Senior Finance Officer – Budget Monitoring

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; German: Lutherischer Weltbund) is a global communion .The Department for World Service is the LWF's humanitarian arm. It has programmes in 32 countries. The LWF is a member of ACT Alliance.
Job Overview
The Senior Finance Officer - Budget Monitoring & Donor Reporting is based in Nairobi and supports the LWF Kenya-Somalia’s Budget and Grants Management functions. This role requires a motivated, flexible, problem-solving team player with excellent analytical and interpersonal skills, and the ability to prioritize activities and work within scheduled timelines. The Senior Finance Officer assists the Finance Manager in handling the day-to-day budget and grants management functions, ensuring compliance with donor regulations and LWF requirements, and improving efficiency in donor reporting and compliance.
Key Responsibilities
Budget Preparation and Monitoring:

Compliance And Policy Adherence

Ensure budgeting practices comply with global LWF and donor procurement policies.

Project Budget Preparation

Work with program staff to prepare or revise project budgets for new proposals or modifications, ensuring adequate coverage of project operations and HQ costs.
Ensure immediate setup and creation of new project codes upon receipt of project approvals.

Annual Budget And Rolling Budget Updates

Assist in preparing the fiscal year budget following LWF’s standard format to meet required timelines.
Regularly update the fiscal year budget to guide new donor proposals and manage program growth or decline.
Provide recommendations for funding shortfalls or coverage for each component of the fiscal year budget.
Support the Finance Manager in the preparation of the Country's Annual Plans and forecasts including preparation of the Program Budget Overview, Annual Funding Plans, and Annual Master Budget.

Support To Area Program Finance Officers

Ensure timely, reliable, and accurate support in preparing working budgets, monthly forecasts, monitoring expenditure, journal vouchers, budget reviews and amendments, project reporting, and closure.
Review and verify expenditures of restricted projects to ensure adherence to budgetary and donor requirements.

Monitor Budget And Actual Expenses Of Restricted Grants

Maintain a complete record of all pertinent documents of each project, regularly updating the same on SharePoint according to LWF guidelines on document archiving.
Coordinate with other Finance Staff and various project focal persons to ensure financial implementation adheres to the project agreement.
Liaise with the Program Management Unit (PMU) regarding the development of Letters of Agreement (LoA) with partner institutions, project start-ups, budget updates, and project tracking and closures.

Financial Reporting
Financial Reporting and Grant Management:

Ensure the timely production of accurate and meaningful project finance management reports.
Prepare reports in donor currency to ensure maximum utilization of budgeted amounts and provide recommendations for revision or modification to the management team.
Provide analysis and respond to queries from senior management, HQ budget holders, donors, and auditors.

Grant Management & Reporting

Prepare the monthly Budget Versus Actual (BVA) reports and distribute them on time.
Provide monthly analysis per grant and offer recommendations for budget holders to ensure accurate grant spending.
Prepare and update spending plans for all active grants in coordination with the appropriate budget holders.
Review budget spending plans, advise relevant staff on spending status, and seek feedback on over/under spending.
Review and update the commitments lists from Supply Chain, Admin, and Human Resources for inclusion in monthly BVAs for the Administration Budgets.
Participate in periodic grant review, opening, and closing meetings to present spending status.
Provide support and feedback to Operations and Program Managers, Project Managers, and Area Managers on BVA-related questions.
Propose and prepare adjustment entries in compliance with donor requirements, attaching supporting documents for finance records and seeking the Finance Manager’s approval for posting into the SAGE system.

Donor Reporting

Prepare donor financial reports for all grants, ensuring compliance with donor formats and timely submission.
Review donor financial reports monthly, generate and review transaction listings to identify and correct misclassification of expenses.
Provide analysis of grant spending plans versus actual spending.
Ensure accurate and timely submission of draft and final financial reports in the grants management system.
Track all donor reporting timelines and generate a donor reporting matrix regularly to highlight due reports, pending reports, and submitted reports, sharing this with the Finance Manager and Program Manager frequently.

Grant Proposal Budgets And Revised Budgets

Serve as a key resource for project proposal/budget preparation regarding compliance issues for prospective sources of funding.
Ensure grants recover full overheads as per relevant cost structures.
Provide guidance and ensure budget figures are correct and align with donor requirements.
Review the financial parts and other relevant information of new Grant Agreements and amendments.

Internal Controls
Internal Controls and Compliance:

Provide support and advice to the Finance Manager in relation to internal controls, strategy, and plans required in HQ and project offices.
Supervise the Area Program finance team in implementing these controls.
Verify and approve journal vouchers prepared by the finance officer.
Monitor donor receivables and payables, ensuring receivables are collected and reviewing donor payables.
Identify incoming funds from restricted donors and provide coding to the Head of Treasury and Fixed Assets.

Special Audit Of Restricted Projects

Assist with coordination and attend entry and exit meetings on audits of projects for grants managed.
Act as a key resource on queries from external auditors on restricted grants.
Review partner audit reports in relation to project requirements.

Training And Capacity Building
Training Organization and Delivery:

Assist the Finance Manager in conducting regular training sessions in Kenya-Somalia and other LWF field offices on budget management and donor regulations.
Identify training needs in budgeting and project management for non-finance staff and lead refresher training for both program and finance staff.
Provide training and support for project office program and operational staff on proposal budgets, revisions, pipeline expenditure forecasts, and report planning.

Other Responsibilities
Back-Up Support:

Provide effective back-up in the absence of the Finance Manager to ensure smooth finance operations.

Field Visits

Regularly visit Area Programs and, when necessary, implementing partners to ensure compliance and provide support.

Restricted Grants Partners Financial Management Monitoring

Implement partner financial monitoring tools and mechanisms, advising on improvements.
Supervise financial compliance for all restricted grants partners of assigned grants, ensuring partners spend within their budgets and follow donor and LWF financial procedures.
Analyze partner expenses and provide feedback on expenditure trends and areas with significant over/under spending.
Communicate with partners on areas of weakness and steps to mitigate risks and internal control issues.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field.
CPA (K) and membership in ICPAK.
At least 5 years of experience in Grants Management, including financial planning, budgets, and donor reporting in a large and busy Work environment with vast experience in handling project Implementation/reporting for various donors (EU, US government, UN) including management of Consortia.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills with the ability to work effectively in a multicultural team.
Proficiency in database applications and MS Office suite, with a keen attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities under pressure.