MUHAMMAD ABDULLAH

• Grants Assistant i am working under the direct leadership of the CRA-N Regional Team Leader and under the overall supervision of the CRA-North Grants Manager and CRA-North Chief of Party
• I am responsible to provide regional technical and administrative support in the planning, implementation, monitoring, completion and closure of innovative resilience focused grant programming; with a particular focus on the development of Request For Application (RFA) packages for regional and district Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s), Community Based Organizations (CBO’s) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s); which intends to help the reintegration of Temporarily Displaced Persons, enhance community cohesiveness, and increase civic involvement among rural populations within the newly amalgamated districts, while reducing marginalisation and increasing resilience
• In addition to this, I am a core member of IP Technical Review Committee (IPTRC), IPTRC's primary roles are to
• Provide technical inputs for selection/shortlisting Implementing Partners/Service Providers and to support resilience activities for marginalized communities within NMDs as well as within the flood-affected districts in all three provinces (KP, Sindh and Baluchistan)
• Evaluate the shortlisted firms/consultants to help select the best firm/consultant for the required job
• On receipt of proposals, provide critique/evaluation of the proposals and provide recommendations to the IPs to bring them in line with the programmatic objectives
• Ensure that all proposals submitted by the IPs are brought in line with CRA-North policies
• Proposals should be adjusted according to budgetary constraints of the program and must adhere to the guiding principles
• Identify issues and suggest appropriate actions during grant design stage that are feasible to achieve in a certain time frame
• Maintain close liaison with the IPs through routine meetings and follow ups
• Recommend removal of interventions/change in scope of work, strategic focus, or financing etc
• Provide suggestions or adjustments to proposed activities and technical approach as needed to maximize impact and achieve CRA-North objectives

• As a Manager Programs, I was directly reporting to Chief Executive and responsible for the following tasks;
• Organizing programs and activities in accordance with the mission and goals of the organization
• Develop new programs to support the strategic direction of the organization
• Create and manage long-term goals
• Develop program/project budget and operating plan for the program
• Manage a team with a diverse array of talents and responsibilities
• Ensure that goals are met in areas including beneficiary’s satisfaction, safety, and quality and team member performance
• Produce accurate and timely reporting of program status throughout its life cycle
• Development of proposal process from project initiation to close out as per donors requirement of donor standards
• Development of strategic management approaches, partnerships, staff management plan, tools for M&E, budgets, and designing of projects
• Development of concept notes for new project initiatives
• Prepare documentation for donor’s expression of interest/call for proposal
• Prepare grants tracker, their updates and follow-ups
• Provide support to project management team in development of writing concept notes, proposals, EOIs, RFAs etc
• Ensure that all project activities are properly documented from the start of implementation to project close out

As a Grants Associate, I was directly reporting to Grants Manager and was looking after multiple Grants related activities which includes, Preparation of grants solicitation, review, award documentation and other grants-related documents till grants close-out and proactively identified errors and/or missing documentation to ensure compliance, Complete cycle of grants and subcontracts management activities, solicitation, application review, pre-award assessments, monitoring/compliance, visits and close-out procedures, Verification of grantee expense reports and submitted payment requests to Finance department, Maintained necessary Grants trackers to manage the grants, including the procurement tracker for in-kind grants, Negotiated budgets with potential grantees and provide support in preparing grants negotiation memorandum for USAID approval, Ensured the proper reporting, filing and archiving of all relevant administrative, contractual, personnel, technical and programmatic grants documents both via electronic files and hard copy files. I was also involved in Capacity Building & Partnerships program under grants, developing partnerships with public academia and private sector entities in designing and organizing a number of technical training / capacity building programs /pre and post harvest training for growers, SMEs, BDSPs, NGOs, Quality assurers, Consultants, etc. These programs proved to be an excellent source of knowledge/technology transfer and skill development of local manpower in agribusiness sector.

