Grants Admin & Finance Assistant

Expertise France (EF) is a public agency created on the 1st of January 2015 under the supervision of the French Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy and Finance with a strong inter-ministerial vocation. EF offers programme engineering and technical assistance by developing and implementing international cooperation actions worldwide. Expertise France is the French public agency for international technical assistance.

EF designs and implements cooperation projects addressing skills transfers between professionals. The agency also develops integrated offers, assembling public and private expertise in order to respond to the partner countries' needs. With a business volume of 148 million Euros, a portfolio of over 500 projects in 100 countries, and 63,000 days of expert missions every year, Expertise France promotes French and European development policy goals.

EF operates in various fields of development and institutional cooperation including safety and security reform, public health, human rights, strengthening of institutions and NGOs and governance. Carrying out large-scale, multi-stakeholder programmes, EF can ensure the cooperation between individuals, teams and institutions with very different statuses, cultures and specialties. EF has acquired a sound experience in administrative and financial management of large-scale international programmes.

www.expertisefrance.fr

• Project background

The Middle East is currently experiencing a profound crisis. The conflicts in Syria and Iraq are both a reflection and a transmitter of this crisis, with growing potential to further destabilise neighbouring countries and the wider region. These crises have resulted in a humanitarian disaster affecting more than 13.5 million people who were forced to flee their homes from Syria, and more than 17 million people in need of humanitarian aid (12.2 in Syria and 5.2 in Iraq).

Lebanon is now home to the largest number of Syrian refugees per capita relative to its total population, putting a severe strain on the country’s fragile infrastructures, economy, and security. The population of Lebanon was estimated at about 4.8 million (including almost 1.5 million of Syrian and Palestinian refugees). Even though Lebanon has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention, up to date it has taken in about a fourth of its own population. According to UNHCR, in April 2018, 986 942 persons from Syria were registered as refugees in Lebanon. In the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan 2017-2020 (LCRP), the total number of people living in Lebanon is estimated at 5.9 million, with 3.3 million people in need. Among the Syrian refugee population in Lebanon, which today comprises over 1.5 million people, the Bekaa Valley contains the highest concentration of refugees, with over 360,000 registered with UNHCR.

• The Qudra2 project

In Lebanon, the Stabilisation and Resilience Unit of Expertise France ensures the consistency and the coordination of two projects in the field of crisis management. The first project is a second phase of the QUDRA project funded by EU and BMZ, for the benefit of both Syrian refugees and Lebanese host communities.  The second project is funded by AFD (Agence Française de Développement) and aims at helping local and international Lebanese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) become lasting, key players in mitigating and ameliorating the effects of the Syrian refugee crisis on Lebanon.

 ’Qudra – Resilience for Syrian refugees, IDPs and host communities in response to the Syrian and Iraqi crises’ is a regional action financed by the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, the Madad Fund and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), seeking to strengthen the resilience of Syrian refugees, IDPs and host communities in response to the Syrian and Iraqi crises.  The programme launched in June 2016, has been jointly implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Expertise France (EF) and Spanish Agency for International Development (AECID) in programme partner countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and North Iraq.

In Lebanon, the project seeks to improve social stability between communities in Lebanon through a comprehensive and local approach of protection for children and adults. To do so, activities revolve around four pillars: (i) support to Social Development Centers (SDCs) of the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA), (ii) Child Protection activities, (iii) Protection activities and (iv) campaigns and communication activities. Expertise France works within the framework of the LCRP and MoSA National Plan for Safeguarding women and children in close partnership with Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA).

The second phase of the programme will end in 2023. The programme is implemented in 14 areas of Lebanon, in collaboration with NGO partners, Social Development Centers (SDCs) and the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA).

• Job Description / Assignment

Working under the management of the Grants Officer and in link with the Admin and Finance Manager, the Grants Admin and Finance Assistant will be particularly in charge of financial supervision, reporting and accountability of partner NGOs. S/He will be involved in the monitoring of all financial activities of the partner NGOs within the project period. Moreover, he/she will be in contact with the partner NGOs of the project, and he/she will coordinate their reporting efforts.

This process will support the Grants Officer in assessing the compliance of the NGO partners with Expertise France's regulations and internal procedures, as well as the development of sound grant management processes to ensure Expertise France's compliance with its donors.

Responsibility 1: Financial & Administrative Support:

• Ensure that all financial reports of the partner NGOs are received by the set contractual deadlines.
• Follow up the financial partnerships with NGOs on a monthly basis and make sure they comply with internal regulations regarding supporting evidence and take necessary actions when needed in coordination with the Grants Officer.
• Ensure that administrative and financial procedures linked to project implementation are followed by the NGO partners.
• Follow up and ensure that all administrative/financial documents related to project implementation are up to date and stored in an organized way.
• Support in managing partner’s cash flow to ensure timely and secure transfer of funds to meet program needs.
• Support the Grants Officer in the preparation or amendment of partner budgets.
• Assist the NGO partners & the Grants Officer in the preparation & monitoring of the budget forecasts.
• Support in drafting partner contracts & templates for NGO reporting.

Responsibility 2: Reporting, documentation, and knowledge management

• Follow up with NGO partners on their reporting (compare both Forecast Vs Actuals)
• Collect data/reports from NGOs and ensure the accuracy of data/reports.
• Checking partners’ financial reports and supporting documentation

Present reliable monthly financial reports to the Grants Officer and alert, when necessary, on budget / and supporting documentation issues.

• Technical Skills, Experience & Knowledge

Education level

University degree in Business, Finance, Accounting, Economics, or any other relevant field.

Qualifications

• At least 3 years of relevant experience in compliance, grant management, or any other related field.
• Knowledge of the Lebanese civil society and the Lebanese aid ecosystem in general.
• Good computer skills: MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook).
• Fluency in English & Arabic (written and spoken). Knowledge of French would be an asset.
• Excellent reporting skills.
• Strong relationship skills and the ability to work effectively with local stakeholders.
• Proactive, results-oriented, and detail-oriented.

Previous work experience with international agencies would be an asset.