Programme Finance Officer at Oxfam

JOB PURPOSE:

• The role will provide a bridge between programs and finance by providing leadership and direction for effective grants management. The Program Finance Officer will be responsible and accountable for the day-to-day financial programming; will work closely with the Programme teams, and Partner organisations to ensure that the Kenya Programme office maintains a high standard of grants management (budgeting, reporting, system compliance, contract closure) and financial control. S/he will provide essential support to the Finance Manager to ensure maximum impact of OiK programme.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Partnership Governance and support - 40%

S/he will provide financial management support to the partner organizations through capacity building, development of proper administrative systems and procedures and strengthening the structures of governance. The Officer will be involved in organizational assessment of partners and advising on possible management risks to Oxfam. Conducting audit procedures on partners’ financial accountability (returns) and ensuring compliance with Oxfam’s grant policies.

• Conduct risk assessments, due diligence assessments and capacity assessments for both potential and existing partners and work with programme team to develop improvement plans to address gaps identified during assessments.
• Provide contracting support: input into preparation of grant agreements. Collaborate with the MEAL team to design reporting templates for inclusion in partner grants and in-partner training that directly addresses Oxfam and donor MEAL requirements.
• Providing support and advise to the Programme team on the analysis of partner budget proposals.
• Grant monitoring: Compliance with donor and/or grant contracts (GAL). Track disbursements, financial audits/reviews and analysis of partner grant progress reports, feedback, and follow-up. Input into decisions, monitoring visits and general correspondence with grantees and other stakeholders.
• Prepare journals for partner expenditure and reconcile partner ledger on a monthly basis.
• Involvement in internal financial processes and donor reporting for grant programmes.
• Providing teams with the required technical support and guidance of programme teams grant management capacity, understanding of donor compliance and budget management through targeted training of staff.
• Coordinating the assistance to partners to resolve outstanding audit issues identified in donor/or statutory audits, follow up to ensure those issues have been addressed conclusively.
• Coordinate the investigation of suspected violation of proper application of grant funds. Make recommendations for next course of action once such investigations are completed.
• Buils the capacity and provide finance support to partners on donor contract management towards improving the efficiency and effectiveness of programme delivery.
• Support Programme team to coordinate funds transfers to the partners and ensure that any unspent funds and disallowance are promptly refunded back to Oxfam.

Grants Contract Management - 20%

Provide specialized financial support in relation to the effective attainment of programme objectives and work with managers/budget holders to compile and review donor financial reports as required. Ensure that reports are accurate, of high quality and meet donor requirements, and are prepared for timely submission to the donors. Monitor the donor reporting schedules to ensure reports are prepared in a timely manner.

• Support program teams in budgetary proposal development in line with the country strategic plan to ensure adherence to requirements and integrity of the content.
• Work with the Funding and Systems Officer to develop systems for tracking reporting dates, the submission of claims and income received locally and ensuring locally secured income is entered in Oxfam’s systems.
• Provide training to budget holders and partners in the preparation of, and reporting against donor budgets in the appropriate formats as required. Work with the Donor Accountant to provide training on donor compliance and contract management for staff and partners.
• Provide quality checks on all financial reports to ensure these comply with donor requirements.
• Liaise with external auditors for donor reports with the responsibility for follow up and resolution of audit queries and issues.
• Acquire and maintain detailed knowledge of all regional donor reporting requirements, and other financial and logistical requirements and advise programme staff as necessary when they are preparing budgets and reports.

Budget and expenditure monitoring - 20%

Work closely with the Finance Manager in the monitoring and management of OiK programme expenditure and budgets, especially donor-funded projects and transactions posted by other offices. This includes supporting the programme teams to help them use allocated budgets flexibly, supporting annual programme budget preparation, programme management meetings, and field visits as well as providing support to programme teams with project budget work and appraisal.

• Work with the logistics team and budget holders in project design and implementation as per donor requirements.
• Follow up with the respective managers/budget holders in ensuring that the grant budgets are uploaded into the Oxfam system on time.
• Prepare monthly financial monitoring reports in the required donor format and currency and discuss these reports with budget holders/program teams for proactive management of the contracts.
• Highlight key risks in relation to grants management (underspend, overspends, disallowances, compliance risks etc), and work with the finance manager and budget managers to provide solutions on how such risks can be mitigated.

Financial Management Information Systems & Procedures - 10%

Ensure proper use and maintenance of financial systems-Peoplesoft, for all financial matters relating specifically to the OiK program.

• Maintaining up to date financial records and managing grant balances including project budgets, as well as managing any unauthorized grant expenditure.
• Ensure that necessary financial information is promptly and accurately uploaded into the Peoplesoft system.
• Uploading forecast journal - work with Finance Manager, Funding team and Program team to ensure that country budget forecasts are accurate and up-to date.
• Ensuring that all grants that have ended are promptly reconciled and closed in the system; follow up to ensure any outstanding reconciliation issues that may hinder contract closure are addressed, and contracts closed thereafter.

Other administrative roles - 10%

• Support in both internal and external audits.

• Review of payment vouchers/invoices, payroll, staff claims etc before payments are made for completeness of documentation and compliance to organisation and statutory policies.

  PERSON SPECIFICATION

Most importantly, every individual at Oxfam needs to be able to:

• Live our values of INCLUSION, ACCOUNTABILITY, EMPOWERMENT, COURAGE, SOLIDARITY and EQUALITY (read more about these here).
• Ensure you commit to our ORGANIZATIONAL ATTRIBUTES (including adhering to the Code of Conduct).
• Be committed to our feminist principle, and to applying them in your day-to-day behaviour and your work. Be ready to keep learning, with accountability to those who experience oppression as a result of their identities, such as their gender, race/ethnicity, disability, class, or LGBTQIA identity."
• Be committed to undertaking Oxfam’s safeguarding training and adhering to relevant policies, to ensure all people who come into Oxfam are as safe as possible.

TECHNICAL SKILLS, EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE

Required

• A university degree in Finance.
• Professional qualification e.g. completed ACCA or CPA (K).
• Minimum of 3-5 years working experience in managing partner grants, audit, budgeting and donor reporting.
• Ability to engage with stakeholders and easily build relationship with team within and outside the organisation.
• Demonstrates a high level of initiative.
• Good communication and report writing skills.
• Passionate and demonstrates maturity and ability to deliver with minimum supervision.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a culturally diverse organisation.

Desired

• Knowledge and understanding of project cycle.
• Ability to communicate in Swahili language.
• A demonstrated commitment to gender equality and social justice.
• Demonstrated experience of staff management, coaching peers and junior staff.