Senior Partnership Finance Manager (National Position)

Background/IRC Summary: The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is at work in over 40 countries and 26 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. The IRC has been operating in Thailand since 1975 and currently provides assistance to displaced persons in Tak, Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi and Mae Hong Son provinces

Job Overview/Summary:
Senior Partnerships Finance Manager is a key position in the Finance Department which provides support to IRC programs implemented across Thailand.  The position is primarily responsible for providing oversight and day-to-day financial management of the IRC’s partner portfolio, in very close coordination and cooperation with the IRC’s internal Partnerships unit. The position will be responsible for capacity building for sub-awardees to build their financial management and administrative capacity, in coordination with the partners, Partnerships Team, and IRC Finance staff. Senior Partnerships Finance Manager will review sub-awardee budgets at the proposal stage, participate in pre-award due diligence processes, document all financial matters related to sub-awardees’ finances to assure audit readiness at all times, and manage sub-awardee finances documents/reports including budget review, financial report review, providing guidance and training related to finance to sub-awardees in order to strengthen their capacity. Senior Partnerships Finance Manager acts as the focal point for financial and compliance aspects of partnerships, including ensuring high-quality financial monitoring of sub-awardees. This position reports directly to Deputy Director Finance, with an indirect reporting line to the Partnerships Coordinator.

Major Responsibilities:
- Promote Effective Partnerships Management
Promote and apply the IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results system (PEERS). Contribute to building a strong understanding of PEERS throughout the Thailand Country Program, and to ensuring that IRC’s partnership principles, skills and approaches are applied by staff across programs and projects with partners.
- Facilitate systematic partner feedback on IRC’s management of the partnership relationship, including the documentation of, and response to partner feedback.
- Work closely with Partnership Unit to deliver seamless partnership services and management.

Support Program Delivery
- Participate in the financial part of Partner's Project Capacity Review (PPCR) of potential partners as appropriate, and contribute to efforts to collaboratively analyze and manage material risks identified, as it relates to finance.
- Participate in Partnership Project Opening, Review and Closure Meetings facilitated by Partnership Unit, including to review successes, challenges, and lessons learned with the partner, and capture effective finance practices for future partnerships.
- Work collaboratively with Partnership Unit to ensure the timely provision of funding to partners in accordance with the partnership agreement to ensure program continuity, ensuring clear communication with the partner and efficient resolution where for whatever reason this is not possible.
- Assist in the close-out of partnership agreements, including in relation to financial verification and asset confirmation.
- Participate in the review of the financial performance of the partner, of the IRC, and of the partnership, including successes, challenges and lessons learned.

Budget Review and Financial Verification
- Work collaboratively and supportively with Partnership Unit and partners to develop and finalize budgets and budget amendments, and (in the case of milestone-based partnership agreements) in determining the costing of milestones.
- Review draft partnership agreement terms relating to advances, reporting and any special conditions relating to finance.
- For cost-reimbursable partnership agreements, agree with partners the specific documentation required to support each type of cost, adjusting standard requirements to the operating context and the partner.
- Collaborate with Partnership Unit and partners to ensure completeness, correctness, and accuracy of financial reports, inventory report, tax report and cash requests.
- Review partner financial reports (and narrative reports for consistency) and supporting documents to ensure compliance with the partnership agreement, donor regulations and IRC policy, and provide feedback to the partner as appropriate.
- Monitor partner budgets and actual spending in collaboration with technical coordinators, identifying issues and working proactively and collaboratively with partners to resolve them.
- Lead timely and effective finance review and reflection (monitoring), identifying appropriate follow up actions, and providing completed reports to Partnership Lead.
- Develop/improve reporting templates that help improve partner financial reports.

Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing
- Provide finance and accounting training and mentoring support to partners, in accordance with partner project support plans, with a focus on supporting the partner to strengthen financial management systems and capacities that are responsive to the needs of the partner (rather than replicating IRC’s systems and policies).

Team Management
- Supervise Senior Partnership Finance Officer
- Senior Partnerships Finance Manager is expected to coach, train, and mentor staff with the aim of strengthening their technical capacity, exchanging knowledge within the team and providing professional development guidance.


Other
- Any other duties as assigned by the DDF and Partnerships Coordinator


Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: Deputy Director Finance
Position directly supervises:  Senior Partnerships Finance Officer
Indirect Reporting (MIP): Partnerships Coordinator
Other Internal and/or external contacts: Programs Team, Finance team, Grants team, other Partnership focal points and external stockholders and partners