WHAT IS START NETWORK?

Start Network is a global membership of 55 organisations, working across six continents, to tackle what we see as the biggest systemic problems in the global humanitarian system. Start Network is an independent charity. We also work with Save the Children UK, which acts a grant custodian for Start Network.

Start Network’s vision is for a locally led humanitarian system that is accountable to people affected by and at risk of crises. We aim to achieve this vision by making system-level shifts in how humanitarian assistance is approached and delivered.

OUR SOLUTIONS

DECENTRAISLING & LOCALLY-LED ACTION: Shifting power and resources and decentralising decision-making to locally led networks and organisations.

EARLY & RAPID FINANCING: Building a global financing system that reduces risk, anticipates, and acts ahead of predictable crises.

COMMUNITY-LED INNOVATION: Incentivising innovative, locally led, and contextual solutions and learning from them together with people affected by crises.

To devolve and decentralise power within the global humanitarian system, we are working to become a distributed and global network of civil society hubs and members supported by a global platform that fosters connections, alignment of members, and innovation. Hubs are locally led networks of local, national, and international humanitarian actors working together to develop contextualised ways of dealing with humanitarian crises. We currently have five hubs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Guatemala, India, the Pacific, and Pakistan.

For more information about Start Network and what we do, please visit our website. 

JOB PURPOSE

The Grants and Finance Adviser is responsible for developing our grant management processes and procedures. Based in the Operations and Finance Team, the role works closely with the Resource Mobilisation and Programme teams. The role contributes to the effectiveness and impact of our work by supporting the sound financial, grant management, and administrative practices across Start Network. The post holder will ensure that the financial and administrative systems and procedures for the programmes and budgets are of high quality and compliant with donor and legal requirements.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

GRANT MANAGEMENT & REPORTING

The role will have lead responsibility for the end-to-end grant management cycle for a number of large and / or complex grants from institutional and corporate funders.  This includes the following accountabilities:

·      Work with fundraising and programme teams to manage the smooth running of donor preliminary assessments, start up and close out processes

·       Lead on grant monitoring calls working with Programmes, Resources Mobilisation and Operations functions.

·       Lead on the development of specific subaward grant processes where appropriate.

·       Manage sub-grants to member and non-member organisations from contracting to reporting, recording, compliance, and managing financial risk as appropriate.

·       Manage donor financial reporting, set up systems and process to ensure reporting is compliant, timely and accurate.

·       Compile donor financial reports and payment requests ensuring accuracy with Start Network financial systems and work with finance team to develop a consistent process for reconciliation of donor financial reports.

·       Advise Resource Mobilisation, Finance, Programmes, and Operations teams on best practice grant management processes as required.

·       Review and provide advice on donor agreements to ensure feasibility from an operations perspective.

GRANT ADMINISTRATION AND TRAINING

·       Lead on grant tracking processes, establishing and managing a grant management tracker and calendar. Work closely with the resource mobilisation team to maintain trackers and to communicate key dates.

·       Act as the Finance and Grant Management point of contact for the Resource Mobilisation Team for donor due diligence processes.

·       Be the focal point for financial reporting and grant management training for Start Network peers and members.

FINANCIAL AND BUDGET MANAGEMENT

·       Manage complex grant budgets, ensuring all stakeholders are accurately informed and grants are drawn down appropriately

·       Lead on the development of grant management procedures

·       Develop processes to ensure smooth payment to grantees. Work with the Finance team to support implementation of these processes.

·       Support preparation of team specific and project budgets as required for presentation to prospective donors and or governance committees

·       Lead on development of grant specific management reports to inform financial decision making. Meet regularly with budget holders for financial monitoring of grants, to advise on and take decisions on reallocation of funds where required.

·       Monitor income and fund transfers from donors and where relevant grant custodians

·       Work with the resource mobilisation teams to support donor-related internal and external audit requirements

·       Working with the finance team, lead on development of processes to ensure consistency of grant financial management (ICR, FX rates, salary postings)

·       Lead on monitoring of financial risk related to exposure on sub-grant agreements.

·       Support with preparation of policies and papers to be presented to the FAC and R&C committees.

·       Support and advise from a grant management perspective on wider finance team initiatives.

PERSON PROFILE

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND TECHNICAL SKILLS

·       Working knowledge of institutional and international donors, grant management, compliance and audit processes

·       Proven ability to develop and manage complex budgets and financial systems

·       Demonstrable experience of managing multiple deadlines requiring attention to detail

·       Experience of setting up, coordinating and implementing admin and financial processes

·       Experience of capacity building of colleagues and or partner organisations

·       Experience of building relationships across diverse teams and geographies

·       Excellent communication skills and ability to communicate complex technical issues and information

·       Ability to draft and produce financial and budget narrative reports for colleagues and donors

·       Intermediate skills in Microsoft Office 365, specifically Excel

KEY COMPETENCIES

Communication

Able to convey complex information concisely to different audiences

Strategic Thinking: Deliver results with awareness of impact on others internally and externally by considering the positions and perspectives of relevant stakeholders

Collaboration: Actively promote collaboration by spotting and breaking down barriers to siloed working, connecting colleagues, teams, and initiatives

Leadership of self and others : Willing to share own expertise with others in the organisation and network, both formally and informally

Ability to adapt and learn : Balance the need to follow systems and processes with the courage, identifying when systems and processes do not align with the mission, suggesting alternatives

Getting things done the Start Network way : Deliver results in pursuit of our mission by holding yourself to account for your work, taking decisions relevant to your role and supporting colleagues whilst having fun

OUR OFFER TO YOU

·       Centrally located office space if based in the UK

·       Hybrid working with options to work from home and remotely

·       Flexible working arrangements

·       Contributory pension

·       Life Assurance

·       Family friendly policies

·       Learning and development opportunities for individuals and cross-organisationally

·       25 days’ holiday plus 2 company days over the Christmas/End of Year period

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

Our roles are open to discussion about flexible working. For part-time working and job-shares, please get in touch with us for a conversation about possibilities.

Start Network is committed to protecting people, particularly children, at-risk adults and affected populations from any harm. We are also committed to safeguarding staff from any forms of bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and abuse of power as outlined in the Dignity at Work policy. Start Network embraces diversity, promotes equality of opportunity and eliminates unlawful discrimination. We are an equal opportunities employer and treat every application on merit alone. We particularly encourage applications from disabled, BAME, LGBTQ+ and non-binary candidates. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants who meet our essential selection criteria set out in the Person Profile.

APPLICATION

Applications should be through Be Applied our online recruitment platform which uses anonymised applications and predictive, skill-based assessments which are blind- reviewed to reduce bias.

If you have any questions or need support with your application, please email us using peopleandculture@startnetwork.org

Applications may be reviewed on an ongoing basis, so please apply early where possible

Any offer of employment will be conditional subject to relevant checks. Please refer to our privacy statement and candidate privacy notice regarding treatment of your data. Start Network also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. The core of the scheme is that participating organisations share information about safeguarding-related misconduct (i.e., sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment) that a candidate has been found to have committed during employment, or incidents under investigation when the candidate left employment. For more information regarding this scheme, please visit their website: https://misconduct-disclosure-scheme.org/