Grants and Compliance Officer – Catholic Relief Services

ABOUT CRS:ABOUT CRS:Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners’ people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.
OVERVIEW:CRS Uganda is implementing a five-year USAID funded program that will serve 625,000 orphans and vulnerable children and 101,500 families in 17 districts in Western and Central Uganda. This program is the Sustainable Outcomes for Children and Youth in Central and Western Uganda (SOCY).CRS leads a consortium that includes key local implementing partners, Action for Community Development (ACODEV), African Network for Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN), and TPO Uganda. International implementing and resource partners include Palladium, the Institute of Reproductive Health (IRH), Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) and Living Goods.The program will improve outcomes for vulnerable children and youth by strengthening the system that surrounds them. Caregivers will have greater economic opportunities to increase their resilience and therefore be less susceptible to shocks; local government structures and CSOs will be strengthened to provide services targeting the diverse needs of vulnerable children; and health and social service agencies will strengthen their coordination and referral systems to provide integrated care along the continuum of response.
SPECIFIC Responsibilities:• Managing a regional portfolio of CSOs funded by CRS, building relationships and maintaining on-going communication with staff to support and ensure effective implementation of the sub award• Be involved in the RFA processes including checking for eligibility, maintaining applicant databases, conducting partner assessments and due diligence checks• Reviewing narrative and financial reports; consulting with and ensuring input from relevant technical and financial staff• Monitoring projects to ensure progress against objectives and compliance with donor guidelines, including:• Monitor cash flow and risks on sub awards, and advise implementing partners and CSOs where required• Track expenditure disallowances, ensuring that lessons are learned and fed into operational training• Review procurement decisions for sub awardees against donor requirements.• Assisting sub awardees with ad-hoc queries on donor compliance issues• Working with sub awardees and CRS management to find solutions to implementation challenges, where these impact on the ability to meet donor requirements• Ensuring lessons learned from finalized projects are fed into the design of follow on or related proposals.• Ensure that the Implementing Partners/CSOs books of accounts are well maintained and provide an audit trail.• Provide timely feedback to the concerned parties after the review of the accounts received, and advise management on compliance issues,• Regularly review and post all field data for the projects managed under your docket and advice on compliance issues and donor requirements.• Keenly track all donor financial reports on their dates for submission and requirements and regularly remind the concerned staff about their obligations in reporting,• Review and analyze expenditures against project budgets• Support sub awardees in close out processes• Build capacity of the Implementing partners and CSOs• Adopt and customize relevant training materials and resources.• Coach, train and provide technical support to partner organizations,• Technically support partnership identification and identify training needs of partner organizations• Contribute to improving finance management by sharing lessons learnt and identifying gaps or problems in current processes and proposing ideas for improvement• Support both the CSOS and the implementing partner teams during budget• Responsible for monitoring grantees financial performance and compliance of required program reporting, and communicating to the supervisor the results thereof.• Actively monitor Implementing partner& CSO funds disbursements expenditure against approved budgets and transfers received• Prepare monthly and quarterly reports to monitor expenditure against budgets for the partners; and disseminate this information to the supervisor• Interpret Donor financial guidelines to project teams and partner• Follow up on Control Improvement Plan and audit queries and the implementation of audit recommendations• Carry out site visits to monitor audit implementations,• Train and share experiences with project and partner teams in areas of weaknesses identified,• Support the M&E Department in monitoring projects
AGENCY-WIDE COMPETENCES (for all CRS Staff):These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.• Serves with Integrity• Models Stewardship• Cultivates Constructive Relationships• Promotes Learning
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: NoneKEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:Internal to Organization: CRS Staff particularly SOCY staff Reports to the Grants and Compliance Manager. Finance and Compliance Director, Technical Specialists, CP Finance staffExternal to Organization: Implementing partners, CSOs and government counterparts.Qualifications:• A Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy or Audit qualification• Proven equivalent experience (e.g. from contract compliance management, preferred.• At least four years’ experience in accounting, finance, grants management or other directly relevant experience working with a large NGO, especially USG.• Past experience in formulating and implementing financial policies and procedures that strengthen grantees’ internal controls.• Providing quality assurance of financial management contract compliance• Significant experience of managing financial compliance requirements for contracts• Sound coordination skills and a demonstrated ability to multi-task• Strong personnel management, administrative and financial skills.• Possess the ability to analyze, interpret and communicate clear recommendations in English verbally and in writing to decision makers (financial and non-financial).• Extremely flexible, and have the ability to work under pressure to meet tight deadlines, operate within budgets and to solve problems.• Must be a self-starter, highly organized, and able to work well with colleagues at all levels in the organization.• Ability to maintain performance expectations and strong working relationships in diverse cultural contexts, psychologically & physically extreme stressful environments• Experience with and enthusiasm for on the job training.• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office software (Word, Excel, Outlook, and Internet) is required.• Desire to work independently and effectively in a team oriented environment.
HOW TO APPLY:Disclaimer Clause:This job description is not an exhaustive list of skills, effort, duties and responsibilities associated with the position. CRS’ recruitment and selection procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation. “I understand that CRS takes all allegations of abuse and exploitation seriously. Abuse or exploitation of children or vulnerable adults is grounds for immediate dismissal.” Note: Please submit cover letter, CV, testimonials and three work references (names and contact information only) to ug_recruitment@crs.org or submit hard copy to Catholic Relief Services, Plot 577, Block 15, Nsambya Road, P.O Box: 30086 Kampala. Deadline for submitting applications is July 12th, 2017, at 5:00pm. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.Only selected candidates that meet the requirements will be notified. EOE/M/F/D/V**

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