Ayaz Ali
Keighley,West Yorkshire
Summary
I am an experienced programme management professional having managed projects both within the UK third sector and overseas in the development sector. I also have a strong background in audit & finance (ACCA Qualified). My expertise can be summarised in the following areas: programme management within large humanitarian projects and the third sector, including PCM methodology extensive experience of MEAL, operational management of large field offices overseas in South Asia and the Middle East, financial management of field offices, internal audit assignments and institutional reporting for FCDO, EU, ECHO, SIDA, CIDA amongst others, development of organisational policies and procedures, with a focus on financial & programme management, grant writing and fundraising from large institutional donor and community projects in the UK, as well as reporting and compliance advocacy & research within the charity sector especially on poverty reduction, micro-finance, the environment and gender from an Islamic perspective, extensive cultural experience and understanding of the Middle East and South Asia: history, society and languages, extensive experience of working large international organisations as well as dealing with international donor organisations such as the WFP, UNDP and The World Bank, worked and lived in Turkey, Egypt, Palestinian territories and Israel, Pakistan and Jordan.
Overview
36
36
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Refugee Resettlement Programme Consultant
Bradford Foundation Trust
Bradford
02.2024 - 05.2025
- Worked as a consultant on a centrally funded programme on refugee resettlement in Bradford, focused on preparing children for mainstream education. This was part of larger project to integrate refugees into life in the UK. I managed a project stream entitled 'Readiness for School Programme' which comprised the provision of ESOL, cultural and education trips, mentoring sessions for jobs and study / education and open speaking sessions with recently arrived refugees within a trauma-informed framework. I worked with over 60 refugees and their families aged between 7-55. The experience, over the 15-month period has been extremely informative and the insights / understanding gained will help dealing with projects / programmes in that sector. Over the years, I have managed many projects that work directly with refugees including humanitarian and development. I have also managed projects within the UK working with charities on social and regeneration projects.
Programme Audit, Finance and Compliance Advisor
Penny Appeal
01.2023 - 01.2024
- Consultant / advisor to Penny Appeal on audit, financial management, programme finance and compliance issues for overseas grants. I deal with small, medium-sized projects under a million (GBP) and large multi-million-pound projects across at least 10 countries in MENA and South Asia including Afghanistan.
Executive Director
United Kingdom Islamic Mission Welfare and Rights Charity
12.2022 - 08.2023
- I spent a highly intense and pressured period at UKIM which was focused on the setting up a professional management structure at their new central office in Oldham Manchester and managing their ongoing operations.
Head of Programme Finance
Penny Appeal
10.2018 - 01.2023
- As a senior manager within programmes my responsibilities include: 1. financial management of the programme department: auditing programme funding through internal and external audits including the appointment of auditors, the determination of ToRs for programme and financial audits, management of the financial relationships with implementing partners, including financial controls and review of all audit reports, 2. controlling and overseeing funding to partners and ensuring compliance with financial policies, 3. reporting to institutional donors, 4. vetting partners overseas against strict partnership appraisal process, 5. reviewing and developing new policies and procedures, 6. training programme staff, 7. line managing two staff members and indirectly a further 5 accounts and finance staff overseas, 8. providing general support to programme staff on PCM and financial management of projects & programmes.
Senior Policy Advisor
Islamic Relief Worldwide
06.2013 - 04.2014
- Islamic Relief - As a Senior Policy Advisor I focused on rights-based development as a methodology / development paradigm for poverty reduction. This included addressing the issue of the compatibility of Shariah Law to modern human rights conventions and laws. As part of that responsibility, I liaised and coordinated my paper with the Danish Institute for Human Rights, various Islamic scholars and other faith-based humanitarian organisations such as Christian Aid. I also co-wrote a paper on human rights and prepared a detailed draft proposal on how the organisation can engage with rights-based programming as part of its commitment to faith-based humanitarian action. Principally, my job included reviewing project and programme proposals with the human rights lens.
DFID PPA Programme Manager
Islamic Relief Worldwide
05.2012 - 05.2013
- 1. Managed DFID PPA funded Project to the value of £5 million (civil society capacity building grant) which had key outputs on faith guided policies in microfinance, human rights, child protection, the environment and gender equality, 2. line managed 7 staff, mostly academic research managers, and held budgetary responsibility for £5 million, 3. collated and edited financial and narrative reports to DFID, 4. overseeing MEAL within the programme and worked on developing standards on Value for Money, 5. managed the programme progress and adjustments to budgets and outputs with senior DFID fund managers in Kilbride, Glasgow, 6. represented IRW at donor meetings, made presentations to other organisation on IRW policies on different areas of development, attended faith-based meetings on policies in the sector especially around faith, human rights and development, 7. Developed training material and delivered training for donor compliance across the organisation in the UK and overseas branches, 8. Development and submission of Institutional funding proposals to donor agencies such as DFID, ECHO, SIDA, CIDA.
