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 in an independent charity. We also work with Save the Children UK, Save the Children Germany and Save the Children Netherlands, which act grant custodians for Start Network.

Both locally positioned and globally connected, our vision is to mobilise a locally-driven humanitarian system that is accountable to people affected by and at risk of crisis. 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 Advisor is responsible for leading all grant management processes and procedures for the implementation of a strategic partnership with European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operation (ECHO). Based in the Operations and Finance Team, the role will work closely with Resource Mobilisation and Programme teams to support the donor to pilot Start Ready anticipatory action and create efficiencies in humanitarian action under their existing funding framework.

This position is new for Start Network and requires prior technical experience managing ECHO grants. The role will contribute to the effectiveness and impact of an ECHO-funded pilot programme by supporting the sound financial, grant management, and administrative practices across Start Network. The postholder 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, while building organisational capacity to work with ECHO funding.

This position is planned for the length of the Start Ready pilot partnership; 18 months with the possibility of extension if the relationship leads to further funding from ECHO.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Grant Management & Reporting

The role will have responsibility for the end-to-end grant management cycle for a large, complex grant from the European Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO). This includes the following accountabilities:

• Work with Resource Mobilisation and programme teams to manage the smooth running of donor preliminary assessments, start up, monitoring, amendment and close out processes.

• Lead on ECHO grant monitoring calls working with Programmes, Resources Mobilisation and Operations functions as well as Save the Children Germany

• Lead the development of ECHO subaward grant processes.

• Manage ECHO sub-grants from contracting to reporting, recording, compliance, and managing financial risk as appropriate.

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

• Compile ECHO 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 ECHO financial reports

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

• Review and provide advice on amendments to the ECHO Specific Grant Agreement to ensure feasibility from a Start Network perspective.

• Responsible to ensure that Financial ECHO Requirements are followed and when this may

not be possible, bring innovative and creative solutions to be negotiated and agreed with the donor in collaboration with the Resource Mobilisation team.

Grant Administration and Training

• Lead on ECHO grant tracking processes, updating 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 Grants & Finance point of contact for ECHO grant management processes

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

Financial and Budget Management

• Manage the complex multi-million Euro ECHO budget, ensuring all stakeholders are accurately informed and funds are drawn down appropriately.

• Lead and support the development of relevant grant management procedures.

• Develop processes to ensure smooth payment to grantees under the ECHO project. Work with the Finance team and Save the Children to support implementation of these processes.

• Lead on development of ECHO-specific management reports to inform decision making.

• Meet regularly with budget holders for financial monitoring of the ECHO grant, to advise on and take decisions on reallocation of funds where required.

• Support Head of teams in areas related to the management of this grant in order to guarantee efficient use of funds.

• Monitor income and fund transfers from ECHO and Save the Children Germany

• Lead a primary audit trail from primary documentation to the accounting system for accurate and rapid ECHO reporting and general record keeping in close coordination with Resource Mobilisation team.

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

Start Network Culture

• Carry out the responsibilities of the role in line with the Start Network Code of Conduct and with a commitment to safeguarding adults and children.

• Demonstrate a commitment to the Start Network vision, principles, values, and approach

• The Start Network team is an agile group of individuals who use their experience and skills across the network, so flexibility to work in and with different teams and functions is a part of our culture.

PERSON PROFILE

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Previous experience of managing ECHO Grants in an international organisation

• Working knowledge of ECHO rules and regulations, grant management, compliance and audit processes

• Ability to work alongside and manage requests/questions from senior donor officials.

• Proven ability to develop and manage complex budgets and financial systems.

• Experience of management/supervisory responsibilities, including good training and coaching skills and a willingness to support development of others.

• Demonstrable experience of managing multiple deadlines requiring attention to detail

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

• Ability to draft and produce financial and budget narrative reports.

• 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.

• 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

OUR OFFER TO YOU

• Being part of a network bringing change to the humanitarian sector

• Centrally located office space with free onsite hot drinks, bike storage and gym access

• 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 (pro rata) plus 2 company days over the End of Year period

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

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

Recruitment timeline: Deadline for applications, 23:59, Friday 27th October.

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/