Job Title: Grant Finance Officer

Reporting to: Director of Finance and Operations
Direct Reports: N/a
Contract Type: 5 Year Fixed Term to be extended over the remaining life of the fund – anticipated to end by 2030.
Location: Leopardstown, Dublin 18, Ireland with ad-hoc travel required typically 0.5-1 days per week on average
Date: Oct/Nov 2023 start

Background

Human Dignity Foundation (HDF) is a private, philanthropic fund setup to enable children to live with dignity. Its work is founded on the principle that preventing violence against children and protecting and promoting their rights is the first step in enabling them to live safe, fulfilling, and dignified lives, specifically by addressing the issue of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA).

Founded in 2004 by a leading philanthropist and entrepreneur, HDF is a spend down foundation which expects to complete the funding of its international partner projects by the end of 2030.

To deliver on its ambition, HDF currently provides large scale funding to INTERPOL’s Crime Against Children Unit to support global capacity on investigation and response to CSEA, and Childlight – an independent data institute focussed on the prevalence and nature of this abuse globally. The foundation is in the process of growing its portfolio of grants in order to maximise its global impact.

Job Purpose

The Grant Finance Officer will provide a close financial oversight of grantee’s performance and support broader grant management to ensure the best use and impact of HDF’s resources.

This will be achieved by working closely with the Programme Manager and the Director of Finance and Operations to perform detailed reviews of grantee’s budgets, reports and completing timely audits, etc.

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

The Grant Finance Officer’s role will be dynamic and diverse given the small nature of HDF’s team, but core responsibilities will include:

• Review grantee budgets when new proposals are submitted to ensure they are accurate and realistic;
• Review grantees’ financial reports to ensure spending occurs as planned and that variances are acted on by grantees and HDF anticipates the need for budget updates and grant amendments;
• Perform analyses of grantees’ costs based on approved budgets, financial reports and projects’ performance metrics to identify trends over time and support the cost efficiency of projects;
• Conduct regular financial audits of grantees, reviewing financial processes and detailed transaction data to ensure the eligibility of costs and the timely usage of budgets. Present findings to HDF and grantees’ (as appropriate) management;
• Process payments and prepare monthly management accounts, reconciliations, etc. for review by the Finance and Operations Director;
• Support the Director of Finance and Operations during HDF’s annual external audit;
• Travel to grantee’s office (UK/France up to 3-4 days/ month) to ensure appropriate financial project oversight is taking place;
• Update and maintain HDF’s grant management information system to ensure HDF’s records are accurate and up to date;
• Support the Programme Manager with other grant management related tasks such as: report and proposal reviews, grant portfolio oversight, etc. There is scope over time for this role to oversee smaller/ lower risk grants;
• Support team and administrative tasks, including procurement, organising internal and external meetings, travel arrangements, etc.

Person Specification

Experience

• 5 years’ experience in general accounting, control / reconciliation tasks
• Strong audit experience
• A broad interest in international development work and social impact, with a focus on projects’ impact
• Exposure to automated account processing desirable

Qualifications and skills

• Qualified ACA or ACCA chartered accountant
• Excellent interpersonal and team working skills
• Accurate worker with strong numerical skills
• Good written and verbal communication skills
• Computer literate – strong Excel, Word, and PowerPoint skills
• Good organisational skills and ability to prioritise appropriately
• Ability to work under pressure to meet deadlines, on own initiative

Qualities

• Flexible
• Self-starter and pro-active
• Team player who enjoys working in small team environments

Common values

• Passion for our work and mission
• Accountability to our founder and partners
• Innovative, entrepreneurial, and dynamic in our approach
• Openness to admitting our mistakes and learning from them
• Excellence in all that we do

Terms & Conditions

• Salary is commensurate with experience
• Pension, Healthcare           
• Office based role.

To apply:

Please send in your CV and a cover letter to judith@humandignity.foundation.