The Maldives hosts globally significant marine and coastal ecosystems, including coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass meadows, and associated island ecosystems that underpin the national economy, food security, livelihoods, and climate resilience. However, these ecosystems are increasingly vulnerable to multiple and cumulative pressures, including climate change, overexploitation of marine resources, coastal development, and pollution.

In response, conservation and management approaches are evolving beyond a sole focus on threat reduction towards strengthening ecosystem resilience by supporting natural processes that enhance resistance, recovery, and adaptive capacity under changing climatic conditions. This shift underscores the need for effective, science-based, and locally informed conservation actions.

Within this context, IUCN Maldives implements a diverse portfolio of initiatives spanning biodiversity conservation, marine and coastal management, waste management, pollution reduction, and environmental governance.

The Finance Associate will play a critical role in supporting the Maldives Country Programme by ensuring that all financial transactions are processed in accordance with IUCN policy and donor requirements.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

The Finance Associate will ensure that proper systems are established and maintained to facilitate project management, procurement, donor reporting and funds management in an efficient, effective and accountable manner. Ensure that transactions recorded are in accordance with accepted accounting principles and IUCN policies and procedures and provide the basis for efficient financial management and information system.

SPECIFIC DUTIES

Financial management and accounting
• Ensure completeness of supporting documents for all financial transactions. All financial transactions must be made in accordance with IUCN policies and procedures and donor requirements.
• Process purchase[RH2.1][NR2.2][NR2.3] orders and bank and/or cash payments to vendors, staff and partners.
• Act as the custodian of petty cash, process petty cash payments and ensure that cash receipts are supported by relevant documentation, reconcile petty cash on monthly basis and arrange petty cash replenishments and maintain agreed level of cash in hand for disbursements
• Prepare reconciliations of current accounts, assist with reconciliation of other balance sheet accounts, for uploading to NAV checklist.
• Review, process and reconcile payments, advances expense claims and reimbursements to staff and partners.
• Receive and process cash / cheques, process receipts vouchers and issue official receipts.
• Update and maintain assets register and inventory database in ERP
• Assist in preparing monthly cash requirement forecast in coordination with Country Programme Manager.
• Assist in preparing invoices to donors and others.
• Assist in processing month-end and yearend closing entries.
• Assist in ensuring licenses, registrations and insurance policies pertaining to the operations of IUCN Maldives Country Office are maintained and renewed in a timely manner.
• Carry out any other responsibilities entrusted by the supervisor from time to time.