The Organisation

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 85 years, and are now active in more than 80 countries.

Plan International Sierra Leone is seeking to recruit a top-notch professional to fulfil the position of Programme Accountant based at the Country Office to deliver the tasks outlined below:

SUMMARY OF THE POSITION

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organization that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion, and discrimination. And its girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, our supporters, and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national, and global levels using our reach, experience, and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.

The Program Accountant will maintain quality finance and grants accountability for the ISFP Program. Reporting to Country Finance Manager (CFM) and Program Team Lead (ISFP). This position will work closely with Plan Sierra Leone Country Office staff, in finance and grants to ensure timely and accurate grant reporting, maintenance of grant records, and active participation in the revision processes of awarded grants. The Program Accountant will also be responsible for tracking the grant’s budget vs actual spending, developing income and spending projections, and managing disbursements. This position has limited field travel and logistical support for the programme.

DIMENSIONS OF ROLE

This role ensures overall financial accountability, compliance, and reporting to donors and management on the ISFP’s overall program implementation. He/she will be responsible for the grants management and reporting processes, from budgeting to budget management including grant budget setup; financial management and reporting are conducted in a manner consistent with the Government of Sierra Leone and Plan International policies, procedures, and regulations. The position holder will also support the Country Office’s internal assurance team during grant audits

ACCOUNTABILITIES

Budgeting and Control:

• Providing relevant support and information for budget preparation (including advice on minimum cost recovery requirements.
• Perform grant-related post-award functions, including budget and expense analysis in addition to routine audits during implementation and at close-out, as needed and identified in coordination with the CFM.
• Support the mapping from the Plan SLE budget format to the donor format.
• Where necessary, support the Country Office finance team in the annual budgeting process for Plan Sierra Leone.
• Together with the Program Team Leader, other team members, and the Grants team, map the donor budget against Plan Sierra Leone’s account codes.
• Train and provide ongoing technical assistance to partner office finance staff and program partners on best practices for financial management systems, grant administration, and organizational policies in order to increase capacity.
• Work with the program team on budget revision for correct calculation and proper mapping to cost categories before submission for review and approval.
• Highlight and prepare documentation for any program modifications, including budget revisions, amendments, or extensions that require donor consent and approval. Ensure such changes are made in close consultation with the Program Lead, Country Office Grants staff, and Partners Members and cleared by the CFM in advance of any submission.
• Keep track of program match funding aspects and notify the CFM of any lapses in meeting the program quarterly match obligation.

Financial Management and Reporting:

• Monitor financial management of ISFP program funds to ensure consistency with agreed technical plan and actual implementation, and monitor the program expenditures against their actual incurrence.
• Implement and monitor systems of checks and balances consistent with standard accounting practices, and bring instances of non-compliance or financial risks to the attention of the CFM.
• Participate in program procurement processes and expenditure payments whenever requested by the Program Team Lead.
• Prepare accurate and timely financial reports in line with donor requirements.
• Reconciling expenditure in General Ledger (GL) and grants ensuring that all account lines (WBS) are correctly charged, monitoring and reconciling any exceptions identified.
• Liaise with Program Team Lead to provide variance explanations on all financial reports submitted.
• Work with the Program Team, Partners, and appropriate country office staff in the development of quarterly and monthly forecasts.
• Supporting the preparation of budget amendment requests (alongside the program lead and the grants coordinator), compliant with donor requirements.
• Monitoring commitments and accruals on all grants; ensuring adequate documentation for accrual and that accruals are paid and cleared within the next 15 days.
• Support the preparation of monthly grants expenditure forecasts together with partners; monitoring movements in the grants income and expenditure and alerting the Program Team Lead and CFM of any unusual items in SAP.
• Review of payment documents and ensure WBS Lines and GL Account codes are correct and the necessary amount of funding available.
• Ensure adherence to the country’s grants financial and accounting requirements as per requirements of the donors, other organizational policies, and procedures (Operations Manual (OM) erc.) to support sound grants financial management within the organization.
• Ensure that partners comply with Plan International procurement procedures (unless the Partner procedure is approved), when procuring goods and services.
• Support the Program Team Lead and the team to ensure that the monthly cash forecast is timely submitted and realistic as per the detailed program implementation plan.
• Support to ensure withholding tax credit notes are promptly distributed to vendors/consultants.

Grant financial set-up and compliance:

• Maintain an awareness of the donor conditions on financial management within each (FAD) and guide program teams accordingly.
• Participate in new grants start-ups, and where required facilitate sessions on financial management, partner budgets, advances, and liquidations, etc.
• Support the set-up of new grants within SAP and lead all aspects of maintaining ISFP grant data information in SAP.
• Support the review and approval of new Program Outlines (PO) and modifications where necessary.

