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