Job Description

TITLE:  GPE Support Function Head

TEAM/PROGRAMME: Operations

LOCATION: Mogadishu with frequent travel to FMS.

GRADE:    1

Post Type: National

CONTRACT LENGTH: one year (renewable)

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

Level 3:  the post holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work country programs; or are visiting the country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE:

Save the Children is seeking a Lead for the Global Partnership for Education Program Support Function in Somalia. Save the Children was awarded the role of Grant Agent for the implementation of the Systems Transformation Grant both the 80% initial allocation and 20% top-up allocation. The GPE Partnership Compact Grant will contribute to transforming the education system, dramatically increasing access to education, and improving the quality of education, while also making service delivery more equitable, inclusive, efficient, and effective, and strengthening the capacity of the Government to deliver on its mandate.

The GPE Support Function Head is a member of the senior leadership team for the GPE program and will oversee the support function of the program such as the operations, procurement, finance, supply chain, and provide administrative oversight of the GPE program. S/he will also oversee compliance aspects of the program and will be the contact person for the project when it comes to financial donor reporting, the program's yearly audits, and other grant contract management. The holder of this position will also be responsible for the fiduciary responsibility of the grant agent in ensuring that funds through the TSA are managed in line with donor requirements as well as the national procurement laws of Somalia.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: GPE Chief of Party.

Staff reporting to this post:  GPE Support Function staff (Finance Manager, GPE Procurement Coordinator and others as appropriate).

Dimensions: The position holder will work closely with the GPE team and the wider SCI country and area teams.   

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Program procurement management:

• Ensure that the program procurement plan is developed and updated quarterly to ensure timely procurement for the program.
• Work with MOECHE and MOF teams to ensure that the tender process under TSA is managed in full compliance with the national procurement act of Somalia and other relevant government manuals and procedures.
• Closely work with the SCI Area procurement team to ensure speedy implementation of the program procurement plan.
• Provide on-the-job training to the procurement team at both FGS and FMS levels to ensure the sourcing procedures are conducted in line with SCI policy and the national procurement law of Somalia.
• Review the souring templates currently used by the FMS and improve where necessary if required.
• Help the MOECHE team as well as FMS to develop and maintain good records for the project documentation including the procurement documents.
• Help MOEs and MOECHE to carry out prequalification exercises to have an approved list of vendors for the purchase of the repetitive acquisitions.

Risk management and compliance:

• Flag out any potential risks and share them with the GPE management team for a timely decision making.  
• Review the support documents for the tenders with mid to high transaction values and ensure that tenders are fully documented in line with SCI policies and the Somalia national procurement and financial law.
• Provide oversight and/or participate in the tender process for the mid to higher procurement values that go through TSA with the MOECHE/MOF or FMS team. 
• Participation in internal and external audit exercises and subsequent implementation of the auditors’ recommendations for the program.
• Support all functions to ensure donor requirements are understood and complied with.
• Ensure potential compliance issues and amendment requests are flagged promptly to the management team and donor.
• Ensure that the budget under MOF is monitored every month and flag any major issues with the management team for timely decision-making.

Program's financial management and oversight:

• Oversee a high standard of financial accounting management for the program, ensuring compliance with SCI and donor regulations and consistent with accounting policies, procedures, and tools.
• Contribute to the preparation of high-quality, compliant, and timely program budget revisions as needed and consistent with the donor rules and regulations.
• Ensure timely submission of all donor financial reports for the project in collaboration with Area and Country Finance Teams
• Ensure KPIs on donor financial report submission and quality are met consistently with the regard to STG program.
• Ensure all donor financial compliance requirements are met and reports are prepared with a complete audit trail for the STG program.
• Ensure that project funds are advanced timely to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) in line with the SGA to ensure timely implementation of the project.
• Ensure that liquidation from MOECHE FGS and MOE FMS are timely reviewed, approved to ensure speedy implementation of the program.
• Ensure that the financial reports submitted by the MOECHE and MOE FMS have a clear audit trail with full documentation.
• Through accurately phased forecasts and in consultation with Area finance managers, ensure sufficient cash flow for the project.

Partnership management (MOECHE, MOF and MOEs-FMS)

• Closely work with STG team, MOECHE and FMS MOEs teams in developing work plans, budgets, and quarterly phased forecasts and then consolidate this plan to the program master’s budget and procurement plans.
• Identify capacity gaps in the MOEs and MOECHE and work with the MOEs to have capacity improvement plans specifically in relation to procurement, finance, and compliance areas.
• Work with the MOEHCE team to prepare timely fund request in line with the terms of the standard sub-award agreement.
• Provide technical support to MOECHE and FMS MOEs around financial management.
• Conduct monthly reviews of the support documents with higher transaction values and identify key gaps in terms of documentation with recommendations for improvement.

Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development:

• Line managing the finance manager and procurement coordinator as appropriate.
• Ensure the project support staff understands and are able to perform their roles clearly in collaboration with related functional leads.
• Provide necessary upskilling to the team by recommending relevant training opportunities.

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, and achieving and role modeling Save the Children values.
• holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance, and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• Set ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, take responsibility for their personal development, and encourage their team to do the same.
• widely shares their vision for Save the Children and engages and motivates others.
• Future-orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• Build and maintain effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members external partners, and supporters.
• values diversity and sees it as a source of competitive strength.
• approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• Develop and encourage new and innovative solutions.
• willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates the highest levels of integrity.

Experiences and Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS 

• Master’s degree in relevant field (e.g. MBA, economics, finance, etc).

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Essential

• Minimum of 6 years of professional experience in financial management, compliance, procurement.  
• Prior experience working with government systems (e.g. TSA) is a must.
• Prior experience working on GPE funded programs is a must.
• Prior experience in partnership management in particular MOECHE/MOEs/MOF.

Desirable

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with government representatives, for-profit private sector entities, local community organizations, donors, consortium members, and other stakeholders, at national and sub-national levels.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience in building the Ministry of Education and devolved structures capacity in developing and realizing education strategic plans to provide quality Education services.
• Demonstrated experience of supervising and mentoring staff.
• Demonstrated in-depth understanding of the dynamics in Somalia's Education system.
• Strong management skills, leadership qualities, professional reputation, ability to create synergies where applicable, interpersonal skills, and written and oral presentation skills to fulfil the diverse technical and managerial requirements of the project description.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English (professional level proficiency) and Somali language is mandatory. 
• Commitment to and understanding of Save the Children International’s aims, values and principles.
• Ability to write clear and well-argued assessment and project reports. A high level of written and spoken English.

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Adult Safeguarding.

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy, all employees are also expected to carry out their duties in accordance with SCI protection from sexual exploitation abuse.

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At SCI, we uphold the principle of equal rights and opportunities for all our employees. In our commitment to fostering a more inclusive workplace and addressing gender gaps, we have implemented additional efforts aimed at supporting female qualified candidates: -

• Maternity leave (6 months)
• Annual Leave 30 working days
• 10% *gross salary. (female allowance)
• 1.5 flexible working hours for lactating mothers

Skills Required

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