Grant Accountant

Title: Grant Accountant

Reporting to: Chief Operating Officer

Direct Reports: None

Key relationships: Programme Compliance Staff; Desk Officers; HQ Grant Finance Team; Field Grant Finance Teams

Grade: 4

Contract Length: Permanent

Brief overview and purpose of role

Plan International Ireland is looking for a highly motivated and organised finance professional to join our team.

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, you will be responsible for providing high-quality support to the Programme Department to allow them to manage the finance and compliance risks associated with our donor-funded grants and contracts.

You will need to work with programmes staff in the Ireland and overseas to embed and further develop our tools and processes to monitor the performance of existing awards, identify the future pipeline, and ensure the appropriateness of donor budgets.

The candidate will also provide strong support in the delivery, accuracy and timeliness of financial reporting and financial compliance. This role includes working with all facets of accounting including financial reporting, month-end/year-end processes, risk management, internal control, and governance.

The role will involve regular travel, particularly to West Africa.

About Plan International Ireland

Founded in 1937, Plan International is a children’s organisation that fights for children’s rights, particularly girls, who live in the poorest regions of the world. We are an independent organisation with no religious, political, or governmental affiliations. Our vision is a just world that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We work at local, national, and international level across over 70 countries to influence governments to tackle the root causes of child poverty and to create a more equal world for girls. We work with communities to advance education, advocate for an end to FGM and child marriage, amplify girls’ and women’s voices and much more. During emergencies, we save lives and ease suffering by providing shelter and sanitation, while also creating safe spaces to protect and keep children in school.

Established in 2003, Plan International Ireland is a young and dynamic organisation that influences and supports Plan International’s work worldwide.

Plan International Ireland have been certified as one of Ireland’s Best Workplaces in 2020 and 2021.

Key roles and responsibilities

Grant Management

• Assist the Programme Compliance Team in ensuring the Programme Department, Plan Country Offices and local partners understand and adhere to donor requirements.
• Assist in preparing start-up workshops on procurement, donor reporting requirements, financial rules, and other donor parameters with project/programme partners.
• Work with Plan Country Offices and partners in identifying financial and compliance capacity gaps. Develop training material and hold workshops to fill these gaps.
• Field work – visit the field regularly to ensure that financial documentation, adherence to procurement rules and other financial compliance requirements are accurate and up to date.
• Audit – assist the Programme team during donor audits.
• Play an active role in the management of relationships between Plan Ireland, donors, country offices and partners in conjunction with the Programme team.
• Build financial capacity in the Programme team and Plan Ireland’s core programme countries through training where identified.
• Actively participate in global discussions around best practice in financial grant management issues.
• Contributing to opportunities to profile our work, within the Plan Federation and within Ireland.

Financial

• Support the COO in strategic planning, budgeting, and financial reporting.
• Develop, recommend, and implement appropriate financial policies and procedures in keeping with best practices followed by the not-for-profit sector.
• Ensure compliance with revenue recognition policies for various revenue streams and projects.
• Prepare monthly project cost recovery allocations.
• Assist in the year-end audit process.
• Maintain programme records and associated files (including project contracts and internal compliance documents) for designated countries to facilitate reporting.

Financial Review and Risk Management

• Monitor Global Assurance (GA – Plan International’s Internal Audit function) reports to identify any potential risks or gaps for Plan Ireland funded projects. Follow up on implementation of GA recommendations.
• Where risks are identified, carry out financial reviews (both desk and field) in close collaboration with the GA Department to ensure all Plan Ireland grants are compliant with donor rules and guidelines.

Person specification

Education

Professional accounting qualification, e.g., ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CPA or their equivalent.

Skills and abilities

You will be able to work independently and part as a team.

You will have excellent communication skills and be a persuasive and responsive communicator with an ability to communicate complex ideas in simple ways that are engaging.

You will have excellent computer skills and working experience with Microsoft Office, IRIS Exchequer / MS Dynamics, and other database systems.

You will be willing to travel, up to 25% of the time.

Level of experience required.

At least three years post qualification experience in finance / accounting role.

Competencies

Strong communications and networking skills: the role requires co-ordination with a diverse number of stakeholders, both internal and external. You will need to have strong written and verbal communication skills and be able to adapt messages to meet diverse audiences. French language competencies an advantage.

Compliance and finance skills: the role requires an understanding of donor compliance rules and a strong knowledge of accounting principles.

Excellent time management and organisational skills: the role requires an ability to plan well and deliver on objectives in a timely way.

Proven learning, creativity, and innovation ability: the role requires someone who is willing to seek out, develop, and successfully implement new ideas, or adopt proven approaches that support the delivery of quality programmes. You will have high levels of initiative and the ability to work without direct supervision.

A self-starter who is willing to adapt to change: you will be willing to respond positively and constructively to change, with an ability to work both independently and within wider Finance and Programme teams.

Salary and benefits

Plan International Ireland operates a salary scale, as well as a broad range of employee benefits.

This role is graded as a Level 4 within our salary scale, with an expected range of between €44,000 and €54,000. Placement on the scale will be dependent on level of experience and fit within the role.

In addition to salary, Plan International Ireland provides a number of employee benefits, some of which include:

• Private Health Insurance for all employees (from commencement date)
• Matching company pension contributions up to 5% (once probation is complete)
• Flexible working hours (core hours of 10am to 4pm daily, minimum of 37 hours per week)
• Commitment to training and development.
• 25 days annual leave, increasing with length of service up to 30 days.
• Remote Working (once probation is complete).

Location

The Plan International Ireland office is located on Harrington Street, Dublin 8 (across from Brother Hubbard’s). We are just a stone’s throw away from the bustling and busy Camden Street area, with its many coffee shops, bars, restaurants, and much more! Our nearest LUAS stop is Harcourt Street.

As an employee you will also be able to sign up to the Bike-to-Work scheme, or the TaxSaver scheme for DART, LUAS, and Dublin bus users.

Safeguarding

Plan International is committed to safeguarding people within our programmes from exploitation and abuse and has specific policies on this commitment (including a Code of Conduct) which outlines the expected behaviour and the responsibility of all staff, consultants, and other organisational representatives.

Any candidate offered a job with us will be expected to sign our Safeguarding Policies and Code of Conduct as an appendix to their contract of employment and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these documents. Specific roles may require police/Garda vetting.

This document is not intended to be an exhaustive job description – it serves only as an overview of the role.