Associate, Financial Management at Palladium Group

Project Overview and Role   
Purpose of Position:

• For assigned projects, the Associate, Financial Management serves as part of the project management team, supporting the financial management aspects of the programme
• The Associate will work with the programme and operations teams to maintain the programme financial records, prepare the client invoice, forecast cash flow, revenue and project income, and analyse performance against value for money principles in accordance with the programme budget, contractual obligations, company policies, Group Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Guidelines and client rules and regulations
• The Associate will utilise reporting from Palladium’s Enterprise Resource System, and MS Excel analytics to provide required inputs and reporting for the programme team, the Project Manager and the Programme Leadership, and Palladium’s Corporate Financial Management Team.

Assigned Project:

• This role will be assigned to the Nigerian Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Programme (MNCH2), and based in Abuja for a fixed term of 12 months. DFID appointed Palladium and its consortium members to manage implementation of the Nigerian Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Programme (MNCH2); which runs for 5 years 7 months from 1st June 2014 to 31st December 2019.
• The objective of the programme is to achieve effective and efficient delivery of essential health care for pregnant women, new-borns and children, alongside routine immunisation
• The programme will strengthen health system coordination through improved health sector planning and financing, and will increase demand for and access to high quality health services
• The programme is working with government to build capacity within the public health system to enable sustainability beyond the immediate lifetime of the programme.  Sustainable solutions should be sought for every output and outcome of this programme intervention.

Primary Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of the Associate, Financial Management, are to:

Financial Management:

• In collaboration with Finance establish project account codes, ensuring they are fit for purpose and meet client’s and project’s requirements for cost allocation, monitoring and evaluation, and value for money (VFM) reporting;
• Monitor expenditure against budgets and forecasts, including staff costs, operating expenses and procurements;
• Development of Business Metrics to determine input/resource needs and ensure optimal workforce utilisation.
• Ensure the project financial calendar is adhered to;
• Assist with project financial / cash-flow planning, process funding requests from the field, and process monthly Funds Transfer Requests (FTRs);
• Support the preparation of client and internal financial forecasts;
• Review cashbooks / field vouchers and ensure supporting documentation is complete;
• Assist in ensuring the accuracy of client invoices (including monthly, milestone and performance based invoices). Process necessary recodes and corrections and updating the invoice in the accounting system.
• Reconcile and report expense advances monthly;
• Create dashboards and key financial indicators to measure project delivery in line with forecasts;
• Supporting project teams to conduct Value for Money analyses and create cost effectiveness narratives;
• Ensure compliance with the Accounting Standards and Business Guidelines in relation to revenue recognition and other areas of audit compliance;
• Provide monthly financial assessments and commentary for discussion with the Senior Manager, FM and Director, FM, including input into programme Monthly Project Highlight Reports (PHRs), Financial Review Meetings and Internal Project Reviews (IPRs);
• In collaboration with the Project Manager, prepare and monitor revenue recognition schedules and cost accruals as required;
• Work together with the Senior Manager, FM to ensure timely billing and cash collection;

Project Management:

• Support project start-up and closeout;
• Serve as a liaison between corporate services (including the corporate financial management team) and the project;
• Ensure company policies, SOPs and Guidelines for financial management are implemented and are compliant with the client’s rules and regulations;
• Participate in the development and maintenance of project work plans;
• Updating project employee lists, allowing them to book time against specific projects;
• Support the development and presentation of internal and external financial reporting (for example: Project Highlight Reports (PHRs), quarterly Internal Project Reviews (IPRs), periodic Financial Review Meetings, project risk assessments, annual reviews, and client deliverables) and ensure these outputs are fit for purpose;
• Contribute project issues and risks logs, ensuring financial risks are monitored, reported on, managed and mitigated, and escalate risks and issues to corporate/project leadership, as required;
• Undertaking financial spot check reviews to ensure compliance with company and client requirements;
• Support the external audit process and ensure retention of project records is compliant with company policy and client requirement;

Head Contract and Client Relationship Management:

• Support the monitoring and maintenance of compliance with head/prime contracts;
• Manage and support contract amendments as required; including support to adjustment to budget models, and coordination and evaluate pricing inputs (partners, program expense, labour, and other sources);
• Liaise with and respond to requests from clients;
• Provide regular or ad hoc reports to the clients;
• Support project advocacy with internal and external stakeholders;

Business Development / Other:

• Assist in the timely completion of business proposals;
• Participate in capture planning, providing inputs on operational requirements;
• Provide input and support business development of the company as required;
• Other duties as assigned;

Reporting Requirements
The role has dual reporting requirements to the Project Director/Delegate and the Corporate Manager (Financial Management). Reporting requirements include:

• Attendance at weekly and/or management team meetings;
• Provision of regular updates to the manager;
• Monthly submission of operations financials and forecasts;
• Monthly updates on the status of personal Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and any other material matters and/or areas of concern;
• Provision of exception reports as required;
• Inputs to the Business Unit’s quarterly reports as required;
• Other reporting as requested by the manager;

Relationships:

• The role will form part of the Project Financial Management team and will work closely with members of the MNCH2 project team (and particularly the MNCH2 Senior Manager – Finance) as well as other Palladium programme teams in Nigeria, Financial Management team members across the company and the technical Practice Areas.
• The role liaises with clients, technical area specialists, corporate services, professional service providers, and other stakeholders as required.

Authority Levels:

• The role carries a degree of autonomy on financial management with appropriate consultation. The role is required to:
• analyse and make sound recommendations to the line manager;
• Contribute to process improvement through innovative and cost-effective proposals/ideas/suggestions;

Requirements
Minimum Education and Experience Required:

• A relevant Bachelor's Degree.
• A minimum of 2 years relevant work experience.
• Project management of financial/administrative support experience with DFID, DFAT, USAID or other donor client(s).

Key Competencies and Professional Expertise Required:

• Financial acumen and the ability to interpret and analyse financial reports
• Excellent MS Excel skills.
• Strong understanding of project management and accounting systems
• Sound problem solving and decision-making skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Willingness to travel to project states, and potentially to other Palladium Offices.
• Ability to work with a low level of supervision and as a part of a team when required.