Programme Policy Officer Assurance Coordinator CST II

Role Overview

This position serves as an independent, second-line assurance coordinator within a country or area office, focusing exclusively on risks and controls tied to cooperating partners (CPs). The day-to-day work involves designing and executing risk-based reviews of partner due diligence, governance structures, financial and programme controls, and compliance with donor and organisational rules. Your reviews will produce documented evidence that helps management prove to internal audit, external oversight bodies, and donors that CP-related risks are being managed, and that any weaknesses identified are corrected within agreed timeframes.

The role sits outside day-to-day CP management and is accountable for providing objective challenge, verification, and escalation rather than approving or owning controls. This distinction is critical: you may be asked to test a process, but you will not be the person operating, fixing, or signing off on that process. Your success is measured by the clarity and defensibility of your assurance reports, the completeness of your working papers, and how quickly material findings move from identification to verified closure.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain a risk-based CP assurance plan covering the assigned portfolio, using factors such as partner risk ratings, funding volume, donor sensitivity, geographic complexity, prior audit history, and control maturity to prioritize which partners and processes will be reviewed in each assurance cycle.
• Independently examine the comprehensiveness, consistency, and evidence behind CP due diligence, capacity assessments, risk ratings, and mitigation strategies; where these are missing, outdated, or unsupported, provide clear documented challenge and recommend improvements.
• Conduct assurance reviews, spot checks, walkthroughs, and sample-based testing of selected partner engagements and locations, verifying that financial and programme controls are suitably designed and actually operating as intended, with attention to segregation of duties, approval limits, and record-keeping.
• Prepare detailed assurance reports that clearly separate fact from criterion, describe the risk and impact of each exception, explain root causes where they can be established, and propose actionable recommendations with named owners and agreed target dates.
• Maintain a consolidated tracker of audit observations, assurance review findings, spot-check results, investigation-related actions, and management follow-up; validate evidence submitted for closure on a risk basis and escalate overdue, repeated, or high-risk matters through appropriate governance channels.
• Use data from partner management platforms, monitoring reports, audit records, and other internal sources to identify anomalies, concentration risks, early warning signs, and systemic control weaknesses; keep a dashboard that gives management an up-to-date view of high-risk partners, assurance coverage, open findings, and audit-readiness status.
• Support preparation for internal and external audits by ensuring material CP activities have a clear, organized evidence trail and that the status of findings is current, accurate, and readily retrievable when oversight bodies request information.
• Strengthen assurance tools, checklists, templates, sampling methods, and review procedures based on lessons learned; encourage consistent documentation and independent review practices across area offices while sharing knowledge of CP risk and controls without crossing into first-line management responsibilities.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Advanced university degree in risk management, internal audit, compliance, finance, accounting, governance, operations management, or a directly related discipline; relevant professional certification (e.g., audit, risk, or compliance credentials) is desirable.
• Five to seven years of professional experience in assurance, audit, compliance, risk management, internal controls, or a comparable oversight function, including hands-on work that involves designing tests, evaluating evidence, documenting issues, and tracking corrective actions.
• Prior exposure to NGOs, implementing partners, humanitarian operations, or audit readiness environments is strongly desirable, as is familiarity with donor-funded programme requirements and partner-risk assessment frameworks.
• Proven ability to apply a risk-based approach to assurance planning—balancing coverage against exposure, significance, and materiality rather than trying to review every transaction or partner at the same depth.
• Strong analytical and writing capabilities, including the skill to explain complex control weaknesses in a concise, factual, and impartial manner that withstands management and audit scrutiny.
• Working knowledge of data analysis techniques and comfortable using corporate systems, spreadsheets, and reporting tools to identify trends, exceptions, and recurring issues across a large partner portfolio.
• High level of professional objectivity and personal integrity, with the ability to challenge process owners constructively while maintaining the independence required for second-line assurance work.