Cost Share and Subawards Finance Officer at Mercy Corps

Location: Yola, Adamawa

Program / Department Summary

• The Mercy Corps Finance Department is responsible for all financial functions in Nigeria, including accounting, payments and banking, payroll, budgeting, financial reporting, and grant financial management and compliance.
• The Mercy Corps Finance Department ensures compliance with donor regulations as well as Mercy Corps’ internal policies and procedures. In its role as a support to the Program Department, the Finance Department provides timely reports and assistance to the Country Director and the Program team to ensure that financial resources are used efficiently and effectively.

General Position Summary

• Working directly under the direction of the Director, Finance & Administration and with parallel/dotted reporting line to the Sub-award Manager, the Cost Share & Sub-awards Finance Officer will dedicate full time to supporting the Small Town Wash (STW) Program in adhering to the compliance procedures related to finance, match/cost-share management and documenting, sub-awards, etc.
• The Cost Share & Sub-awards Finance Officer in close coordination with the Program Lead will be responsible for securing the required match documentation from MC complementing programs/activities and STW partners, reviewing and analyzing match/cost-share financial records, coordinating timely match reporting and files archiving, generate financial statements, monitoring of subgrants and ensure adequate internal controls are in place to mitigate risks in compliance with laws, regulations, donor requirements and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.
• S/he is responsible for ensuring the achievement of the cost-share component of the award by ensuring adequate documentation and reporting of the cost-share to the donor.

Essential Job Responsibilities
Cost-share / Match Management:

• Work with the COP, Sub-awards Manager and Finance team to develop a Cost Share Plan
• Work with the COP to mobilize resources for the cost-share
• Collate and document all cost-share documents according to the match plan
• Prepare cost share reporting for MCG HQ for use in donor financial reporting
• Manage, track and document cost share transactions and files as per the Mercy Corps cost share/match internal policies and donor requirements
• Maintain an auditable cost-share filing system as per Mercy Corps record retention policy

Finance:

• Ensure effective and transparent use of financial resources in compliance with Mercy Corps and donor policies and procedures
• Review payment requests and other financial requests as per the AAM.
• Assist the Program team and the finance director to develop annual work plans and the budget for submission to the donor
• Review program procurement and program transactions, contracts and other documents for compliance requirements and ensure these requirements are met.

Sub-Grants:

• Ensure compliance with Mercy Corps and donors regulations related to sub granting, including issuance, management and monitoring of sub-awards as well as training team members on processes and guidelines.
• Provide financial review for all local partner financial reports and follow up with any missing documents.
• Identify areas of improvement for partners to work on and include in their implementation plans.
• Set up physical grant files and ensure all grant documents are properly filed, both financial and program reports
• Prepare sub-award JE and enter same on navigator for subgrantee liquidations
• Review subgrantee financial reports for correctness and completeness and ensure that reports are submitted on time

Strategy and Vision:

• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
• Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions & resources to achieve objectives and contribute to countrywide strategy development.
• Develop and organize activities to secure resources for programs and convince stakeholders to provide support.
• Create and maintain systems ensuring effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with donor and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.

Team Management:

• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews.
• Provide team members and sub-awardees with information, tools and other resources to improve performance and reach objectives.

Influence and Representation:

• Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, sub-grantees, donors, local governments and other stakeholders.
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met.

Security:

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.

Organizational Learning:

• As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

Accountability to Beneficiaries:

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Accountability

• Reports Directly to:Director, Finance & Administration with a dotted line to the Sub-Awards Manager based in Abuja.
• Works Directly with:Program and operational teams in Adamawa State, finance and sub-award teams in Abuja and across South Borno.

Knowledge and Experience

• A University Degree in Finance, Accounting or equivalent is required.
• Two years of experience in the compliance department of an international NGO is preferred.
• A minimum of four years of compliance and finance experience is required.
• Experience with USAID awards with cost-share reporting preferred
• Proven experience in resource mobilization, cost-share and leveraging
• Demonstrated competency with computerized general ledger software
• Advanced computer skills in MS Office programs, particularly Excel
• Prior management experience and strong organizational skills
• Excellent oral and written English skills

Success Factors

• The successful candidate will be capable of multi-tasking, rapid decision-making, have initiative, drive and a lot of energy, as well as high emotional intelligence, constructive mentoring skills and proven experience with capacity building. S/he will be committed to long-term program sustainability and the delivery of high-impact activities at the community level. Successful Mercy Corps team members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and challenging environments, and make effective written and verbal communication a priority.
• In particular, the successful candidate will be willing to travel to locations within Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States in the LGAs outside the state capitals according to the needs of the Mercy Corps program. This will mean sometimes staying and working in stressful environments with very basic living conditions, strictly following security protocols at all times and sometimes working long and irregular hours).
• Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours.
• Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.