As a Manager Grants I was directly reporting to Value Chain & Grant Management Specialist and was looking after multiple Grants related activities which includes, drafting of Request for Applications (RFAs), development of Concept Paper, drafting of Proposals and submission of cases to Project Coordination Unit for approval. Directed and corresponding with the regions on Grant activities, scheduled meetings to define roles & responsibilities and timelines for grantees, generated and reviewed all aspects of grant agreements with the grantees, developed and finalized adverts for Grant products in English and Urdu in local newspapers. I was also responsible for reporting to Grants Specialist on day to day activities and assigning tasks to team along with follow-ups and deadline, review and submit payment requests at kick off meetings. Ensured that all grant activities are properly documented from the start of implementation to grant close out.

Developed a comprehensive grants management system and lead the team to ensure smooth functioning and building up of US$ 16m funding portfolio.

As an Office Manager, I oversight responsibility for booksellers, Textbooks, General Merchandise, Sales, Cash, Shipping/Receiving, Provide assistance to ensure all daily operations are consistent, Reconcile Process accounts, compare entries on ledgers with invoices, journal vouchers, and purchase orders to verify accuracy of posting and receipt of payment for services provided by the Process, provided support to publishers, authors and designers for timely finalization of textbooks for review and approval, Draft contracts, agreements and memorandums for Schools and Suppliers/Contractors, Negotiated contracts with vendors and distributors to manage product distribution, establishing distribution networks and developing distribution strategies, Developed office record keeping systems, Responsible for administrative support tasks at the executive level, Ensure smooth and seamless service, managing day-to-day activities.

As a Project Coordinator I was leading a 16 member team, which includes Managers, M&E Officers, Social Organizers, field engineers, Warehouse incharge, Admin & finance officer and logistic officer and was directly reporting to Head of Programs. I was looking after program related activities which includes; management and development of the detailed implementation plan (DIP) for the project, development of baseline survey report, submission of weekly/bi-weekly reports to donors, monthly implementation plans for donors in order to achieve activities as per the approved DIP, ensured that the project is being implemented as per donor regulations, overall responsibility of the project including regular monitoring, field visits and learning, Initiated and oversee needs and technical assessments and analysis, as well as preparing the follow up reports in coordination with the PDMA/FDMA, district government and other line agencies, Identify and monitor risks, constraints or escalating issues and inform senior management immediately, ensured that contractual activities are completed on time, within the budget and with acceptable quality. Initiated and managed emergency responses, and prioritized activities according to the emerging humanitarian needs, oversee TDPs tracking mechanism, Tracked and managed team attendance, Regular field visits to monitor the activities and their quality in compliance with the proposal.

As a Senior Manager Grants & Contracts I supervised a team of Manager, Assistant Managers and Grant Officers and was directly reporting to Director Grants & Contracts. I was looking after multiple Grants related activities which includes, capacity assessments of Non-Governmental Organizations(NGOs)/Rural Support Programs (RSPs) for sub-awards, drafting of Request for Applications (RFAs) for all products launched by the Project, finalization of cases to be presented in meetings for approval from Grant Evaluation Committee, drafting of approval packages for approvals from USAID Agreement Officer (AO) and Agreement Officer Representative (AOR), directing and corresponding with five (05) regions all over Pakistan on Grant activities, elaborating M&E and Communication departments on Grant activities for development of effective branding & marking plans and M&E templates for applicants and social media, drafting of agreements for finalized applicants as per USAID rules & regulations and forwarding the same to Regional Offices. Drafting and submission of monthly reports on Grants products to USAID, drafting of contracts as per USAID policies for Capacity Building, Training and Awareness Programs with National and International Organizations, drafting and finalization of adverts of Grant products in English and Urdu for national newspapers, Participated in program budgeting and planning. Directing Grants team on day to day activities and assigning tasks to team along with follow-ups and deadlines. Getting Regions and applicants’ issues resolved, by involving relevant stakeholders from all levels of management. Liaison with monitoring & evaluation and program divisions to monitor progress of funded projects from disbursement to completion, identifying any potential problems with implementation and, as appropriate, prepare a report to Director Grants. We played an important role throughout the procurement procedures and distribution of in-kind grant items. In coordination with M&E and Programs department, we conduct regular field monitoring visits and support closeout of awards, including preparation of final inventories, property disposition, etc.

