Grant and Compliance Accountant at Habitat for Humanity Zambia

The Grant and Compliance Accountant facilitates support for implementation, monitoring and evaluation, budgeting and tracking, financial and narrative reporting on the Comic Relief grant in compliance with donor and Habitat for Humanity (HFH) requirements. The incumbent manages the day to day grant compliance and financial reporting for donor-funded activities in HFH Zambia.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES:

Key areas of responsibility

1. Coordinating stakeholders involved in grant management to ensure that:

a) They are all aware of the terms and conditions of the grant regarding expected programmatic deliverables and all information created during proposal development and donor negotiations.

b) That ongoing information related to the grant is communicated to relevant stakeholders.

c) Appropriate tools are available and used to manage programmatic implementation and compliance such as:

i. Developing and monitoring annual project implementation work plans/Gantt charts (everything from procurement / award to evaluation)

ii. Reporting calendar and required report templates

iii. MOU templates and partner agreements are reviewed by appropriate team members

iv. Conducting Due Diligences on prospective partners to work with HFH Zambia

2. Reviewing grant budgets and work plans ensuring that:

a) The grant budgets for grant proposals are aligned to the proposed work plans.

b) The budget and budget narrative follows the donor’s budgeting guidelines.

c) Timely feedback and responses to questions raised by the Donor, Finance Manager or EMEA Grants.

d) Ensure the correct budget coding has been used to facilitate posting and tracking in the Financial Management System for monitoring and analysis.

3. Monitoring and coordinating grant financial management, compliance and reporting including:

a) Liaise with partners on grant implementation, reporting, information sharing and further work planning.

b) Ensuring compliance with the donor financial contractual obligations by:

i. Assisting HFH Zambia in creating and reviewing of financial compliance checklist, compliance briefings and briefings on the importance of maintaining support documentation etc.

ii. Conducting initial assessment of financial systems to ensure HFH Zambia has set-up correct codes to enable financial reporting in SunSystems such as Project codes, fund codes and Donor Activity codes.

iii. Conducting periodic reviews of the financial transactions supporting documentation to ensure compliance with the donor rules and regulations.

iv. Capturing transactions in SunSystems and ensuring that grant financial reports are reconciled to the ledger.

v. Preparing or reviewing and analyzing the budget variance analysis; grant actual expenditure & vs. grant budget, budget variance justification, and advise the Finance Manager.

vi. Assisting the Finance Manager with preparation of budget realignment requests where applicable.

vii. Working with the Finance Manager to respond to the grant audit findings and highlighted risks and project evaluation concerns.

viii. Working with the Finance Manager to develop and strengthen the internal controls environment in as far management of the grant is concerned.

b) Reviewing and providing feedback to the Finance Manager on the programmatic and financial donor reports prior to submission, ensuring these are timely, accurate and reliable and in compliance with the contractual obligations.

c) Periodic field visits to check on grant activities progress, consistency and level of compliance.

d) Proactively identifying problem areas or potential problems, making recommendations to address issues before they impact the grant, developing action plans and following up with the Finance Manager to ensure that identified issues have been addressed.

4. Capacity Building and Training

a) Assisting the Finance Manager to review the grant agreements against HFH Zambia systems and policies. Identifying the gaps and assisting in the development of systems and procedures that would enable full compliance with the contractual obligations.

b) Providing input into grant management related policies and work with other parties to develop and institutionalize detailed implementation procedures based on the grant management policies and the applicable specific donor rules and regulations.

c) Identify and share best practices in grant management at the local, national and international levels.

d) Arranging, and/or conducting training and capacity building to address grant management competency gaps at the National Office and Field Offices.

5. Grant cash flow management:

• Ensure the grant cash flow is managed in line with the donor requirements and HFH Zambia procedures
• Other related duties as assigned by Supervisors

Knowledge (Education & Related Experience):

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, CA Zambia, ACCA or equivalent
• At least 5 years’ experience in grant management in a major Non-Governmental Organizations.
• Experience in project management and financial management
• Development and designing of trainings; and facilitating training workshops
• Good track record of Project Budgeting and tracking

Skills (Special Training or Competence):

Essential Skills:

• Knowledge of donor requirements (especially USAID/PEPFAR, European Union, Irish Aid, DFID, Comic Relief etc.)
• Ability to understand financial reports and analyze financial variances
• Detail oriented, particularly with regard to donor agreements, contracts and other  related legal documents
• Good negotiation skills
• Ability to work under pressure and with minimum supervision, willing to learn, team builder, innovative and demonstrate capacity for maintaining high professional standards.
• Ability to coordinate both financial and programmatic functions of grant management
• Good management skills (planning, organizing and monitoring)
• Ability to manage horizontally and vertically (professional / superiors/subordinates, peers)
• Good communication and inter-personal relation skills
• Patience and perseverance in understanding and explaining issues with Field Staff.
• Strong writing skills (clear, concise and compelling)
• Comfort and efficiency in IT systems including MS Office Suite
• Ability to travel
• International experience managing multi-cultural partners and stakeholders.

Preferred Skills:

• Working knowledge of accounting principles, systems, and analysis of financial reports
• Understanding HFH Zambia core business of shelter and human settlement, Advocacy on Land and Property rights
• Knowledge of safeguarding policies and practices to protect children and vulnerable people
• Knowledge of legal issues particularly related to grant agreements and/or contracts in general
• A Clean and Valid driving Licence

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