Senior Coordinator Finance & Awards

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

Level 3: The role holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work in country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE:

Save the Children, Pakistan is seeking a Senior Coordinator—Finance & Awards, for its USDA-funded McGovern Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program in Pakistan. The Sindh Sustainable School Meals (SSSM) project which will be implemented in three districts of Sindh including Thatta and Sujawal, to reach 530 schools and over 150,000 direct beneficiaries over the course of six years.

Senior Coordinator-Finance & Awards provides financial leadership and expertise in financial accounting, compliance and controls along with financial planning, analysis and awards management and donor compliance to the project. In addition to overseeing core financial processes, the role also ensures effective end-to-end awards management including compliance with donor and SCI requirements, coordination of donor reporting, support on budget realignments and amendments, partner compliance oversight, and timely closeout of award. The Senior Coordinator will work closely with SC Pakistan’s Finance and Awards team to ensure timely, high-quality completion of all accounting processes, financial controls, pipeline tracking, compliance/monitoring reviews, tracking of cost-related performance metrics, financial reporting, customized dashboard and provision of financially informed decision support to the SSSM leadership and project teams.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Deputy Chief of Party with dotted line to the Country office Finance & Awards department

Staff reporting to this post: Senior Finance Officer

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Strategic Financial Management, Planning and Analysis:

• Lead, supervise, and coordinate on all financial aspects of the project including annual budget exercises, quarterly forecasts and revisions, all reporting requirements, and ongoing tracking of the project’s financial performance in alignment with SC Pakistan, SCI and USDA requirements.
• Support partners on financial tracking and analysis, identify potential implications for SSSM project implementation, and work closely with the project and SC Pakistan teams to develop cost recovery plans i.e. budget re-alignments as needed.
• Ensure timely, accurate and efficient donor financial reporting including oversight and support to partners on financial reports.
• Responsible for reconciliation of donor financial reports and month-end financial reporting per Save Pakistan and donor guidelines.
• Ensure that balance sheet items related to SSSM are reconciled and adjusted prior to submission of final reports to the donor.
• Ensure monthly BVAs are generated on time and shared with all internal stakeholders.
• Ensure that BVA/Award Review meetings are conducted on time and action points tracked via Award Review Reports.
• Ensure district offices and partner staff receive adequate support to operate efficiently, including, as needed timely receipt of budget variance analysis and responses to finance-related queries.
• Conduct reconciliation of balance sheet/control accounts and adhere to SC Pakistan accounting procedures along with reporting and addressing of discrepancies.
• Ensure project financial planning is in compliance with SC Pakistan, SAVE International, USDA, Government of Pakistan, and Provincial policies including, but not limited to, any statutory and grants audit requirements, relevant waivers, tax laws, etc.
• Coordinate and support SC Pakistan on any SSSM audits as well as donor-specific or other stakeholder queries.
• Ensure that audit recommendations received from external auditors and SC Pakistan are fully and accurately implemented within prescribed timeframes.
• Ensure appropriate financial management/reporting and payroll structure functions to ensure timely payments.
• Create and maintain tracking tools and processes to facilitate project management in close coordination with partners and program team.
• Oversee the day-to-day financial management components, ensuring overall cost-control and cost-effectiveness of SSSM activities.
• Partner closely with SSSM leadership and SC Pakistan to improve/develop processes that ensure the adaptiveness of the financial systems to project needs.
• Conduct finance and compliance orientation sessions for project staff and partners.

