JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title: Finance and Project Officer

Division/Programme and Project Governance, Human Rights and Social Development Division
Section/Project (if any):

Location: Suva, Fiji

Reporting to: Finance Team Leader (Human Rights and Social Development
Division) with matrix reporting to Project Coordinator and Finance
and Grants Officer (Project GOVERNANCE)
Number of Direct Reports: 0

Purpose of Role: The Finance and Project Officer will support all aspects of financial
and grants management for HRSD’s Project Governance. This will
include project accounting, audit, budgetary controls and
monitoring of financial performance/progress in compliance with
SPC and Donor policies and procedures. The position will also
support procurement for approved activities across the HRSD
program, contracts and project assets, and the disbursement of
funds. The position will provide the program staff with financial
advice, support the completion of assigned project and donor
reporting, manage audit functions and assist with the administrative
and coordination duties associated with the project.

Date: January 2024

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 Organizational Context and Organization Chart

The vision of the Human Rights and Social Development Division is for just, equitable and resilient Pacific
societies and it aims to achieve this by advancing human rights, GESI for all Pacific people, grounded in cultural
values and principles.

HRSD provides a comprehensive suite of policy and legislative advice, technical assistance and capacity
building, through a team comprising a Director, Manager, Team Leaders, Advisers, Officers and Programme
Managers based in Suva, and Country Focal Officers and Country Coordinators located across the Pacific. The
team provides advice, technical assistance and capacity building to national ministries, civil society, regional
partners and other national/regional partners, as well as through mainstreaming within SPC programmes.

In line with its vision, the work of HRSD encompasses the following objectives:

• Objective 1: Pacific institutions are strong, transparent, and responsive for upholding and promoting
human rights and implementing inclusive, gender sensitive and culturally respectful development.
• Objective 2: Pacific Civil Society understand and can advocate for their rights and uphold cultural
values.
• Objective 3: Pacific culture is protected, preserved, and promoted and culturally relevant and
appropriate knowledge and systems are integrated across all work.
• Objective 4: All PSC programs and operations are grounded in people centered approaches and
consider the rights and cultural values of diverse groups including women, children, youth and persons
with disabilities.
• Objective 5: HRSD Division teams work collectively, coherently, and efficiently and to a high standard
to achieve shared success for Pacific societies

PROJECT Governance is anchored by the commitments made by the Pacific Island Forum leaders in the
2000 Biketawa Declaration and reaffirmed in the 2018 Boe Declaration. These include promoting the
widespread acceptance of just, transparent, accountable, participatory, and responsive governance
practices and developing the capacity of governance institutions to sustainably implement best practices
throughout the region.

The USD 20 million donor-funded ‘Promoting Just, Engaged, Civic-minded and Transparent Governance in the
Pacific Project’ (‘PROJECT Governance’) is focused on strengthening democratic institutions and promoting
sound, just, and responsive governance in the Indo-Pacific region.

Activities of Project Governance will improve the functioning of government institutions, civil society
organizations and media as well as promoting transparency and accountability, opportunities for
representation and inclusion of citizen interests in political and decision-making processes, upholding the rule
of law, strengthening democratic institutions, and protecting rights and civil liberties, especially of women and
other marginalized sectors.

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 Key Result Areas (KRAs):

The position of Finance and Project Officer encompasses the following major functions or Key Result Areas:

1. Budget preparation, monitoring, and financial reporting (30%)

2. Project accounting, audit, and compliance (30%)
3. Grant management and reporting (20%)
4. Overall administrative support (20%)

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 The performance requirements of the Key Result Areas are broadly described below:

Jobholder is accountable for Jobholder is successful when

KRA 1 Budget preparation, monitoring, and financial reporting (30%)

• Prepare project and programme financial • Project and programme budgets established in
budgets, including work plans, operational costs, line with SPC and donor requirements
and specific activities. Work closely with • Project financial and accounting procedures are
programme team leaders and grant partners in established and operating.
the budget design and preparation. • Regular financial reporting provided on quarterly,
• Monitor the overall program budget and biannual, and annual basis and any impromptu ad
forecasts, including against the following specific hoc requests from SPC, donor, steering committee
areas: or others
o Program plan or annual workplan • Overall budget tracking is up-to-date in line with
o Outputs and outcomes the approved budget and work plan and other
agreed deliverables as per the signed agreement
o Commitments and project executions
• Monitoring of expenditure and project progress in
o Project acquittals
line with SPC and donor policies and procedures
• Prepare timely multi-purpose project and
• Appropriate tools developed to assist programme,
programme financial reports for SPC, donor, and
division and external stakeholders to monitor
any external project committee or board,
progress
technical working groups and others. Reports
could include the following: • Project acquittals up to date on a monthly basis
and in line with SPC and donor reporting
o Actuals against budget requirements.
o Costed activity or outcomes against
workplans
o Project executions and related risks
o Cash management
o Audit issues