Grant closure, Audits, and risk management:

• Support audit and other reviews of the ISFP program by ensuring all documents are provided.
• Prepare the Program’s financial audit action list after each audit and ensure compliance.
• Support the closure of grants through timely alerts to program team of pending end dates for expenditure, and support with reasonable timescales for payments and liquidations to ensure all these fall within the program period.
• Support the admin department and the coordinators of the grant with the compilation of asset registers for each grant, ensuring alignment with the expenditure reported to donors.
• Where necessary, support the internal assurance, audit team on all grants audits, including accompanying auditors on field visits.
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive filing system both hard and soft copies of all financial reports and agreements pertaining to the ISFP grant.
• Participate in due diligence assessment.

Others:

• Support audit and other reviews of the ISFP program by ensuring all documents are provided.
• Ensure your IAP, six months’ appraisal and annual appraisals, and that of your direct reports are timely completed and documented.
• Advise proactively the Program Team Lead and the team on the financial risks of under/overspending.
• Support provide training and share good experience/practice amongst the team to strengthen team capacity and team building.
• Keep your supervisor informed of any initiative or difficulties relating to the job’s responsibilities.
• Perform any other duties that may be assigned from time to time

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Internal stakeholders

• High – Grants staff, Finance Manager, PIIA Accountants, PIIA Managers, and Operations Managers
• Medium Program Staff and P&C Manager

External stakeholders

• Partners (Medium)
• NOs (Low)
• Communication channels
• All

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE

• Ability to analyze grant expenditure against budgets for unusual trends
• Ability to draft clear and precise reports in responding to grants queries
• A good understanding of donor requirements, Plan financial systems, and grants management systems for efficiency and compliance
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision
• Must have very good interpersonal relationships with colleagues and supervisors

Knowledge

Qualification and Experience

• University degree in Finance/Accountant from a recognized and reputable institution
• Minimum, a Student of an Accountancy professional course such as CAT, ACCA, CPA, CIMA from a recognized institution.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in a similar role in a non-governmental organization.
• At least 2 years’ experience in developing, monitoring and reporting on donor budgets.
• Understanding of donor conditions and requirements relating to financial management.
• Good knowledge of grant management cycle.
• Fair knowledge of program management.

Skills

• Problem solving skills.
• Good team player.
• Proficient in Excel (essential) and other Microsoft applications.
• Good communication skills both oral and written.
• Ability to deliver to tight deadlines.

Behaviours

• Independent minded, objective and demonstrate a sense of integrity.
• Organized, methodical and meticulous.
• Innovation and willingness to learn at a faster rate.
• Remains calm and positive under pressure and in difficult situations.
• Aware of impact on others and adjusting own behaviour accordingly.
• Tolerant of difference – cultural sensitivity in relation to its impact on HR.

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

The position will be based in the Country Office in Freetown and required, periodic travel to programme units.

Level of contact with children

Mid contact – Occasional interaction with children

GENERAL ACCOUNTABILITY

Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection (CPP) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Ensure staff understands Plan International’s commitment to driving a feminist agenda within the organization, and the ambition for gender equality and gender transformative leadership is embedded in our value-based leadership framework.

Plan International’s Values

https://plan-international.org/about-us/careers-plan-international/our-values-work

To apply for this job, kindly click on “Apply” Your application should include:

• A cover letter
• A comprehensive CV including details of two referees, one of whom should be your current or most recent supervisor

Only short-listed candidates shall be contacted. References will be taken and background and anti-terrorism checks will be carried out in conformity with Plan International Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy.

Plan International follows an equal opportunity policy and actively encourages diversity welcoming applications from all especially women and people living with disability.

Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.

Location: Country Office

Type of Role: Program Accountant

Reports to: Country Finance Manager & Team Leader

Grade: D2

Closing Date: 20th July,2023

Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for.

We want Plan International to reflect the diversity of the communities we work with, offering equal opportunities to everyone regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Plan International is based on a culture of inclusivity and we strive to create a workplace environment that ensures every team, in every office, in every country, is rich in diverse people, thoughts, and ideas.

We foster an organisational culture that embraces our commitment to racial justice, gender equality, girls’ rights and inclusion.

Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. This means that we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with and we must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.

A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International’s Safeguarding Children and Young People policy. Plan International also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this scheme we will request information from applicants previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Please note that Plan International will never send unsolicited emails requesting payment from candidates.