Project Manager
SERCO Education Bradford
01.2009 - 01.2010
- 1. Managed Education Bradford's project on madaris (faith-based supplementary schools) with a strong community cohesion & engagement theme and PREVENT outcomes. I identified, negotiated and developed relationships with a network of Supplementary Schools / Foundations through a major Yorkshire Forward grant. We delivered outputs in three key areas of educational enhancement, job creation and capacity building in a team of five. Capacity building included demanding changes within madaris such as signing up to good governance, introducing child protection policies and opening up their buildings to public use. It was a multi-stakeholder project (Bradford Council, the Safeguarding Board, Bradford College and Yorkshire Forward) requiring collaboration with a multitude of local, regional and national organisations.
Programme Manager and Deputy Country Director
Islamic Relief Worldwide
01.2005 - 01.2007
- 1. Responsibility large multi-million USD programme portfolio in three key areas: i. emergency relief, ii. educational projects for refugees and iii. psycho-social support for the children iv. large donor-funded projects including a large World Bank project in Pakistan and Pakistan Administered Kashmir, 2. Fundraising with institutional donors (EU, DFID, EC) and local and international NGOs, 3. Responsible for reviewing partnership agreements with local groups, 4. Strengthened IRs internal policies and procedures as a security issue within a conflict area, 5. Member of the Country Management Team assigned with responsibilities on recruitment, programme development, offices, institutional funding relationships, workplan for 15 senior managers and their performance management, country strategy and programme management with a budget of around $30 million USD and field offices, 6. Developed proposals for humanitarian projects and secured funding from the EU, DFID, SIDA, CIDA, 7. Responsible for ensuring compliance with donor requirements on reporting for organisations such as ECHO and the World Bank, 8. Acted as the deputy country director in offices with 200+ employees, 9. Chaired the procurement committee with a large budget in an emergency context in the aftermath of the Kashmir 2005 earthquake.
Advocacy Programme Officer in the President's Unit
Islamic Relief Worldwide
02.2005 - 11.2005
- 1. Managed IR communication strategies and public relations on the issues facing Charities. 2. Project managed President's initiative on 'The Humanitarian Forum' http://www.humanitarianforum.org/. The launch gathering for the HF attracted many important guests (180 of them) including heads of major NGOs, ambassadors, and important academics, 3. Liaised with embassies and other high-level contacts; organised meetings and discussions with the US Embassy, the Swiss Foreign Office and Arab Embassies. Represented IR at important conferences such as 'Protection of Civilians' at Wilton House and 'Islamic Charities: future intentions and US Policy' at the State Department in Washington in 2005, 4. IR's representative to the UN OCHA in Geneva. I gave presentations at two seminars on obstacles facing Muslim charities post 9/11 and the work of faith-based charities in the Muslim world.
Finance and Internal Auditor
Islamic Relief Worldwide
09.2001 - 11.2005
- 1. Development of financial policies and procedures for field offices as well developing and delivering the training material for 15 international offices, 2. Internal Audits for field office accounts, including field visits to 10 international offices annually, 3. Funded Project Audits for the EC, ECHO, DFID, CAFOD and IR family in diffrent formats stipulated by the funder, 4. Financial Risk: assessments at Headquarters and Field Offices both at organisational and project level, including mitigation measures and follow up, 5. Coordination of final accounts and revision of the worldwide budgets, 6. Completed 8 professional papers and qualified as an accountant (ACCA) in November 2004.
International Projects Officer
Human Relief Foundation (HRF)
01.2000 - 01.2001
- 1. Oversight and supervision of all overseas projects valued at over a million GBP as well as preparation of project reports, management reports, administering of fund transfers to field offices, monitoring of project finances, some PR / fundraising meetings with DFID, private Gulf donors and local benefactors and the organisation of campaigns on the effects of sanctions on Iraq.
