Senior Finance Specialist, Grant Financial Management - GL D โ x6 positions, x3 Defined Duration until December 2028, x3 Defined Duration until December 2027 (x3 French speaking)
Reporting to the Grant Finance Manager, the Senior Finance Specialist leads technical oversight of key financial deliverables while ensuring effective day-to-day financial management of the assigned portfolio.
The Senior Finance Specialist holds overall accountability for comprehensive financial oversight throughout the grant life cycle within the assigned countries. This role encompasses proactive management of financial risk and assurance, while driving optimal financial performance, portfolio optimization, and ensuring the delivery of timely, accurate reporting by the Principal Recipients. The Senior Finance Specialist plays a pivotal role in accelerating results-based financing, enhancing implementer financial management capacity, and fostering a culture of innovation. The position drives operational efficiency, maximizes value for money, and sustains strategic partnerships with key stakeholders and service providers.
The Senior Finance Specialist is a key driver of continuous improvement and operational excellence across strategic financial priorities within the three-year allocation cycle. Working in close partnership with Grant Finance Managers, Regional Managers, and Country Teams, the role ensures alignment of country strategies to enable efficient portfolio delivery and maximize programmatic impact. The Senior Finance Specialist is accountable for maintaining robust fiduciary arrangements that promote optimal fund utilization while effectively mitigating fiduciary risks.
The Senior Finance Specialist has a contributor and technical support role for the Country Financial Management Strengthening and Innovation (CFMSI) Team & Health Financing Teams within their assigned countries. They provide financial analysis, inputs, and recommendations to the CFMSI team and support the implementation of its strategic objectives at the country and regional level, as guided by the Grant Finance Manager.
They are responsible for establishing an operational framework to adequately monitor the quality of deliverables, assurance and compliance activities on the assigned portfolio. They proactively engage with implementers to resolve finance-related issues at source before their submission to the Grant Financial Service Centre (GFSC), and collaborate with the GFSC on escalations to ensure timely resolution in line with established service level agreements.
Key Responsibilities
Under the direction of Head of Grant Financial Management and management oversight of Grant Finance Managers, the Senior Finance Specialist, is responsible for:
Portfolio Oversight & Risk Management:
- Provide end-to-end financial oversight of the assigned grant portfolio, ensuring compliance with Global Fund fiduciary policies, the Comprehensive Funding Policy, and financial guidelines.
- Lead the design and monitoring of fiduciary arrangements that enable optimal use of funds while mitigating financial and operational risks.
- Oversee assurance mechanisms, including Local Fund Agents, fiscal agents, and external auditors, ensuring timely execution of risk-mitigation actions.
- Coordinate with the Country Team and Sourcing Team on the selection of Fiscal Agents as interim risk mitigation measures, while preparing measurable pathways for transition to national systems.
- Review financial forecasts, risk assessments, and funding decisions, escalating issues as required.
- Serve as the primary liaison with assurance providers, ensuring quality, independence, and accountability of their work.
Financial Management Strengthening & Innovation
- Facilitate the progressive transition of grants to national Public Financial Management (PFM) systems for Government Principal Recipients (PRs) and support the design and implementation of financial capacity-building initiatives for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), ensuring that capacity strengthening efforts yield measurable and sustainable outcomes in assigned countries.
- Drive the identification, implementation and monitoring of financial capacity building initiatives (including Public Financial Management and donor harmonization) for countries of her/his assigned region in collaboration with CFMSI.
- Co-Lead with CFMSI team for the in-country diagnostic review and leverage joint financial assessments with internal and external stakeholders.
- Co-owns the implementation of action plans with CFMSI on PFM-related interventions, providing timely technical support to both Country Teams and Grant Implementers.
- Monitor progress of capacity-strengthening initiatives and escalate systemic challenges for timely resolution.Ensure timely completion of Financial Management Impact Review (FMIR) and review the FMIR for assigned region; and
- Collaborate with relevant teams on monitoring of the implementation of the financial aspects of any innovating financing initiative, domestic and co-financing commitments.
Financial Data Quality and Fiduaciary Resilience at country-level
The Senior Finance Specialist, ensures that financial information reported by PRs (budgets, expenditures, cash balances, and absorption indicators, etc) is accurate, complete, and timely.
