Senior Associate, Grants & Budgets at Evidence Action

Duties and Responsibilities

Grant Support:

• Work with budget holders and the finance team to monitor all grant budgets to ensure compliance with donor requirements and monitor expenditures, as assigned by the Senior Manager, Grants, and Budgets.
• Ensure that relevant staff of all departments stay informed of donor requirements; work closely with all departments to ensure compliance. Provide technical support to access donor eligibility/allowability of planned expenditures. This is in the form of requisition and Procurement Request Forms reviews, and support in procurement committees and tender committees including the annual supplier’s pre-qualification exercise.
• Preparation of initial version of donor reports for review by the Senior Manager, Grants, and Budgets, presenting grant expenditures in the prescribed formats and within the required timelines. This involves collaborating closely with relevant teams to compile relevant information, ensuring accuracy and alignment with donor requirements.
• Support in the development of donor budgets for proposals, by providing specific analysis or data points that feed into the overall proposal plan.

Institutional Budgets

• Work closely with finance and program/department teams to complete and share relevant budget materials and tools including salary matrices, approved fringe rates, exchange rates, standard costs, available funding pools, shared Africa Region Finance pooled costs, and other relevant information to facilitate budget development.
• Provide close support to the DSW country leads and Africa Region Budget leads to ensure completion and consolidation of the DSW budgets and Pooled budgets, then present them for review by Senior Manager, Grants & Budgets
• In collaboration with the finance team, participate in the planning of the timing of quarterly budget reviews providing relevant materials and support, and ensuring this is completed within stipulated timelines.
• Advice on budget revision requirements based on routine monthly reports.
• Support on budget process and workflow improvements that the organization may implement from time to time.

Routine Reporting and Information Management

• Support in the monthly financial close by assisting in the generation of expenditure reports. Following up on reports, coordinate the collation and relay of the programs and departments' requested changes, updates, and clarifications to the finance unit for action.
• Support the quarterly financial close by reviewing allocated cost pools and reviewing the finance-generated invoices, providing relevant donor allocation information of the costs as applicable.
• Every month, after completion of the financial hard close, generate Budget Monitoring Reports and share them with the Senior Manager, Grants, and Budgets for review. Arrange and participate in monthly meetings with budget holders for Safe Water Now and ESA Pool budget leads to discuss the budget status.
• Provide any other relevant grants-related information and ad hoc reports as may be requested by departments and programs from time to time.

Audit

• Support the Senior Manager, Grants, and Budgets in the provision of relevant grant information that includes but is not limited to agreements, budgets, and reports as may be requested during annual statutory audits.
• Participate in other non-routine audits as may be required for a specific grant for a specified award period, as directed by the Senior Manager, Grants, and Budgets.

Key Performance Indicators

• Working closely with the finance teams, and support programs with the preparation of financial segments of donor reports in a timely manner based on the grant agreements.
• Share monthly budget monitoring reports with program teams to allow them to track the spending against budgets by the last day of the following month.
• Coordinate the quarterly budget reviews at the end of the quarter.
• Work with programs and departments to prepare and complete the annual institutional budgets before the onset of the budget year.
• Support programs with other tasks such as specific proposal budgets, and regional cost allocation, provide financial and budget information on a need basis, and support improvements to the whole grant management process.
• Support with the provision of grant and budget-related materials and information as may be requested during audits.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance or similar field.
• At least 5 years work experience 2 of which includes working in budgets and grants reporting role in an international non-profit organization.
• CPA qualification at least CPA part 2 or equivalent.
• Proficiency in MS office, particularly the application of excel functions.