Marketing & Sales Manager
Arabian Group for Development (AGD)
Cairo
08.1999 - 08.2000
- 1. Responsible for PR and Marketing for the Company’s exhibition space to the non-Arab client base in USA, UK, Europe and Southeast Asia. Managed 3 sales staff under me using both Arabic and English, 2. Project managed AGD’s international conference on environmental change under the auspices of the UN and the Egyptian Government, 3. Sold $540,000 worth of exhibition space to international exhibitors.
TESOL Instructor
Onder Dil Language School
Eskisehir
09.1998 - 07.1999
- Company Overview: http://www.onderdil.com/
- I worked as an English language instructor at a private language school.
FE Lecturer
Various Colleges
West Yorkshire
09.1994 - 06.1998
- I Worked as a language teacher in further education colleges in West Yorkshire. The teaching side involved: planning, preparing and delivering the GCSE Religious Education and GCSE Arabic syllabus to adult learners / post 16 education; preparing and setting tests, marking examination papers, and exercises and various other teaching duties.
Trainee PR / Grants Officer
Youth Service Unit, Department of Education and Science
09.1989 - 09.1990
- Specific duties: research and submission of grant applications to charitable trusts and government departments.
International Programmes Consultant
Euro Charity Trust
Birmingham
01.2023
- Worked as a consultant on international programmes with a charitable trust based in Birmingham advising on programme strategy, management and financial controls.
Education
Postgraduate Diploma - International Development Management
Bradford University
UK01.2008
MA - English-Arabic-English Translation
University of Leeds
UK01.1999
BA Honours - Accountancy and Finance
University of East London
UK01.1994
GCSE Ordinary Level / O Levels - Economics, Law, Urdu, Accounting and Arabic
Skills
- I am proficient with Word, PowerPoint, Excel, MS Outlook, Internet Explorer, and other software applications I enjoy philosophical debates, the history of the Middle East, 20th-century history, human rights, Shariah law, astronomy, general fiction, walking, hiking, camping, and cricket My knowledge of the Middle East region and South Asia is excellent, having lived in the region for 5 years
Certification
- ACCA (2001 – 04): Association of Certified Chartered Accountants.
- Short in-house courses (2001-): Project Cycle Management, Logframes, Human Resource Policies, Child Protection, Working in Conflict Zones, Gender Sensitive Programming, Monitoring Evaluation and Learning systems (MEAL) and Company Policies and Procedures.
- IOL Certificate (1994 – 1995): Certificate in Public Sector Translation with the Institute of Linguists (London).
- TESOL (1998): Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Grade: B.
References
- Kamran, Shahid, Director of Finance, kamran.shahid@pennyappeal.org, +44 (0) 3000 11 11 11, Penny Appeal, Cross Street Chambers, Wakefield, UK, WF1 3BW
- Sabiyah, Khan, Director of Services, s.khan@bradfordft.org, 01274 010192, The Bradford Foundation, 203 Westgate, Bradford, UK, BD1 3AD
Timeline
Refugee Resettlement Programme Consultant
Bradford Foundation Trust
02.2024 - 05.2025
Programme Audit, Finance and Compliance Advisor
Penny Appeal
01.2023 - 01.2024
International Programmes Consultant
Euro Charity Trust
01.2023
Executive Director
United Kingdom Islamic Mission Welfare and Rights Charity
12.2022 - 08.2023
Head of Programme Finance
Penny Appeal
10.2018 - 01.2023
Senior Policy Advisor
Islamic Relief Worldwide
06.2013 - 04.2014
DFID PPA Programme Manager
Islamic Relief Worldwide
05.2012 - 05.2013
Project Manager
SERCO Education Bradford
01.2009 - 01.2010
Advocacy Programme Officer in the President's Unit
Islamic Relief Worldwide
02.2005 - 11.2005
Programme Manager and Deputy Country Director
Islamic Relief Worldwide
01.2005 - 01.2007
Finance and Internal Auditor
Islamic Relief Worldwide
09.2001 - 11.2005
International Projects Officer
Human Relief Foundation (HRF)
01.2000 - 01.2001
Marketing & Sales Manager
Arabian Group for Development (AGD)
08.1999 - 08.2000
TESOL Instructor
Onder Dil Language School
09.1998 - 07.1999
FE Lecturer
Various Colleges
09.1994 - 06.1998
Trainee PR / Grants Officer
Youth Service Unit, Department of Education and Science
09.1989 - 09.1990
Postgraduate Diploma - International Development Management
Bradford University
MA - English-Arabic-English Translation
University of Leeds
BA Honours - Accountancy and Finance
University of East London
GCSE Ordinary Level / O Levels - Economics, Law, Urdu, Accounting and Arabic
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