Finance and Grant Officer - Ghana Federation of the Disability

Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) is a national umbrella of organisations of persons with disabilities in Ghana.

GFD has a vision of an inclusive society for all persons with disabilities in Ghana. The Federation works to influence national legislations, policies and programs for disability inclusion as well as empowerment of organisations of persons with disabilities for advocacy and their sustainability. Currently, GFD has twelve (12) member organisations. It has branches in all 16 administrative regions and in 250 districts in Ghana.

Job Description

The Federation in partnership with Light for the World International with funding from Mastercard Foundation will implement an 8-year program dubbed We Can Work, a regional signature disability programme that uses a system and mindset change approach to impact the
lives of young women and men with disabilities and enables them to access dignified and fulfilling work.

The program works with consortium partners such as Light for the World International, African Disability Forum (ADF), Crosswise Worldwide (CWW) and another umbrella

Organizations of Persons with Disabilities and Entrepreneurship Hubs in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria to impact the lives of at least 1,000,000 youth with disabilities.

With our partners, we will effect change at the level of individuals (including households and communities), organizations and institutions. Young persons with disabilities will act as change agents and provide disability inclusion advisory services and confidently advocate for disability-inclusive policies and practices among key system actors.

Throughout the eight-year partnership intervention, the key outcomes of our work with young women and men with disabilities in the lead will be:

• Young women and men with disabilities drive positive change around disability inclusion
• Young women and men with disabilities have formed start-ups and agribusiness, are growing their micro enterprises or access waged jobs due to direct interventions.
• Young Africa Works program and other system actions intentionally and meaningfully reach out to young women and men with disabilities and ensure that they equally benefit from programs and services.
• Young women and men with disabilities enact agency by contributing to national and regional advocacy processes to implement youth and disability-inclusive policies.

GFD seeks the services of experienced and self-driven persons to lead this innovative and ambitious project hence the vacancy for the following position: Finance and Grant Officer

Reporting to the Finance Manager but with a functional link with the Programmes Manager of GFD, the role will ensure implementation of agreed financial processes (e.g. internal and donor-related) in particular related to the We Can Work. The role holder will prepare the annual financial plan for the program based on a good understanding of the work plan and activities, in alignment with the accounting and program team.

The role holder will ensure monitoring and financial analysis, as well as collaboratively steer the We Can Work programme together with a team and contribute to a good quality of data in compliance with international, accounting and donor standards.
The role will also ensure strong collaboration and alignment with a focus on financial data, including internal reports (e.g. programme team, management team) and external reporting (e.g. donors).

Lastly, the role contributes to Risk Management and will update the organization on any kind of risks that will affect the organisation and programme implementation.

Key Responsibilities

Implementation of agreed financial processes and systems

• Ensure implementation of agreed internal financial processes, as well as financial processes in relation to the programmes particularly We Can Work.
• Ensure controlling processes are aligned with accounting standards.
• Application of and compliance with agreed organisation systems.

Ensures collaboration with accounting & programmes

• In alignment with the programme unit, feed activity planning into financial planning.
• Provide feedback to programme team on the performance on project, contribute to steering grants and projects; and ensure good information flow between the programme team and the finance team.
• Support the finance team with the organizational financial audits and other cross-cutting topics between accounting and controlling.

Conducts financial planning, monitoring and analysis

• Ensure that financial planning is conducted according to agreed processes.
• Ensure monitoring of programme budget verses actuals.
• Monitor the liquidity situation of specific grants under their area of responsibility.
• Ensure data of the financial transactions is of high quality.
• Review partner reports and provide feedback.

Financial reporting

• Prepare donor reporting, in compliance with donor requirements.
• Prepare donor audits.

Ensuring internal & external compliance on financial aspects

• Ensure financial compliance of the donor contracts, including. sub-grants for partners.
• Develop systems and structures for ensuring compliance
• Responsible for the financial aspect of the partner assessment.
• Responsible for capacity strengthening of partners on financial aspects.
• Ensure financial compliance with donor regulations and international standards for reporting - for both country office programmes and implementing partners.

Required Skills or Experience

• Minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree in accounting, finance or related field required. Additional qualification such as CPA, ACCA, CA, or CIMA certification is preferable.
• 4-7 years of professional work experience, with some knowledge or background in non-profits or grant-making and/or project management systems.
• Experience in costing and budget management
• Financial or business management and analysis skills
• Experience managing large scale projects
• Computer literacy with a high level of knowledge and practice using Microsoft Office, notably Word, Excel and PowerPoint and financial software packages.
• Knowledge of post-award compliance best practices.
• Good interpersonal skills.
• Ability to explain policies and procedures/rules and regulations in a clear way