Finance and Grants Senior Officer at Mercy Corps

General Position Summary

• The Finance and Grants Senior Officer works under the guidance and supervision of the GIRL program Director at the Africa regional office. Key roles are project financial management, monitoring and reporting and Grants management.
• The Finance and Grants Senior Officer is an integral part of the Project Management Team of GIRL -H and works closely with the management, technical and operations field and country teams in Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Finance:

• Support the country teams in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. Accountable for all financial operations of the project, including accounting and reporting, cash management, and budget management.
• Manage financial operations of GIRL-H.
• Provide monthly management reports to the GIRL-H Program Director and Country Program Managers, including expenditures by fund and country, sub-grantee reporting and other financial information, in a timely and accurate manner.
• Ensure that the project financial operations comply with all Mercy Corps policies and procedures.
• Ensure that monthly transactions are reviewed and entered in the General Ledger accurately and on a timely basis.
• Assist with monthly review and reconciliations of Staff advances and all the GIRL-H related expenditures.
• Review payment documents and other supporting documents ensuring their compliance with the local laws, donor regulations and MC Kenya internal policies.
• Prepare monthly cash flow projections and request funds from the country office.
• Review and track expenses and proper documentation as per Mercy Corps procedures and donor requirements for record-keeping and accountancy.

Grant Management:

• Oversee and coordinate management of sub-grant agreements and financial management of Nigeria sub-grants.
• Responsible for the processing of sub-grants and issuance of payments, transfers and transactions between consortium members as well as locally engaged partners.
• Oversee pre-award and post-award activities including asset control, timely reporting and contract fulfilment to check against payment.
• Work with the GIRL-H program team to verify and track budget and expenditures vis-à-vis sub-grant awards and ensure proper reporting, documentation and overall deliverables are reviewed by Senior Management and signed off on prior to issuance of payment.
• Ensure consistency across sub-grantees on basic provisions and highlight issues that could be viewed as bias or discrepancies.
• Provide regular reports on GIRL-H issues, and recommendations that need to be considered for operational adjustment.
• Work with Mercy Corps team members and sub-grantee management teams to conduct ad-hoc audit reviews of GIRL-H field operations.
• Coordinate GIRL-H expenditure verification and project audits.
• Other financial and sub-grant tasks as required.

Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) and Reporting:

• Work with the GIRL -H Senior Management, M&E and finance team members to ensure that deliverables are aligned with objectives and that financial milestones are proportionate to programme milestones.
• Provide financial perspective in management and decision-making to enhance Mercy Corps’ adaptive management.

Program Support Operations:

• Ensure that GIRL-H financial systems are efficient and are based on smooth-running infrastructure that facilitates timely and efficient program implementation.
• Provide a regular review of field operations to ensure cost-effectiveness.

Staff Management, Professional Development and Team Building:

• Contribute to country team-building efforts, and ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.

Security:

• Work with field office management teams to establish financial reporting and management systems that ensure the safety and security of GIRL-H financial resources including cash assets and records.
• Conduct yourself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.

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.
• 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.

Accountability:

• Supervisory Responsibility: None
• Reports directly to: GIRL-H Program Director with a dotted line to the Finance Directors of GIRL-H countries
• Works directly with: GIRL-H Program Managers, Country Finance/Grants Teams, Programme Teams, Implementing Partners and HR and Operations departments.

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.

Knowledge and Experience

• A Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Finance, Economics or relevant field; Advanced Degree preferred.
• Professional accounting certification is desirable
• 4 - 5 years of demonstrated professional experience managing grants, subcontracts, procurement and compliance with donor regulations, preferably Donor-funded projects.
• Strong accounting skills and experience in the management of the general ledger, journal entries, payables and balance sheet.
• Demonstrated experience applying clauses and negotiating without heavy management oversight including developing amendments and modifications as a result of negotiations.
• Experience providing capacity-building training to staff and local organizations.
• Proven abilities in analytical, excel and reporting skills.
• Required competencies and skills

Grants Administration:

• Knowledge and application of best practices in grant management.
• Demonstrated knowledge of financial and management systems, regulations and reporting requirements. Evidence of ability to be creative and flexible within those requirements.
• Demonstrated experience and skill with administrating solicitations for sub-awards, assessing potential sub-recipients and the proven ability to oversee and monitoring subrecipients.
• Analytical capabilities with accounting procedures and processes for structuring projects.
• Knowledge of grants management software and information technology skills.

Management and Communications:

• Ability to communicate technical, budgetary and program details to staff, grantees and applicants.
• Ability to design and implement effective workflow processes and procedures.
• Capability to foster an atmosphere which recognizes and respects cultural and individual differences.
• Ability to Maintain high ethical standards

Success Factors:

• The Finance and Grants Senior Officer will have proven abilities in analytical and reporting skills with sound judgement in regard to budget, financial analysis and management of program issues.
• S/he will have the ability to communicate and interact effectively across diverse program teams and support programmatic objectives with timely and meaningful information.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion:

• Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges.
• We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.
• We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

• Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have a sustained global impact.
• We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all.
• We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, colour, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics:

• Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity.
• We are committed to the core principles regarding the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary-General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members.
• As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and adhere to the Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct eLearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.