Project Finance Consultant at WaterAid

Reports to: Head of Finance and IT
Direct Reports: None
Travels: At least 25% time travel to support WaterAid state offices staff and Partners
Duration: 3 months

Team Description 

• WaterAid Nigeria currently has funding as Sub Awardee under USAID funded Small Town WASH intervention in 3 states of the North East (Adamawa, Borno and Yobe) with Mercy Corps as the Prime implementing organization.
• WaterAid is approaching the end of her Country Programme Strategy and it is in the process of developing the next global strategy which sets medium to long term building block towards delivering a more influencing led programme over a 10-year horizon.
• The Finance & IT department provides leadership and support for financial management and IT across WaterAid Nigeria.

Job Purpose

• This role provides all round financial and sub award administration / support to WaterAid Nigeria field operations to ensure effective and efficient management of USAID funding.
• The post holder is responsible for supporting program managers in budgeting and tracking implementation burn rate, application of donor funding by WANG staff and partner organizations and their staff in line with GAAP; staff compliance with WaterAid and any donor specific financial policies & procedures requirement; the appropriate use of and application of grant funds and accurate and timely submission of financial reports in line with approved budgets.
• The Project Finance Officer will also build capacity of WaterAid staff in States where we work on various aspects of financial and grants management.

Key Responsibilities
Key Responsibilities Include:
Financial Reporting:

• Prepare project financial reports, consistent with donor and WaterAid procedural and reporting requirements (monthly, quarterly, six monthly, annually)
• Prepare monthly cost recovery analysis and reconcile cost recharges to the ST WASH project for compliance with USAID cost principles.
• Attend to queries regarding project reports/budgets in a timely manner to avoid delays to project plans attributable to late processing of payment requests
• Check /Verify requests for payments and purchase orders, to ascertain whether sufficient project funding is available and that requests are charged to correct budget lines and nominal ledger.
• Responsible for the accurate entry of payments to the Global Accounting System (GAS)
• Deal with request for transfers to staffs and partners in a timely manner whilst ensuring full compliance is achieved with financial regulations in reviewing request for fund transfers to staff and partners.
• Provide timely and accurate input into Month end and Year end processes.
• Preparing project / donor reconciliation of staff advances on a monthly basis confirming accuracy of balances and timely retirement of outstanding advances.

Sub Award Management, Policies and Procedures:

• Responsible for periodic review of Sub Award Agreement signed with Mercy Corps for compliance and share report with HFIT.
• Prepare accurate and timely project financial reports using standard USAID sub-award reporting template.
• Responsible for creating and regular update of digital & on-site donor Grant file with all correspondences and reports for proper audit trail and easy retrieval.
• Support project start-up workshop by orientating WaterAid and Partner’s staff on donor’s financial regulations and reporting requirements.
• Conduct project specific finance induction for new staffs and partners. Provide guidance to staff and partners on USAID procurement, visibility, expense eligibility and other specific donor regulations as it affects the project.
• Prepare ‘ad hoc’ management and financial information and reports as and when required internally by WANG departments, WA UK and WA America.
• Make input to financial policies review and other WANG policy guidelines, tools and templates for improvement in line with donor requirements and WaterAid standards.
• Prepare and reconcile WaterAid cost share / contribution on the ST WASH project in line with donor contract requirement.
• Participate in end of project/sub-award close-out procedures/processes including; preparation of final inventories, property disposition and ensuring all liabilities are settled on time.

Financial Control and Risk Management:

• Provide support throughout external & other audits, including preparing relevant supporting evidence and records needed.
• Review Staff cost, Match funding, support cost recovery from restricted donors and ensure these are adequately charged to projects.
• Filing all soft copy of approved PV, and supporting documents.
• Review the adequacy of payment voucher supporting documents (Receipts, boarding pass etc.) for all USAID ST WASH project payment vouchers.
• Reconcile ST WASH Project budget vs actual spend, review transaction list and raise Journals for corrections before close of Period.
• Prepared and maintained project asset register for USAID funded Property, Plant and Equipment (PPE) in compliance with donor requirement.

Bank and Cash Management:

• Process weekly Payment Run and posting payments to Sun System. 
• Handle Office petty cash and conduct weekly cash counts 
• Filling of Payment and Journal Vouchers.

Financial Planning and Budgeting:

• Provide support to the Project team for activity costing, budgeting and preparation of annual costed work plan. Mapping of work plan to donor budget and to assign activities to donor budget lines.
• Responsible for preparation of Annual Project budget broken down into state monthly planned expenditure.
• Provide relevant support to proposal development, including budget development, for new opportunities.
• Monitor State project cash flow and deal with fund transfer request by Deputy Chief of Party (DCoP) in a timely manner whilst ensuring proper liquidation of previous advances.
• Any other duties as assigned by the Head of Finance & IT or his designated representative.

Person Specification
Essential Criteria:

• A Bachelor’s Degree or Higher National Diploma in Accounting 
• Minimum of three years’ post NYSC work experience in Accounting / Finance related role 
• Previous experience in managing and supporting staff / partner organisations working on USAID funded project 
• Strong knowledge and experience applying USAID finance, procurement, contracting and sub award regulations.
• Excellent computer skills, particularly Excel & Word (MS Office in general) 
• Accounting experience in an international development organisation (preferably in an organization receiving funding from USAID). 
• Strong working knowledge of one or more accountancy software applications especially SUN accounting package. 
• Good written and verbal communication skills, able to communicate information and ideas clearly to others. 
• High attention to detail and accuracy in information processing, including compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, and verifying data.  

Desirable:

•  ICAN or ACCA Membership, or at an advanced stage in obtaining these. 
• Commitment to WaterAid values and a working style that reflects these. 
• Strong knowledge of fund accounting regulations for nonprofit organisations 
• A proactive approach, willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges, and actively work towards improvements and resolutions 
• Team player and good interpersonal skills, able to support, challenge and influence effectively in order to maintain good relationships and quality in delivery.

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