Grants Officer

Cities Alliance, which is hosted by UNOPS, is a global partnership for the promotion of cities in poverty reduction and sustainable development. Headquartered in Brussels and supported by a Secretariat, it is a unique partnership with a diverse membership including – global organisations of local authorities, national governments, international non-governmental organisations, foundations, knowledge networks and multilateral organisations – which have come together to strengthen both impacts and coherence in urban development. Cities Alliance is a global leader, with a strong track record in grant making, that supports strategic city planning, slum upgrading strategies and national policies designed to make cities more inclusive and sustainable. Members promote longer-term and integrated work programmes, while actively promoting gender equality throughout all activities.

Within the scope of the Liberia Country Programme, Cities Alliance is managing two EU-funded projects and a Comic Relief-funded project. The three projects are all related to urban development in Greater Monrovia with interventions in the informal areas. Together, they represent USD 13 million. The Country Programme delivers technical assistance around municipal planning, urban policies and strategies, capacity development, community development, municipal services as well as small scale urban infrastructure. The Grant Officer will join a team of international and local specialists.

Cities Alliance is seeking a highly motivated, experienced and skilled professional to manage the financial activities of the grants and microloans schemes for the two EU-funded projects and related investments. The Grants Officer analyses and interprets the financial rules and regulations and provides solutions to a wide spectrum of complex financial issues in the Country Office; he/she ensures effective and transparent utilisation of financial resources and integrity of financial services and reporting. The grants officer is expected to work on ensuring the sustainability of the loan scheme by creating a revolving fund to provide access to credit for activities in the primary waste collection sector in Monrovia and Paynesville.

The Grants Officer will be supervised by the Liberia Country Programme Manager, be accountable to the Finance Analyst, and Finance Manager in Cities Alliance Head Quarters Office in Brussels, and will work in close collaboration with the project teams in the Country Office, the Portfolio Management Team (PMT) in Geneva ECR, the Cities Alliance Financial Manager and Senior Portfolio Specialist, project partners and donors to ensure successful delivery of financial services.

Grant Management Responsibility

• Ensure that each eligible Community Based Enterprises have a valid business registration documents and licenses for operating as -CBE- in Monrovia, Liberia.
• Review and monitor budgets in grant and microloans proposals and verify their consistency with prevailing market rate; assist in discussion/negotiation of costs/fees as required;
• Resolve operational and process issues related to grant and microloans management for Community Based Enterprises, and refer complex issues to the supervisor and finance analyst with recommendations for courses of action
• Provide support and advise to the Country Programme Manager on the status and development of the grant/loan facility, especially in the financial analysis and the creation of the revolving fund for the primary waste collection system.
• Prepare reports on microloans on a regular basis for monitoring the performance of CBEs and for management information
• Manages and follows up on the awarding processes, implementation and audits of grant-based contracts for composting and recycling with implementing partners in the waste sector of Liberia and existing partners within the Liberia Country Programme.
• Coordinate the process of operational and financial closure of grants and projects from the implementing partners of Cities Alliance within the Liberia Country Programme.
• Liaise with Liberia Country Programme specialist to develop training and workshop materials  and deliver all financial services responding to CBE needs.
• Provide any administrative and financial support on grants management as required
• The Grant Officer will report to the Country Programme Manager who will monitor his/her performance as per these ToR with complementary coordination with the Finance Officer who will perform monitoring in particular
• Other duties as may be assigned by the supervisor or his deputies

Provides support to Treasury and ensures proper payments processing, focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Review and confirmation of appropriateness of operational transactions processed through the interpretation and determination of applicable policies, regulations, rules of both UNOPS and Cities Alliance.
• Review of payment requests for completeness prior to processing, ensuring that documentation needed is complete and that all required procedures are fulfilled to enable the payment.
• Payment requests properly obligated and payment in accordance with relevant UN Financial Rules and Regulations and UNOPS procedures;
• Expenses are appropriately authorized and approved;
• Expenditures are adequately supported by 3rd party documents;
• Expenses are eligible and programme related (i.e. that expenditure is in line with the approved plan and budget).
• Expenses are recorded in a timely manner and are posted to the correct budget line
• Frequent contact with the local bank to obtain day-to-day information on rates of exchange, interest rates, changes in procedures and bank regulations, etc.
• Verification of payment information and preparation of vouchers according to UN Financial Rules and Regulations and accuracy of invoices and totals as well as calculations.
• Monitoring of payments and follow-up when problems arise;
• Maintenance of a payment schedule status system and filing of all financial documents.

Provides accounting and administrative support to the Finance Unit, focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Preparation and review of vouchers and supporting documentation for completeness, accuracy, compliance with UN Financial Rules and Regulations and correctness of account code charges.  (For reason of internal control, approval of vouchers cannot be done by the person preparing the vouchers)
• Analysis of reports, investigation and preparation of adjustment as required.
• Communication with colleagues/clients on areas requiring verification, corrections, additional information, etc. to improve quality of output and/or account submission and increase knowledge base in the process.
• Preparation of statistical reports on workflow/processes
•  Establishment and maintenance of proper filing system for financial documents
• Support the Head of Office with all Protocol related issues, and with official interaction with Government institutions/UN and other international organizations as required.
• Input to the elaboration of internal Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in operations, in consultation with the Head of Office, and functional section heads.
• Review of signed agreements/Approvals from Governments/UN Agencies/Clients/other stakeholders for compliance and completeness prior to management review.
• Coordination with Funding Agencies/Sources on finance and budget related matters.
• Monitoring of financial recorded expenditures and related contributions to ensure timely and accurate accounting
• Monitoring of cash requirements and expenditures.
• Proper closure of projects and refund of unspent balances to Donors/UN Agencies.

Ensures facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Training of colleagues upon requests from portfolio managers, the supervisor and other finance officers in setting projects, budget revisions, troubleshooting and understanding of the processes on day to day financial transactions, reporting and other related tasks
• Synthesis of lessons learnt and best practices in Finance.

• Minimum of 2 years of experience in contracts/grant management and/or project administration is required.
• Experience of project support functions (finance, human resources, procurement and/or logistics) is an advantage.
• Knowledge of the MSME business environment in Liberia is an advantage

1. Contract type : Individual Contractor Agreement (ICA)
2. Contract level : Local ICA Specialist Level 8
3. Contract duration: Ongoing ICA – ‘Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns. Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.