Budget & Grants Manager at African Wildlife Foundation (AWF)

The Budget and Grants Manager – (BGM) ensures compliance with a broad range of public and privately funded grants, including proper financial management.  The BGM will serve as the finance department lead in developing and administering policies and procedures to ensure adherence to regulations of both external and internal best practices related to grant funded projects. Working with the Director of Finance, the Budget and Grants Manager will support the annual budget process for the organization and will provide oversight of all updates. Responsibilities also include oversight of all sub-award and sub-recipient relationships, pre and post-award management, grant audit preparations, training and financial reporting to donors. Monitor revenue and spending against budgets to ensure strict adherence to the organizational budget targets. Based on dialog with budget managers, the incumbent will, analyze budgetary challenges, and recommend solutions to the supervisor. This position supervises the Senior Budget and Grants Officer and Budget and Grants Officer and reports to the Director of Finance. Occasional international travel and trips to the field may be required.

Responsibilities

Leadership

• Contributes to the design and update of departmental staffing structure that achieves department’s goals and objectives.
• Lead, develop, and motivate grant and budget accounting team.
• Provide staff with all relevant information necessary for them to be successful in their duties.
• Establish high level of creditability and ma
• manage strong working relationships with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Ensure consistent and high level of customer service delivery
• Ensure team members meet deadlines.
• Set goals and manage team performance
• Working with HR team plan staff training and development to ensure continuity of operations.
• Provide periodic training to staff on grants compliance and grants management.

 Organize and disseminate key grant information

• Ensure AWF’s grant funded projects comply with donor rules and regulations.
• Develop policies, procedures and training in support of grant management and compliance.
• Ensure grant documentation is complete and logically filed and disseminated to relevant personnel within AWF.
• Oversee grant coding setup, initial budget entry (in both Accounting and Timesheet Systems), and disseminate financial data to relevant personnel within AWF.
• Ensure quarterly grant status reports are accurate and distributed timely.
• Assist in implementation and ongoing maintenance of grant management system (Award Vision).
• Establish and maintain the initial budget entry into the accounting systems. This includes ensuring all grants have been reviewed and in compliance with AWF’s guidelines.
• Coordinate the development and streamlining of dimension codes in the accounting system.
• Develop tools that support the distribution of the grants.

Grant financial management

• Track grant spending against budget at a macro level. Work with Senior Budget and Grants Officer to identify and correct spending patterns that do not agree with grant budget and/or approved activities.
• Prepare, submit and track status of grant modification requests and other grant-related correspondence. Ensure that grant modifications are updated in the operating budget on a timely basis.
• Establish methodology to track and report matching costs on a monthly basis.
• Support award implementation and award closure by ensuring that grants are closed out within budget and established timeframes.
• Maintain and monitor the sub-grant agreements throughout the entire process. This includes but not limited to the review of contracts, financial reports, and close out of agreements.
• Assist the accounting staff with ensuring that the audit preparation for grants is performed in a timely basis with a smooth process.
• Oversight on grant funded invoicing, collection of accounts receivables, and maintaining letter of credit draws. Ensure that invoices are sent to grantors in a timely manner.
• Prepare all required grant financial reporting, including SF-425’s for USAID sourced funding and any other required reports per established timeframes.
• Serve as the point of contact to donors for financial reporting and all grant inquiries.
• Monitor and inform senior finance staff of upcoming grant issues, reporting needs.
• Periodically through the life of the grant (at least quarterly), convene monitoring meetings with program, development, and accounting teams to review staffing, budgets, and program implementation and to identify any delays or other problems that might impact grant compliance.
• Ensure that monthly close-out schedule for the grants team is performed and done in a timely fashion. Includes, but not limited to the review of the restricted net asset report to ensure grants are updated in the accounting system.
• Manage communications with external auditors on external grant financial activity and accounting issues to ensure auditor agreement with company decisions on accounting disclosures, and issues.
• Work with the Director of Finance in the coordination of annual audit and quarterly review activities with external auditors for grant management

Budget Management and Planning

• Support development of monthly budgetary financial statements (operating, and activity).
• Ensure that accurate monthly budget reports are disseminated on a timely basis.
• Ensure the team is meeting monthly with each primary budget holder to ensure that budgets have been analyzed and necessary actions to address variances are being taken.
• Ensure all systems are updated accordingly to reflect the approved budget and the current re-projection.
• Work with the Director of Finance (DOF) to develop and implement the annual operating budget in the Accounting System.
• Assist the supervisor in the development of a balanced annual operation budget.
• Update the budget and ensure that budget changes remain in alignment with the approved operating budget throughout the fiscal year. This includes, on a monthly basis:
  • Adjustments due to spending and operating factors.
  • Currency adjustments.
  • Transactional recoding to ensure maximal use of available resources.
  • Adjustments in personnel budget (including the timesheet system) for HR and funding changes.
• Work with the team to ensure grants are being utilized and maximizing resources.
• Communicate to the Director of Finance and Chief Finance Officer significant changes within the operating budget.
• Ensure all departments adequately understand relevant pieces of the operating budget and their financial reports.
• Communicate significant budget variances and trends to relevant budget managers, prompting additional action by the project management team where warranted.
• Participate in the development of tools for budget preparation and monitoring.
• Examine budget estimates for completeness, accuracy, and conformity with procedures and regulations.
• Assist in performing cost-benefits analyses to compare operating programs, review financial requests, and explore alternative financial methods.
• Work with the Program Director, conservation teams and the managers to ensure that budget adjustments are made in accordance with program changes, and phasing inputs are done in a timely fashion to ensure a more accurate picture for financial statements.

