CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

Level 3:  The role 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 in country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE:

Save the Children, Pakistan is seeking a Senior Coordinator—Finance & Awards, for its USDA-funded McGovern Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program in Pakistan. The Sindh Sustainable School Meals (SSSM) project which will be implemented in three districts of Sindh including Tando Mohammed Khan, Thatta and Sujawal, to reach 722 schools and over 150,000 direct beneficiaries over the course of six years.  

The Senior Coordinator – Finance & Awards provides financial leadership across accounting, planning and analysis, compliance, and awards management, ensuring that project resources are managed effectively and in full alignment with donor and organizational requirements. The role is responsible for overseeing core financial processes as well as the end-to-end management of awards, including donor compliance, financial reporting, budget realignments and amendments, partner oversight, and award closeout.

This position goes beyond traditional finance oversight. SCI intends to hire an experienced finance professional who can operate effectively at the intersection of financial management, award management and donor compliance, and field implementation. The Senior Coordinator will work closely with SCI’s Finance and Awards teams, project leadership, and in-country partners to ensure the timely and high-quality execution of all financial processes—ranging from accounting controls and pipeline tracking to compliance monitoring, cost performance analysis, and reporting.

A key aspect of the role is ensuring that financial resources are translated into timely, compliant, and effective delivery of program activities. This requires regular engagement with project staff, district-level stakeholders, and implementing partners to identify bottlenecks, support execution, and ensure that financial and award management of Save the Children and donor processes are both rigorous and workable in practice.

The role demands a balance of strong financial discipline, award management and pragmatic problem-solving, including the ability to provide financially and donor compliant informed decision support, develop practical tools and dashboards, strengthen systems, and enable teams to navigate complex financial and grant requirements. The Senior Manager is expected to take a proactive, hands-on approach to ensure that financial and award management systems support—rather than constrain—effective program delivery in a complex operating environment.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Deputy Chief of Party. The position also works very closely (parallel reporting relationship) with SCI’s Country Office, in particular the Finance Lead/Director Support Services, and is further expected to have frequent engagement with SCI’s Regional Teams.

Staff reporting to this post: Finance Officer

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Strategic Financial Management, Planning and Analysis:

• Lead, supervise, and coordinate on all financial and award management aspects of the project including annual budget exercises, quarterly forecasts and revisions, all reporting requirements, and ongoing tracking of the project’s financial performance in alignment with SC Pakistan, SCI and USDA requirements.
• Support partners on financial tracking and analysis, identify potential implications for SSSM project implementation, and work closely with the project and SC Pakistan teams to develop cost recovery plans i.e. budget re-alignments as needed.
• Ensure accurate and timely donor and internal financial reporting, including consolidation of partner submissions, reconciliation of accounts, and adherence to month-end processes.
• Oversee financial performance monitoring, including timely preparation and dissemination of budget vs. actual (BVA) analyses and financial reports.
• Ensure project financial planning is in compliance with SC Pakistan, SAVE International, USDA, Government of Pakistan, and Provincial policies including, but not limited to, any statutory and grants audit requirements, relevant waivers, tax laws, etc.
• Oversee preparation for audits and coordinate responses to audit findings, ensuring timely and complete implementation of recommendations.
• Maintain strong internal controls, proactively identify risks, and apply sound judgment to balance compliance requirements with project needs, technical/program innovations, and operational practicality.
• Oversee payroll and other SSSM payment functions and provide hands-on troubleshooting to resolve delays or bottlenecks in financial flows, working across Finance, Program, and Operations functions as needed.
• Create and maintain tracking tools and processes to facilitate project management in close coordination with partners and program team.  
• Oversee the day-to-day financial management components, ensuring overall cost-control and cost-effectiveness of SSSM activities.
• Establish and maintain financial protocols to track, value, and report commodity losses in strict compliance with USDA thresholds.
• Support project leadership to understand financial performance and its implications for program delivery, including identifying risks and recommending corrective actions.
• Conduct finance and compliance orientation sessions for project staff and partners.

