candidate brief senior contracts & finance officer · job description 1. overview post title:...
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Candidate Brief
Senior Contracts & Finance Officer
July 2020
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Job Description
1. Overview
Post Title:
Senior Contract and Finance Officer
Directorate:
Programme and Policy
Team:
Programme Management
Responsible to:
Head of Africa Team
Accountable to:
Director Programme and Safeguarding
Base Location: London
CARE International UK reserves the right in consultation with employees to change base
location according to organisational and departmental requirements.
Line Management Responsibility: Line management responsibility for one
Contract and Finance Officer
Budgetary Responsibility: N/A
Key External and Internal Contacts and Relationships
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External Contacts Internal Contacts
• Programme Managers and other operational
contacts at our key donors - DfID, EU, ECHO,
Comic Relief, Big Lottery Fund and DEC.
• Partners including other INGOs, local
NGOs, Academic Institutions, Private
Sector Fund Managers and Consultants.
• Dept. Humanitarian team leader –
contracts and finance.
• Key Country Offices and Regional staff.
• Strategic Funding & Partnerships
team.
• Shared Service Centre and Finance
team.
• WEE; Governance; Gender in
Emergencies/Shelter teams plus other
key outcome/approach teams across
the CARE Confederation.
• Senior Management team.
• Leadership team.
• Programme Management leads across
• Finance dept and IPT.
• Corporate Partnerships team to
support for Country-based projects
• Programmes Management Accountant
for management accounts and
information.
The above list is provided for guidance only and is not an exhaustive list of all the contacts
with whom the post holder may be required to liaise.
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2. Job Summary
To provide integrated contract, financial and compliance support on a portfolio of CARE UK
funded contracts. The post holder will support the end to end programme management
cycle, from pre-positioning with partners, funding proposals, monitoring and interim
reporting, through to final donor reporting and project close-out.
At this grade senior contract and finance officers are expected to be able to lead the
financial aspects of design and management of commercial contracts and complex grants –
including managing finances in consortia, supporting the creation of value for money
assessments, working with the requirements of open book accounting, working with
funding coordinators and others to design payment by results systems that ensure that we
win work, but don’t make losses and providing advice and ensuring compliance against
complex grant and commercial contracts.
As a member of a Centre of Excellence for UK donors, provide knowledge and expertise on
key European donors, work with Contract Management colleagues to develop tools,
templates and guidance, and deliver training/capacity building. SCFOs are required to be
proactive in their own learning and also provide support to CFOs to support their continued
professional development.
This role is also a key interface with CIUK Finance team, providing key project information
to support UK financial processes, monitoring against financial indicators and providing
financial monitoring reports to the programme coordinators.
Key requirements include providing support, guidance & advice on:
• Pre-qualification information for proposals and bids
• Donor rules & compliance
• Key donor requirements including Value for Money, International Aid Transparency
Initiative and a range of contractual and billing mechanisms
As the Senior Contract and Finance resource in the team, provide support and mentoring to
Contract and Finance Officers; lead the development of process improvements and new
tools with Contract Finance and Compliance Manager, and develop guidance and training to
support roll out; manage a portfolio of more complex, higher risk or large scale projects
(including Commercial Contracts, DFID fund-managed grants, contracts with specific
payment mechanisms such as PBR and milestone payments, funding from new donors), and
act as a primary interface with Finance on cross-departmental matters (processes for
budgeting, reporting, statutory and donor audits)
The portfolio of contracts assigned to the Senior Contract and Finance Officer will be based
on the sub-team the position is located within (Development or Humanitarian) and will be
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cover all the geographical regions. Flexibility is required to take on other contracts to
balance workloads across the two Senior Contract and Finance Officer positions.
3. Specific Areas of Responsibility
Proposal Management and Contract Start-Up
• Proposals & Bids: provide analysis for Go/No-Go decision-making process;
consortium teaming agreements; advise on budget approaches and support the
development of proposal budgets compliant with donor requirements
• Commercial Contracts: Lead and advise on all contractual, compliance and finance
issues pertaining to complex grants and commercial contracts – design and
management. To include but not limited to; o Set up and management of
consortiums o Payment by results systems – not least the risk associated with this.
o Value for money frameworks.
o Cashflow and borrowing.
• Cost Recovery: Ensure that all we are charging competitively but also cost recovering
for country offices, technical teams and CIUK.