Grants department developed a grant portfolio of US$ 8.93 million awarded to over 1500 beneficiaries (Small, medium & large) throughout Pakistan for innovative and value added activities to Farmer Enterprise Groups, NGOs SMEs, etc.

As a Manager Programs (Grants), I was responsible for business operations of the company in all four provinces (Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan) and as well as Gilgit-Baltistan, FATA and AJK, and assisted the middle management in developing business network with relevant stakeholders (i.e. the business community and government departments), business promotional activities, identifying business opportunities, determining business requirements of potential applicants and encouraging them to apply for financial support, analyzing & evaluating grant applications & project proposals and ensuring the accuracy of the information provided by the client, preparing review reports and submission of recommendations based on the proposals for grant approving authority, developing appropriate monitoring & verification procedures and objectives, facilitating disbursements, supporting monitoring & verification procedures through field visits and ensuring implementation of the developed objectives and procedures.

I was successful in building a grant funding portfolio of US$. 5.20 million approved in favor of the Farmer Enterprise Groups.

As an Assistant Manager Grants & Contracts / Programs I was responsible for the company’s financing operations in KPK, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan Provinces. In accordance with the Asian Development Bank’s guidelines/rules/requirements, I appraised grant applications received from provinces, ensured proper documentation, assessed viability of the proposed projects, examined financial capability of the applicant, analyzed expected future returns, studied feasibility reports, conducted pre-award assessment & verified information submitted, assessed eligible grant awards for the applicants, prepared and presented formal cases to the appraisal panel committee for approval, drafted grant contracts, set milestones & payment modes for disbursements. I was successful in building a grant funding portfolio of US$ 24 million approved in favor of the farmer enterprise groups, farmer clusters & associations based in the rural areas, private sector SMEs and NGOs.

• Haripur/Abbottabad
• Sarhad Rural Support Program (SRSP) is a province based NGO working in rural areas using the approach of social mobilization
• The main objective is to alleviate poverty and improve the life standard of the under-privileged and marginalized segment of the society through participation
• Conduct credit feasibility, preparation of credit cases and submission to regional Credit Officer for approval
• Regularly update credit MIS i.e
• Punching of credit cases, recoveries and preparation of Daily Cash Flow Statement
• Preparation of Bank reconciliation Statement thereby checking the figures of credit disbursement and recoveries as reflected in the bank statement with office records
• Identification of intended clients for credit and capacity building trainings via holding credit meetings and follow up visits with Community organizations
• Four Days Training on Financial Analysis to Micro-Finance, held on 20th July, Organized by SRSP, Peshawar
• Three-day “New Credit Policy of NRSP” organized by NRSP, Mardan
• Six Days Training in “Social Mobilization and Gender Issue” organized by SRSP, Peshawar
• Ten Days training on “Training of Trainers (ToT) for Farmer Enterprises”, held on 19th to 28th of May 2008, funded by Agribusiness Support Fund organized by ECI (Pvt) Ltd., Islamabad
• Attended two days training on Grants and Procurement System Management from 18th November 2013 to 19th November 2013, funded by CNFA at Serena Hotel Islamabad
• Attended two days training on Environment and Gender Integration, held on 19th & 20th of December 2013, organized by The Agribusiness Project at Islamabad
• Attended five days training on Procurement Management for Senior Managers of CSOs organized from May 26-30, 2014 by ASP-LUMS and funded by USAID at Rausing Executive Development Centre (REDC) of LUMS Lahore
• Attended two days training on “Inclusion of Age & Disability In Humanitarian Response, held on 21st July 2016