Vacature Fund Management Specialist – CFYE, Netherlands

Project Overview and Role:

The Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE) is a 7-year (2019 – 2026) and €134 million programme funded by the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that aims to create a prosperous future for 230,000 young women and men in the Middle East, North Africa, Sahel & West Africa and Horn of Africa regions. The Fund will be supporting initiatives in 11 countries that will offer youth, in particular young women, opportunities for work that is demand-driven and productive, offering a stable income and safe working conditions, and that is contributing to their personal development and social protection.
Private sector, civil society and knowledge institutions will be invited to submit proposals geared to scalable solutions for creating more and better jobs and income generating opportunities for youth. Solutions will in particular focus on an integrated approach that addresses the shortcomings on the demand side (jobs) and supply side (skills) and bridging the mismatch between these two in the labour market.

About the Fund Design & Fund Management Team:

The Fund Management Specialist will be part of the Fund Management Team that is responsible for setting up CFYE’s framework and processes in target countries. This unit owns the processes and formulates the guidelines around the formulation of Challenge Calls in each country and manages the extensive review and selection process and is responsible for a final sign-off on the recommended projects by the Fund’s Steering Committee. The unit is essentially designing, managing, and overseeing all activities from a Challenge Call’s start-up phase of receiving proposals to the evaluation and selection of the projects per country. The Unit is also overseeing the implementers’ funding processes and ensuring efficient delivery of the projects from a project management perspective. The Fund Management Team ensures alignment of tools and processes that govern the implementation of the fund consistently across the CFYE portfolio, considering the specifics of the different country contexts. The team also ensures that different levels of compliance are addressed and appropriately managed.

Team Positioning and Reporting:

The Fund Management Team is a small dynamic team, that follows a Country-Portfolio approach whereby each team member is responsible for everything related to Fund Management that sits under the countries allocated to them.
CFYE takes a Team of Teams approach. The Funa Management Specialist will report to the Fund Manager and will also be expected to work closely and interchangeably with various CFYE team members.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

Below are specific phases where Fund Management team’s support comes in during the lifetime of the Applicants/Implementing Partners projects. The below are broken down based on the different phases:

A] Application and Selection:

- Coordinate on the Fund’s start-up, launch, evaluation and selection stages.
- Lead on communication and coordination with applicants.
- Co-lead data management and organization throughout the Fund’s start-up stages.

B] Due Diligence (DD):

- Support detailed due diligence assessments led by the Operations and Due Diligence Team for individual IPs.
- Collaborate with the Country Leads to ensure that IP due diligence improvement plan requirements are met when scheduled.
- As needed, coordinate responses to delays and issues that arise due to non-responsiveness to DD improvement plan requirements or during initial assessments.
- Ensure that due diligence assessments are considered and factored in as and when needed during key decisions related to the IP’s implementation journey, and ensure risks are raised accordingly.

C] Contracting:

- Overseeing the contract negotiation and finalization process with Finance & Operations team and the Country Lead.
- Ensure contract signing between the IP and Palladium is conducted based on the workplan in place and according to the timelines set.
- Support the Country Leads with setting up the celebration workshops once contracts are signed.
- Guide country teams in responding to and actioning any contract related matters that arise during contracting phase or project implementation.

D] Project Inception Phase:

- Set the framework and timeline for IP’s inception period and support the Country Leads in its successful completion. Supporting the Country Teams to ensure IP delivery of the inception report and related deliverables – including MEL templates, budgets, risk registers, TA plans and workplans.
- Ensure the relevant process for Inception phase is followed correctly by the Country teams, using the right tools and templates.
- Critically review the IP-level milestones and their alignment with workplans and budgets.
- Close off inception phase by working with the Finance & Operations to have the Contract amendments in place, with all the necessary supporting documents.

E] Project Implementation:

- Support the Country Leads in ensuring the IPs are compliant with the Fund’s guidelines and processes throughout the implementation phase.
- Provide guidance to Country Teams on project-level milestone management, and assisting in the management of milestones from CFYE’s perspective.
- Ensure the IPs are compliant with their contractual agreements by supporting the Country Leads in monitoring the performance of the portfolio & milestone delivery.
- Ensure key check-in moments such as quarterly progress and annual reviews with IP’s take place to manage progress, risks and challenges. Ensure that the correct team members are brought together during these key review moments.
- Keep oversight with the Country Leads on project adjustments to be made to design, workplan or budget, ensuring correct processes are followed i.e., contract amendments, and ensure the right escalation and approval lines are instituted when a change request from an IP arises.
- Support Country Leads with risk management of their portfolios, (in Salesforce) and through the instituted Quarterly Portfolio meetings and ensure escalation of any programme level risks to the CFYE risk register.
- Following the conclusion of quarterly/annual reviews, ensure that fund transfer requests are processed in a timely manner to ensure funds disbursement to the IPs, and monitor payment delays or re-routes accordingly.
- Coordinating and being involved, when necessary, in Data Quality Assessments, Output Validation processes and Outcome Verifications and Financial spot checks of IPs.

F] Project Close-Out:

- Support the Country Leads to ensure the IPs final project reporting is accurately completed, recorded and filed.
- Coordinating with Results, Data & Impact team on validation of results and / or external evaluation, ensuring that all final deliverables are critically assessed, and all due payments are made.
- Coordinating with Finance team on end of project audit.

Required Qualifications:

- This position entails extensive coordination with the wider CFYE team and projects. Applicant should be comfortable in and seek roles where you enjoy being in the middle of multiple moving pieces and bringing it all together. Should feel confident in interacting with people at all levels within the team, including Senior Management.
- This position involves high volume of on-going presentations and workshops that require facilitation, moderation and note-taking. Your presentation and communication skills should be strong.
- A key element of this role requires applicants to not just be personally organised in documentation, record keeping and data management but also should be comfortable in enforcing set organisation standards on the wider team as well.
- A successful applicant should have experience working in a complex, project-based environment and able to clearly demonstrate how their experience and skills matches with the role.
- Must possess a high degree of self-motivation and proven ability to work independently under limited supervision and tight deadlines. Ability to multitask and work collaboratively in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams
- The role requires a certain level of knowledge working with and operationalising key online tools – even if limited knowledge. Such tools are Microsoft SharePoint, Planner, Teams, Salesforce, Mural, Miro
- Proper balance between attention to detail and focus on broader issues.
Excellent communication and presentation skills in English.

Location and Contract:

The preferred location for the role is Netherlands-based and applicants must have the right to work in the Netherlands. Remote work is possible, only if the applicant is based in one of the CFYE countries of operation: Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria or Senegal.
The contract will follow the standard 1-year duration, with very likely possibility of extension for the full programme duration.
This is a full-time role.

Deadline: 19 May, 2023

Company Overview:

About Palladium - Palladium is a global leader in the design, development and delivery of Positive Impact – the intentional creation of enduring social and economic value.  We work with governments, businesses, and investors to solve the world's most pressing challenges. With a team of more than 3,000 employees operating in 90 plus countries and a global network of over 35,000 experts, we help improve economies, societies and, most importantly, people's lives.

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 accommodations 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.