Officer, Program Budgeting

World Change Starts with Educated Children_®_

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IMPORTANT: All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the country where the position is located. Room to Read is not able to provide sponsorship.

Position Overview:
The Officer, Program Budgeting will play a critical role in supporting the financial and operational aspects of program implementation across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan. Reporting to the Director, Program Operations, the Officer will be responsible for annual planning and budgeting, preparing cash forecasts, tracking budget outlooks, supporting donor budget reviews, and monitoring procurement processes. The role requires close coordination with state teams, as well as cross-functional collaboration with the Country Office (CO) and Global Office (GO), to ensure alignment with organizational goals, donor requirements, and internal policies.

Roles and Responsibilities:
Annual Planning and Budgeting:
- Coordinate with state teams and relevant departments to consolidate annual program plans and budgets.- Facilitate the annual budgeting process by ensuring timely inputs from field teams and program leads.- Ensure that budget allocations align with programmatic goals and donor requirements.- Support the Director, Program Operations, in reviewing and finalizing the consolidated annual budget.- Maintain documentation and version control of budget submissions and approvals.

Monthly Budget Outlook Exercise:
- Collaborate with program and finance teams to collect monthly budget projections from state teams.- Monitor and track variances between planned and actual expenditures, providing analytical insights.- Assist in updating and maintaining budget dashboards to support decision-making.- Flag significant deviations or under/over-utilization to the Director, Program Operations, and suggest corrective actions.

Monthly Cash Forecast:
- Collect monthly fund requirement data from all implementation states.- Prepare consolidated monthly cash forecasts to ensure timely fund disbursement and liquidity.- Coordinate with the finance team to manage fund flows and ensure alignment with implementation needs.- Monitor fund utilization and ensure compliance with internal cash management protocols.

Donor Budget Review:
- Support the review and validation of donor-specific budgets in coordination with fundraising and program teams.- Ensure that donor budgets are realistic, aligned with approved program plans, and comply with donor guidelines.- Assist in responding to donor queries and preparing revised budgets or justifications as needed.- Maintain a tracker of donor budgets, amendments, and versions for audit and reporting purposes.

Procurement Tracking:
- Maintain oversight of procurement plans and monitor adherence to timelines and budgets.- Track procurement requests from state teams and ensure proper documentation and compliance.- Coordinate with procurement and operations teams to ensure alignment with approved budgets and donor requirements.- Generate periodic procurement tracking reports and flag delays or deviations for timely resolution.

People & Team Coordination:
- Assist in coordinating recruitment, onboarding, and capacity-building efforts for State teams.- Ensure compliance with HR policies, labour laws, and workplace regulations.

Qualifications:
Required:
- Master’s in education / social sciences / Social Work/management/consulting or equivalent.- Minimum 5-7 years of relevant experience.- Knowledge of various programs and organizations in the field of early grade reading/literacy in India and abroad.- Excellent managerial and interpersonal skills, including skills of managing and mentoring people.- Good written and oral communication skills.- Have passion for our mission and a strong desire to impact a dynamic non-profit organization.- Be an innovative and creative thinker that tries new things and inspires others to do so.- Have a very high level of personal and professional integrity and trustworthiness.- Work well independently as well as part of a team.

Compensation:
Room to Read offers a competitive salary with excellent benefits. Benefits include thirteenth month bonus, health insurance and a retirement plan. The non-monetary compensation includes a unique opportunity to be part of an innovative, meaningful, and rapidly growing organization that is changing transforming the lives of millions of children in developing countries on literacy and gender equality in education.

Room to Read is a child-safe organization.

Child Protection Principles
- Room to Read is committed to the education and welfare of children and protecting them from abuse and exploitation
- Room to Read has zero tolerance for child abuse and exploitation.
- All children have the right to be free from abuse and exploitation, including neglect, maltreatment, and physical, mental or sexual violence, inj