Senior Finance Partnership Officer

The Senior Finance Partnership Officer supports program development and grant management functions, ensuring compliance with donor regulations and IRC requirements. The role involves managing budgets, financial monitoring, partner collaboration, and staff training to improve financial efficiency and partnership excellence.

Responsibilities

• Champion the application of IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS) across all financial interactions, ensuring financial support is grounded in mutual respect, equity, and transparency, and that finance staff adopt a partner-led mindset.
• Work collaboratively with partners to develop and finalize budgets and budget amendments.
• Review the partners documentation supporting each type of reported costs, as per the standard requirements to the operating context and the partner internal policies. Identify missing documentation, operating weakness and internal control issues.
• Work collaboratively with Partnership unit to ensure the timely disbursement of funds to partners in accordance with the partnership agreement to ensure program continuity, ensuring clear communication with the partners.
• Collaborate directly with partner’s finance staff to ensure completeness, correctness, and accuracy of their financial reports and cash requests. Provide feedback to the partner in consultation with Finance Manager Budgeting &Reporting and Deputy Director Finance as appropriate.
• Review the partner’s financial reports (and narrative reports for consistency) and relevant supporting documents to ensure compliance with the partnership agreement, donor regulations and the IRC policy. providing feedback to the partner in consultation with the Partnership team as appropriate.
• Review the partner’s budget remaining balances against actual spending and spending plans, feedback advise on spending status. Request feedback on the over/under spending and support the program team in realigning/ reallocating savings, if any.
• Maintain audit-ready, organized, and complete financial documentation for all sub-awards in compliance with internal and donor audit standards.
• Serve as a finance focal point throughout the partnership management cycle, ensuring that financial tools, guidance, and processes reinforce local leadership, adapt to partner contexts, and reflect the principle of “do no harm” to local institutions.
• Participate in the Partner Capacity Assessment (PCA) and collaborate with cross-functional teams and partners to identify, analyze, and manage financial risks through co-developed and continuously reviewed mitigation strategies.
• Review and advise on financial clauses within partnership agreements, including terms for advances, cost documentation, reporting, and special conditions, ensuring they are realistic, context-sensitive, and compliant.
• Perform the financial monitoring of the partner budgets and actual spending in collaboration with program technical coordinators and Partnership unit, identifying issues and working proactively and collaboratively with partners to resolve them.
• Participate in the review of the performance of the partner, of the IRC, and of the partnership, including successes, challenges and lessons learned.
• Support financial closeout of partnership agreements, including verification of final expenditures, asset confirmations, and financial reconciliations.
• Train staff on Shared Program Cost allocations methodology.
• Assess the skill and experience of the Finance staff and provide training, in both the field offices and the main office on matters related to grants, contracts and budgets.
• Train Project/Field Managers/coordinators on how to monitor their budgets, code expenses and the proper use of the categorization of costs: dimensions D codes and chart of account.
• Ensure appropriate projections of the shared program costs allocations to grants as per the IRC methodology.
• Ensure all relevant/senior staff are aware of various donor rules and regulations that play a role in their work, especially procurement and inventory management staff.
• Serve as a technical resource person for the accounting department. Assist on matters relating to grants and budgeting and serves as the finance focal person on these issues.

Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree in accounting, Business Administration, Commerce or Finance.
• A recognized professional certificate in accounting is an advantage.
• Minimum of four (4) years of managerial experience in the financial area of a non-profit organization or an international commercial organization.
• Experience in working with computerized accounting systems, standard spreadsheet and database programs (Integra, Dynamics).
• Good leadership and management skills.
• Be able to function effectively in a complex work environment and to set appropriate priorities and deal effectively with challenging priorities and pressure.
• Ability to carry out responsibilities independently with minimal technical support.
• Committed to staff training and development and effective at facilitation.
• Dedication to the IRC’s mission, purpose and values.
• Proficiency in English is required.
• Must have demonstrated skills in working remotely and supporting staff in a remote context.
• Must be able to function comfortably in a complex work environment, under moderate pressure whilst prioritizing multiple tasks.
• Must be able to communicate effectively (written and verbal) in English.
• Good supervisory and time management.
• Excellent computer skills.
• Must be able to work under minimal supervision.

Skills

• Accounting
• Finance Management
• Budget Management
• Grant Management
• Computerized Accounting Systems
• Integra
• Dynamics
• Spreadsheet Software Knowledge
• Database Programs
• Staff Training
• Remote Work Support
• Leadership
• Management
• Supervisory Abilities
• Time Management
• Financial Monitoring
• Donor Compliance
• Program Development
• English Language Proficiency
• Independent Work

Languages

English