Finance & Administration Officer (CABB)
Reference: FEB20210360
Location: RSPB Northern Ireland - Belfast + Homeworking / Flexible
Salary: £21,718.00 - £24,294.00 Pro Rata
Benefits: Pension, Life Assurance, 26 days Annual Leave (pro-rata), potential job share
Duration: 9 months

The EU INTERREG VA-funded ‘Co-operation Across Borders for ‘Co-operation Across Borders for Biodiversity’ (CABB) project will contribute to the recovery of protected habitats (active raised and blanket bog) and priority species (breeding waders, hen harrier and marsh fritillary) at key sites across Northern Ireland, the Border Region of Ireland and Western Scotland.

The €4.93m project will support 2228ha of habitat to attain better conservation status and produce 8 Conservation Action Plans (CAPs) for Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, Special Sites of Scientific Interest and Areas of Special Scientific Interest. Match funding is provided by the government of Ireland, the Northern Ireland Executive, Mines Restoration Ltd in Scotland and RSPB Scotland.

The objectives of CABB, are as follows:

• Mapping for 7 Conservation Action Plans (CAPs) preparation sites (Montiaghs SAC, Garron SAC, Pettigo SAC, Drumragh/ Pettigo SAC, Meentygranagh SAC, Croaghonagh Bog SAC, Lough Nilan Bog SPA. 1 site (Muirkirk Uplands SSSI) has already been mapped. This objective will result in 8 protected sites of cross border relevance being mapped, one of which will be an actual cross border site. This objective will establish baseline data for use in CAP preparation, monitoring and evaluation.
• Development and implementation of CAPs for protected cross border sites. 8 CAPs will be prepared for the following protected sites: Montiaghs SAC, Garron SAC, Pettigo SAC, Drumragh/Pettigo SAC, Meentygranagh SAC, Croaghonagh Bog SAC, Lough Nilan Bog SPA and Muirkirk Uplands SSSI. 2,228ha will also be supported to attain better conservation status across the following 5 sites: Montiaghs SAC, Garron SAC, Drumragh/Pettigo SAC, Gruinart SPA and Muirkirk Uplands SSSI.
• Tangible conservation actions will be put in place for priority species to encourage sustainable natural regeneration of species populations. This includes the purchase of specialist machinery, capital works, works on sea wall and habitat trials.
• Development and sharing of best practice and enhancement of skills in ecosystem management.
• Develop databases to gather and share data on priority species and habitats.
• Education and outreach activities will be put in place resulting in greater awareness of protected habitats and species, their needs and the actions required for their recovery.

Key purpose of the role:

It is envisaged that the majority of your working week will focus on financial matters including claiming RSPB expenditure, auditing partner expenditure and minimising financial risk.

The outputs and objectives to be delivered via CABB are spread across South West Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Each country will have staff allocated to the delivery of the programme. The majority of the Finance and Administration Officer’s (FAO) time will be focused in Northern Ireland, dealing with financial management including claiming grants mainly for RSPB NI and RSPB Scotland, auditing partner spend, liaising with external auditors, spend profiling and forecasting and on general programme administration, communications activity and on reporting to funders on progress. Grant claims are processed in euros.

The Programme Manager, to whom the FAO will be responsible, is the single point of contact for all partners and is the conduit of information to and from the Special European Union Programmes Body (SEUPB), managers of INTERREG VA funding. You will provide support to the Programme Manager in the dissemination of all relevant information to appropriate partners and stakeholders. RSPB NI is the Lead Partner and the delivery partners are RSPB Scotland, BirdWatch Ireland, Northern Ireland Water, Butterfly Conservation and Moors for the Future.

The FAO will have the support of an RSPB Communications Volunteer. There will be scope to take on further volunteer support as appropriate.

Essential skills, knowledge & experience:

1. Excellent numeric skills
2. Highly proficient in the use of Microsoft Office, particularly Excel
3. Proven relationship and partnership building skills
4. Proven financial management skills, including problem solving
5. Proven risk management skills
6. Proven diplomacy and negotiation skills and cultural sensitivity
7. Proven report and minute and note taking
8. Knowledge of financial management, including auditing
9. Knowledge of working in other currencies
10. Advanced spreadsheet skills
11. Experience of handling financial data – spreadsheets and databases
12. Experience of dealing with large project budgets up to and above £500k, involving multiple partners

During Covid 19 restrictions, the FAO will work from home. Following the lifting of restrictions and at a time when the RSPB deem appropriate and safe to do so, the FAO will be based in our RSPB Northern Ireland Headquarters in Belfast. It is anticipated that the FAO will have to travel several times a year across the project area for audit and other project management reasons. There is scope for flexibility on the location of work, depending on individual circumstances.

This post is a full-time fixed term contract running to the 31st December 2021, with the possibility of part-time extension to 31st March 2022 or further, subject to the availability of funding. 

There is scope for this role to be considered as a job share. The financial aspects of the role will involve 3 full days per week, with general administration and communications duties occupying the other 2 days.

The FAO will be part of RSPB NI’s Operations Team, a team of 55 staff working closely across NI with our Fundraising and Communications, Policy and Business Support Teams.

Closing date: 23:59, 03 March 2021 
We are planning on conducting interviews week commencing 15th March 2021.

To Apply and For More Information:

If you would like to apply or find out more about this position, please click the 'More information about this vacancy' button. You will be directed to our website where you can complete your application.

No agencies please.