Work Arrangement: Open to Remote
Job Description
This position is currently only open to IRC employees.
The IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and, most crucially, accountability to those we serve. The IRC is a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable.
The IRC invests in research in humanitarian contexts to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of policies and practices in these settings. Our Research and Innovation Department works in partnership with our Education Technical Unit and Country Program teams to achieve these aims by:
•Generating robust and actionable evidence across crisis-affected contexts,
•Gathering and synthesizing the evidence base on what works, and
•Analyzing the cost efficiency and cost effectiveness of humanitarian programming
EDUCATION RESEARCH IN CONFLICT AND PROTRACTED CRISIS
Programme Scope:
IRC is seeking a Senior Contracts Finance Coordinator to support a six-year commercial contract funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC) is a £19.8 million research programme to carry out rigorous and operationally relevant research on the most effective approaches to education delivery in conflict and protracted crisis contexts. The program has four components: (1) Research on the most effective approaches to education delivery in conflict and protracted crisis; (2) Ensuring country level impact; (3) Promoting research uptake across FCDO and the international community; and (4) Knowledge systems strengthening.
The IRC will be leading the ERICC research consortium in component 1 (research in effective delivery) and component 2 (country-level impact), working in partnership with a consortium of esteemed research and educational institutions. This program will be carried out in seven FCDO countries: Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Nigeria, South Sudan, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Job Overview:
The Senior Finance and Contract Coordinator (ERICC) role will provide oversight and leadership for the finance, contract and budget function across the FCDO-funded ERICC research consortium.
The Senior Finance and Contract Coordinator (ERICC) will play a critical role in ensuring transparency, accountability, effective financial management and compliance in all aspects of the ERICC contract and will play a critical role in ensuring effective budget management and control, donor reporting and forecasting, invoicing and disbursements to partners and grant awardees.
The role will also provide key support to the ERICC Programme Director, Deputy Director and Programme Management Team in programmatic and budgetary monitoring, and compliance with commercial contract and internal IRC rules and regulations.
Major Responsibilities
ERICC Programme Budget Management and Monitoring
•Review, track, and analyze expenditures for the entire ERICC project, including ERICC country programs and partner institutions.
•Coordinate Programme budget management, expenditure monitoring & forecasting.
•Hold knowledge base of FCDO contract rules and regulations and advise senior management and other team members on financial compliance, risk identification and mitigation.
•Develop and maintain systems for budget control to ensure project expenses are reasonable, prudent and spent in accordance with the donor’s rules and regulations.
•Create accurate forecasts and manage expenses according to spending plans.
•In close collaboration with the Research Program Coordinator, liaise with partner institutions regarding any deviations or concerns in spending Work closely with regional / global teams to complete all IRC ERICC project budget monitoring and provide monthly budget versus actual reports to budget holders and in country programs.
•Ensure completion of expense bookings, oversee time and effort tracking and reporting across the project and prompt payments to all suppliers.
•Work with relevant country finance managers, technical unit and headquarters-based finance staff to ensure accuracy of the ERICC financial reports and promptly identify and advise the ERICC Programme Director and applicable country program grant leads on areas of concern.
•Coordinate approval of agreements, amendments, cost extensions and no-cost extensions
•Identify and manage all financial, contracts management, sub-contract awards and operational risks in collaboration with relevant country and technical unit staff.
•Review financial controls and liaise with relevant country program leads to update policies and procedures as needed.
ERICC Donor Reporting and Compliance
•Develop guidance, templates, and toolkits to ensure timely submission of narrative and financial donor reports.
•Coordinate information on budgets, expenditure and forecasts and collate for submission to donor.
•Ensure that Partners’ responsibilities for donor compliance are tracked and evaluated.
•Liaise with country programs and partner institutions to prepare and submit high quality programmatic and financial reports by IRC ERICC countries/partners and IRC global.
•Assist in donor relations, participate in calls with select donors, and represent the IRC ERICC team at donor meetings as required.
•Ensure quality information management through regular maintenance of contract files, including coordination and preparation of documents and files for internal and external audits.
•Monitor and facilitate compliance of programs with FCDO and IRC requirements and raise issues affecting external/internal compliance.
•Build capacity of local partners in donor reporting and compliance, including travel to locations of implementation to provide trainings and on-going support.
Funds Invoice & Disbursements
•Oversee the coordination of information for the preparation of quarterly donor invoices including quality assurance.
•Liaise with IRC Global & Finance, with respect to donor invoicing requirements.
•Consolidate payment breakdown by partners according to previous quarter spend, balance and forecasts.
•Oversee the process of funds disbursements to project partners, sub-contractors and grant awardees in collaboration with Finance Officers.
Key Working Relationships:
Position reports to: ERICC Deputy Programme Director
Position indirectly reports to: Director, Finance Contracts, Senior Finance Contracts Officer
Internal contacts: Indirect management of Senior Finance Manager and Grants & Budget Manager. Regular contact with Education Technical Unit teams, and country program staff. Regular interaction with internal IRC departments, especially budget, finance, human resources and procurement.
External contacts: Interaction with finance teams of partner organizations, donors, vendors, contractors, and consultants.
Job Requirements:
Minimum Requirements
●Master’s degree International Affairs, Public Administration, Economics, Business Studies, Accounting, Commerce, or equivalent professional experience
●At least 8 years of related work experience, preferably for an International Non-Governmental Organization managing FCDO grants and contracts.
●Expert knowledge of funding, regulations and procedures for FCDO and other public funders, particularly in regard to commercial contracts.
●Extensive experience managing the financial, contractual and compliance aspects of large commercial contracts, including payment-by-results and cost-reimbursable contract and subcontract models.
●Ability to clearly anticipate and identify contractual and financial risks, develop mitigation plans and provide expert advice to senior stakeholders.
●Experience managing complex grants and projects throughout implementation, including budget and finance components, compliance, monitoring and reporting processes.
●Experience in capacity building of local partners in grant management in the field.
●Excellent organizational skills: the ability to work independently and productively in a fast-paced environment.
●Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: the ability to successfully and effectively liaise with a variety of people in a multi-cultural environment and work on a virtual team.
●Flexible work attitude, proactive and demonstrated creativity: the ability to work productively in a team environment and the ability to problem solve creatively with minimal guidance.
Preferred Requirements
•Experience with donor-funded contracts.
•Experience working on FCDO commercial contracts.
•Prior experience working in countries where IRC operates.
Working Environment:
•Standard office working environment.
Compensation:
Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.
US Benefits:
The IRC offers a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. All US employees are eligible for sick time, a 403b retirement savings plans: up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus an 3-7% additional IRC contribution, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support in times of crisis and mental health struggles.
In addition, full-time employees are eligible for 10 US paid holidays, 20-25 paid time off days, disability & life insurance, medical, dental, and vision insurance (employee contribution starting at $135, $7, and $5 per month respectively) and FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs. Part-time employees are eligible for a proportionate amount of paid time off. These additional benefits apply to employees who work at least 6 months within a 12 month time period.
