The role of Senior Grants Officer – GCF/GEF Projects ESARO at IUCN involves comprehensive financial management, reporting, and compliance oversight specifically for projects funded by major environmental funds like the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) within the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO). The officer ensures strict adherence to donor regulations and IUCN's financial policies across project lifecycles, from proposal development to final audit and closure.
Specific Duties
Projects Financial Management and Reporting:
- Update TWENDE project expenditure into the NAV financial system ensuring they are properly and accurately coded and captured into the correct budget lines.
- Assign new signed projects award numbers on Award Vision and ensure the project is converted into a C-project on the project portal.
- Maintain project and donor database information and files in both hard and soft copies.
- Support in updating the project portal ensuring project budgets are well captured on the portal.
- Provides direct, proactive, hands-on budget and reports management support by providing monthly analyzed budget information / expenditure report to the Project Managers.
- Ensure compliance of all donor requirements, as per signed agreements, when reviewing expenses and preparing financial reports.
- Commission project specific audits as per donor reporting requirements and ensure completion on a timely basis and submission as per contract deadlines to donors.
- Ensure compliance by continually staying up to date on changes in donor and IUCN regulations and ensuring documentation and communication of all relevant regulations to unit members and program unit e.g. Program and Project Managers.
- Periodically review the donor receivables and follow up on project income to ensure IUCN receives project income as per funds requests on a timely basis.
- Update the TMS with the staff time budget allocations on projects and ensure that staff time cost recovery is up to date and as per budget.
- On a quarterly basis prepare the projects in deficit analysis report and ensure project balances are well justified, follow up on income receipt and allocations from donors and other allocations from internal IUCN offices and ensure closed projects are properly closed in the award.
- Generate and share monthly Budget vs. Actual (BVA) reports with Project Managers, Country Representatives, and ESARO management, including variance analysis and corrective recommendations.
Coordination and Monitoring (GCF/GEF Focus):
- Serve as the focal point for all ESARO GCF/GEF projects, ensuring effective coordination between HQ, donors, and the ESARO office.
- Develop and maintain a financial monitoring tracker for all GCF/GEF projects across ESARO.
- Develop and present quarterly GCF/GEF project financial management dashboards to senior management, highlight implementation progress, identifying bottlenecks, and recommending corrective actions.
Sub grants/Partners Contractual/Financial Management Accountabilities:
- Lead in the Due Diligence process of partner’s selection for all sections relating to financial management and reporting.
- Carry out periodic sub-grantee/partner monitoring and financial reviews and provide appropriate follow up actions to ensure timely IP reporting in line with contractual obligations and recorded in Nav.
- Under the guidance of ESARO Grants and Contracts Manager, carry out financial management training for sub-grantees and support them to maintain proper books of accounts.
- Act as a resource to IPs on grant compliance issues related to donor requirements.
- Reconcile IP records on a quarterly basis and ensure that IUCN and partners records are reconciled.
- Monitor settlement of disbursements to the IPs to ensure timeliness in disbursements to IPs.
Budget and Proposal Development:
- Focal point in all GCF/GEF projects budget development working with the programme teams and supporting in the proposal development process.
- Support reviews that ensure proposal budgets/budget amendments are in line with donor regulations.
- Recommend or facilitate opportunities to help build staff and partner capacity in budget formulation and management.
- Support in annual IUCN budgeting process and development.
Other Duties:
- Lead on all GCF/GEF project audits ensuring that audits are conducted on time and recommendations implemented accordingly.
- Support in review and sign off process of donor contracts and consultancy contracts ensuring that IUCN contract and procurement compliance regulations are adhered to.
- Maintain an updated memorandum register of fixed assets acquired by the various projects in order to track the acquisition, movement and disposal of such project fixed assets in line with donor agreements.
- Assist ESARO Grants and Contracts Manager in preparing and reviewing the project status report when called upon.
- Carry out any other duties that may be assigned by supervisors from time to time.
Requirements and Qualifications
Education:
- First degree in Accounting, Finance or related field.
- Relevant professional qualification in accounting – CPA, ACCA, CIMA preferred.
Work Experience:
- At least 10 years’ relevant work experience in similar capacity with a recognized regional or international development agency.
- Hands on experience in project proposal development and implementation, particular GEF, GCF, EU, USAID, BMU IKI, KFW among others.
- Working Knowledge of use of ERP-Navision.