KRA 2 Project accounting, audit, and compliance (30%)

• Facilitate all preparations for any project audit • Audits conducted in an efficient manner with
and support any external review or evaluation on limited audit issues.
financial and grant matters. Liaise with auditors • All project financial and grant information is
to provide required documentation in a timely maintained electronically in a secure and easy to
manner. access system.
• Develop a robust and systematic electronic filing • All programme expenditures and grants are
system covering all financial, procurement, and entered into and recorded in compliance with
grant documents. SPC policies and donor requirements.
• Ensure expenditures and reporting are compliant • Project team members and other relevant
with applicable SPC policies and donor partners are informed and confident in the use of
requirements and with grant contractual SPC financial procedures
agreements. • Provide support, guidance, and advice on
• Ensure all aspects of a project’s financial financial and procurement management training
information including accounting transactions, for grantees
are accurately captured in the SPC financial

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 system, with any discrepancies corrected in a • Active contribution towards risk discussions,
timely manner. mitigation actions as may be required.
• Contribute to the division’s risk management • Cashflow of projects and programmes are
processes, including in the work-planning appropriately managed.
process, as it pertains to financial and compliance • Contributes to SPC-wide discussions on finance,
risk, identifying potential risks, such as, irregular procurement and grant policies and suggests
expenditures not approved in work plan. well-thought-out amendments where required.
• Work closely with other divisional finance and/or
grant officers to provide training and capacity
building to division staff on finance policies and
processes. Develop training materials if required
and ensure these are consistent with other
training materials developed through shared
services or central finance.
• Monitor project cash receipts, income, and
expenditure to ensure that the project has
sufficient funds for the implementation of
activities.
• Provide support for the review and
implementation of applicable SPC policies and
processes as may be required, including
participating in review groups or discussions.

KRA 3 Oversight and reporting of project grants activities (20%)

• Maintain grants register and regularly update • Grants plan/register monitored, updated, and
based on project progress and discussions with shared regularly to all relevant parties
project team, grantees, and other stakeholders. • Grants agreements are established in a timely
Develop action plans with project staff to deal and efficient manner and tranche payments are
with poor performing grantees and manage processed quickly
through the register.
• Grantees understand SPC and donor policies and
• Assist with facilitating regular grant management can efficiently utilize and report on the grant
meetings with program managers to track and
• A standard template is used by all grantees for
monitor budgets, expenditure, required training
reporting and acquittals.
and support, risks, ongoing capacity assessments
and mitigation strategies • Project staff and stakeholders understand SPC
and donor policies on Procurement and Grants
• Work with the project, within HRSD and other
Management, and SPC internal stakeholders
SPC Divisions to issue and manage grants in
understand the needs of grantees and the
compliance with all SPC and donor financial and
programme
procurement policies and procedures
• Contracts prepared and signed in a timely
• Provide feedback and support to SPC to ensure
manner
granting processes that are flexible and support
grantees and project implementation • Grants and contracts delivered on schedule and
payments made in a timely manner
• Prepare and provide appropriate templates for
grantees to use for recording transactions and • Risk matrix maintained and updated regularly
acquittals. Work with other division and SPC grant • Meetings are regular and consistent and there is
officers to develop uniformly applied templates. effective and efficient communication
• Assist with the development, review and across all teams, in monitoring of grants and
finalization of budgets to incorporate into SPC program management

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 grant agreements, in line with SPC and donor • All programme and project grant recipients are
financial and procurement policies. trained and aware of compliance requirements
• Work closely with the project team, other SPC as per SPC and donor policies, procedures, and
divisions, the OMD granting team and donor as best practice.
required, on facilitating, co-designing, and
delivering capacity development training on
financial and grant management for internal and
external partners
• Provision of monitoring and oversight of contract
deliverables and payments through the grants
register.
• Provide assistance to the project team to
maintain a sound and up to date Risk and
Mitigation Matrix for all grants
KRA 4: Overall administrative support (20%)

