Finance Manager-Saving Lives

Job Description

PROGRAM BACKGROUND: The International Rescue Committee, one of the world’s largest humanitarian agencies, provides relief, rehabilitation, and post-conflict reconstruction support to victims of natural disaster, oppression and violent conflict in at least 42 countries. The IRC has worked in Sierra Leone since 1999. The IRC currently programs across three core sectors 1) Health 2) Women and Girls’ Protection and Empowerment (WGPE), and 3) Education. The IRC is committed to supporting the Government of Sierra Leone in the strengthening of the country and its systems. We seek to build upon our programming experience and introduce new programs that are adaptive, collaborative and evidence-driven, leading to a more educated, safe, healthy, and empowered Sierra Leone.

REPORTING Reporting to the Compliance and Finance Coordinator, the Finance Manager will be based in Freetown and responsible for the Saving Lives Program budget, Saving Lives Partners Management, including managing the Saving Lives Budget Vs Actual, partnership capacity building, Saving Lives Project Reports preparation, and assists the Finance and Compliance Coordinator on the overall Saving Lives Finance Functions.

Responsibilities

The Finance Manager will be responsible for the financial management of the Saving Lives Consortium Program. He/she will report to the Finance and Compliance Coordinator and work closely with the Saving Lives project, Grant, and other Finance Colleagues on all financial aspects of the Saving Lives Project. He/she will also work closely with the IRC Saving Lives Consortium and Other Health Managers, the IRC Finance, Administration, and Supply Chain Colleagues. He/she will have to travel to the field offices and partners project sites for supervision/monitoring and capacity building.

Donor Reports Preparation and consolidation of FCDO Saving Lives consortium grant financial reports and submit for Finance and Compliance Coordinator’s review and approval by the Deputy Director, Finance. Analyze the FCDO Saving Lives budget versus actual results to identify problems in accounting or compliance. Identification of procedural or training issues to be addressed to improve the quality of data reporting. Regularly update the Finance and Compliance Coordinator and the Deputy Director-Finance for issues that need to be addressed on the Saving Lives grant BvA and Reports. Develop any required SOP for project Colleagues to comply with, in terms of FCDO Saving Lives Project requirement. Ensure timely submission of financial reports, including asset, and that all deadlines are communicated to Consortium Partners in a timely manner. Proactively liaise with the project, the Consortium Partners and Grant if deadlines cannot be met. Be the lead and focal for the quarterly Saving Lives financial report and expenses verifications and any follow up action point on the verification. Preparation of detail level budgets in IRC Integra format to ensure required donor reports can be produced from the Integra accounting system.

Training & Support to FCDO Saving Lives consortium members

Acting as the primary liaison for the Saving Lives consortium on donor compliance issues as well as IRC policies and procedures for the implementation of the Saving Lives Project. Ensure that the Program team and partners are aware of all relevant donor policies and procedures, changes in their regulations. Pay frequent visits to the Saving Lives consortium offices providing training to finance staff on IRC reporting procedures and requirements, assists the program managers and program staff in finance related issues and activities. Review of financial data submitted by the Saving Lives consortium members, identify weaknesses or problems, and recommend corrective action. In conjunction with the Finance and Compliance Coordinator and the Deputy Director-Finance, develop or revise policy and procedures and assist with the program implementation.

Budgets

Prepare and monitor the Saving Lives Budget and to ensure data is complete for the preparation of the Budget Register for uploading in Integra, in a timely manner Prepare any monthly management report that analyze the use of Saving Lives funding versus approved allocation. Work with program staff to prepare Saving Lives budget and support on realignments to ensure adequate coverage of operating costs and NY direct and indirect costs. On a monthly basis, review actual vs. budget results to ensure maximum utilization of budgeted amounts and to provide recommendations for realignments as required. Provide oversight on the Saving Lives grant spending against budget to ensure expenditure is on target and variances/reclassifications are minimized. Prepare and share with all users the monthly and budget versus actual BVA report in IRC and donor’s format and currency with narrative of relevant comments and spending recommendations. Prepare adjustment journal for correcting coding errors, reclassifications etc. Participate in Grants Opening/Review closing and monthly BVA review meetings. Follow up and provide feedback to operations and program staff on action points from the previous BVA meetings and propose adjustment journals required for all BVA and financial reports in compliance with donor’s regulations.

