Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Closing date: 26 Sep 2016
Based within the central Planning, Performance and Reporting (PPR) team at Sightsavers, the Grant Finance Officer plays a key role in monitoring Sightsavers projects funded by Institutional donors (governments, large private foundations and trusts).
This role involves close liaison with the Institutional Funding team, who has overall responsibility for fundraising and donor reporting. The role also involves close working relationships with country offices of Sightsavers who are accountable for the implementation of project activities.
The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate a good level of financial and accountancy expertise, either through experience or qualification, and will have an awareness of overseas development context gained preferably through working in the INGO sector. Experience of institutional donor contract management would be preferable, especially EC, USAID and DFID funding.
The ideal candidate will also be well organised, proficient with excel, have strong attention to detail and possess excellent numerical skills. French language skills would be advantageous for this role but not essential.
Salary: Circa £30,000
JOB PURPOSE:
Sitting within the central Planning, Performance and Reporting (PPR) team, the Grants Finance Officer plays a key role in monitoring Sightsavers projects funded by Institutional donors (governments, large private foundations and trusts). **
This role involves close liaison with the Institutional Funding team, who has overall responsibility for fundraising and donor reporting. The role also involves close working relationships with country offices of Sightsavers who are accountable for the implementation of project activities. The role also involves working within the programme oversight framework established within Finance & Performance (Programme Reporting and Oversight, Regional Monitoring Officers).
Key tasks include:
§ Undertake ongoing financial monitoring of projects funded by Institutional donors (including sign off of donor financial reporting) and sharing this analysis with the Institutional Funding Team, the in-country teams and the wider organisation as required;
§ Work with colleagues on the team who oversee management reporting activities to ensure income and expenditure on projects funded by institutional donors is correctly reflected in Sightsavers financial systems. This includes completing periodic reviews of grants related income, monitoring the usage of restricted donor fund codes and supporting the year end reconciliation process;
§ Support the development of budgets for large scale grant applications (EC, USAID, DFID, Irish Aid) and undertake the detailed review of smaller scale applications;
§ Provide support for start-up activities for newly approved institutional/government funded projects including administrative/compliance aspects and support the delivery of start up workshops and training for Sightsavers’ staff in grant management;
§ Review and sign off on the financial and compliance aspects of funding agreements with institutional donors
§ Support the quarterly Programme Oversight reporting process for allocated grants
§ Providing other support as required to the management of institutional funding within the PPR team.
PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES:
Ongoing monitoring of government funded projects to determine whether adequate progress is being made and to support programme teams to comply with rules and regulations.
Provide support to finance managers in producing financial reports for donors, reconciling these to the accounting system and supporting donor audit requirements.
Review of grant funding applications to drive improved compliance with funding terms and conditions, alignment with the project logframe and adherence to Sightsavers’ policies, including cost recovery.
Input into the wider programme oversight and reporting framework for allocated grants portfolio
Ensure that grant funding income and expenditure is correctly reflected in the organisation’s financial systems.
Support project start up activities to ensure that the project is managed in accordance with the funding terms and conditions.
Work with the rest of the PPR team to support restricted fund management procedures.
JOBHOLDER ENTRY REQUIREMENTS:
Knowledge (Education & Related Experience):
§ Able to demonstrate finance and accountancy experience.
§ Awareness of overseas development context gained preferably through working in the INGO sector
§ Experience of institutional donor contract management preferable, especially EC, USAID and DfID funding.
§ Experience of providing financial training to non finance staff preferable
Skills (Special Training or Competence):
§ Excellent numerical skills.
§ Proficiency with Excel is required and experience of a computer based accounting system is desirable.
§ Strong attention to detail with a willingness to follow issues through to resolution.
§ Well organised with an appreciation of meeting reporting commitments.
§ Good communication and stakeholder management skills
§ Continuous improvement mindset, seeking ways to improve processes and mitigate risk.
§ Willingness to continuously develop skills and knowledge to remain current with donor funding developments.
§ Any knowledge of languages (French, Portuguese)
Core Behaviours:
§ Communicating & Influencing ● Change & Improvement
§ Decision Making ● Team Working
§ Planning & Organising ● Delivery & Implementation b
How to apply:
To apply, and for further details about the role, please download an application pack from: http://jobs.sightsavers.org/job/grant-finance-officer-2-year-fixed-term-contract/