Senior Partnership Finance Manager

Requisition ID: req51814

Job Title: Senior Partnership Finance Manager

Sector: Finance

Employment Category: Fixed Term

Employment Type: Full-Time

Open to Expatriates: No

Location: Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Work Arrangement: In-person

Job Description

Program Brief

Founded in 1933, International Rescue Committee (IRC) is one of the world’s leading agencies working in post-conflict and development contexts, supporting communities in over 40 fragile, failed and developing states. In this capacity, we work to restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted, struggling to endure and wishing to advance on a path of development.

IRC has been present in Bangladesh since 2017 and obtained registration with the NGOAB in March 2018. Since IRC obtained registration in March 2018, it has moved quickly to expand its integrated emergency health and protection response through both direct and partner-based programming focused on primary healthcare, women’s protection and empowerment, sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence and child protection. Through 2018, the IRC’s response strategy will primarily target Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, while meeting the significant needs in both refugee and host populations, as already existing vulnerabilities are compounded with cyclical monsoon and cyclone seasons that impose additional threats to the lives and protection of those refugees as well as vulnerable host populations. IRC is growing its programming to cover education and livelihoods/DRR, as well as its geographic footprint in the host community and to other parts of the country.

Purpose of the Role

The Senior Partnership Finance Manager is a key position for the Partnership Department which provides support to IRC programs implemented across Bangladesh.The position is primarily responsible for providing oversight and day-to-day financial management of the IRC Partnerships Department’s sub-awardees, in and close coordination and cooperation with the IRC’s Finance staff. The position will be leadingfor capacity building for sub-awardees to build their financial management and administrative capacity, in coordination with the partners, Partnerships Department staff, Supply Chain, Operations and IRC Finance staff. The Senior Partnerships Finance Manager will provide support to the Partnerships Department to review sub-awardee budgets at the proposal stage, participate in pre-award due diligence processes, document all financial matters related to sub-awardees’ finances to assure audit readiness at all times, and manage sub-awardee finances documents/reports including budget review, financial report review, providing guidance and training related to finance to sub-awardees in order to strengthen their capacity. The Sr. Partnerships Finance Manager acts as the focal point for financial and compliance aspects of Partnerships Sub-grants Management including ensuring high-quality financial monitoring of sub-awardees. This position reports directly to the Deputy Director of Finance.

Highlights of Key Responsibilities

Promote Effective Partnerships

• Promote and apply the IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results system (PEERS). Contribute to building a strong understanding of PEERS throughout the Bangladesh Country Program, and to ensuring that IRC’s partnership principles, skills and approaches are applied by staff across programs and projects with partners.
• Facilitate systematic partner feedback on IRC’s management of the partnership relationship, including the documentation of, and response to partner feedback. Ensure and implement the partners risks based financial monitoring and donor regulations are well complied through the partners implementation.

Program Delivery

• Participate in the Partner’s Project Capacity Review (PPCR) of potential partners as appropriate, and contribute to efforts to collaboratively analyze and manage material risks identified, as it relates to finance.
• Work collaboratively and supportively with partners to develop and finalize budgets and budget amendments, and (in the case of milestone-based partnership agreements) in determining the costing of milestones.
• Review draft partnership agreement terms relating to advances, reporting and any special conditions relating to finance.
• For cost-reimbursable partnership agreements, agree with partners the specific documentation required to support each type of cost, adjusting standard requirements to the operating context and the partner.
• Participate in Partnership Project Opening, Review and Closure Meetings, including to review successes, challenges, and lessons learned with the partner, and capture effective finance practices for future partnerships.
• Work collaboratively with partners to ensure the timely provision of funding to partners in accordance with the partnership agreement to ensure program continuity, ensuring clear communication with the partner and efficient resolution where for whatever reason this is not possible.
• Collaborate with partners to ensure completeness, correctness, and accuracy of financial reports and cash requests.
• Review partner financial reports (and narrative reports for consistency) and supporting documents to ensure compliance with the partnership agreement, donor regulations and IRC policy, and provide feedback to the partner as appropriate.
• Monitor partner budgets and actual spending in collaboration with technical coordinators, identifying issues and working proactively and collaboratively with partners to resolve them.
• Lead timely and effective finance review and reflection (monitoring), identifying appropriate follow up actions, and providing completed reports to Partnership Lead.
• Assist in the close-out of partnership agreements, including in relation to financial verification and asset confirmation.
• Participate in the review of the performance of the partner, of the IRC, and of the partnership, including successes, challenges and lessons learned.
• Ensure partners commitments are duly entered into the integra system, advances are rightly places to the partners with the lead time, contra advances are posted in every related transactions, and expenses are liquidated in the integra system within the lead time and ensure partners grants and expenses are duly reconciled with the partners reported balance and integra balance.
• Assist the external auditor/donor auditor for conducting in the financial stock taking at the partners level.

Program Support & Capacity Sharing

• Provide finance and accounting training and mentoring support to partners, in accordance with partner project support plans, with a focus on supporting the partner to strengthen financial management systems and capacities that are responsive to the needs of the partner (rather than replicating IRC’s systems and policies).

Team Management

• The Sr. Partnership Finance Manager will supervise Partnership Finance Manager andexpected to coach, train, and mentor staff with the aim of strengthening their technical capacity, exchanging knowledge within the team and providing professional development guidance.

Other

• Any other duties as assigned by the Deputy Director of Finance

Qualifications

• Minimum 6 to 7 years of relevant experience in (I)NGO in humanitarian or development programs
• Demonstrated successful experience in large volume sub-grantee, local partners/consortium funds management.
• Experience in tracking agreed plans with multiple sectors
• Demonstrable understanding of project planning and project cycle management
• Required to be able to function comfortably in a complex work environment, under pressure whilst prioritizing multiple tasks
• Ability to conduct analysis and come up with plans of actions and recommendations
• Ability to build good working relationships and work effectively with program, field staff and HQ from a distance
• Ability to respond to multiple priorities in a timely manner, producing high-quality outcomes
• Self-motivated and able to handle multiple work demands
• Diplomatic and tactful, able to work with diverse teams
• Strong ability to communicate and maintain positive working relationships with external and internal audiences is highly desirable for this position
• Adhere to the partnership principles and promote the principles within all key department from the IRC and partners’ staff
• Excellent command over MS Word, MS Excel and PowerPoint
• Fluency in English Language is essential

  Specific Educational Qualification

• MBA/Master’s degree with major in Finance and Accounting or any other relevant field