Project Finance Officer

Company Description

SNV is a mission-driven global development partner working in more than 20 countries across Africa and Asia. Building on 60 years of experience and grounded in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we work on the core themes of gender equality and social inclusion, climate adaptation and mitigation, and strong institutions and effective governance. Together with our team of over 1,600 people, our mission is to strengthen capacities and catalyse partnerships that transform the agri-food, energy, and water systems, which enable sustainable and more equitable lives for all.

Job Description

SNV is seeking an enthusiastic, hands on and eager to learn Project Finance Officer with a sharp eye for details, thorough, self-organised, and with good communication skills in multi-cultural settings. 

Note:

• For this role you need to be eligible to work in the Netherlands or other SNV countries depending on where you are applying. SNV cannot sponsor for a work visa. 
• If you are from a country where SNV operates, there is a possibility to apply for this role and work from this particular country.

As Project Finance Officer, you will be part of the Netherlands (NL) Accounting sub-team (approx. 4-5 FTEs) located in The Hague, the Netherlands. Together with the Global accounting support team, NL accounting team forms the Global Accounting team. Global Accounting team is responsible for the consolidated annual accounts of SNV and moreover for leading, developing, implementing, monitoring and driving continuous improvements to SNV’s financial accounting, administration and reporting. The Global Accounting is also responsible for the Global Teams’ (including NL projects) accounting, administration and reporting including salary financial administration, hypotax processes and NL taxes.

The Project Finance Officer will be responsible for overall accounting and financial administration of the designated project – Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD). This includes day to day financial administration of the project, the periodic closures (month-end, extensive closure, and year-end closure), financial reporting, audit and budget revisions when necessary.

The Project Finance Officer also guides, instructs, reviews and coaches the SNV country teams in specific financial procedures or instructions that are related to donor regulations or internal procedures of SNV sub projects in the countries.

The Project Finance Officer will report to the Global Accounting Manager. The day-to-day activities of this position will be functionally managed by the NL accounting Advisor/Coordinator and will have close collaboration with the Project Manager of the designated project.

SNV as part of a consortium implements a global fund that provides finance and Technical Assistance (TA) to projects with a focus on climate change adaptation and mobilise external private sector funding at scale.

In 2019, the Dutch Government provided €160M in seed funding to establish the Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD) to address the need for increased climate finance. The DFCD is managed by FMO (Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank – lead partner), Climate Fund Managers (CFM), World Wide Fund for Nature Netherlands (WWF-NL) and SNV.

The Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD) allows for investments in projects aimed at climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries. SNV, as part of the Origination Facility, provides support to private companies in the development and de-risking of bankable business case/projects which can subsequently be picked up by the Finance Facilities (Water and Land-use) for further development, matchmaking and investment. The DFCD presents an important additional instrument for the Dutch government’s efforts in contributing to the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Responsibilities

• Record (financial) project data into our systems, monitor and analyse project data, take appropriate actions to ensure completeness and correctness of the financial transactions, prepare the monthly internal project reports for the Project Manager (for Netherlands based projects) and Country Finance Managers (for inter-company projects), and prepare the external project reports for the donor in accordance with the donor requirements and SNV project policies, templates and reporting deadlines.
• Guide and oversee the financial qualification and contracting process for grants and overall administrative monitoring and reporting. This includes facilitating and timely monitoring of grants disbursements timely and compliance with policies and supervise the grants projects audit.
• Align SNV DFCD’s admin procedures with the donor’s policy check report and take follow-up actions.
• Supervise and support financial SNV teams in our selected countries.
• Control financial risk and make admin working instructions (such as cash transactions, VAT issues, handwritten invoices, exchange rate…etc) to the companies and SNV local countries.
• Assure that all financial transactions are done according to donor and SNV authorisations and required back up information.
• Organise, document and archive relevant documentation in our system, keep files complete, up to date and easily accessible conform our administrative and filing procedures.
• Follow up on project related receipts and payments, review liquidity levels of the project, prepare the financial documents for liquidity requests to the donors conform the agreement between the donor and SNV.
• Make DFCD yearly budget planning including each sub DFCD countries, including financial review Technical Assistance budget planning for grants projects compliant with SNV and donor procedures and guidelines.
• Provide orientation to SNV finance staff of sub projects in the countries for the admin intake of origination projects, monitoring and auditing of financial reports.
• Prepare and support the project audit. Responsible for the quality of the audit deliverables including the preparation of the project financial statement reports.
• Contribute to implementation of changes and / or improvements in (financial) project processing, procedures or policies.
• Support NL accounting team on monthly closure, extensive close and year end close activities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, applied economics, commercial engineering or equivalent by experience, or higher vocational working & thinking level with relevant experience in finance.
• At least five years of relevant and demonstrable experience working in finance and accounting of which 2-3 years in project accounting.
• Experience with budget preparation and its monitoring.
• Demonstrated work experience and knowledge of fund management, donor regulations and compliance issues related to management of donor funding, financial reporting and audit.
• Pro-active and supportive team player.
• Excellent communication and organisation skills.
• Working experience with financial systems, knowledge of SAP Business by Design is desired.
• Good Analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Fluency in English is required (fluency in Dutch and/or French is an added advantage).
• Proven cultural awareness while working in an international setting.
• Willingness to travel to any of the target countries.

Additional Information

• Contract Type: One year, National contract with possibility of extension based on performance
  Preferred Duty Station: The Hague, The Netherlands.
  Optional Duty Station: Countries where SNV currently operates.
  Expected Start Date: As soon as possible

For this role you need to be eligible to work in the Netherlands or other SNV countries depending on where you are applying. SNV cannot sponsor for a work visa. 

How to Apply 
If you believe that your credentials meet the above profile, we invite you to apply by submitting your CV with a motivation letter in English by 20th of April 2023.