Senior Finance Officer – Grants

The Senior Finance Officer – Grants (SFO) is responsible for overseeing and monitoring of the grants’ budgets and expenses of assigned Themes, Units, and Countries in CIFOR-ICRAF. The SFO is also responsible for the assignment of new projects to the finance Officer(s) and maintenance of an up-to-date list of project assignments.

Duties and responsibilities

Grants Budgets and Actual Expenses Monitoring

• Coordinate with donors, collaborators, project leaders, and scientists to clarify financial issues, answer queries, and give updates on the financial and budget status of the project.
  
• Review and verify expenditures of assigned grants to ensure adherence to budgetary and donor requirements.
  
• Ensure that the grants recover full overheads, including project services as per the approved donor budget.
  
• Monitor staff time allocations in Planner for the assigned grants and ensure it is as per donor budgets.
  
• Ensure timesheets are done, signed, and submitted on time for assigned grants.
  
• Monitor and ensure that staff time is charged in accordance with the budget and the timesheets are recorded/adjusted appropriately.
  
• Monitor changes in exchange rates and the impact on available project balances; promptly raise any forex concerns with the Finance Manager – Grants and the Principal Investigators (PIs) concerned.
  
• Liaise with the Program Management Unit (PMU) regarding the development of Letter of Agreement (LoA) with partner Institutions, project start-ups and set ups in the system, budget update and management in the system and project tracking & closures.
  
• Ensure the annual Budget and rolling budget is updated in the system.
  
• Review of financial status of the project prepared by the finance officer(s).
  

Partner Financial Management

• Review of partner LOAs focusing mainly on the payment schedules and reporting timelines.
  
• Monitor and follow up partner financial reporting for assigned grants.
  
• Supervise financial compliance for partners of assigned grants and ensure partners spend within their budgets and are following the laid-down donor and CIFOR-ICRAF financial procedures and regulations.
  
• Analyze grants partner expenses and provide feedback and analysis to the project leaders and managers on expenditure trends and areas with significant over or underspending.
  
• Communicate with partners of assigned grants on areas of weaknesses and steps to take to mitigate the risks and internal control issues.
  

Donor Reporting

• Prepare reports on the specific projects’ finances to donors and other users in compliance with Center standards and as specifically pre-determined by the donor, as mentioned on the signed Grant Agreements and Donor’s General Conditions.
  
• Review all donors reports from the Country Offices, Units, and Themes assigned prior to forwarding to Finance Manager – Grants for approval and clearance.
  
• Ensure that reports to donors are submitted on time.
  
• Ensure submission of fully approved / signed financial reports in grants management system for assigned grants.
  
• Provide grant financial management support to Countries staff as well as Units and Themes assigned.
  

Projects Audits

• Coordinate and supervise projects audits for assigned grants.
  
• Attend entry and exit meetings on audit of projects for assigned grants.
  
• Key resource on queries from the external and internal auditors on assigned grants.
  
• Assist in reviewing the draft audit reports and provide draft management responses for review and approval by Finance Manager – Grants for assigned grants.
  
• Review partner audit reports.
  

Grant Proposal Budgets and Grant Agreements

• Support project proposal/budget preparation regarding compliance issues for prospective sources of funding.
  
• Provide guidance and ensure the budget figures are correct, and the budget lines follow the donor requirements.
  
• Review the financial part and other relevant information of the new Grant Agreements and Grant agreement amendments.
  

Donor payables and receivable balances management

• Monitor and reconcile donor payable and receivable balances for assigned grants.
  
• Ensure the invoice timelines conditions as per the grant agreements are adhered to.
  
• Ensure the donor amounts receivable from donors are promptly collected.
  

Team leadership

• Supervise direct staff directly reporting to you by managing their performance, including setting goals and objectives, coaching, and delivering results.
  
• Perform performance evaluation for the team, both mid-year and annually.
  

Internal Controls and Other Duties

• Ensure compliance with policies and safeguard of CIFOR-ICRAF assets.
  
• Identify and assess changes that could significantly impact the system of internal control in CIFOR-ICRAF.
  
• Evaluate and communicate internal control deficiencies in a timely manner to the supervisor.
  
• Perform any other tasks assigned by the Finance Manager – Grants.
  

Education, knowledge and experience

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in accounting or in a related field.
 • Certified Public Accountant and a member of a recognized accounting institute.
 • At least 7 years in Grants Management.
 • Proficiency MS Office suite.
 • Good understanding and experience in budgeting and financial management procedures of donor-funded projects.
 • Good experience in donor compliance and reporting for international donors like EC, USAID, GIZ, etc.
 • Good experience in sub-grantee financial management, monitoring, and reporting.
 • Strong oral and written communication skills.

Terms and conditions

• This is a Locally Recruited Staff (LRS) position. CIFOR-ICRAF offers competitive remuneration in local currency, commensurate with skills and experience.
 • The appointment will be for 1 (one) year with the possibility of extension contingent upon performance, continued relevance of the position and available resources.
 • The duty station will be in Bogor, Indonesia.
 
 
 
To apply, please visit our career site at:
 https://www.cifor-icraf.org/about/work-with-us/
 
 
To learn more about CIFOR-ICRAF, please visit our websites at:
 https://www.cifor-icraf.org
 
 
CIFOR-ICRAF promotes Gender Diversity – Applications from women professionals are encouraged.
 
 
CIFOR-ICRAF is an equal opportunity employer. It fosters a multicultural work environment that values gender equality, teamwork, and respect for diversity.