Sub-Grants and Finance Officer -East Africa Land Border Programme at Mercy Corps

General Position Summary

The Sub-Grants and Finance Officer is responsible for conducting pre-award assessments, post award management and close outs for East Africa Land Border Programme sub-awards. Working with the Finance and Compliance Director, the anticipated grants management work will include 1) consortium and international partners and 2) local partners through the Partnership Grant fund. They will also support efforts to build the capacity of downstream partners to meet finance and compliance requirements of various donors, so that these partners develop professional personnel and systems. The Sub-Grants and Finance Officer is responsible for reviewing financial files/records both soft and physical to ensure that partner files are up to date and proactively flag any issues or possible delays.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Conduct day-day management and implementation of the Program Grants work plan

Pre-Award

• Participate in the Partner Grant Fund solicitation and selection of sub-recipients and subcontracts, working closely with the programme technical team to identify potential areas of support, eligibility and evaluation criteria.
• Work with selected grantees to ensure budgets are in line with program activities and that costs are reasonable, allowable and allocable.
• Conduct due diligence assessments on all grants including feasibility, evaluate environmental requirements and pre-award assessment of financial responsibility to ensure sub recipients have the capacity to comply with the terms of subcontract agreement, is free of conflicts of interest and are eligible organizations.
• Develop financial monitoring plans for partners.

Post-Award

• Conduct financial monitoring office visits to ensure that the use of funds and the activities performed are in compliance with the terms and conditions of the subcontracts.
• Review sub-recipient/grant reports for accuracy and completeness and regularly monitor their budgets vis-a-vis financial reports
• Review sub-recipient/grant funds requests for accuracy and completeness and process payments/reimbursements as appropriate.
• Maintain complete and accurate files for all sub-recipient/grant files as per the Field Finance Manual.
•  Review and post the financial reports in the system ensuring they are reconciled to subrecipient financial reports regularly.
•  Review status of subcontracts reports ensuring milestones in system are up to date

Close-Out

• Review final financial reports for accuracy and completeness
• Conduct final funds reconciliation and liquidation of sub-contracts
• Participate in final close out reviews
• Review consortium partners and downstream files to ensure that subcontract records are complete
• Follow up on asset disposition ensuring that all assets purchased by the partners with program funds are disposed of in accordance with donor rules
• Prepare final Close-out checklists and notification to consortium and downstream partners

Finance:

• Work with Finance Officer to support monthly reconciliation of all balance sheet accounts and do related reclasses and submit monthly reports to Finance and Compliance Director.
• Support daily monitoring of program bank accounts for status of running balances, received funds, rejected payments, and record those timely in the accounting system.
• Support monthly amortization of all prepaid expenses and submit to Finance and Compliance Director for Review and posting.
• Support with preparation of monthly Cash flow
• Process withholding VAT and withholding tax as per KRA regulations
• Being the bank contact person, maintain the bank file, ensuring that all bank information is properly filed and updated.
• Support with processing of payments
• Support with entry of payments and journals into the system
• Support timely processing of all bank payments, fund transfers, as per the payment schedule
• Support counter check of payment documents ensuring that supporting documentation corresponds to the payment request, calculations are correct, and that payment request is duly signed as per the AAM level.
• Any other duty as may assigned.

Others

• Ensure that program activities comply with Mercy Corps internal policies and procedures, as well as donor rules and regulations and national laws and legislations in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Somalia.
• Support Finance Officer with other grants or finance sector activities.
• Coordinate expenditure verification and project audits and follow up on management decisions regarding audit findings ensuring these are documented and communicated to the sub recipients
•  Any other relevant duties as may be assigned.

Safeguarding responsibilities 

• Actively learns safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

Supervisory Responsibility

None

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Finance & Compliance Director

Works Directly With: Program Managers, Program Teams, Finance/Grants Team, consortium members and subgrantees.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills   

• A bachelor’s degree in business administration, Finance, Economics or relevant field; an advanced degree is preferred.
• Professional accounting certification CPA desirable
• At least 3-5 years of demonstrated professional experience managing grants, subcontracts, procurement and compliance with donor regulations, preferably Donor-funded projects.
• Strong accounting skills and experience, including management of the general ledger, journal entries, payables and balance sheet.
• Demonstrated experience applying clauses and negotiating without heavy management oversight including developing amendments and modifications as a result of negotiations.
• Experience providing capacity-building training to staff partner organizations.
• Strong analytical and computer skills, with emphasis on budget and financial analysis and advanced computer skills in MS Office, particularly excel, are required.
• Fluency in the English Language is required.
• Other required competencies and skills include:

Grants Administration

• Knowledge and application of best practices in grant management.
• Demonstrated knowledge of financial and management systems, regulations and reporting requirements. Evidence of ability to be creative and flexile within those requirements.
• Analytical capabilities with accounting procedures and processes for structuring projects.
• Knowledge of grants management software and information technology skills.

Management and Communications

• Ability to communicate technical, budgetary and program details to staff, grantees and applicants.
• Ability to design and implement effective workflow processes and procedures.
• Capability to foster an atmosphere which recognizes and respects cultural and individual differences.