POSITION SUMMARY Under the direction of the READ TA and EAC project senior managers, the Finance and Award Coordinator liaises with the Awards and Finance departments regarding technical budgeting and financial duties. This includes: reviewing BVAs and other reporting documents regarding READ TA and Educate A Child education projects to program managers; ensuring that financial regulations and controls are in place at all times such that the contract is administered according to donor regulations and policies of Save the Children; supporting the budget holder to request and transfer funds on time; supporting Awards and Budget Holder to see to it that financial reports meet the required standards; developing and maintaining timely and accurate reports for Budget Holder review; providing technical support to the program managers and project team and facilitating any project and organizational audit and close out. The position is 50% dedicated to the READ-TA and 50% to Educate a Child-funded projects.
He/she will be responsible for liaising with Finance and Awards and ensuring that all donor and SCI requirements for the agreements, sub-contracts and sub-grants, budget planning, monitoring, and reporting are fully met in a timely manner and as per the quality standards. This requires close liaison with SC US home office, SCETCO finance and award departments, all partners, and project staff
Reporting to the Chief of party, you will be responsible for the following duties: Financial System & Contract Management;
Follow up with finance to provide adequate support documents, proper approval process, compliance to contracts and other donor requirements regarding financial transactions.
Conduct training to build capacity of staff working on the project, including partners, in financial systems, policy, procedures and compliance requirements.
Follow up with finance and award regarding the preparation of documents for audit and maintain finance records and documents in an orderly and secure manner.
Support program managers in coordinating monthly grant/agreement meetings and complete relevant action points arising from the meetings.
Follow up with finance to ensure timely review of proper posting of financial transactions and reports of related to READ TA and EAC
Assist Budget Holder by facilitating and following up fund transfer to field offices periodically
Support the Budget Holder in confirming availability of funds for all requests for payment or charges to awards.
Award Implementation, Budget, Income and Debt Management;
Collaborate with the Awards Unit to ensure implementation of all donor compliance requirements in coordination with other departments.
Work with hub/field office Finance managers/ coordinators to consolidate phased budgets and review programme expenditure.
Monitor budgets, sub-grants and sub-contracts to ensure that spending occurs as planned and that variances are anticipated, noted and corrected. Ensure that key programme personnel are aware of their budgetary resources, and are able to monitor their budgets respectively.
Work closely with the program managers to prepare any budget revisions and projections and respond to any questions.
Liaise with Awards team to ensure that required invoices are send to RTI/USAID and EAC following approval of reports.
Provide support project management team in mapping and (re-)phasing of budgets and consolidation of program costs to support awards performance.
Provide support to ensure that agreements are complete and accurate from a financial perspective in advance of grant closure.
Award Reporting;
Review and provide quality control for BVA monthly reports to the program managers to ensure they can provide feedback to Awards in a time manner. This will include review of coding, transactions, and planned and implemented activities.
Review and provide quality control of monthly financial reports from the regional teams to ensure accuracy and to provide regular feedback to program managers and project staff and partners.
For internal use, draft a consolidated, user friendly financial report which tracks major transactions side-by-side with planned and implemented activities. Attention will be paid to any trends in coding errors.
Assist the program managers to review monthly invoices (Payment Requests) versus reports from sub-contractors, resolve queries and present to the –program managers
Prepare monthly/quarterly pipelines or required documents for submission upon request. Work with Awards Coordinator to follow up on any questions or issues raised by SC/US, ensuring input from budget holders and other support functions as required.
Support the Awards team to prepare a consolidated annual financial report, including a cumulative life of project report.
Job Requirement
Successful candidate will possess the following characteristics:
Essential
First Degree in Accountancy from a recognized institution or other related fields
At least 6 years of progressive experience; out of which 3 years’ experience must be in managing USAID funded agreements or contracts with strong knowledge of USAID rules and regulations
Computer literate, particularly skilled in Accounting and Budget tracking systems
Significant experience in financial monitoring, budgetary systems, and controls with strong analytical skills
Proven ability to prepare budgets and donor financial reports
Strong organizational, interpersonal, and time management skills while working in a dynamic, team setting in a challenging environment
Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
Desirable
4+ years of professional experience in grant compliance, program management and financial management
Knowledge and experience using various financial packages such as SUN, AMS and Agresso systems
Ability to communicate effectively and work across departments, with demonstrated experience in integrated project activities
Substantial experience in managing multicultural teams