• Contracting & sub-contracting: prepare IPIAs, advice on consortium/partner
agreements, ensuring compliance with UK donor requirements and management of
risk; develop template agreements compliant with new donor requirements and
provide training.
Grant Management and Compliance: Risk Management
• Review of contractual performance of projects with Project Lead, proactively
working to address financial/compliance issues
• Compliance review of all donor financial reports, including proactively flagging up
issues that relate to financial and compliance related risk; expenditure rate, cost
recovery, PBR, V4M, in our or our partners parts of programmes (where we are the
lead).
• Support project close-out, including reconciliation of project closing financial
position.
• Prepare for and respond to queries arising from audits of projects (donor audits and
CIUK internal and annual audits)
• Lead on UK-based donor audits, coordinating with partners and liaising directly with
the appointed auditors
• Work closely with the project coordinator on issues pertaining to payment by results.
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Cashflow:
• Proactively think through cashflow and borrowing implications of new bids.
• Manage the process for Donor Call Forwards (draw down of funds from donors)
• Verify requests for transfers to country offices, ensuring sufficient cashflow for
projects, including CIUK pre-financing
Internal monitoring, data management and record keeping:
• Provide the required inputs on restricted grants and commercial contracts for the
CIUK annual budgeting process
• Spend Rate monitoring & reforecasting
• Manage updates to Programme Information Database (PIDB) on signature of
contracts and amendments; update Excel trackers as required
• Set up grant in financial system (PeopleSoft) and maintain mapping between Country
Office and UK coding structures
• Record keeping for audit purposes: ensure all key documents are centrally filed
(proposals, contracts, sub-contracts etc.)
• Monitor trends in value for money - over time and across projects. Drive forward
action to lower key cost drivers and improve performance on value for money
targets.
Capacity support
• Provide support and guidance to one Contract and Finance Officer as required.
• Develop guidance and templates for new CIUK donors, and develop training
materials for dissemination
• Provide remote support to CARE country programmes on financial proposal
development, donor compliance and reporting, in particular in relation to new donor
trends, new contractual and funding mechanisms
• Travel to CARE Country Offices to provide capacity support and training, and at short
notice for specific funding proposals, financial reports or audits if required.
Be an effective team member
• Contribute towards the development of the team’s annual operating plan and
develop an annual individual operating plan.
• Contribute to annual budget development and regular reviews of team income and
expenditure levels.
• Contribute to team and departmental meetings ensuring that information on specific
funding opportunities are proactively shared and opportunities for greater CIUK
engagement are known.
• Line manage/proactively support one Contract and Finance Officer. Support and
provide cover for fellow team members as and when needed.
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• Commitment to own and direct reports continued professional development.
• Promote, support and follow the CARE International Protection from Sexual
Exploitation and Abuse and Child Protection policy (PSEA) with direct reports, the
team and in day to day practice.
Targets
• CIUK compliance monitoring: sub-contract issuance and fund transfers
1. Any additional duties as may be reasonably required by a senior manager within the scope of
the above.
2. This document forms part of the post holder’s contractual terms and conditions of
employment.
3. The document is not an exhaustive list of core elements of the role. This job description is a
working document and may be amended from time to time by mutual agreement.
Data Protection
The post holder hereby agrees not to disclose any confidential or sensitive information to a
third party or outside organisation except where required to do so by law.
Health and Safety
The post holder agrees to abide by CIUK’s Health and Safety principles and code of conduct
and to take all reasonable steps to ensure both their own safety in the work place as well as
that of their colleagues.
Equal Opportunities
The post holder agrees to promote and uphold the principles of equal opportunities in
accordance with CIUK’s Equal Opportunities Statement and all related policies.
Diversity and Inclusion Statement The post holder agrees to promote and uphold the principles of diversity and inclusion
and treat everyone fairly and value the opinions of others in accordance with CIUK’s
values and all related policies. CARE International is committed to creating a diverse
environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants
will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion,
gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics,
disability or age status.
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Safeguarding
CARE International UK has a zero-tolerance approach to any harm to, or exploitation of, a
vulnerable adult or a child by any of our staff, representatives or partners. Recruitment to all
jobs in CARE International UK includes, in particular, criminal record checks and the
collection of relevant references. Safeguarding our beneficiaries is our top priority in
everything we do.
