Finance and Accounting Officer

About PIE

The Pooled Fund on International Energy (PIE) is an international grant making and strategy platform with a mission to secure a safe climate, clean air and prosperity through encouraging a just transition in the power and steel sectors.

We work with charitable foundations and regional climate foundations to support a diverse set of research institutions, think tanks and civil society organisations working with governments, business and other parts of society all over the world. We aim to back local organisations and international partners to overcome the barriers to clean energy and steel.

PIE was formed in 2013 and is hosted at the European Climate Foundation (ECF). PIE is comprised of a small and dedicated international team of exceptional people based around the world. We seek to operate in accordance with a core set of values: Empowering and Caring Team, Bold Action with Urgency, Collaboration for Real World Impact, Resilient Partner with Climate Ecosystem, and Evidence-Based Decision-Making. More information about PIE at: www.pieclimate.org

Context of the role

PIE works with partners around the world to foster the acceleration of clean forms of electricity and industry to displace polluting coal. As a lean but growing organization scaling to around 60 global team members by the end of 2027, the postholder for this role will care passionately about enabling impactful global climate action by ensuring seamless, transparent, and highly efficient financial operations. Operating initially within our hosting platform, the postholder will have the opportunity to support PIE’s ongoing exploration and planning towards a potential transition into an independent foundation, making this an exciting opportunity for a detail-oriented finance professional who thrives during organisational growth and systems evolution.

Key responsibilities

The Finance and Accounting Officer will work under the PIE’s new Finance Team and will be directly supervised by the Head of Finance. This role is expected to safeguard financial compliance across our global network, lead the management, oversight and training for our new expense platform, and anchor day-to-day accounts payable processes through our upcoming foundation setup. Key responsibilities include:

• Invoice Verification & Processing: Review incoming invoices to ensure strict accuracy regarding tax regulations, contractual terms, and internal PIE policies, accurately logging them into the accounting system.
• Payment Operations & Tracking: Diligently track and follow up on payment statuses with internal payment teams and global recipients, with full responsibility for payment preparation shifting to this role within seven months of start date.
• Expense System Management: Act as the internal owner and administrator for the new expense management system, supporting its implementation, maintaining related workflows, and ensuring all expense claims reports comply with policy.
• Capacity Building & Training: Lead ongoing training sessions for the PIE network, teams, and new joiners regarding financial policies, processes, and the utilisation of the new expense management system.
• Financial Reporting & Monitoring: Support platforms and regional teams with financial reporting, variance monitoring, and data verification during this operational transition.
• Core Bookkeeping & Ledger Maintenance: Maintain accurate, up-to-date financial records by recording daily financial transactions, reconciling bank statements, and ensuring the general ledger aligns with internal accounting standards.
• Transition & Adaptability: Assist the Head of Finance with ad-hoc tasks, process mapping, and structural adjustments required as the team transitions to the independent foundation entity starting Q1 2027.
• Banking & Treasury Management: Develop and maintain effective relationships with banks and other financial institutions to support the organization's banking, cash management, and financing needs.
• Grant Financial Management & Compliance: Support donor fund setup, allocation, tracking, and reconciliation within the financial system, ensuring accurate budgets, financial data integrity, and alignment with grant management requirements.
• Financial Reporting & Donor Accountability:  Prepare and submit donor and board financial reports, ensuring compliance with funding agreements, reporting deadlines, and organizational governance requirements.
• Financial Control & Risk Assurance: Act as a financial controller within the grant approval process, conducting financial checks to ensure budget accuracy, and financial risk management.

Experience and competencies

• University degree or equivalent.
• 4+ years of relevant professional experience, with a solid track record on accounts payable, general accounting, or a similar financial operations role, ideally within the non-profit, philanthropy, or international development sector.
• Proven experience working with accounting software and expense management tools, including MS Office suite.
• An extremely high attention to detail and ability to quickly spot errors or gaps.
• Proven experience developing financial reports for internal and external consumption.
• Strong communicator and collaborator in remote, multicultural environments, with a proven ability to deliver work plans professionally and diligently while effectively coordinating, engaging and building productive partnerships across diverse cultures, time zones and working contexts.
• A demonstrable ability to self-manage, self-organise, establishing own workspace and schedule. Highly efficient as individual and in a team is essential.
• Excellent written and verbal communications in English (other languages is a plus).
• Must be able to work in EU time zones.
• Interest in or alignment with our mission

What we offer

• A unique opportunity to work with a highly dynamic, international team who combine their passion to make a difference with a rigorous approach to work.
• An extended network of close partners with technical understanding of the issues, strong international and local change-making experience, and a deep knowledge of philanthropic grant-making and strategy development.
• Competitive compensation, commensurate with experience and country benchmarks.
• A highly flexible self-managed approach in terms of daily arrangements.
• An initial 12-month contract, with a high possibility of extension if conditions allow.

Location

Based in Europe. The candidate will need to hold a valid work visa and be eligible to work from the preferred location.

How to apply

The deadline for applications is 17 July 2026 by 17:00 CEST. Applicants are encouraged to upload their CV and motivation letter as one combined document.