BACKGROUND:

IUCN Tanzania currently runs a diverse portfolio of projects worth USD 23M spread across 9 different regions in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. The projects are designed to implement system-wide and multi-sectoral actions for nature, climate, people and the economy. The projects are classified into broad thematic areas, and they include:
Forest and landscape restoration – The Restoration Initiative (TRI) and FLR hub
Resilient watershed and wetlands management – Katuma River, Ruvuma River, Ruvu basin, Lake Tanganyika, and Mara basin
Sustainable management of agro-biodiversity landscapes – SUSTAIN Pro, SUSTAIN Eco, RESOLVE NbS, and Resilient Soybeans for Empowerment in Tanzania (RESET).
Coastal and Ocean resilience – Bahari Yetu, Bahari Mali, and Plastics Free Islands
Biodiversity and conservation areas management – Local community conservation, Podong initiative, and STAR.

The Finance Grants Assistant will be based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with frequent travel to the project sites.
JOB DESCRIPTION
SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the guidance of Senior Grants Officer, the Finance Grants Assistant will be responsible in Assisting Finance/Grants Team in drafting, overseeing, and monitoring the entire grant management process and ensure proper implementation and compliance with donors’ requirements of all grants. This will be done in compliance with IUCN and respective donor financial rules, particularly solicitations, due diligence, pre-award assessments, monitoring, disbursements, reporting, and risk compliance.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:
Grant management systems development;
Assist Senior Grants Officer in developing and maintaining an updated comprehensive grants management tracker for Tanzania country office.
Assist in ensuring IUCN grants management tools are used and adhered to, drafting updates to match country specific cases.
Assist in due diligence process of subgrantee selection for all sections relating to technical, and financial management planning and reporting.
Assisting in ensuring program and support teams are fully informed of relevant donor compliance regulations and IUCN procedures to support on-track, on time, and on-budget implementation.
Assist in Carrying out grant management capacity building for sub-grantees and project staff.

Grants Compliance Management;
Assist Senior Grants Officer in reviewing the approval of agreements, amendments, cost, and no-cost extensions for grants
Work with Senior Grants Officer to ensure compliance of all donor requirements, as per signed agreements, when reviewing expenses and preparing financial reports.
Assist in Preparing accurate quarterly budget variance reports for the IUCN Tanzania C portfolio, analyzing financial performance by comparing actual expenditures to budgets, highlighting variances, and identifying trends.
Assist in Reviewing subgrantee reports to ensure spending is compliant with donor requirements.
Assist in Conducting a final compliance review to ensure all expenditure aligns with the donor-approved budget.

Documentation and communication;
Tracking and documenting all relevant and necessary information using the documentation guideline
To always keep files updated in both as a hard copy and electronically in the country sharing drivers
To facilitate documentation of the IPs documents in hands of the sub recipients under the respective portfolio.
To communicate and document any conversation and/or written information to a supervisor, colleagues, and partners.
To provide a weekly updates and plan at every COB of the last working day of the week.
To Always update Grants Folder with related financial Information.

Other responsibilities;
Perform other duties as they may be assigned from time to time.
REQUIREMENTS
• POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

Education;
A university degree preferably in accounting, finance, business administration or any other business-related field.
Computer literacy in relation to office applications (word processing, spreadsheets, PowerPoint) use of internet and online communication tools.

Work Experience;
Two years of proven experience in grants management, organizational assessment, organizational development and systems reviews.
Highly motivated, autonomous, innovative, solution oriented, results driven and resourceful individual.
Sound expertise in the development, implementation, monitoring and reporting of grant-funded projects.
Must be a proactive individual committed to continuous learning and attitude towards self- development.

Language requirement;
Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and Swahili.

Core Competencies;
Transparency: Able to build trust and contribute to informed and responsible decision-making by carrying out the work of IUCN in a transparent manner; provides clear guidance to ensure that objectives and desired measurable results are understood by members of the team.
Inclusiveness: Understands and accepts cultural diversity, and provide a tolerant, positive and supportive working environment that fosters respect for diversity, demonstrates ability to work in a multicultural, multiethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds.
Professionalism: Promote the organization’s interests, objectives and values in a diligent and professional manner.
Accountability: Takes responsibility of individual and collective actions, promotes the IUCN One Programme approach.

Functional competencies;
Adheres to IUCN core values of Transparency, Inclusiveness, Professionalism and Accountability.
Demonstrated computer skills in Microsoft Office Suite applications.
Excellent oral and written communication skills.
Good organizational, administrative, reporting and communication skills.
A motivated self-starter with ability to work independently and meet tight deadlines without compromising the quality of outputs.
A team player with a strong interest in working in an international environment.
Be willing to undertake frequent travel and interact with different stakeholders at national/sub-national levels.