Country: Ireland
Closing date: 14 Feb 2016
Reporting to: Donor Compliance Manager
Start Date: 1 February 2016
Contract Length: 12 months
Job location: Dublin with some field travel
GOAL is an international humanitarian agency established in 1977 and currently operational in 19 countries world-wide. GOAL has an annual budget of approximately €160m and is supported by a range of donors including the Irish Government, UK Government, USAID and the European Union.
GOAL works in partnership with International and National NGOs in many of its countries, both in responding to emergency needs and in addressing recovery/development programmes, and the number of partners is increasing as donors move towards favoring a more coordinated approach to programme implementation.
The role will require up to 40% travel
The main function of this position is to assist in ensuring that GOAL country offices are compliant with GOAL and its donors’ partnership procedures/requirements and also that GOAL’s partners themselves are compliant, and have the tools/support to enable compliance, with relevant GOAL/donor rules and requirements.
The DCC will work across various departments at GOAL HQ and country level, including programmes, finance and logistics, and will work under the supervision of the HQ Donor Compliance Manager.
Responsibilities
A strong understanding of GOAL and donor requirements from proposal through to final donor audit
- Stay informed of and help ensure adherence to GOAL’s internal procedures as well as donor requirements such as those in relation to procurement, finance, partnerships, etc.
- Gain an understanding and keep informed of GOAL’s country programs with a particular emphasis on partnership profiles and associated donor compliance risks.
- Continually build on your understanding of the specific requirements of donors.
- Understand the type of analysis that donors undertake when they conduct audits with particular emphasis on USAID/OFDA, ECHO, EU, DFID, Irish Aid and country specific donors as required.
Partnership and Partner Compliance
- Conduct a review of GOAL’s partnerships with local and international NGOs to establish where, given the donor profile in each country, there might be areas of risk in terms of donor compliance.
- Establish and maintain/manage a database of all GOAL partnerships across each country.
- Ensure that new partnerships are being established and managed in line with the GOAL Partnership Policy and make recommendations, including in relation to training requirements of GOAL and Partner staff, where necessary.
- Ensure that countries are up to date with their pre-award assessments and interim reviews of partners.
- Review new partner MOUs and/or amendments/modifications to ensure in line with donor and GOAL requirements.
- Where a suitable template MOU doesn’t already exist draft new MOU templates based on donor and GOAL requirements, in conjunction with HQ legal counsel and any other relevant staff.
- Conduct pre-award assessments of new partners and interim reviews/audits of partners in GOAL countries where there is no established partnership management team (requires overseas travel).
- Assist country programmes in conducting pre-award assessments of new partners and interim reviews/audits of new/existing partners.
- After conducting pre-award assessments and/or interim reviews/audits make relevant recommendations to HQ and/or in-country staff. Provide recommendations/advice on structure of payments to partners, monitoring requirements and action points for partners to implement.
- Review partner payment requests from the field where necessary to ensure review processes has been followed in country and relevant/necessary recommendations/action points made and followed up on.
- Assist in the development of new partnership tools such as assessment tools, interim review tools, etc. and maintain a pool of relevant, up to date templates.
Training
- Provide training to GOAL staff in the effective and compliant management of partners including on how to conduct assessments and interim reviews.
- Developing on existing tools where relevant, provide training to partner and GOAL staff on donor rules and regulations where necessary.
Ad-hoc tasks
- Attending and facilitating/presenting at GOAL conferences (e.g. Finance & Compliance Conference, Logistics Conference) on matters of partnerships and donor compliance.
- Assist in the set-up of compliant systems (e.g. HR, procurement) for GOAL and/or partner where necessary in current and/or new field sites.
- Support to the Donor Compliance Manager and COO in Dublin and undertake any other tasks requested by same.
Requirements
- University graduate with a background in finance, management, administration or a related field;
- 3/4 years’ experience working in a finance/accounting/audit/legal role;
- Experience in performing audits and reviewing systems/controls;
- Preferably, a recognised accountancy qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, etc.);
- NGO experience would be advantageous, preferably in a finance position, with particular experience with/knowledge of institutional donors such as OFDA/USAID, ECHO, EU and DFID;
- Experience in drafting/reviewing legal documents/reports with a keen eye for detail;
- Excellent Excel and Word skills and experience in other Office applications;
- Strong analytical and conceptual skills, with particular emphasis on planning, working to tight deadlines, providing training, and facilitating capacity building; attention to detail is necessary;
- Ability to take direction but also to work independently and use own initiative;
- Willingness to travel and work in challenging environments;
- An ability to conduct training workshops – a qualification in training would be an advantage;
- An ability to communicate to and work with a multinational team;
The above information serves only as a guide to the advertised position. GOAL, at its discretion, reserves the right to amend the job description prior to appointment. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence. Any published closing dates are estimated. Due to the nature of GOAL’s work we aim to fill vacancies as quickly as possible. This means that we will close adverts as soon as we have found the right candidate and this may be before the published closing date. We would therefore advise interested applicants to submit an application as early as possible.
How to apply: