AFD Finance Coordinator

BACKGROUND

Over the past 80 years, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has developed unparalleled expertise in responding to emergencies and helping uprooted communities to rebuild. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster.

The IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and, most crucially, accountability to those we serve. The IRC is a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

This post works under the 36-month AFD-funded grant titled Feminist Solidarity Fund for Girls’ Education (FSF). Through this project, FSF Consortium will support a range of feminist CSOs and WROs working in our 7 target countries and/or at a regional level to accelerate gender equality in and through education. These include:

• CSOs providing direct support to girls and their families to remove individual-, family- and community-level barriers to education.
• CSOs working directly with schools and other sub-national institutions to improve the quality of support for adolescent girls in school as well as access to education for out-of-school girls.
• And, CSOs conducting research and/or advocacy to advance the rights of girls, including access to education

The Purpose of the Role

• To provide high-quality support to Project Management Team, and Partners, on financial management for the FSF project
• To lead on a range of financial processes on the assigned project, from financial planning, budgeting, reporting, performance monitoring and financial risk management, invoicing/transfers processes
• To oversee the financial accounting, supplier payments, partners payment and grant/contract accounting on the specific assigned projects.

Scope and Authority

Authority:

• This position has authority to oversee finance management aspects of the project and advise the Deputy Director, FSF accordingly.

Responsibility for Resources:

• This position is not a budget holder but is required to manage and oversee project budgets
• Responsible for quality assuring accuracy of donor budget and financial reports
• Responsible for the invoicing/fund transfers process.

Key Working Relationships

• Has regular contact with the Project Management Team with regards to the financial management of the project
• Has regular contact with VPRU and Education Team with regards to financial management of the project
• Has external contact with Consortium Partners with regards to technical and finance/contract management

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Budgets Management (20%)

• Prepare and review the Project Budgets to ensure data is complete and maintained on a timely basis
• In collaboration with the Project Management Team, ensure that all donor-related financial information is disseminated to Project, Finance and Logistics staff as well as Partners to enable them to abide by donor rules and regulations.

Managing AFD agreement (20%)

• Work with the project team to develop tools to implement sound financial management of the FSF project (e.g. cash flow management tools, invoice trackers)

Internal and External Reporting (20%)

• Prepare Budget Versus Actual reports on a monthly basis and ensure that the FSF Deputy Director has a good understanding of the spending progress and any other matters arising from the report
• Prepare quarterly financial reports as per AFD requirements, ensuring they are complete, accurate and produced on a timely manner to ensure adequate review, approval and submission
• Coordinate and review Partner financial reports
  • Setting up financial templates for Partners to report on
  • Manage and monitor expenses versus project budget, highlighting variances and resource allocation needs to Deputy Director and Grants and Partnerships Manager.
  • Review quarterly financial reports produced by Partners ensuring they are complete, accurate and produced on a timely manner for consolidation and submission
• Ensure financial reports are produced in compliance with AFD’s exchange rate policies, including keeping track of expenditure in the various currencies and identifying the rate at which they need to be converted into Euros.

Performance Monitoring and Financial Management (20%)

• In coordination with Project Management Team and Partners, prepare and consolidate monthly invoices and expenses forecasts
• Prepare cash flow forecasts, consolidated with Partners
• Analyze variances of the forecast and actual spending and submit adjustments as required.

Invoicing/Fund Transfer Process Monitoring (10%)

• Prepare invoices to be issued to AFD and monitor the payment process
• Check the invoices received by Partners and monitor the payment process
• Submit payment requests to finance and overall financial oversight
• Consolidate payment breakdown by Partner according to previous quarter spent, balance and forecasts
• Process fund transfers to Partners.

Support to Project Management Team, Country Offices and Partners (10%)

• Any other additional tasks to support the Project and Partners.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications:

• Bachelor Degree in Accounting, Commerce, Economics, or Business studies
• Knowledge of computerized accounting software, preferably SUN System
• Excellent proficiency in Microsoft Excel
• Knowledge of AFD and/or other European donor rules and regulations
• Good communication skills
• Ability to build good working relationships with Project Management Team and Partners, at different levels ,functions and in different locations
• Ability to work with limited supervision, be flexible and comfortable in a multi-cultural work force.
• Fluency in both English and French is required

Experience:

• A minimum of 3-6 years’ of progressive management experience in providing finance support and oversight to development, humanitarian or research projects or programmes
• Significant experience in a Finance department
• Good experience of working within an International Donor-funded Organization
• Good experience of managing large(multi-million) pound budgets or contracts

Desirable

• Experience of project financial close-out procedures