Grants Finance & Compliance Officer at West & Central Africa Health Options Ltd (WCAHealth)

Purpose of the Role

• The Grants Finance & Compliance Officer will provide dedicated support to the Manager, Finance & Operations in donor financial reporting, grants compliance, statutory obligation tracking, and financial documentation.
• The role is designed to directly address operational bottlenecks in reporting and compliance, freeing the Manager to focus on strategic financial stewardship, audit leadership, and donor relationship management.

Main Duties

Donor Financial Reporting

• Prepare draft donor financial reports (income & expenditure, budget vs actuals, burnrate analysis) for review and sign-off by the Manager, Finance & Operations.
• Maintain a donor reporting calendar and proactively track all upcoming submission deadlines across active grants.
• Compile and organise supporting documentation for all donor financial submissions, ensuring completeness and accuracy.
• Draft responses to routine donor financial queries under the oversight of the Manager.
• Ensure financial narrative sections of donor reports are consistent with the financial data and clearly presented.

Grants Compliance

• Maintain a live grants compliance tracker covering all active awards — including expenditure ceilings, restricted cost categories, prior-approval requirements, and reporting milestones.
• Conduct routine compliance checks on financial transactions against donor rules, grant agreements, and WCAHealth policies.
• Flag compliance risks, irregularities, or exceptions to the Manager promptly, with proposed corrective actions.
• Support pre-award financial capacity assessments of sub-grantees and provide technical assistance on financial management requirements.
• Review sub-grantee financial reports and provide quality control feedback before escalation to the Manager.
• Track sub-grant expenditures and ensure disbursements align with approved budgets and delivery milestones.

Statutory Compliance

• Maintain a statutory compliance calendar covering PAYE, pension (PENCOM), NSITF, ITF, and CAC filing obligations.
• Track monthly fulfilment of statutory remittances against deadlines and produce a concise compliance status summary for the Manager.
• Prepare documentation and provide coordination support for statutory submissions and remittances in liaison with relevant authorities and external consultants.
• Flag upcoming statutory deadlines and any emerging compliance risks to the Manager with adequate lead time.

Financial Documentation & Audit Readiness

• Maintain the organisation's financial filing system (physical and electronic), ensuring all transactions are fully documented, consistently filed, and retrievable on demand.
• Ensure audit-ready documentation is maintained and continuously updated across all active programmes.
• Support preparation of financial and operational records for external, donor, and statutory audits.
• Register all financial correspondence and maintain accurate, up-to-date records across projects.

Budget Monitoring & Analysis

• Produce monthly budget monitoring summaries including burn rates, variance analysis, and accruals as direct inputs to the Manager's financial reporting pack.
• Track programme expenditures against approved budgets across all active grants on a rolling basis.
• Alert the Manager to underspend, overspend, or budget-line anomalies at the earliest opportunity to enable timely corrective action.
• Support the Manager in preparing budget revision submissions and end-of-period financial reconciliations.

Other Duties

• Perform any other duties assigned by the Manager, Finance & Operations related to grants compliance, donor reporting, and financial documentation.

Key Skills

• Strong donor financial reporting skills, with the ability to produce accurate and clearly presented budget vs actuals reports.
• Solid working knowledge of grant compliance requirements across major donors (e.g., Gates Foundation, FCDO, STBF, or similar).
• Proficiency in budgeting, expenditure tracking, and variance analysis.
• Familiarity with Nigerian statutory obligations — PAYE, PENCOM, NSITF, ITF, CAC.
• Strong organisational and time management skills, with the ability to manage multiple deadlines concurrently.
• High attention to detail and a compliance-oriented mindset.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel (essential); QuickBooks or equivalent accounting software (an asset).
• Strong written communication skills for report preparation and donor correspondence.

Key Experience

• Minimum 3–5 years' relevant experience in grants finance, compliance, or donor financial reporting, preferably in an NGO or development organisation.
• Demonstrated experience producing donor financial reports for institutional funders.
• Experience maintaining compliance trackers and statutory filing systems.
• Proven ability to work accurately under time pressure and manage competing deadlines.
• Experience with sub-grantee financial management or oversight is an advantage.

Formal Education / Qualifications

• BSc in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
• Professional certification (ICAN or ACCA) an asset.

Personal Attributes

• Detail-oriented and process-driven, with a compliance mindset.
• Proactive in identifying and escalating risks, rather than waiting to be asked.
• Organised and reliable, with consistent follow-through on commitments.
• Team player with clear, professional communication skills.
• Adaptable and responsive in a fast-paced, multi-donor environment.
• Commitment to WCAHealth's principles of safeguarding, equality, and 'Do No Harm.'
• Supportive of family planning and women's reproductive health rights (pro-choice).
• Fluency in written and spoken English.