 Awards Management:

• Oversee all aspects of award financial management, from budget development and revisions through closeout, ensuring that workflows and coding structure requirements follow SCI’s Award Management and Donor Compliance protocols.
• Ensure structures and procedures that support the effective dissemination and flowdown of award information, SCI and donor compliance to all key, contributing staff, partner stakeholders, and senior project decision makers (i.e. not limited to: award review meetings, partner monitoring visits, etc.)
• Coordinate on donor budget realignments, amendments, cost and no-cost extension requests, ensuring full adherence to donor compliance requirements. Additionally, escalate award specific and donor related risks and issues in a timely manner.
• Lead the process of partner assessments, including oversight of vetting, and preparation of partner/vendor agreements in coordination with SSSM Program teams and in adherence with donor compliance and SCI monitoring and reporting requirements.  
• Ensure that partnership agreements are properly developed, updated, communicated, and systematically monitored, with all relevant documentation maintained in Award Management System and other SC Pakistan systems.
• Review partner financial and narrative reports, liquidations, and supporting documents to ensure compliance, accuracy, and timely submission. Coordinate actions arising from relevant audits, evaluations, and other compliance assessments.
• In collaboration with program teams, lead partner capacity building, compliance reviews, and periodic monitoring (including field engagement) to ensure alignment with implementation needs and donor requirements.
• Oversee data updates/reports maintenance in SCI’s Awards Management System, including partner documentation.

• Maintain effective coordination with SCI Country Office and regional teams, facilitate regular financial review meetings to identify and address key issues in a timely manner.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice):

Accountability:

• Holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the broader team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and take responsibility for their own personal development
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale

Collaboration:

• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to; builds and maintains effective relationships with colleagues, managers, members and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity and different people’s perspectives, able to work cross-culturally.

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency
• Commitment to Save the Children values

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, business administration, law or relevant area.  
• Master’s degree in Finance or Accounting preferred.
• Additional professional certificates e.g., ACCA/ CA /Part Qualified CA is highly desirable.
• Background and experience in partnership management and grant/award management and systems (e.g., Agresso/AMS/Prime or equivalent) is highly desirable.
• Fluency in English and Urdu (written and spoken) required

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE & SKILLS:

• Minimum 8- 10 years of progressively senior experience in financial management, including at least 5 years within an INGO or national NGO managing project financial operations.
• Demonstrated track-record managing complex donor-funded programs, including budgeting, financial reporting, compliance, operations, and award/grants management is required.
• Experience of engaging effectively with donors, partners, technical teams, and non-finance stakeholders, including providing strategic financial guidance and supporting operational decision-making is required.
• Practical experience working in field-based or decentralized implementation environments, with the ability to support frontline teams in navigating financial systems and processes is required.
• Experience in team management, capacity building, and working with implementing partners, including strengthening partner financial systems and compliance is required.
• Familiarity with government systems and processes (especially Federal and GoS) and the ability to navigate complex administrative environments effectively is required.
• Strong technical skills, including advanced Excel proficiency and experience using financial systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, QuickBooks, or similar) is required.
• Demonstrated ability to design, adapt, and implement financial systems, tools, and processes, with an understanding of adaptive approaches such as collaboration, learning, and adapting (CLA).
• Must be willing to travel regularly to field locations, including rural areas (up to 30%), to support implementation and oversight.

OTHER ATTRIBUTES:

• Highly adaptable and solution-driven, with strong analytical and troubleshooting skills.
• Hands-on and comfortable navigating operational challenges, with the ability to think creatively and develop practical, innovative solutions within complex systems.
• Takes timely corrective action while maintaining full compliance.
• An effective communicator who can lead diverse, geographically dispersed teams, exercise sound judgment under pressure, and deliver pragmatic, compliant results in fast-paced/evolving environments.

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.

Safeguarding our Staff:

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy.

Health and Safety:

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

Save the Children has zero tolerance towards Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Fraud, Bribery and Corruption.