 Grant management strategic planning

• Reviewer of all AWF funding proposals working with the Program Design, Philanthropy, and Program teams to ensure that submitted proposals meet finance department guidelines and are reviewed by appropriate parties prior to submission.
• Oversee compilation and preparation of cost-match reports accordingly for all funding proposals.
• Oversee maintenance of multi-year funding budget as new grants or modifications are awarded in the accounting system.
• Support the compilation and maintenance of funding gap report that includes the priority needs of AWF Conservation programs and departments without funding support. Inform Senior Finance Staff, Program Design, and Development teams of these needs in support of the development of funding proposals.
• Communicate and explain accounting issues and evolving accounting guidance to the management team, to HR for closure of grants for contracts, to the Development team for funding goal activity, and all other grant related communications.
• Strategize in maximizing all available resources to support the organizational bottom line.
• Serve as Finance team’s liaison for the set up and scaling down of grant funded offices, ensuring compliance for the grant, countries, and AWF’s rules and regulations.
• Manage the grants team process for the strategic planning of the annual operating budget. Preparing all the forecasting projections for the funded grants, preparing a carry forward analysis, and staffing projections in the development of the detailed annual budget.

Financial Reporting

• Work with the Senior Budget and Grants Officer to develop, create, and maintain all financial reports that are used for distribution.
• Oversee the preparation and distribution of both internal and external financial reporting, maintaining the highest quality, reliability and accuracy.
• Oversee monthly closing process for grant and system items ( dimensions review, fund set up, restricted net assets, Operating Statement, etc.), including reconciliations and analysis of related accounts
• Develop and maintain the integrity of the financial reporting process and financial controls.
• Coordinate, develop and update written policies and procedures over the financial reporting process.

Financial Planning and Analysis

• Co-ordinate an effective, high-quality internal work planning and budgeting process that ensures immediate implementation of donor funds.
• Convene quarterly monitoring meetings with program teams to review staffing, budgets, and program implementation with a view to track potential risks, constraints or impediments to grant implementation; and providing expert recommendations to Management to mitigate risks.
• Implement an effective and accurate rolling budget forecasting system that is driven by current program operating environment to ensure accurate running of financial statements.
• Actively carrying out of cost-benefits analysis with a view to maximize available resources to support the organizational bottom line.
• Actively pulling and organizing a balanced annual operation budget
• Preparation of accurate multi-year financial pipeline funding reports with future funding gap analysis to inform management
• Revenue goals monthly tracking reports
• Coaching and mentoring the Budget and Grants team on day-to-day best practices related to grant and budget management

Other Duties

• Ensure AWF staff are following best-practices and complying with all relevant donor rules and regulations.
• Serve as senior liaison for grants and budget team for internal task forces.
• Prepare and assist in developing ad hoc reports or cost analysis.
• Prepare routine status reports for the Director of Finance and Chief Finance Officer to review.
• Other duties as assigned by supervisor and/or Chief Finance Officer.

Qualifications

• Degree in Business, Finance, or related. Certified / Chartered Accountant preferred.
• At least 8 years’ relevant work experience, at least 5 years within donor funded non-profit organization.
• Possess a high degree of integrity and confidentiality.
• Experience in a multi-office, multi-national environment.
• French language skills are a plus.
• Management and supervisory experience desired.
• Ability to design complex financial models, proposal budgets and other financial reports.
• Ability to organize and present issues in a clear, concise and logical manner, and communicate complex financial information to a non-financial audience.
• Strong technical and analytical skills, including MS Excel, report writer tools, and ability to navigate within accounting systems and other databases.
• Ability to manage competing priorities, exercise good judgment, and quickly identifies and resolves problems with minimum supervision.
• Must be flexible, culturally sensitive, and exude a “team” attitude.
• Ability to manage sensitive and confidential matters with the highest level of professionalism.
• Must have excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to interact professionally with staff, partners and donors.
• Strong decision- making skills.
• Concentration, accuracy and attention to details are required.
• Prior experience with budget preparation and analysis, accounting experience a plus
• Non-profit experience with US government grants reporting and management
• Excellent knowledge of industry best practices and the ability to translate this knowledge into policies and procedures within AWF.
• Excellent customer service skills with the ability to handle challenging situations quickly, accurately, and cordially.
• High level of individual initiative, planning and good judgment.
• Professional demeanor with an unwavering commitment to honesty and integrity.
• Strong team commitment and drive for personal and organizational achievement.