“Meaningful community-centred connectivity” is a project under the Local Networks (LocNet) initiative, a collective effort led by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and Rhizomatica in partnership with people and organisations in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It aims to directly support community networks and other community-centred connectivity initiatives, while contributing to an enabling ecosystem for their emergence and growth. It is part of a multi-year, multi-donor strategy envisaged to address the human capacity and sustainability challenges, along with the policy and regulatory obstacles, that limit the growth of community-based connectivity initiatives.
Main purpose of position
The LocNet grants administrator will be on an 11-month short-term contract and will be responsible for managing the subgrants and subcontract administration under the Local Networks initiative. They will work with grantees and the LocNet team around the administrative work flow of subgrants in focus countries, which can include advising team members on APC procurement policy, drafting agreements and budget templates, preparing and updating a grant monitoring system, reviewing narrative reports, and closure procedures that conclude a full grant or contract project cycle.
The LocNet grants administrator will be supervised and work closely with the LocNet co-manager: development and coordination and senior finance administrator.
Start date: 1 February 2025
Deadline for applications: Friday, 29 November 2024
Reporting: The grants administrator will report to the LocNet co-manager: development and coordination and the finance administrator. They will work closely with the co-leads within the LocNet team and LocNet administration team members
Location: The applicant will work at their own premises and preferably be located in the global South.
Primary responsibilities
- Advise LocNet team members on procurement and subgrant and subcontract management policies and procedures to align with project goals and donor expectations.
- Propose and implement processes, work flow improvements and grant-making best practices.
- Manage the subgrants and subcontract process, ensuring terms of reference and supporting documents are compliant with relevant requirements, preparing draft grant and contract agreements (and extension letters), and finalising the agreement submissions which go to the operations director.
- Enter data into the grant monitoring system, ensuring the filing system is up to date, and provide summarised data for LocNet’s monitoring, evaluation or learning processes.
- Monitor subgrant activities, which include providing feedback on narrative reports alongside the LocNet team, update the data within monitoring system and ensure follow up payments are processed.
- Coordinate with LocNet team members, implementing partners, support organisations and subgrantees to ensure effective communication and transparency, and provide technical support.
- Advise and facilitate evaluation committees for subgrants, if needed, and provide guidance to subgrantees on financial and programmatic matters.
- Develop knowledge resources to facilitate the application process for grassroots communities in need of assistance.
- Participate in regular meetings with LocNet and APC team members to share best practices and improve subgrant management.
- Work with the APC tech team to set up, test and operationalise the grant application and assessment system on the online subgranting platform.
- Alongside LocNet leads, prepare regular reports documenting the process of implementation and impact of subgrants and give comprehensive inputs for donor narrative reporting.
Qualifications, background and experience
The following qualifications, background and experience are expected from the individual candidate:
- At least three years of experience in grant administration and/or project management, including reporting and people coordination.
- Demonstrable skill in accurate grant or contract agreement development and attention to detail, particularly for project budgets and respective templates.
- Track record as an inclusive network builder and team player.
- Ability to plan and think strategically, in particular, to revise practices and suggest solutions to ensure efficiency of the implementation of the project.
- Capacity to work autonomously and in a team setting.
- Excellent writing, documentation, filing and communication skills.
- Excellent written and spoken English.
- Ability to communicate in Spanish, French or Portuguese would be an advantage.
Women, LGBTQIA+ and gender-diverse people, and members of Black, Indigenous, traditional and marginalised communities are encouraged to apply, even if they don’t entirely meet all the requirements.
APC has a zero tolerance approach to sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (SEA). In order to work with APC, the applicant’s host institution will be asked to provide a copy of their existing policies on the prevention of sexual harassment and SEA or develop them before they can work with APC. APC’s sexual harassment policy can be consulted on APC’s website at: https://www.apc.org/en/apc-policies-0. The contractor may refer to the standards of conduct set forth in Section 3 of the United Nations' "Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse" (ST/SGB/2003/13) for guidance.
Remuneration and duration of contract
The selected applicant will receive USD 24,475, which should cover a minimum 0.5 full-time equivalent (FTE), 11-month contract. They are expected to work from 1 February 2025 until 31 December 2025.
A contract between the successful applicant and APC will be drawn up containing the specific terms and the disbursement process.
How to apply
Interested applicants should submit an application by email to locnet@apc.org [SUBJECT LINE: CONTRACT GRANT ADMINISTRATOR] with the following information in English:
- A cover letter or proposal from the interested applicant. It should state the name of the candidate, the qualifications of the candidate and their interest in the position. This cover letter or proposal should also include job experience, qualifications, background and experience in grant administration.
- A CV of the candidate.
- Three references for the candidate: names, relationship, contact details.
Information to be highlighted about the applicant includes:
- Experience in project or grant administration.
- Experience in capacity building, particularly in accompanying others around grant administration.
- Experience in drafting grant agreements and budget templates.
- Computer and internet skills.
- Where the candidate is based.
- Confirmation that the candidate is able and willing to travel frequently.
- Languages spoken and written.
- Why the candidate would like to be part of this project and is interested in this position.
- Why the candidate would like to work with the Local Networks initiative.
- Self-declaration by the candidate, confirming that they have never been subject to sanctions (disciplinary, administrative or criminal) arising from an investigation in relation to sexual harassment or SEA, or left employment pending investigation and refused to cooperate in such an investigation.
- Other information that might be of importance to our assessment of the application.
About APC
APC is a global network of civil society organisations whose mission is to empower and support organisations, social movements and individuals in and through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to build strategic communities and initiatives for the purpose of making meaningful contributions to equitable human development, social justice, participatory political processes and environmental sustainability.
About Rhizomatica
Rhizomatica is a civil society organisation whose mission is to increase access to and participation in telecommunications by supporting communities to build and maintain self-governed and owned communication infrastructure. Rhizomatica’s approach combines regulatory activism and reform, critical engagement with technology and the development of decentralised telecommunications infrastructure, and direct community involvement and participation.
Download the call in PDF format here.
Original illustration: Gustavo Nascimento. Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.