malawi
Contract type	Malawi – Consultancy: part-time, approx. 9 days/month (174 days over contract period)
Contract length	Fixed term contract: from September 2024 to March 2026 (19 months)
Salary	Malawi: £146/day
Key Contact	The Grants Officer will report to the Programmes Coordinator.

 1. Introduction to the Global Health Workforce Programme

Funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, the Global Health Workforce Programme (GHWP) will aim to develop the health workforce (HWF) in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Somaliland, supporting them to build stronger, more resilient health systems for post-pandemic recovery and to make progress towards universal health coverage.

Grants for UK-LMIC and cross-LMIC partnerships will be awarded to respond to national HWF priorities identified through a scoping assessment carried out by THET.

With a strong focus on building local ownership and sustainability, these partnerships will contribute to the following programmatic outcomes:

1. Partnerships contributing towards improved health workforce leadership capacity aligned with health workforce strategies, that will support reduction in gender inequalities.
2. Partnerships aligning with and contributing towards retention and wellbeing strategies.
3. Improved number and quality of training opportunities for health workers.
4. Co-developed and documented learning on health workforce interventions shared with key national and international stakeholders.

THET will award up to four strategic grants of up to £200,000 in Malawi that feed into the country scoping priorities and outputs outlined above. Up to four smaller grants of up to £50,000 will also be available for projects that tackle specific areas such as innovation, rural health facilities, diaspora engagement, leadership opportunities for women and protected groups, and the climate crisis.

Grants will be available to UK-LMIC health partnerships and LMIC-LMIC health partnerships. There are no institutional eligibility criteria as long as ODA rules are followed, so grants can be awarded to healthcare providers, royal colleges, universities, professional associations, NGOs, alliances, diaspora networks etc, but not to Ministry of Health departments.

THET is overall responsible and accountable for the delivery of the programme.

The Grants Officer will co-ordinate the selection, contracting, payments and reporting of all grant holders. The Central Programmes team will provide oversight including standardised processes, templates and tools to support grants coordination. The UK Research, Evidence and Learning (REL) team, will provide REL tools and resources for grant holders and the programme team to use. These teams will ensure a standardised approach, tools and systems for the delivery in each country, adapted as necessary to the local context.

The in-country team will also be comprised of an in-country THET representative who will support grant holders ensuring they are implementing quality projects efficiently and effectively and will collaborate between grant holders and relevant local stakeholders, ensuring that projects are embedded into the health system. An Administrative Assistant will also support the in-country team with administrative and logistical duties.

The Grants Officer will carry out activities for the GHWP from September2024 until March 2026.

This document serves as a Terms of Reference for the type of work the Grants Officer should expect to carry out as part of this.

2. Main responsibilities

Workstream 1: Grants Management

• Manage a portfolio of up to eight health partnership grants, overseeing contracting and financial disbursements.
• Guided by the Programmes Coordinator, ensure grant holders understand what is required of them with regards project management (including M&E, finances, activity plan and reporting, partnership relations, procurement etc.) and support them where necessary to overcome identified challenges.
• Conduct visits to the grant holder institutions throughout the programme, and hold regular online meetings, to accompany progress, ensure that challenges identified through reports and monitoring visits are being successfully overcome and that any new challenges, concerns, developments or opportunities are identified quickly.
• Review grant holder narrative and finance reports, and provide feedback on the level of achievement, need for further information and recommendations for improvement.
• Conduct audits to grant holder institutions.
• Identify any changes to the personnel amongst grant holders
• Contribute to learning analysis meetings, as well as quarterly donor reports and end of project impact reports.
• Contribute to grant holder sharing and learning events

Workstream 2: Programme quality and design

• Contribute to the design of organisational and health partnership quality programme approaches, including standards, processes, tools and guidance.
• Contribute to the delivery of capacity development interventions for grant holders.

Workstream 3: Grants database administration

• Ensure optimum use of the grants management database (on the Salesforce platform), including input of data, grant analysis, production of reports, and analysis of monitoring and evaluation methods.
• Support the internal team and grant holders to navigate the database.
• Liaise with the database supplier to troubleshoot any issues.

Workstream 4: Administration and events

• Support preparations for, attend and present national, grant holder and THET events including the introductory meeting with THET colleagues.
• Liaise with the in-country administrator in providing logistical support around health partnership events/visa processes/ethical approvals, UK teams, etc.
• Provide other administrative support where required.
• Attend regular meetings with the grants management team to identify priorities, review progress, share challenges and learn from peers.

ONGOING ACTIVITIES ACROSS THE PROGRAMME: 

• Weekly Grants Management meetings with THET
• Monthly grants quality group meetings with THET
• Monthly programme-wide meetings with THET
• Monthly review meetings with THET to analyse grant holder progress and risks
• Quarterly review meetings and check-ins between THET and THET ICCs to share experiences and help one another with any challenges during the programme implementation
• Ad hoc learning sessions with THET to share feedback on processes/ways of working to inform programme implementation.

3. Contractual responsibilities

The Grants Officer – Malawi will receive a daily rate of GBP £146. In total, depending on the start date the total fee will not exceed £25,424. Please note that this is non-negotiable and will cover all expenses apart from project-related travel, meeting and communication expenses. The Grants Officer will share an allowance with the in-country representative and administrator to help deliver the work, with £100 a month available for communications and other office-related expenses, and £200 a month for travel and meeting costs.

Receipts must be kept, where possible, in order to claim for support costs. The Grants Officer will not be expected to use their own funds to cover project-related costs.

Invoice process: Invoices must be submitted monthly in £ GBP and the HRMC exchange rate used to calculate any support costs expenses. The monthly exchange rate to be used should match the month the costs were made (and the month should match the receipt).

4. Person Specification

Person specification	Essential	Desirable
Qualifications	Bachelor’s Degree (2:1 or above) in a relevant discipline.	Master’s Degree level in a relevant discipline, such as Public Health.
Experience	Minimum seven years’ experience in the NGO and/or health sector in Sub-Saharan Africa Project coordination, administration, and the project management cycle Budget preparation, tracking and monitoring Preparing and delivering written and verbal communications to a range of audiences	Grants management Working closely with international teams Monitoring and evaluation Database management
Knowledge	Understanding of, and interest, in international development and global health issues. Awareness of Monitoring and Evaluation principles.	Knowledge of issues relating to health workforce capacity development in low- and middle-income countries
Skills	Excellent command of written and spoken English. Well-developed IT skills and competence in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Excellent time management skills and ability to manage competing deadlines. Team player able to work independently when required and to manage a diverse and heavy workload. Attention to detail. Good financial management skills.	Ability to analyse, synthesise and communicate complex issues in a clear manner. Confident in developing the capacity development of others. Excellent interpersonal skills and confidence in dealing with international teams and senior external stakeholders
Values	Strong commitment to THET’s cause and values. Highly motivated self-starter. Flexible and adaptable. Intercultural sensitivity and awareness.
Other	The candidate must be willing to work in insecure areas and travel to rural areas. THET is an equal opportunity employer, and any form of canvassing will lead to automatic disqualification. A commitment to matrix working.

Method Of Application

Candidates must submit their CV along with a cover letter of no more than two pages to [email protected] by 31^stJuly, with ‘Malawi Grants Officer’ in the subject line. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a virtual interview week commencing 5^th August.

The candidate must be based in Lilongwe, Malawi.