The Advocacy and Social Accountability (ASA) funding mechanism was approved for establishment by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) in December 2017. GPE’s aim is to strengthen national education systems to deliver stronger outcomes in the areas of learning and early childhood development, equity, gender equality, and inclusion. GPE is the largest fund for education in the world and provides around $800million a year for education in developing country partners.

The goal of the ASA mechanism is to enhance civil society capacity to further GPE’s strategic objectives in learning, equity, and stronger systems by improving their participation, advocacy, and efforts to ensure transparency and increased effectiveness in national educational policy and implementation processes. As such it aims to support both the traditional education networks and civil society partners working in areas such as tax justice, citizens engagement in fiscal transparency and community mobilisation.

The ASA mechanism is comprised of three funding streams (Operational Components) to support work at local, national and transnational levels to (1) strengthen national civil society engagement in education planning, policy dialogue and monitoring; (2) strengthen civil society roles in promoting the transparency and accountability of national education sector policy and implementation and (3) create a stronger global and transnational enabling environment for national civil society advocacy and transparency efforts. Together, these objectives will help to amplify the voices of people in education policy debates, helping to better match citizen demand for an equitable quality education with responsive public policy solutions. The ASA mechanism has a target of supporting at least 100 civil society partners, in approximately 90 countries throughout the world, including Africa, Asia, Pacific, Latin America and MENA/Eastern Europe.

In January 2019, GPE selected Oxfam IBIS as Grant Agent for the ASA mechanism, subject to final board approval end March 2019. The programme is forecast to run for at least 5 years, with the inception phase commencing imminently. Oxfam IBIS’ Grant Agent role will be implemented primarily through a Global Management Unit (GMU) based in Copenhagen, and Regional Management Units (RMUs) in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Each RMU will be led by an expert Program Manager that will provide oversight of day-to-day operations across countries in the region, including management of staff, provision of technical advice, and quality assurance of reporting across the entire region.

What are we looking for
We are looking for an experienced bi-lingual (English and French) Regional Finance Manager to lead all finance functions of the RMU in Ghana related to the ASA mechanism. The Finance Manager will have responsibility for ensuring that all grants disbursed in the region comply with the Oxfam IBIS and GPE/ASA financial guidelines. The candidate will ensure GPE’s funds are safeguarded through robust reporting and monitoring. Further the candidate will report to the GMU on the finances related to the running of the RMU. This includes implementing and monitoring of the financial part of the Service Level Agreement with the Oxfam office hosting the RMU.

Based in Accra, Ghana, the candidate will require a good knowledge of International NGO Financial Reporting Standards and have experience of manging finances of complex programmes. They will need to be a Qualified Accountant or finance manager with experience of developing and implementing financial processes, policies and templates. Regular travel within the region will be required, equivalent to approximately 12-14 weeks per annum in order to support and monitor partners in their grant management responsibilities. This entails that the candidate must be experienced in working with partners and perform capacity building.

Job purpose
The Regional Finance Manager will ensure that financial management at regional level is carried out in accordance with internal processes and recognised financial standards and meets GPE’s requirements. They will work under the guidance of the Finance Manager in the Global Management Unit (GMU) to oversee budgetary cycles, monitor programme expenditure, and resolve problems.

Core details
Location is Accra, Ghana. Our package is competitive and depending on experience. The contract is for three years with the possibility for extension. The position is a full time role equivalent to 37 hrs./week. The role reports to the Program Manger. The post will involve travel within the region – 12 – 14 weeks/year. The post will require a work permit for Ghana.

Key responsibilities

• Overseeing all budgeting, forecasting, disbursement, accounting and invoicing of all regional programme funds
• Managing regional programme finances, ensuring that financial management at regional level is carried out in accordance with internal processes and recognised financial standards
• Implementing financial processes, policies and templates under the guidance of the GMU Finance Manager as required
• Working with partners to oversee budgetary cycles, monitor programme expenditure, and resolve problems
• Building capacity of partners where necessary and ensure they are adequately supported
• Preparing regional finance reports for the GMU
• Oversee the presence, functioning and reporting of the Internal Audit Committees at the partners level and profile high risk observations/findings for immediate implementation.
• Support partners with the technical know-how to implement all forms of recommendations related to financial review and risk assessment.
• Support the GMU with preparation of semi-annual and annual financial reports as required by the donor (GPE).
• Liaise with the Global Finance Manager to undertake due diligence assessement prior to a new grantee being admitted onto the project.

Required Skills or Experience

The successful candidate will need to demonstrate the following essential skills, and it would be advantageous to demonstrate some or all of the desirable skills.

Essential

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, financial management, business administration, or relevant field
• At least 5 years’ experience in financial project management
• Experience and skill in budgeting, project accounting and financial reporting procedures for large, international programmes
• Knowledge of budgetary processes in INGOs and experience working directly with local NGOs to build financial capacity
• Ability to liaise with donor agencies and national government agencies
• Strong verbal and written communications skills in English and French.
• Proven ability to analyse and synthesise complex issues
• Demonstrated ability, tact, and sensitivity in working across institutional boundaries, business units, and teams in an effective and productive way
• Excellent computer skills, including expert knowledge of Microsoft Excel

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