United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Program Officer

Program Officer

Location: London, UK

Closing Date: 12 June 2016

Salary Banding: C1-C2 £30 – £35K per annum based on experience and qualifications

Only candidates who have a right to work in the UK should apply.

BACKGROUND:

Internews is an international media development organisation whose mission is to empower local media worldwide to give people the news and information they need, the ability to connect, and the means to make their voices heard. We envision a future where everyone, everywhere, enjoys equal access to trusted, quality information that empowers them to live healthy, secure, rewarding lives.

GENERAL FUNCTION:

The Programme Officer (PO) is a headquarters-based facilitator for multiple projects and keeps a grant management overview of the grant agreements and contracts entering into their projects portfolio. The role is based in London with travel to projects in our field locations across the world. The PO is responsible for grants administration, donor reports verification and submission, capacity building to partners and sub-grantees in the domain of grant management and facilitation of project audits. This position contributes to overall programme and operations effectiveness. The PO is a key person to ensure that projects are implemented in compliance with Internews standard operating procedures as well as donor’s rules and regulations, to ensure quality of IEU projects for the benefit of IEU organisation and stakeholders. This is done through providing support, control, advice and reinforcement of all non programme aspects related to different project cycle phases. The PO works in close collaboration with the Regional Directors, Project Directors, Programme Finance Manager and all HQ departments as required. The PO contributes to Internews knowledge management and improvement of Internews systems and good practices and participates in building Internews’ credibility towards donors.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Grant Management (40%)

· Engages in and maintains relationships with institutional donor representatives and serves as Internews official point of contact for Internews donors

· Sets up the grant management schedule (monitoring, tracking, communications, and reporting protocols);

· Participates in the projects’ set-up phase by ensuring that all relevant processes and procedures are put in place;

· Responsible for the close-out period coordinating with the Project Director and other relevant colleagues;

· Identifies and documents best practices from individual grants, adapts Internews SOPs to country-specific procedures, guidelines and tools fit for purpose and easily accessible. Contributes to ensuring they are regularly implemented by the partners and field offices to satisfy the donors requirements;

· Leads on the preparation of partnership and sub-granting agreements as well as services contracts with external vendors, making sure that donor requirements and IEU internal regulations are duly reflected in all project contractual documents;

· Lead on the preparation of the project-level audit, making sure that the required information and documentation is made available; serves as a point of contact for the auditor during the audit and during the post-audit period until the audit report is finalised and ready for submission to the donor;

Compliance Monitoring (35%)

· In collaboration with the budget holders and the Programme Finance Manager reviews expenditure vs budget and forecast in the donors’ currency, and reviews any highlights any variances to the plan;

· Monitors the impact of any changes to the grant agreement/services contract that could require a modification, ensure issues or challenges with grants are identified early, are effectively addressed, and communicated internally and to the donor as appropriate (including preparation of contract amendments, derogation requests, etc.);

· Regularly reviews the database of contracts and grant management schedule to be on top of the implementation process and be able to raise any grant management related issues;

· Participates in the annual work planning and budgeting process;

Field Support and capacity building (20%)

· Prepares and conducts induction training on grant management for project field-based staff, consultants and implementing partners and ensures that the donor requirements and Internews internal rules and procedures are applied correctly (ongoing monitoring, guidance and capacity-building);

· Participates in the recruitment of key project specific financial/grant management positions in the field;

· Conducts occasional field visits for the projects’ set up, grant management training and projects’ close-out as required;

· Communicates closely with field office; provides support, training and troubleshooting as needed;

Knowledge management (5%)

· Provides ongoing feedback to Internews Management and to the Contracts & Compliance Manager on required improvement and updates on donor regulations and contractual obligations to ensure organisational knowledge is built and improved continuously;

· Ensures good knowledge management across grants, including key project documentation, to enable all teams supporting the grant to access information and provide a fully auditable trail;

· Any other task as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

· Solid experience of working with international donors in particular EU, DFid, SIDA government and other European donors

· Professional qualifications, or qualification by experience, in development management, project management, finance or HR

· Solid experience of complex programme financial management within an organisation

· Solid experience of direct, hands-on delivery of key components of financial and grant management

· Experience in building and monitoring complex budgets

· Proven ability of staff capacity building in field offices on grant management policies and procedures

· Experience in travelling to challenging or remote locations

· Proven ability to set priorities, handle multiple on-going assignments and manage time effectively

· Advanced expertise in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel

· Proven ability to manage a complex, multi-disciplinary programme of work

· Experience in managing financial and management accounting processes, including annual accounts, audits and external reporting

· Experience of working in, or dealing with, developing countries and fragile states

Knowledge

· Good knowledge of donor regulations and systems

· Good understanding of the project cycle

· Knowledge of good human resources management practice

Personal Attributes:

· Ability to work both independently and as an effective team member

· A willingness and ability to adopt a hands on approach as well as provide strategic direction

· Ability and willingness to occasionally travel to international locations, including challenging or remote locations.

· Strong communication, liaison and interpersonal skills to work effectively with people at all levels, and represent the organisation at a high level

· Strong analytical, problem solving and creative thinking skills