Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) invites applications for a Finance & Grants Officer to support the Resilience and Inclusion through Investment for Sustainable Agrikultura (RIISA) initiative.

MEDA’s work is built on a foundation of Mennonite business roots and faith-based values, within the global context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We believe business solutions are effective interventions to address poverty. Through a market-systems approach and strategic partnerships, MEDA enables access to finance and provides business and technical expertise to build transformative agri-food market systems that create decent jobs, allowing traditionally excluded groups to become active participants in a sustainable economy. MEDA welcomes all who share our values and want to join us in our mission. To find out more about MEDA, please visit our website at www.meda.org.

Employment Duration: 1 Year 

Summary

 

The Finance & Grants Officer (FGO) supports the Finance Manager in the planning, implementation and evaluation of grants and sub-grants to Key Facilitating Partners (KFPs), Lead Firms (LFs), and Innovation Fund Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (MSME) recipients of MEDA Philippines’s RIISA project. He/she will assist in the crafting financial regulations, templates, review lead firm financial statements, review budgets, financial reports, and track all disbursements, perform audits, prepare required financial reports and participate in closure of grants. He/she will serve as the contact person for grant recipients and identify areas of capacity building of for effective use of funds. He/she will assist in monitoring grantee compliance over the life of the project and provide support and assistance as needed, monitor and document BSPs and Cooperative/SMEs-partners budgets, and ensure that grants documentation and financial records are accurate. With strong analytical, financial and audit skills and experience, the FGO will convene and train grantees on compliance and best practices in reporting, procurement and documentation and track all grants, including booking required entries MEDA’s accounting software.

 

The FGO will also support office level expenditures and ensure that MEDA financial policy is appropriately implemented. This will include ensuring completeness and validity of documentation for every financial transaction. He/she will see to it that recording and recordkeeping is maintained appropriately and establish appropriate filing systems and document retention policy is complied with.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

 

Finance (50%):

 Accounting for Financial Transactions and Financial Reporting Assist the Finance Manager to ensure that the general accounting functions are completed on a timely basis. Ensure proper coding and classification expenses as per approved budget. Preparation of appropriate vouchers including correct accounting entries. Timely recording and uploading of financial transactions into MEDA’s accounting software. Undertake MEDA’s accounting software financial processes, journal entries, end month closure processes such as but not limited to bank reconciliation, fixed assets depreciation, etc. Assist in preparing the monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports including various schedules to the balances in the financial statements. Prepare inter office charges and entries. Support in monitoring of budgets and variances. Review office petty cash expenses and supporting documents for approval, budget, reasonability, and compliance. Process payments and ensure appropriate approvals and signing authorities are observed. Assist in management of staff advances. Perform the roles of “Maker” for the online banking facility such as but not limited to monthly payroll, etc. Ensure periodic filing of financial documents such as vouchers and supporting documents and manage them to facilitate efficient retrieval. Internal Controls and Risk Management Support the Finance Manager and technical staff to ensure that MEDA’s rules and regulations are followed in a timely manner. Assist to identify and address risk areas and implement measures to minimize the risk of irregularities, based on corporate and regional compliance and audit standards for MEDA. Compliance with Policies and Regulatory Bodies Support the Finance Manager to ensure compliance with MEDA’s financial policies, adherence to national and local government’s laws, including financial reporting, tax, labor, and proper registration with all relevant authorities as required. Assist the Finance Manager in the carrying out tasks for external/internal audit such as provision of requested financial documents.

Grants Management, Partner Management (50%): 

Serve as the primary point of contact on matters related to contract administration. Assist in the crafting of templates such as contracts, agreements, financial reports to ensure that these serve the intended purpose and complies with related laws and rules, as applicable. Review draft contract and grant agreements, and modifications to such agreements and liaise with HQ legal and local legal counsel to ensure compliance to Philippines laws.  Assist in the financial due diligence of applicants for the Incentives program. Assist in the initial review of applications for incentives program and ensure that applicants meet the minimum documentation requirements. Support analysis and evaluation of all proposed work plans and budgets submitted by partners to ensure adherence to policies, standards and MEDA grants management policies and regulations. Support the incentives evaluation process through sharing of relevant documentation with committee members and ensure documentation of selection process is complete and meets organizational standards. Facilitate in the uploading of drafted versions to the legal portal for HQ review and feedback. Ensure grant-related documents such as signed contracts/agreements are stored in the designated folders for efficient access, as well as filing of hard copies as necessary. Monitor sub-grant agreements through contracts developed by MEDA and partners as approved according to MEDA’s signing authorities. Support in regular review of partners’ recordkeeping processes and submitted supporting documents to ensure that all expenses claimed to the project are accurately documented according to the financial policies of MEDA and GAC. Support timely release of funds to BSPs, Cooperatives and SMEs for effective and smooth execution of project activities. Ensure that matching grant recipients contribute their matching share of resources. Support the Finance Manager to identify capacity building needs of KFPs in grants management and transfer the knowledge to them appropriately and timely. Facilitate grant management, budget reporting and monitoring and other activities related to compliance. Support the Finance Manager to develop a database system and/or CRM to track the flow of grants to KFPs, Cooperatives/SME-recipients and disbursements and to ensure documentation of monitoring and overall grants management. Collate financial reports of grants component and submit to the Finance Manager for consolidation into the financial reports of MEDA. Maintain proper documentation for each grant, from the call for proposal stage to final closure. Conduct field visits to grantee sites for verification and follow up purposes or as required. Any other tasks as may be assigned by the supervisor.

Qualifications:

Knowledge and Experience: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Management Accounting Certified Public Accountant is an advantage Minimum of 4-5 years experience in accounting, finance operations and grants & sub-grants management, including project audit for international non-profit organizations Proven track record in evaluating and funding projects and good understanding of the donor/grant’s compliance Strong experience with international audit requirements Knowledge of Global Affairs Canada regulations, systems, and procedures for managing grants a plus Working knowledge of major donor funded operations, finance services and practices Knowledge of financial accounting software and computer skills in Excel, Word and other MS Office Applications Excellent oral and written communication in English Behavioral: Exceptional interpersonal, communication, teambuilding and relationship building skills Highly analytical individual (process and interpret substantial amounts of data) Demonstrates a high degree of maturity and integrity Results and solution-oriented approaches that demonstrate integrity, accountability, and commitment Demonstrated experience in a complex environment Appreciation and support of MEDA’s faith, values, mission, and purpose

 

Please submit your resume by no later than August 15, 2024, you can also submit via email to RIISA_Submissions@meda.org and cc: darceo@meda.org