Senior Finance Officer - Grants

Grants Budgets and Actual Expenses Monitoring

• Coordinate with donors, collaborators, project leaders, and scientists to clarify financial issues, answer queries, and give updates on the financial and budget status of the project.
• Review and verify expenditures of assigned grants to ensure adherence to budgetary and donor requirements.
• Ensure that the grants recover full overheads, including project services as per the approved donor budget.
• Monitor staff time allocations in Planner for the assigned grants and ensure it is as per donor budgets.
• Ensure timesheets are done, signed, and submitted on time for assigned grants.
• Monitor and ensure that staff time is charged in accordance with the budget and the timesheets are recorded/adjusted appropriately.
• Monitor changes in exchange rates and the impact on available project balances; promptly raise any forex concerns with the Finance Manager – Grants and the Principal Investigators (PIs) concerned.
• Liaise with the Program Management Unit (PMU) regarding the development of Letter of Agreement (LoA) with partner Institutions, project start-ups and set ups in the system, budget update and management in the system and project tracking & closures.
• Ensure the annual Budget and rolling budget is updated in the system.
• Review of financial status of the project prepared by the finance officer(s).

Partner Financial Management

• Review of partner LOAs focusing mainly on the payment schedules and reporting timelines.
• Monitor and follow up partner financial reporting for assigned grants.
• Supervise financial compliance for partners of assigned grants and ensure partners spend within their budgets and are following the laid-down donor and CIFOR-ICRAF financial procedures and regulations.
• Analyze grants partner expenses and provide feedback and analysis to the project leaders and managers on expenditure trends and areas with significant over or underspending.
• Communicate with partners of assigned grants on areas of weaknesses and steps to take to mitigate the risks and internal control issues.

Donor Reporting

• Prepare reports on the specific projects’ finances to donors and other users in compliance with Center standards and as specifically pre-determined by the donor, as mentioned on the signed Grant Agreements and Donor’s General Conditions.
• Review all donors reports from the Country Offices, Units, and Themes assigned prior to forwarding to Finance Manager - Grants for approval and clearance.
• Ensure that reports to donors are submitted on time.
• Ensure submission of fully approved / signed financial reports in grants management system for assigned grants.
• Provide grant financial management support to Countries staff as well as Units and Themes assigned.

Projects Audits

• Coordinate and supervise projects audits for assigned grants.
• Attend entry and exit meetings on audit of projects for assigned grants.
• Key resource on queries from the external and internal auditors on assigned grants.
• Assist in reviewing the draft audit reports and provide draft management responses for review and approval by Finance Manager - Grants for assigned grants.
• Review partner audit reports.

Grant Proposal Budgets and Grant Agreements

• Support project proposal/budget preparation regarding compliance issues for prospective sources of funding.
• Provide guidance and ensure the budget figures are correct, and the budget lines follow the donor requirements.
• Review the financial part and other relevant information of the new Grant Agreements and Grant agreement amendments.

Donor payables and receivable balances management

• Monitor and reconcile donor payable and receivable balances for assigned grants.
• Ensure the invoice timelines conditions as per the grant agreements are adhered to.
• Ensure the donor amounts receivable from donors are promptly collected.

Team leadership

• Supervise direct staff directly reporting to you by managing their performance, including setting goals and objectives, coaching, and delivering results.
• Perform performance evaluation for the team, both mid-year and annually.

Internal Controls and Other Duties

• Ensure compliance with policies and safeguard of CIFOR-ICRAF assets.
• Identify and assess changes that could significantly impact the system of internal control in CIFOR-ICRAF.
• Evaluate and communicate internal control deficiencies in a timely manner to the supervisor.
• Perform any other tasks assigned by the Finance Manager – Grants.