Finance & Grants Officer (GIZ YEE Project) at Plan International

Plan International is evolving in response to shifts in international development and humanitarian response. We are doing this so we can continue to make a stand for children’s rights. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable  children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. Having identified girls as the most marginalised group, they will be our ongoing focus as we work towards helping 100 million girls learn, lead, decide and thrive within their communities. As we embark on this ambitious and exciting journey, we are recruiting for talent across the globe.

We are recruiting to fill the position of:

Job Title: Finance & Grants Officer (GIZ YEE Project)

Locations: Abuja, Borno
Functional Area: Finance Department
Reports to: Finance Grants Coordinator – GNProjects Finance Grants Coordinator – Maiduguri
Travel required: Frequent
Effective Date: April 2018
Grade: C2

Role Purpose

• The purpose of this role is to provide timely, accurate financial information and ensure that Grants expenditures are in line with specific FAD/donor requirements.
• The role’s support is to the Humanitarian Programs –GIZ Projects

Dimension of the Role:

• Communicates within Plan International Nigeria and with partners and related government institutions.
• The post holder will contribute towards grant and financial management of the office and programmes, interfacing with both operational and programme team members.
• The post holder will also contribute towards the organisational development of Plan Internationals implementing partners
• Budgets ; Monitor the budget of the GIZ Projects.
• Reporting & Support financial reporting on the GIZ Projects.
• Area of Responsibility – the GIZ Project in Borno state.

Accountabilities
Grants Administration:

• Assist with the grants set-up in SAP.
• Support the full cycle of grants management activities beginning from pre- award assessments, monitoring/compliance visits and close-out procedures.
• Track grantee contractual obligations, e.g., pre-award conditions
• Support the Finance & Grants Manager – Humanitarian and project managers to prepare the annual grants budgets for all humanitarian projects and the GIZ project.
• Support the KP06 budget preparation and periodic upload in SAP.

Capacity Building and Support:

• Provide technical assistance in terms of accounting (use of SAP), financial management,  financial policy formulation, and systems of internal control tall partners/grantees to ensure compliance in terms with donor rules and regulations.
• Support the assessments of partner/grantee organizations as directed by the Finance Grants Coordinator –GNProjects and the Finance Grants Manager-Humanitarian.
• Review partner budget and provide assistance and guidance where necessary including the monitoring and interpretation of project budgets versus actual expenditures.
• Support train staff and partners on donor policies, rules and regulations.
• Facilitate timely partner advance request and liquidation in SAP.
• Review Partners/grantee liquidation and recommend for approval.
• Conduct and document regular partner visits to ensure compliance with grant agreement.
• Ensure receipt of timely and accurate accounting and financial reports from partners.
• Monitor the partner burn rate and offer timely advice to the partner and programs team for prompt action and decision-making.
• Monitor and  track grants related performance measurement indicators and liaise with Finance Grants Coordinator to implement strategies to improveperformance.
• Explain donor requirements and organizational financial policy & procedures to staff and ensure compliance.
• Prepare and review on a monthly basis, donor-specific bank reconciliation statements and receipts/deposits reconciliations.
• Support the preparation of financial reports based on donor requirements.
• Ensure proper filing (electronic and hard copy) of grants financial reports.
• Periodically update the financial reporting matrix.
• Ensure that partners used the standard reporting templates and formats for their reports.
• Prepare the monthly GIZ burn rate - expenditure traffic tracker.
• Prepare the monthly GIZ cost recovery tracker.
• Support the preparation of the GIZ funding/grant tracker.
• Prepare the GIZ Projects expenditure tracker.
• Support the Cin recharging costs tGIZ.
• Fulfill Plan’s Child Protection Policy at all times.

Travel Advances:

• Ensure that filing of travel advances, per diem calculations and travel reconciliation forms are reviewed;
• Ensure that all travel and purchase advances are liquidated on time.

Others:

• Perform any other project related duties as specified by the Finance & Grants
• Coordinator and/or the Finance & Grants Manager-Humanitarian.
• Human Resource Development
• Supports and builds capacity of programmes staff to ensure a high level of quality finance and grants management.
• Supports the orientation, on-going development/training and builds capacity of partner staff when required in line with Organizational requirements.
• Learning and knowledge management
• Shares relevant grant and financial information within the Programme team supporting the proper documentation of all grant and financial aspects of the programmes.

Resource Mobilization:

• Support resource mobilization efforts through contribution to budget preparation for proposal writing and related engagements.
• Dealing with Problems
• Ability to manage competing priorities and expectations from internal and external stakeholders and remain calm and resilient in the face of pressure.
• Manage multiple and work with distant colleagues tform a virtual efficient grants and finance team
• Use Plan procedures to settle conflicts among colleagues;
• Refer, whenever necessary, any case to the Finance & Grants Coordinator – Humanitarian.
• Communications and Working Relationships:
• Working contacts inside and outside the organization; include the purpose and level (high, medium, low) of the contact
• Prepare and submit relevant financial reports for domestic and international consumption using SAP.
• Provide timely responses concerning queries linked with relevant projects and the GIZ projects.
• Provide support to Plan International Nigeria’s Humanitarian programme delivery and resource mobilization.
• Work with other members of the Finance and Humanitarian units to ensure effective and efficient programme delivery.
• Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant
• Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility.
• This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Qualifications
Essential:

• Degree in Accounting or equivalent.
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in donor funds grants administration.
• Experience working with sub-grantees required.
• Fluency in local language and English required.
• Preferred qualifications: knowledge of and experience with the key donors in the industry is strongly preferred.
• Experience providing capacity development assistance to sub-grantees strongly preferred.

Desirable:

• Excellent and demonstrable experience in grant and financial management.
• Knowledge and understanding of Nigeria’s policy environment
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including good listening skills, influencing, negotiation and coaching.
• Creates strong sense of purpose and commitment within own part of operations and with stakeholders.
• Holds self and others to account to deliver on agreed goals and standards of behaviour
• Demonstrates a high degree of professionalism/integrity.
• Provides good and adequate support tenable programmes to meet it’s agreed financial and program outcomes.
• Actively seeks for support in addressing difficulties in execution of duties.
• Strategic thinking and effective contribution town work and Organizational development.
• Sound judgement and decision-making in complex situations.
• Strong emotional intelligence including self-awareness.
• Leads by example to motivate high performance of others.
• Very strong commitment to continuous learning.

Values in Practice:

• We are open and accountable
• Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.
• Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.
• Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.
• Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.
• Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people
• We strive for lasting impact
• Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.
• Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.
• Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.
• Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.
• We work well together
• Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
• Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
• Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
• Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.
• We are inclusive and empowering
• We empower our staff to give their best and develop their potential
• We respect all people, appreciate differences and challenge equality in our programs and our workplace
• We support children, girls and young people to increase their confidence and to change their own lives.

Level of contact with Children:

• Low contact: No contact or very low frequency of interaction. The job responsibilities of this position require the post holder to have very infrequent contact with children.
• Despite this, it is expected that children shall be protected at all times.

Application Closing Date
6th April, 2018.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV's and a comprehensive Cover letter setting their reasons for applying for the post and outline qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills that they feel they can bring to the role to: [email protected] Indicate the job title and location as subject of the mail,

Note: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.