PLANS ASSISTANT II

Job Description

THE ORGANIZATION

The Alliance of Bioversity International ( www.bioversityinternational.org) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) ( www.ciat.cgiar.org) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crisis of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.

With novel partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive prosperity, and nourish people in a climate crisis.

The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.

1. Purpose of the Role

The purpose of this role is to provide financial and technical support throughout the proposal development process, ensuring that proposal budgets are accurate, compliant with donor and institutional requirements, and aligned with Full Cost Recovery (FCR) principles. The role also supports the integrity and timely management of proposal financial data across systems and facilitates effective coordination among internal stakeholders to ensure proposals are financially complete and ready for submission.

2. Key Responsibilities and Duties

A. Proposal Development and Financial Compliance

The role will support the preparation, review, and validation of proposal budgets to ensure financial accuracy, compliance, and alignment with institutional requirements.

Key duties include:

• Develop, review, and validate proposal budgets using Adaptive and other relevant financial tools.

• Ensure proposal budgets comply with donor requirements, internal policies, and Full Cost Recovery (FCR) principles and support waiver approval where required.

• Conduct structured financial risk assessments for proposals and recommend appropriate mitigation measures.

• Provide clear financial guidance to Principal Investigators (PIs) to support the development of realistic and compliant proposal budgets.

• Review and validate partner budgets to ensure compliance with donor conditions and applicable institutional requirements.

• Ensure all required financial documents and supporting information are complete, accurate, and ready for proposal submission.

• Coordinate financial review inputs from relevant internal stakeholders and facilitate the required review and approval processes.

B. Proposal Financial Data Management

This role will ensure that proposal financial information is accurately recorded, consistently maintained, and accessible across relevant systems.

Key duties include:

• Prepare and upload proposal budgets into the ERP/Adaptive, ensuring accuracy and completeness.

• Maintain the Proposal Masterfile daily, ensuring that records are current, complete, and reliable.

• Ensure consistency of proposal financial data across SharePoint, ERP/Adaptive, and other relevant reporting datasets.

• Conduct regular data validation checks to identify and resolve discrepancies across proposal financial systems.

• Maintain data integrity and support reliable financial information for proposal tracking, reporting, and decision-making.

C. Stakeholder Support and Cross-Functional Coordination

This role will facilitate effective collaboration among internal teams and provide timely financial support throughout the proposal development process.

Key duties include:

• Respond to financial queries and proposal support requests in a timely and professional manner.

• Coordinate financial inputs and information from Programs, Partnerships, Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), and other relevant stakeholders.

• Provide financial guidance to PIs and proposal teams to support budget preparation, review, and finalization.

• Facilitate timely communication, waiver coordination and follow-up with relevant stakeholders to address financial issues and ensure proposal readiness.

• Support coordination of financial information and approvals required before proposal submission.

3. Key Deliverables

The expected deliverables of the role include:

1. Compliant proposal budgets: Accurate and validated budgets aligned with donor requirements, institutional policies, and FCR principles.

2. Financial risk assessments: Documented identification of key financial risks and recommended mitigation actions.

3. Complete proposal documentation: Financial documents reviewed and ready for submission within the required timelines.

4. Updated Proposal Masterfile: Daily maintenance of accurate and up-to-date proposal records.

5. Reliable financial data: Consistent and validated proposal information across Adaptive/ERP, SharePoint, and reporting datasets.

6. Timely stakeholder support: Financial queries and proposal support requests addressed promptly.

7. Proposal readiness: Timely completion of financial review, coordination, P-number initiation, waiver coordination and other required preparatory activities.