Cooperative Agreement Specialist - US EMBASSY

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Nairobi has an opening for the position of Cooperative Agreement Specialist. The position will be available immediately.

The closing date of this position is April 13, 2012.

Minimum Requirements

◊ Bachelor’s degree in public administration, business administration, management or finance is required. ◊ 3 years of progressively responsible grants management experience in a public health field or a health-related international development organization is required. à Level IV (fluent) English is required. ◊ A thorough knowledge of procurement and contracting (including grants, contracts and/or cooperative agreement audit and accounting requirements) is required. ◊ Must be able to assess grants management issues and develop realistic solutions. Ability to plan budget expenditures to meet PEPFAR- program needs. ◊ Must have computer skills in word processing, spreadsheets and databases.

Job Specification

BASIC FUNCTION OF POSITION

Job holder oversees the day-to-day management of agency grants, contracts and cooperative agreements to support and promote effective and coordinated implementation, monitoring and overall management of agency funded PEPFAR activities carried out by implementing partners in Kenya. The position is one of three responsible for a grants management portfolio involving 45 cooperative agreements involving 50 grantees and worth approximately $180 million. Incumbent has a broad range of complex programmatic and administrative management duties in the general area of grants and financial management; especially overseeing the monitoring and compliance aspects of grants management activities.


MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES % OF TIME

I. Cooperative Agreement Management 70% Job holder serves as the cooperative agreement technical officer and main point of contact for all HIV/AIDS-related grants, contracts and/or cooperative agreements. This responsibility requires the development of close working relationships with program officers and senior staff of collaborating partner agencies to ensure that partners meet all objectives and outputs.

This includes:

a) Development, coordination and technical oversight of the Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA) and liaison with the Agency Program and Grants Office on technical reviews and funding awards;

b) Liaison with agency deputies and public health specialists and implementing/cooperating partners to assure that projects are conducted according to the terms and conditions in the notice of award and that USG funds are appropriately utilized;

c) In coordination with project officers, review of all applications, supplemental awards, requests for extensions, and funding for technical and budget soundness and advice and recommendation to agency management on proposals;

d) Provision of direct technical assistance and support to grantees, contractors and cooperative agreement partners in the development of spending and work plans for implementation of activities following awards. Monitors and reports on supported grants, cooperative agreement and contract activities (quarterly reports, continuation applications, supplemental applications, and financial status reports) and collaboration with partners to ensure all appropriate programmatic activities and study protocols meet human subjects requirements and pass through ethical review; and

e) Review and recommendation regarding the provision or withholding of funds, or to discontinue an activity to contractors/grantees which fail to meet program requirements. Examples include failure to provide reports in a timely manner, misuse of funds, or unauthorized purchases with program funds.


II. Administrative Management 20%


Job holder is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of an electronic or paper system that accounts for the receipt and location of all grant, contract and cooperative agreement documents (FOA, applications, technical reviews, etc). Job holder coordinates periodic reports with agency headquarters.

Job holder establishes management controls to limit access and ensure the integrity of the procurement files and databases used for PEPFAR reporting purposes.

Incumbent reviews all documents related to grants, contracts and cooperative agreements for completeness. Job Holder develops guidelines and recommendations for cooperative agreement recipients regarding implementation, reporting and administration of the various cooperative agreements. Job Holder, together with agency headquarters and other program staff, prepares monthly and annual calendars of actions related to the management of grants including providing site visit schedules, routine trainings for staff and grantees, setting deadlines for important actions necessary for grants management (continuing applications, FOAs, supplements) and other date sensitive elements.

Job holder uses critical judgement to identify problems associated with grants agreement management and takes steps to resolve the problems and/or bring them to the attention of Senior Management in a timely fashion.


III. Interagency Coordination 10%


Incumbent serves as a member on selected technical workgroups that propose and coordinate inter-agency program components and funding levels for HIV/AIDS activities. Recommendations from the technical working groups play a key role in the development of the overall PEPFAR program in country. Job holder routinely represents the Agency at administrative and planning sessions called for the purpose of discussion and evaluation of financial commitments for overall HIV/AIDS programs. Such meetings include all USG PEPFAR implementing agencies (Departments of State, Defense, Labor, Commerce, and Health and Human Services (including Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Food and Drug Administration), USAID and Peace Corps), host country government officials, and collaborating agencies and organizations. Note: This position description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by incumbent. Incumbent will be required to perform other duties as assigned by the agency.

Selection Process:

WHEN EQUALLY QUALIFIED, U.S. CITIZEN ELIGIBLE FAMILY MEMBER (USEFMs) AND U.S. VETERANS WILL BE GIVEN PREFERENCE. THEREFORE, IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT THE CANDIDATES SPECIFICALLY ADDRESS THE REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS ABOVE IN THE APPLICATION.

