Finance Officer-Grants Compliance
Accounting & Finance, Compliance / Regulatory
Nairobi, Kenya
About Us
CIFOR & ICRAF in action
Landscape Alliance transforms science into action, unlocking the power of trees, forests and agroforestry landscapes to advance planetary health and human well-being. It is the shared operating name of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), two independent International Organizations and CGIAR Research Centers working together through a common strategy, governance and leadership structure.
CIFOR and ICRAF bring together decades of scientific leadership in forests, trees, agroforestry, biodiversity, climate, food systems and livelihoods. CIFOR, headquartered in Bogor, Indonesia, advances research on forests and landscape management to inform policies and practices that improve human well-being, protect the environment and increase equity. ICRAF, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, harnesses the benefits of trees for people and the environment, generating knowledge that helps governments, development partners and farmers make farming and livelihoods more sustainable.
Overview
The Finance Officer- Grants Compliance, is responsible for ensuring donor compliance, audit readiness, and appropriate grant documentation across Landscape Alliance. The role provides operational support for audit processes, grant documentation, and compliance monitoring to maintain the organization’s audit preparedness. Through these functions, the position will contribute to strengthening donor compliance, organization accountability, improving audit preparedness, better documentation, continuous learning across the organization and promoting consistent compliance practices across teams.
Job Description
1. Donor Audits
- Undertaking Pre-Audits.
o Identify the prospective audits based on past trends and prepare a pre-audit plan.
o Conduct pre-audits and identify the gaps, corrective actions required.
o Implement the corrective actions ensuring we are audit ready for the future.
o Liaison with IS Team to implement audit readiness using AI.
- Lead & execute the Legacy Audits.
o Liaison with auditors and ensure timely sharing of the required details/transaction listing.
o Collecting and submitting the documents required by the Auditor.
o Monitor and provide response/feedback on Auditor’s comments/queries.
o Co-ordinate meetings with various stakeholders to address the Auditor’s queries.
o Prepare report that comprises the lessons learned and recommendations on the study/audit process and results.
- SPOC for IA queries and other tasks: Assist the Assistant Manager, Grants Compliance with all grants related queries and miscellaneous tasks like risk assessment, combined assurance mapping, website development, pillar assessments, policy & procedure updates etc.
2. Project Documentation Oversight
- Maintain Grants SharePoint.
o Ensure compliance with the Grants Documentation & Records Management Guidelines (SharePoint).
o Review, Monitor and guide the SharePoint for the review of project folders
o Update regularly on the status of compliance with the SharePoint guidelines.
- Review and monitoring of Country SharePoint.
o Regularly monitor the completeness of all country SharePoint folders ensuring all updates to country SharePoint folders
o Liaison with IT Teams on the possibilities of using AI/automated tools to check completeness of country SharePoint folders.
- Create Guidelines for Partner supporting documents.
o Establish an internal policy or set of guidelines outlining the documents required from partners/sub-recipients. Define a set of mandatory requirements in coordination with the PMU and share them with partners at the time of signing the LOA. These guidelines will evolve and shall be updated periodically on need basis
3. Training and Capacity Building
- Create a Knowledge Hub for donor rule.
o Interpret donor regulations and requirements and create a centralized Knowledge Hub for Donor rules, requirements, lessons learnt from audit findings, applicable compliances etc for assigned projects or regions.
o Compile the lessons learnt for ended grants/projects, in discussion with the concerned FO/Grants Manager, and prepare guidance notes to be shared across departments for future reference.
o Train Budgeting, PMU, Procurement & Grants Team on the above Example of donor agreements needing regular review and interpretation for assigned projects or regions.
- Review the new grants activated in system every month and prepare a compliance summary deck outlining key donor compliance requirements, critical conditions, and mandatory rules applicable to the project. This deck will be shared with the relevant grants and project teams to support consistent understanding and adherence to donor obligations throughout project implementation.
- Work in partnership with PMU to continuously review, develop and implement partner financial monitoring tools and mechanisms to mitigate the risks of partner non-compliance and ineligible expenditures.
o Conduct Team Trainings – Onboarding (Induction) & recurring
o Liaison with HR and conduct onboarding for new staff on behalf of FSU Team
o Maintaining a training guide specifically aimed at future onboarding of grant accountants. This should cover all areas the FSU grants team works on.
o Train PMU and Project Team on donor financial rules.
4. Cash flow monitoring and invoice management
- Monitor the end-to-end invoicing cycle across grants to ensure timely invoice submission, systematic tracking of outstanding invoices, and proactive follow-up on pending payments.
- Develop a tracking mechanism to maintain oversight of invoice status - monitor outstanding invoices, identify delays or bottlenecks, coordinate with Finance and project teams to resolve issues, and support cash flow planning through timely reporting and escalation of overdue receivables.
5. Other Duties
- Perform any other tasks assigned by the Asistant Manager, Grants Compliance Reporting, Finance manager Grants, Compliance and or the Chief Finance & Operations Officer related to institutional Grants Compliance.
Requirements
- Bachelor Degree in accounting/audit with at least 5 years of relevant experience
- At least 5 years of relevant work experience, ideally with an international organization with progressive responsibility in audits/project management, and/or operations
- Experience in financial, accounting, and auditing services
- Experience in audit, compliance, or risk management
- Experience with an ERP, familiarity with Agresso Unit 4 and Vision XL is an advantage.
Education, Experience and Technical skills
•Bachelor Degree in accounting/audit with at least 5 years of relevant experience •At least 5 years of relevant work experience, ideally with an international organization with progressive responsibility in audits/project management, and/or operations •Experience in financial, accounting, and auditing services •Experience in audit, compliance, or risk management •Experience with an ERP, familiarity with Agresso Unit 4 and Vision XL is an advantage.
Personal Attributes and Competencies
•Fluent in written and spoken English •Knowledge of audit standards and compliance regulations and familiarity with international standards for internal control and risk and compliance management (e.g.,COSO, ISO) •Strong computer skills in word processing, database and other relevant office applications. •Ability to relate to people at all levels internally and externally. •Good analytical, planning, organizational, and systems thinking skills. •Able to prioritize work, multi-task and meet deadlines. •Good communication, presentations and technical writing skills. •Ability to work effectively under pressure and flexibility. •Able to professionally maintain confidential information. •]Ethical conduct in accordance with recognized professional and organizational codes of ethics •Proactive, resourceful, and results-oriented •Proficient in MS Office package (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and information management systems.
Terms and conditions
•This is a Locally Recruited Position (LRS). CIFOR-ICRAF offers competitive remuneration in local currency commensurate with skills and experience. •The initial appointment will be for one (1) year, with a three-month probationary period, with the possibility of extension contingent upon performance, continued relevance of the position and available resources. •The duty station will be in Nairobi, Kenya CIFOR-ICRAF Offices.
