Job Responsibilities: Programmemanager - Finance (Contract Management Team)

JOB DESCRIPTION

Programme Manager (Finance)

Job Responsibilities: ProgrammeManager - Finance (Contract Management Team)

The Alliance comprises a UK Secretariat and national, independent intermediary organisations referred to as Alliance Linking Organisations (LOs). In some countries the Alliance has, exceptionally, established Country Offices. The majority of these will be transitioned to independent Linking Organisations during the period 2010-11. LO refers to Linking Organisation, Country Office or other field partner for the purpose of this job description.

The Field Programme Department (FPD) is the primary interface between the Secretariat and LOs. The department provides organisational and programmatic support with the aim to achieve sustainable national organisations providing quality programmes at scale and thereby contributing significantly to the national response and universal access.

The Alliance family has a number of large multi-year contracts which are implemented mostly through LOs with support from the secretariat although there are some exceptional instances where the contracts are managed directly by the secretariat in the absence of LOs.

Job reports to:Head of Team: Contracts Management

Main Function:The Programme Manager (Finance) acts as agreement manager and is responsible for ensuring that the contracts deliver against budgets; that financial systems operated by the Field Programmes Department (including country offices) are fit for purpose and fully understood by those who are responsible for using them.

This role requires a sophisticated understanding of how Alliance financial systems satisfy our obligations to donors and under law. Responsibilities include reviewing systems, negotiating recommendations for changes (where needed) and working with the Finance Department to implement these, as well as working with FPD and LO staff to ensure financial oversight.

Direct budget management of a portfolio of contracts is also required.

Location:Brighton

Travel:Frequent international travel

Responsibilities:

Contract Management

Objective:Effective Contract Management.

• Act as Agreement manager for a portfolio of contracts;

• Establish, implement and manage financial processes and systems to monitor, manage and report on budgets;

• Ensure adequate financial control and to implement remedial or corrective actions to ensure budget expenditure in line with contractual and time bound requirements;

• Undertaking analyses of financial performance of contracts during the contract lifetime, ensuring that project costs, salary recovery and cost share requirements are met.

Ensuring contractual compliance and risk mitigation

Objective:Sound processes and systems for ensuring compliance and mitigation of risk.

• Keep abreast of financial systems and obligations to donors under law;

• Ensuring that arrangements are in place for timely reporting on contracts deliverables and spend;

• Analyse of contract on-track management reports and agreeing on any corrective actions with relevant programme team;

• Lead on risk analysis and early warning systems and responses to off- track contracts;

• With the finance team ensure that cash is received from Donors, in advance of programme and is sufficient to meet the needs of the agreement. Cash forecasts to be prepared and reviewed to highlight any potential gaps;

• Liaise with PAL on identifying and reporting on Value for Money initiatives;

• Interacting with Legal Risk and Compliance on a regular basis in support of contractual compliance.

Systems improvement

Objective:Finance processes and systems fit for purpose

• Identifying areas where the finance processes and systems operated by the Secretariat do not ensure adequate financial control or are difficult to manage and making recommendations for improvement, in particular around financial monitoring of partners, review of financial reports and the budgeting process;

• Taking a lead in the improvement and redevelopment of finance processes and systems operated by the Secretariat for field programmes so that they are fit for purpose. Where appropriate this will require presenting the new processes and systems to the SMT for approval and sign off;

• Lead and make recommendations on the closer integration of financial and programmatic management and where appropriate develop spaces for this closer integration;

• Identifying areas where the finance processes and systems operated by COs do not ensure adequate financial control. This may involve travel to COs as well as responding to audits and working through visiting FPD staff;

• Taking a lead in the improvement and redevelopment of finance processes and systems operated by COs, and by partners for grants provided through the Secretariat, so that they are fit for purpose;

• Ensure that processes and systems identify areas where the finance processes and systems operated by partners for grants provided through the Secretariat may not ensure adequate financial control;

• Indentifying financial risks in current practices and within current donor regulations, escalating them to SMT level and taking the lead in developing processes to minimise those risks.

Quality assurance

Objective:COs/LOs managing their financial control to budget, managing their cash-flow to forecast and complying with Donor and Secretariat requirements

• Developing and agreeing strategic and operational plans for strengthening the financial control functions of COs and LO;

• Supporting COs / LOs and the FPD department with the recruitment of skilled Finance Managers and Directors;

• Acting as a focal point of financial technical support for COs, working closely with the FPD and finance teams to deliver quality support, be it desk based, in-country or through third party technical support;

• Lead on technical reviews of CO and LO Finance manuals and Onward Granting manuals;

• Support the Alliance technical support hubs in their provision of quality and sustained financial technical support to COs / LOs;

• Support the Global Fund Grant Support team in ensuring the provision of good quality technical support (including review and development of tools) in the area of financial management and developing financial systems for Global Fund grants to CO / LOs and external clients;

• Support the development of CO / LOs financial risk strategies;

• Provide or ensure ad hoc support to CO and LO finance staff.

Knowledge Management

Objective:A global finance community of practice for CO/LO learning and development.

• Plan and develop methods for linking finance practitioners across the Alliance (including finance consultants associated with regional TS Hubs);

• Facilitate the development of a global finance community of practitioners through the development of effective and useful channels of communication and through mobilizing effective and useful sharing of knowledge;

• Review relevant communications to ensure that communications tools are capable of influencing internal and some external audiences.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Programme manager (Finance)

Essential

/ Desirable
Qualifications / Education /
Knowledge / Qualified Accountant – ACA, ACCA or CIMA or equivalent / Post-graduate qualification in Business Management
Qualifications in Training

Experience required

/ Strong contractual management and budgeting experience
Experience in financial management systems / software – e.g. Quickbooks, Sun Accounts
Experience in designing and delivering finance related support
Field experience in international development work
Financial needs assessment / audit experience
Management accounting and management / donor reporting
Explaining financial techniques to non-finance staff / Experience in HIV work at the community level
Experience of working in a variety of accounting cultures and environments
Abilities and skills required / Excellent English communication and training skills
Understand partner needs in improving their financial and administrative systems / Second language – French or Spanish

Personal qualities

/ People skills
Accurate, timely, financially rigorous, well organised and with very strong analytical skills
Adaptable to change and able to deal with ambiguity
Ability to travel