Summary
Date Posted: Tuesday, May 16, 2023 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
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. However, this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination, and it is girls who are most affected. Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners in more than 70 countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas, Plan International’s purpose is to strive for a just world that advances children’s rights and equality of girls. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. 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.

Plan International Uganda’s (PIU) five-year Country Strategy (CS) has been approved for the period 2023 – 2027. Currently, the country programme reaches over 1 million children supported in four Programme Areas (PAs) and an urban programme in Kampala. It has a country annual budget turnover of around €15 million, a growing team of over 300 full time staff. PIU manages a caseload of 33,000 sponsored children and a large and diverse grants portfolio from bilateral and multilateral donors with a strong pipeline and potential of further funding opportunities.

The purpose of this role is to maintain and support all partner’s budgeting, expenditures monitoring, effective implementation of project activities and reporting for Plan International Uganda to ensure accuracy and consistency in accordance with Plan financial policy/procedures and donor’s requirements. The role liaises with the projects team on issues related to partner management and conducts partner financial assessments and quarterly financial reviews to enhance effectiveness of partners to support the achievement of Plan International Uganda's strategy. The incumbent will be responsible for ensuring donor compliance at all levels is according to Plan International Uganda's approved policies / procedures and donor requirements

ROLE DIMENSIONS:
• The Partner Support Accountant provides support to all aspects of Partner management ensuring, transparency, accountability, effective partner management and compliance in all aspects of Plan International Uganda's Partner Portfolio.
• The role involves delivering partner results from operations, considering partner management implications of operational plans, advising project teams on how to achieve optimal value for money; effective thinking required.
• The key challenges for this position are working with the guidance of the law and regulations, policies and procedures to deliver work.
• Supporting partner budget management.
• Compliance to partner contract matters.
• Level of contact with children
• This position has been classified as “low contact”: Limited interaction with children

Key result areas:
KRA 1: New Project & Partner Onboarding
• Support the Project teams with the initial assessment, selection, contracting, and capacity-building of partners:
• Support partners in orientation and capacity building on financial management, internal control and risk management matters to ensure partners have adequate knowledge and skills in managing donor’s fund and are able to comply with Plan International& donor’s partnership agreement, financial guidelines and requirements
• Support the processes associated with sub grants; ensuring that all funding requests are supported with the necessary documentation prior to disbursements, in accordance with the signed contracts and PIU & Donor agreements
• Conduct skill gap assessment of each Partner during the proposal stage with the Partner Assessment Committee
• Provide each Partner with the necessary training to enable them effectively and professionally implement their projects

KRA 2: Partner Accountability
• Conduct partner accountability processes; supporting partners in providing required accountability data and ensure that funds are disbursed in accordance with the signed contracts
• Support the development of partner tools that will guide them with their budgeting, accountability & reporting
• Review all financial accountability data for completeness and collated for prompt reporting
• Review partner financial accountability and promptly initiate the transfer of funds only if all is approved as per the partner agreement
• Liquidate in the system all partner advances accounted for and approved by relevant authority within the set liquidation dates in the system
• Conduct partner visits; evaluating progress & providing coaching and trouble-shooting support where necessary
• Prepare partner visit and expenditure verification report highlighting potential risk areas and noncompliance by the partner
• Participate in the quarterly partner visits; prepare quarterly Partner Visits Reports and submit to Finance Manager Partner Support for actions and follow up accordingly

KRA 3: Project Close-out
• Support the project teams with the project close-out phase on partners; reviewing reports for project close cost and financial reconciliation
• Coordinate the grants closure preparatory meeting 90 days before project close
• Review all reports to ensure the costs associated with the project close - out have been forecast before conducting the grant end financial reconciliation.
• Support the retrieval of documentation in the project and or donor audits

KRA 4: Risk Management
• Identification of PIU's partner-related financial risks and support the development & implementation of risk-management controls and practices:
• Comprehensively map out key partner management risks at all levels of PIU’s end to end partner management; develop and implement risk mitigating actions
• Implement the actions based on the CPP audits relating to the partners
• Support partners to submit their scheduled financial reports on time and to standard; reviewing reports, reporting any non-compliance to the Finance Manager Partner Support
• Follow up and ensure audit actions are implemented by partners as per agreed timelines

KRA 5: Safeguarding, Gender Equality & Inclusion
• Ensure that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion 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.

ROLE REQUIREMENTS:
Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree from a recognised university in Business Administration, accounting / finance or related field
• Part professional qualification in accountancy (CPA, ACCA) at intermediate or affiliate level
• At least 3years of progressive experience in handling partners in relatively large organisations of similar complexity to Plan International in Uganda, especially grants funded organizations or commercial businesses.

Leadership Competencies
Myself as a Leader
• Behaves in line with our values, bringing energy and commitment to the task of safeguarding girls, children, young people, vulnerable adults and colleagues; constructive and optimistic in facing challenges and change.

Lasting Impact
• Sets and communicates ambitious but realistic work goals and priorities, explaining how these contribute to Plan International's purpose.

Open & Accountable
• Maximises our progress by aligning work priorities and resource deployment in own area with Plan International's wider goals and longer-term direction.

Work Well Together
• Acts as a good team player, communicating effectively and being open and supportive towards those around them; is aware of the potential impact of their behaviour on others and makes sensitive choices.

Inclusive & Empowering
• Appreciates the expertise and creativity of others; actively seeks out others' views and incorporates their insights or perspectives into decision-making and action-planning.

Skills & Knowledge
• Motivates and develops others by taking an interest, giving constructive feedback and praise, ensuring they are properly trained and helping them develop their potential; acts as a role model of continuous professional development and willingness to learn from mistakes.

Critical Business Management Competencies
• Good grasp of financial management including understanding relevant funding sources, ability to budget and accurately estimate costs, experience with reading financial reports and taking appropriate action based on the results.
• Strong ability to analyse and interpret an appropriate range of data and evidence, both internal and external, using sound judgement to make balanced decisions, based on insights gained, or projection of trends.
• Experience of incorporating digital and technological solutions into plans and activities, to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of working practices, enhance communication and support innovation.
• Experience of identifying and mitigating business or project risks; ability to undertake and interpret risk assessments with a track record of actively managing risks appropriately in context, taking professional advice or escalating where appropriate.
• Good written and spoken communication skills, including in [any required language], with an ability to effectively adjust content and presentation so as to connect with an audience.
• Good track record of responding positively to organisational change initiatives; demonstrated openness to new ideas and willingness to put learning into practice in the workplace.

Critical Technical Competencies
• Good computer skills with the ability to work with SAP or other ERPs.
• Practical experience of partner management and a good understanding of donor funding management.


Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 36

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Job application procedure

Interested applicants click here to apply


All Jobs

QUICK ALERT SUBSCRIPTION