Associate, Grants and Subcontracts

Location: Khulna, Bangladesh 

 
About Palladium: 
Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 4,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities.    

Project Overview and Role: 
The Feed the Future Bangladesh Inclusive Access to Finance Activity (IAF) is a $34 million, USAID-supported project that will unlock finance for small businesses and farmers, make agricultural supply chains more inclusive and sustainable, and improve inclusivity in the financial sector in Bangladesh. To accomplish this, IAF will engage strategic partners to deploy innovative solutions to address constraints in agriculture value chains and agriculture financing; deploy incentives and capacity building to financial institutions to expand appropriate and inclusive lending to or investment in agriculture; and engage the private sector to advocate for systemic improvements and scale social impact. From 2024 to 2029, The Bangladesh Inclusive Access to Finance Activity will unlock $448 million in finance, driving sustainable agricultural lending and promoting inclusive growth. By improving access to finance for farmers and micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and the policy environment in the financial sector, IAF with increase farmer revenue, create jobs, and contribute to Bangladesh’s economic growth in an inclusive and environmentally friendly manner. 

The Grants & Subcontracts Associate will support the Grants & Subcontracts Senior Manager in all efforts related to the implementation of the grants and subcontracts to fulfill the project’s objectives – including the Catalytic Fund.  

Roles and Responsibilities 

Assist in conducting grants and subcontract solicitations and advertisements. Support competitive procurement processes, draft agreements, and develop related grant and subcontract documentation.  Assist in the dissemination of grant and subcontract Review Guidelines for evaluators, including scoring formats. Conduct due diligence and aid the negotiation of agreements with sub awardees. Assist Senior Associate, Grants and Subcontracts and Senior Manager, Grants and Subcontracts in the exercise of pre award assessment and eligibility checking prior to award.  Support the administration, compliance, and implementation procedures of grants and subcontracts, and ensure compliance with USAID grants regulations including procurement regulations.  Assist fund transfers after reviewing financial reports and deliverables and ensuring compliance with grants and subcontracts agreements (in coordination with technical staff). Communicate with grantees and subcontractors regarding the issue of invoices submission and advise/train them to ensure correct invoices/deliverables/financial reports.  Visit to the grantees and subcontractors’ sites/office to monitor compliance to grants terms and conditions followed and report to Senior Manager, Grants and Subcontracts. Support the verification of milestones including contacting and/or visiting smallholder farmers to verify loan details and disbursement.  Coordinate with finance team to facilitate payments of milestone for grantee and subcontractors. Once payment is completed, then collect payment advice from the finance team and share it with the partners.  Reconcile milestone payment with transaction listing in the end of each month and keep the reconciled sheet track record in the IAF database. Ensure that the milestone payment tracker aligns with the grant agreement and reconciliation. Support the Senior Manager, Grants & Subcontracts to conduct cost analysis of grantee and/or subcontractor budget submissions. Maintain grants records in the grants management system. Maintain leverage report and update leverage tracker in timely manner and assist Monitoring and Evaluation team for leverage indicator reporting.  Conduct tracking and reporting, ensuring timely usage of funds as per annual work plans. Provide guidance to sub awardees for the Branding and Marking Plan and Monitoring and Evaluation of grant implementation practices.  Provide feedback or inputs into grants under contract manual as required. Support grant and subcontract close out and final reporting. Prepare, organize, and maintain grants and subcontracts records and files documenting awards, modifications, performance, and compliance. Based on potential partners request, assist the potential partners to apply Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number.  Verification of milestone deliverables by spot check/phone call on a random basis and share findings to Senior Grants and Subcontracts Manager and respective MEL focal point.  Maintain regular communication with MEL focal point for respective partnership management. Any other relevant responsibilities assigned by the Deputy Chief of Party and Grants & Subcontracts Senior Manager.  

Position Requirements  

Bachelor’s degree or higher in relevant subject (Business, Economics, Finance, Procurement, etc.) 2+ years of experience in contracts, subcontracts, or grants management. Experience in grants solicitation or subcontract procurement solicitation and management. Experience in collecting, analyzing, and preparing reports on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) data is an added advantage. Microsoft Office Suite proficiency and the ability to operate spreadsheet and word-processing programs at a highly proficient level. Proactive problem-solving, decision-making, and good judgement skills. Attention to detail and ability to perform multiple tasks and balance competing priorities effectively and efficiently. Ability to communicate effectively with managers, colleagues, service providers, and clients. Experience working on USAID or other donor-funded programs of a similar size preferred. Knowledge of USAID policies, procedures, and reporting requirements preferred. Written and spoken fluency in English is required. Bangladeshi nationals are encouraged to apply. 

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.   

Should you require any adjustments or accommodation to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.   

Safeguarding - We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse.  All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.