Additional Selection Criteria:
à Management will consider nepotism/conflict of interest, budget, and residency status in determining successful candidacy.
à Current employees serving a probationary period are not eligible to apply.
à Current Ordinarily Resident employees with an Overall Summary Rating of Needs Improvement or Unsatisfactory on
their most recent Employee Performance Report are not eligible to apply.
à Currently employed U.S. Citizen EFMs who hold a Family Member Appointment (FMA) are ineligible to apply for
advertised positions within the first 90 calendar days of their employment.
à Currently employed NORs hired under a Personal Services Agreement (PSA) are ineligible to apply for advertised
positions within the first 90 calendar days of their employment unless currently hired into a position with a When Actually
Employed (WAE) work schedule.
à Applicants must be available for an interview and for proficiency testing as required by the selecting official.

DEFINITIONS

1. Eligible Family Member (EFM): An individual related to a U.S. Government employee in one of the following ways:

• Spouse or same-sex domestic partner (as defined in 3 FAM 1610);
• Child, who is unmarried and under 21 years of age or, regardless of age, is incapable of self-support. The term shall include, in addition to natural offspring, stepchildren and adopted children and those under legal guardianship of the employee or the spouse when such children are expected to be under such legal guardianship until they reach 21 years of age and when dependent upon and normally residing with the guardian;
• Parent (including stepparents and legally adoptive parents) of the employee or of the spouse, when such parent is at least 51 percent dependent on the employee for support;
• Sister or brother (including stepsisters and stepbrothers, or adoptive sisters or brothers) of the employee, or of the spouse, when such sibling is at least 51 percent dependent on the employee for support, unmarried, and under 21 years of age, or regardless of age, incapable of self-support.

2. U.S. Citizen Eligible Family Member (USEFM): For purposes of receiving a preference in hiring for a qualified position, an EFM who meets the following criteria:

• U.S. Citizen; and,
• EFM (see above) at least 18 years old; and,
• Listed on the travel orders of a direct-hire Foreign, Civil, or uniformed service member assigned to or stationed abroad with a USG agency that is under COM authority, or at an office of the American Institute in Taiwan; and either:

• 1. Resides at the sponsoring employee's or uniformed service member's post of assignment abroad or at an office of the American Institute in Taiwan; or
  2. Resides at an Involuntary Separate Maintenance Allowance (ISMA) location authorized under 3 FAM 3232.2.

3. Appointment Eligible Family Member (AEFM): EFM (see above) eligible for a Family Member Appointment for purposes of Mission employment: · Is a U.S. citizen; and

· Spouse or same-sex domestic partner (as defined in 3 FAM 1610) or a child of the sponsoring employee who is unmarried and at least 18 years old; and

· Is listed on the travel orders or approved Form OF-126, Foreign Service Residence and Dependency Report, of a sponsoring employee, i.e., a direct-hire Foreign Service, Civil Service, or uniformed service member who is permanently assigned to or stationed abroad at a U.S. mission, or at an office of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), and who is under chief of mission authority; and

· Is residing at the sponsoring employee's post of assignment abroad or, as appropriate, office of the American Institute in Taiwan.

· Does not receive a Foreign Service or Civil Service annuity

4. Member of Household (MOH): An individual who accompanies a direct-hire Foreign, Civil, or uniformed service member permanently assigned or stationed at a U.S. Foreign Service post or establishment abroad, or at an office of the American Institute in Taiwan. An MOH is:

• Not an EFM; and,
• Not on the travel orders of the sponsoring employee; and,
• Has been officially declared by the sponsoring USG employee to the COM as part of his/her household.

A MOH is under COM authority and may include a parent, unmarried partner, other relative or adult child who falls outside the Department’s current legal and statutory definition of family member. A MOH does not have to be a U.S. Citizen.

5. Not Ordinarily Resident (NOR) – An individual who:

• Is not a citizen of the host country; and,
• Does not ordinarily reside (OR, see below) in the host country; and,
• Is not subject to host country employment and tax laws; and,
• Has a U.S. Social Security Number (SSN).

NOR employees are compensated under a GS or FS salary schedule, not under the LCP.

6. Ordinarily Resident (OR) – A Foreign National or U.S. citizen who:

• Is locally resident; and,
• Has legal, permanent resident status within the host country; and,
• Is subject to host country employment and tax laws.

EFMs without U.S. Social Security Numbers are also OR. All OR employees, including U.S. citizens, are compensated in accordance with the Local Compensation Plan (LCP).

When applying for this position, kindly email us with the additional documents as specifically required for the position (e.g. licenses, certificates, diplomas, degrees) to nairobidocs@state.gov. Kindly set the subject of the email in the following format: Job ref/Job title/Your Full Name/ID

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