The Senior Finance Officer – Grants Reporting and Compliance will provide CFO-facing assurance over the completeness, accuracy, compliance, and auditability of grantee expenditures before recognition in the ERP; represent the CFO in Grant Committee meetings; and verify that grantee expenditures are valid, incurred, properly supported, correctly classified, and recorded in the appropriate accounting period under accrual accounting.
The ideal candidate will strengthen financial reporting quality at the grantee and country office level by enforcing documentation standards and resolving gaps at source. In addition, the role will ensure end-to-end traceability of financial data from grantee submissions → GMS → ERP.
The incumbent will monitor and analyze grantee receivable accounts, including outstanding advances, aging, liquidation, recoverability, and collection follow-up. The role will also identify recurring control weaknesses and support corrective actions to reduce audit findings, downstream adjustments, and reporting errors. The position will provide management with regular reporting and assurance on grantee expenditure quality, receivable balances, audit readiness, and financial reporting risks.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
- Lead the transformation of grants financial management into a control-driven, audit-ready assurance function.
- Ensure end-to-end financial integrity across the grant’s lifecycle, with all expenditures accurate, supported, compliant, and aligned with donor requirements.
- Strengthening AGRA’s second-line oversight framework through structured verification, reconciliation, and compliance review processes.
- Elevate and standardize donor financial reporting to ensure quality, consistency, timeliness, and credibility.
- Drive continuous improvement in grants financial governance, systems, and reporting, enhancing transparency, accountability, and decision-useful insights. Serve as the institutional lead on grants financial compliance, reporting, and audit readiness, complementing the Head of Grants’ strategic role.
- Partner with Finance, Grants, Programs, M&E, and IT to embed strong financial discipline and reporting standards across the organization.
- Act as the primary interface with external auditors and donors on financial reporting, compliance, and audit matters.
- Collaborate with Legal to ensure grant agreements reflect appropriate financial reporting, compliance, and audit provisions.
- Provide senior leadership with independent assurance insights on compliance risks, financial exposure, and portfolio performance.
- Contribute to senior management reporting (e.g., GRC, ExCo) with clear, evidence-based updates on risks and financial performance.
- Influence country and program teams through guidance, training, and escalation, ensuring adherence to policies without direct authority.
- Build organizational capability by training staff and grantees on reporting standards, documentation, and compliance expectations.
- Conduct independent sample verification of grant expenditures against budgets, donor conditions, and supporting documentation.
- Implement risk-based compliance review frameworks across the grant’s portfolio.
- Identify, escalate, and track compliance breaches, unsupported expenditures, and control weaknesses.
- Maintain and monitor the grants’ financial risk register, including high-risk grants and mitigation actions.
- Embed and monitor internal control frameworks (e.g., COSO-aligned) across the grant’s lifecycle.
- Support the preparation and review of donor financial reports, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and compliance with contractual requirements related to grantee reporting.
- Standardize grantee reporting templates, timelines, and processes.
- Ensure integration of grantee financial data into organizational reporting outputs (donor reports, Board papers, annual reports).
- Provide grantee financial analysis and insights on budget vs. actuals, burn rates, and financial risks.
- Serve as the focal point for YEFFA grant-related audits, ensuring documentation is complete, organized, and audit-ready.
- Coordinate audit responses, ensuring timely resolution and follow-through on corrective actions.
- Implement pre-audit reviews and documentation standards to strengthen audit preparedness.
- Support regulatory reporting and disclosures related to grants (e.g., statutory filings).
- Ensure reconciliation between grants systems (AMIS) and the General Ledger, resolving discrepancies.
- Strengthen data integrity, completeness, and consistency across financial and grants systems.
- Partner with Grants, IT, and Finance to improve system integration, reporting functionality, and user adoption.
- Oversee financial data flows across systems, ensuring alignment across reporting platforms.
- Provide grantee portfolio-level financial insights on grant performance, utilization, projections, and risk exposure.
- Develop and maintain dashboards and management indicators to support leadership decision-making.
- Translate financial data into clear, actionable insights for senior leadership and the Board.
- Design and deliver training programs for staff and grantees on financial reporting, documentation, and compliance.
- Lead initiatives to improve efficiency, reporting quality, and control effectiveness.
- Promote a culture of accountability, accuracy, and audit readiness across the organization.
Qualifications and Experience Required:
- A bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance, or equivalent work experience.
- A master’s degree in any relevant field is a strong added advantage.
- CPA certification.
- Professional experience in accounting, finance, or financial monitoring.
- Knowledge of global, country/government accounting standards.
- Demonstrates solid experience in preparing and analyzing financial reports for senior management.
- Demonstrates knowledge of auditing techniques, financial risk management, and financial regulations.
- Demonstrates strong proficiency in computer applications, including spreadsheets, presentations, reporting, and accounting software.
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