Project Accountant at Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

About the role

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is seeking a Project Accountant to support the Manager, Finance and Compliance through effective quality management service to the organisation. This role will be offered on a two (2) year fixed term contract, subject to availability of funding and will be based in Nairobi, Kenya.

The position holder will be expected to provide and support the financial management of a portfolio of donor relationships with an emphasis on non-US donors, ensuring compliance with contract terms, preparing and reviewing reports to donors and supporting donor audits.

Key Responsibilities include.

• Ensuring that reviews of financial performance are carried out to timetable and that explanations of financial variances and changes to forecast assumptions are recorded.
• Support the preparation of annual consolidated accounts and the external statutory audit by producing reports, supporting documentation and explanations as required.
• Preparing interim and final donor financial statements, cumulative summaries and periodic forecasts for review by finance managers, ensuring that these are accurate, that they are consistent with reported programme activity and that they are produced in accordance with agreed deadlines.
• Ensuring that donor reports and forecasts comply with grant contracts, particularly for those donors with very specific detailed information requirements.
• Ensuring that transactions and cost allocations charged to grants are compliant with expenditure restrictions specified within donor agreements, and with donor requirements for allowable expenditure.
• Check and close donor grants that have reached their completion date, ensuring that final reports have been submitted, all funds are received, and contractual obligations met.
• Monitor the operation of GAIN's financial processes including procurement and payments, ensuring that published procedures are followed, reporting any significant breaches and approving transactions in line with delegated authority.
• Draw on observations and analysis of processes and procedures for financial management and donor accounting to provide suggestions, recommendations and observations for improvements to finance managers.

About you

• The ideal candidate should have demonstrable experience of the financial management of donor grants. Experience of USAID, DFID, Dutch MFA, EU grants are highly preferred. In addition, they should have experience in multicurrency reporting and accounting providing financial business partnering to a portfolio of projects and supporting in the financial management of these projects.
• In addition to this, the postholder should be an effective communicator, demonstrated in financial and narrative reporting and verbal explanations. They should be comfortable working with a wide variety of multicultural stakeholders.
• The postholder should have experience interacting with accounting systems, experience of NAV and/or Jet Reporting would be good to have. An education background where fully qualified or part qualified accountant (ACCA, ACA, CIMA, CPA or equivalent). Progression towards qualification an advantage.