Awards Management:

• Ensure award management processes (opportunity identification to award closeout) are followed through workflows and coding structure requirements on SC Pakistan systems, with particular focus on Award Management System
• Ensure structures and procedures that support the effective dissemination and flowdown of award information, SCI and donor compliance to all key, contributing staff, partner stakeholders, and senior project decision makers (i.e. not limited to: award review meetings, partner monitoring visits, etc.)
• Coordinate on donor budget realignments, amendments, cost and no-cost extension requests, ensuring full adherence to donor compliance requirements. Additionally, escalate award specific and donor related risks and issues in a timely manner.
• Work closely with Partnership specialist, SC Pakistan and SSSM senior leadership to coordinate the process of partner/vendor assessments, legal vetting, and preparation of partner/vendor agreements to ensure adherence with donor compliance and SC Pakistan/SC International requirements.
• Ensure that partnership agreements are properly developed, updated, communicated to partners, and systematically monitored, with all relevant documentation maintained in AMS and other SC Pakistan systems.
• Coordinate with relevant program staff to ensure implementing partners/vendors undergo legal vetting prior to commencing work on SSSM and that partners/vendors are engaged with appropriate agreements and effective monitoring systems in place.
• Review partner financial and narrative reports, liquidations, and supporting documents to ensure compliance, accuracy, and timely submission. And coordinate actions arising from relevant audits, evaluations, and other compliance assessments.
• In collaboration with programme teams, coordinate capacity assessments, capacity building initiatives and compliance support for all new and existing partners including regular monitoring through field visits to ensure that partner’s program delivery meets donor and SCI’s expectations and requirements.
• Ensure that all partner documentation including reports is uploaded onto SC Pakistan systems and that data within Awards Management System (AMS) is effectively maintained, up to date and accurately records the audit trail (authorization and documents retention) for the SSSM project.
• Ensure potential issues and amendment requests are flagged promptly to SSSM senior leadership and SC Pakistan management. And maintain regular engagement with the PKN Country Office Award Lead and, where required, the Asia AMDC Business Partner. Support effective member management by ensuring timely communication and coordination, and help liaise with relevant stakeholders to facilitate any member/donor project visits.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice):

Accountability:

• Holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the broader team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and take responsibility for their own personal development
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale

Collaboration:

• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to; builds and maintains effective relationships with colleagues, managers, members and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity and different people’s perspectives, able to work cross-culturally.

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency
• Commitment to Save the Children values

QUALIFICATION:

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, business administration, law or relevant area.
• Master’s degree in Finance or Accounting preferred.
• Additional professional certificates - ACCA/ CA /Part Qualified CA is highly desirable.
• Background and experience in partnership management and grant/award management and systems (e.g., Agresso/AMS/Prime or equivalent) are also highly desirable.

EXPERIENCE:

Minimum 6 (six) to 7 (seven) years of relevant, progressively responsible work experience with at least 5 (five) years in an INGO /National NGO specifically in project financial operations and management.

Previous corporate sector experience is strongly preferred.

Experience with finance, reporting, operations, and compliance requirements, award/grant management of major bi-lateral donors is required.

Demonstrated ability to engage with donors, partners, and project technical teams at a strategic level required.

Fluency in written and oral English and Urdu. Ability to understand/communicate in Sindhi as well is strongly preferred.

Demonstrated ability to develop and implement strategically tailored financial systems and processes, and familiarity with principles of collaboration, learning, and adapting (CLA) in project financial practices preferred.

Willingness to travel, especially to field sites including rural locations for monitoring and support purposes (15%).

Strong analytical approach and attention to detail along with troubleshooting and diagnostic skills.

Excellent time management skills; ability to juggle multiple tasks ensuring effective completion.

Previous experience in team/staff management, coaching, and capacity building required.

Excellent Excel skills and proficiency in MS Office suite required along with prior experience with multiple financial software/systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Quick Books etc).

Strong interpersonal skills including ability to manage multicultural, geographically dispersed teams and build relationships with a wide variety of people.

Patient, adaptable, able to improvise, problem-solve effectively to ensure implementation continuity and quality.

Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in high-pressure situations and under tight deadlines.

Additional Job Responsibilities:

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities:

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Safeguarding our Staff:

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy.

Health and Safety:

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.

Save the Children has zero tolerance towards Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Fraud, Bribery and Corruption.