• Contribute to the SPC Finance and • Tasks allocated are completed in a timely manner
Procurement shared services agenda which and of high quality
includes knowledge sharing, process • All travel arrangements and training logistics
refinements / reviews and increasing successfully done in line with the SPC’s policies
collaboration. financial management support provided to
• Facilitate all administration relating to staff stakeholders is timely and well informed.
travel, meetings, trainings, and field exercises • All financial acquittals are vetted and cleared
• Ensure that all financial acquittals are provided in a timely manner
on a timely basis and support documentation is • All finance documents are well organized, audit
sufficient and adequate ready and easily accessible
• Project team is well informed of the donor
• Ensure that all project finance documentation is
financial and operational mandates
well prepared and stored in readily available
• The project operations are well aligned to the
mediums in line with audit standards.
HRSD internal finance and administration
• Liaise directly with PICTS and other
processes as well as overall SPC policies
stakeholders on project administration issues,
country specific financial policies and financial
reporting matters.
• Provide training to project stakeholders and
grantees where required in SPC financial
management policies and requirements

The above performance requirements are provided as a guide only. The precise performance measures for
this job will need further discussion between the jobholder and supervisor as part of the performance
development process.

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 Most Challenging Duties Typically Undertaken (Complexity):

Most challenging duties typically undertaken:

• Compliance with SPC and donor financial management, procurement and reporting procedures
• Obtaining full financial documentation and acquittals from grantees in a timely manner, taking into
account national/local in-country processes and capacities as well as dealing with multi-funded projects
also supported by other donors
• Working across multiple agencies and multi-funded projects
• Regularly assist in the identification of risks and mitigation strategies
• Ensuring reports are submitted and reviewed in a timely and efficient manner

Functional Relationships & Relationship Skills:

Key internal and/or external contacts Nature of the contact most typical
External
Key external contacts are: • Consultation and reporting
• Funding and strategic partners • Service provision and support
• Donor • Provision of documents
• Project and division partners and regional • Collaboration
organisations
• Other regional or international development
agencies
• Consultants and firms
• Auditors

Internal • Receiving and providing information and

• Division Director guidance via the Program Adviser and Finance
• Division Manager Programs • Team Leader
• Division Team Leaders • Direct liaison
• Division team (reporting line) • Budgeting, procurement and financial
• Other SPC Technical Divisions and Programs reporting
• SPC Corporate Finance • Providing financial information relating to the
• HRSD Finance team activities

Level of Delegation:

• The position holder assists with monitoring a project budget of USD 20 million
• Budget Sign off Authority without requiring approval from direct supervisor: Nil

Personal Specification:

This section is designed to capture the expertise required for the role at the 100% fully effective level.
(This does not necessarily reflect what the current position holder has.) This may be a combination of
knowledge / experience, qualifications or equivalent level of learning through experience or key skills,
attributes or job specific competencies.

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Qualifications
Essential: Desirable:
• A bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting • Professional membership of CPA or master’s
or business administration. degree in accounting, business, commerce or
public finance

Knowledge/Experience

Essential: Desirable:
• At least 5 years of experience in a similar role. • Knowledge of donor and SPC finance, granting and
• Demonstrated understanding of project procurement systems
budgeting, financial reporting, donor • Work experience in the Pacific Islands region
reporting, audit requirements and financial • Experience in the Navision financial management
management of grants system
• Experience with the use of financial • Advanced user of Microsoft Excel including pivot
management information systems tables, macros, etc.
• Sound coordination, administrative,
networking, and collaborative skills.

Key Skills/Attributes/Job Specific Competencies

The following levels would typically be expected for the 100% fully effective level:

Expert level
• Applying procurement and granting policy and procedures.
• Budget preparation and management
• Grant management
Advanced level
• Finance policies and guidelines
• Budget management for multi-donor projects
• Donor reporting and budget monitoring
• Provision of advice to project team leaders
Working knowledge • Foreign currency and exchange rates.
• SPC financial management procedures.
Awareness • Ability to deal with confidential information in a professional manner.
• Organisational vision.

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Key Behaviours

All employees are measured against the following Key Behaviours as part of Performance Development:

• Building Individual Capacity

• Change and Innovation
• Interpersonal Skills
• Judgement
• Leadership
• Promotion of Equity and Equality
• Teamwork

Personal Attributes

• High level of professional integrity and ethics • Friendly demeanor

• Demonstrated high level commitment to customer service

Change to Job Description:

From time to time it may be necessary to consider changes in the job description in response to the changing
nature of the work environment - including technological requirements or statutory changes. Such change
may be initiated as necessary by SPC. This Job Description may also be reviewed as part of the preparation
for performance planning for the annual performance cycle.

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