Policy development and Partnership Process Management

Carry out all Pre-Award Assessment-including the defining of capacity building issues –for prospective partners, Review of Existing Partners Systems and feedback to the Finance and Compliance Coordinator and Deputy Director-Finance, in a timely and comprehensive fashion. When Pre-Award Assessments are ready, follow up on the action point(s) with partners for implementation. Review financial report submitted by partners and provide immediate feedback as necessary Carry out subsequent visits to partners who are selected, to develop Capacity Building Plan with specific action points, incorporating this into the negotiation phase for the Partnership Grant Agreement Conduct training to the Saving Lives partners finance and other staff Assist the Finance and Compliance Coordinator and the Deputy Director-Finance in regular review of Partners grant policy and roll-out of new policies when required Manage the Partners award closeout process in compliance with donors and IRC regulations Co-ordinate communications between IRC finance, grants, program, and Saving Lives Partners Ensures that all partners submit their financial reports in timely fashion and fund to be transferred to partners without delay Assist on post-award monitoring and field visits to ensure that IRC requirements are being followed by the Partners Ensure Saving Lives budget and other operational policies and procedures are respected by partners Update Partners grant tracking sheet Work with Grant Colleagues to ensure all Saving Lives Partners Anti-Terrorism Compliance (ATC) are completed and up to date. Manage the Saving Lives Partnership database, recording contact details, grant information, correspondence update and reporting deadlines, to guarantee that all information are up to date on current, previous, and prospective Saving Lives partners. Provide support to partners in the development of Saving Lives new, extensions and realigned budgets. Ensuring that all partners submit their financial reports in a timely fashion and funds transferred to partners without delay Monitor partners progress adapting the plans against target and indicators that have been decided upon by the IRC and partner organization Work in collaborations with Grant and Program staff to verify, streamline, deploy and manage appropriate Partner agreements and Memoranda of Understanding with the IRC Saving Lives partners Provide structured corrective support to the partners while evolving capacity building plans to reflect where additional focus is required Monitor the timely submission of accurate financial and activity reporting where appropriate within the Partnership agreements with the IRC Assist in the implementation of the Saving Lives capacity building plan activities of partners; coordinating with program and operations staff to ensure timely implementation of the capacity building plan Information Management and Filing

Act as custodian of documentation of institutional knowledge and programme activities in coordination with relevant sector supervisors and coordinators Maintain comprehensive electronic files for the Saving Lives project information and all relevant records and ensure Programs teams and consortia partners have access to relevant records. Liaise with IRC headquarters to ensure they have completed and are up-to-date documentation of all partner-related information. Distribute and share with all partner organizations all documentation (grant proposals, reports, budget, etc.) related to their specific programs. Coordination and Communication.

Participate to schedule and coordinate partnership selection committees alongside Saving Lives project Coordinator –whether via email, telephone or in person-to guarantee IRC selects the strongest candidate for the partnership In collaboration with the Finance and Compliance Coordinator, Program and Grant convene regular partners’ coordination meetings Maintain and act on the minutes of partners’ coordination meetings, follow up with partners on action points agreed in the coordination meeting Other Duties

Contribute to the overall proper functioning of the Finance department and Saving Lives project by taking on any other duties assigned by supervisor. Contribute to the overall improvement of the financial and accounting system in IRC Sierra Leone by providing recommendation to supervisor for consideration on specific areas that could be improved. Contribute to the day-to-day financial activities and month end and Year end process. Contribute to teamwork and comply with IRC policies and procedures

Qualifications