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4. Person Specification
Essential Desirable
Education /
Qualifications
• Degree level / finance qualification or equivalent
• Extensive experience of finance and compliance issues on
complex grants and commercial contracts with DFID and EC.
Skills / Abilities • Excellent financial analysis and monitoring skills; data
analysis and ability to deal with high volume and complex
data, and range of donor budget/reporting formats;
excellent attention to detail
• Excellent budget analysis and monitoring skills, able to
develop budgets to meet new donor requirements; ability
to draft budget notes and prepare financial proposal
narratives for donors
• Experience in cash flow and exchange rate management,
and understanding of tax regulations relevant to grant
management in an international setting
• Highly competent in Excel, strong understanding of
databases and financial systems
• Team working – able to build strong working relationships
(including remotely) and proactively contribute to joint
objectives
• Mentoring and developing others: ability to mentor
colleagues, experience of capacity building and developing
new tools and materials for training
• Strong communication skills in English, both oral and
written; able to communicate financial and contractual
issues to non-expert colleagues
• Managing Self: Able to work independently, and to
prioritise, meet deadlines and maximize efficiency. Able to
manage a portfolio of complex contracts
Experience
of Oracle
PeopleSoft
Experience /
Understanding
• Strong understanding of UK/European donor financial
compliance and contract requirements
• Strong understanding of new donor funding mechanisms,
including Commercial Contracts, results-based
programming, working through private sector fund
managers.
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• Proven experience of;
1. CFO work in the context of consortia
2. Designing and managing payment by results systems.
3. Cashflow and borrowing
4. Value for money frameworks
Other • Commitment to continued professional development for
themselves, staff they manage and staff around them.
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CARE UK competency framework is based on four core behaviours: Responsible
Stewardship, Working with Others, Professional Accountability and Cultivate learning.
Whilst every role might have a different focus in relation to each competency, every
employee is expected to provide evidence against the four indicators for each competency.
The indicators for each competency are as follows:
RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP
Align performance with CARE strategic goals / Lead with respect /
Take an active approach / Use resources effectively
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WORKING WITH OTHERS
Communicate effectively / Express appreciation and empathy /
Foster internal and external relationships / Provide and receive constructive criticism
PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY
Commit to equality and diversity / Take responsibility for own words and actions /
Understand our sector / Uphold professional standards
CULTIVATE LEARNING
Be aware of one’s knowledge and skills / Be open to different perspectives and approaches /
Manage uncertainty / Reflect to improve
The competency framework provides a selection of competencies that are important for
performance at CARE UK. All roles, regardless of their seniority, within CARE UK should have
all core 4 competencies identified as essential for effective performance in the job. Having
core competencies defined and applied across all levels allow to ensure a consistent and
transparent standard across the organisation.
We use competencies for recruitment, which ensures that any selection process is focused
on the behaviours that are important for success in that role and organisation overall.
Competencies form the basis of a number of selection tools, for example, competency-
based interviews and in-tray exercises. Basing our selection on our competency framework
enables us to engage in objective and standardised selection across the organisation.
A competency-based interview is a type of interview used to evaluate a candidate’s
behavioural competence to do a particular role. Each question is targeted at obtaining
behavioural evidence for a specific competency. The candidate is asked to provide concrete
examples, from their previous experience, of when they demonstrated the behaviour in
question. A scoring interview form - is used to assess the candidate’s response for that
competency, enabling the selection panel to apply consistent benchmarks when conducting
interviews.
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WORKED IN THE CIVIL SERVICE?
Are you/have you been a member of the Civil Service in the past two years?
Before accepting any new appointment or employment, whether in the UK or overseas,
which you intend to take up after you have left the Civil Service, you must consider
whether an application under the Business Appointment Rules for Civil Servants is
required.
If it is required, you should not accept or announce a new appointment or offer of
employment before it has been approved. The model application form for this purpose is
available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/492789/C ivil_Servants_Business_Appointments_Application_Form_-_2016.doc and on civil service departmental intranets. This form should be used for all applications under these Rules. Retrospective applications will not normally be accepted.
Please Note:
In accordance with the DfID Code, all applicants shortlisted for recruitment to commercial
contracts will be asked to declare any conflict of interest.
For further information please visit
www.careinternational.org.uk
Twitter: @careintuk