- Ensure that the linkage and progress between programmatic performance for greater impact and financial performance are assessed and actively communicated to the Grant Finance Managers and Head of Grant Financial Management;
- Ensure that the PR implements holistic reconciliation of opening cash balances, grant disbursements (including Pooled Procurement) against Principal Recipients reported in-country expenditure and closing cash balances to assess potential triangulation challenges for timely resolution;
- Provide technical oversight to ensure that identification of ineligible expenditure has been optimal, and all identified ineligible expenditures have been communicated in a timely manner to Principal Recipients, 2nd-line oversight functions, and recovery process initiated based on standard operating procedures;
- Take overall responsibility in ensuring that all exceptions to applicable Global Fund Financial Policies, Guidelines and Procedures are duly documented, approved by the relevant approving authorities or formally escalated to the Grant Financial Manager in cases where approval were not sought/accorded.
The above responsibilities are expected to be performed to the best of their professional judgment and in accordance with the Global Fund Comprehensive Funding Policies, Grant Regulations, Financial guidelines and other operational procedures and in accordance with the RACI Matrix of Grant Financial Management Team.
Subject to change by the Executive Director at any time at their sole discretion.
Qualifications
Essential:
- Advanced Degree in Finance (Masters in Finance or MBA Finance) or accounting qualification (professional qualification such as a Chartered Accountant, Certified Public Accountant, Certified Financial Analyst, Fรฉdรฉration des Experts-Comptables Europรฉens).
- A first-level university degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration and Economics or related fields may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree if the applicant has three additional years in a related function with a Finance Department performing similar tasks in the last 1-3 years.
Experience
Essential:
- Demonstrated extensive experience in financial analysis and decision-making, obtained within an international accounting firm, bilateral or multilateral aid agency, government department, industry, or a commercial or investment bank;
- Ability to deliver change in financial management in challenging environment with a solid approach to change management;
- Strong skills in communication, and stakeholder management;
- Good business focus, result-orientated with ability to influence stakeholders to ensure effective & impactful investment cases and use of resources for grant implementation.
Desirable:
- Minimum 5-8 years of demonstrated senior professional experience in financial management (including auditing, accounting controlling etc..) and analysis
- Supervisory and/or people management experience (including acting as Officer-in-Charge) over a period at least 2 years
- Grants and finance management experience, preferably in the health, social or financing sector would be an advantage as well as relevant experience in developing countries;
- Experience of working within an international or regional sphere of activity.
Competencies
Languages:
An excellent knowledge of English and preferably a good working knowledge of French. Knowledge of other languages would be an asset.
Functional Competencies:
- Analytical: Understanding of analytical techniques related to assessment of quantitative and qualitative information. Level 2
- Audit & Investigation: Knowledge of and attentiveness to any signs of ineffectiveness, fraud, corruption or abuse of human rights in the Global Fundโs operation. Level 2
- Country Context: Awareness of political, economic and geographical/infrastructure factors specific for each of the served countries, enabling advisory and true assistance (instead of โone-fits-allโ approach). Level 2
- Due Diligence: Ensuring an appropriate spend of money by means of making informed decisions and initiating actions only after investigating all facts, conditions, rules, laws, regulations, financial considerations, or any other such matters. Level 3
- Finance: Knowledge/awareness of financial and accounting aspects related to the Global Fundโs services. Level 3
- Geopolitical awareness: Knowledge/sensitivity regarding social, political, economic realities and dynamics in specific geographies in order to use appropriate influencing and dialogue strategies, respond to challenge and problem arising. Level 2
- Multicultural understanding: Sensitivity to multicultural differences and general awareness of how they impact cooperation, ability to use it in cooperation with partners representing other cultures. Level 2
- Operational policy: Knowledge of the Global Fund operational policies related to grant cycle. Level 3
- Risk: Knowledge of the risk management process: identification, aggregation, mitigation, monitoring and reporting of the risks associated with a grant making organisation that operated in high risk & challenging operating environments. Level 2
- Strengthening systems for health: Knowledge of how strengthening health systems helps to prevent, detect and respond to future health crises and reduces risks for individuals and communities. Level 1
Technical Competencies:
- Ability to quickly and comprehensively identify financial risks
- Strong skills in financial accounting and reporting;
- Strong skills in audit and assurance techniques;
- A good understanding of public financial management systems
- Skills in risk identification, analysis and problem solving;
- IT skills including proficiency in: ERP Systems, Microsoft Office Word, Excel and Power Point; and
- Ability to multitask, coach and to delegate, as appropriate.
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Job Posting End Date01 February 2026