Job Description

Finance Intern

Colombo, Sri Lanka

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a CGIAR Research Center, is seeking applications from enthusiastic students who are looking to gain professional experience in the field of finance under IWMI's internship program. The internship will be based at IWMI's headquarters in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Scope of internship

During the internship period, the intern will assist the team in the Finance Department of IWMI. The intern will gain a broad understanding of the accounting procedures and processes in an international organization. The selected candidate will undertake the role that international donors play in supporting research, have the opportunity to work with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and be able to interact with staff at IWMI's headquarters in Colombo, Sri Lanka and its regional offices. The intern will also be able to gain insight into working with people from different countries and cultures.

IWMI is an Executive Level (non-public sector) Training Organization approved by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka).

The intern will assist in the following areas:

• Maintain the financial reports and invoicing databases regularly and generate reports as per the requirements of the team.
• Assist with the process of accounting for donor receipts in the SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
• Assist with the process of accounting for interest accrued on donor funds.
• Assist with gathering supporting documents pertaining to transactions recorded in the SAP ERP system and ensure these documents are prepared as per the donor requirements stated in the project agreements.
• Coordinate with the regional offices when these documents are referred to project financial audits.
• Ensure that printed copies of the required supporting documents in relation to the financial reports are provided so that they can be dispatched to the donors and external auditors.
• Assist with the organization's efforts to continuously improve systems and processes.
• Prepare draft transaction listings to be shared with auditors and donors as required.
• Prepare draft financial and accrual reports as required.
• Prepare draft financial schedules for the project closing provision account as required.
• Complete any ad hoc work assigned by the team members.

Qualifications, knowledge, experience and skills:

• Registered or part-qualified students with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka)/Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)/Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT)/Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
• Undergraduates or fresh graduates with a bachelor's degree in Commerce/Business Administration/Finance/Accounting.
• Excellent command of the English language (written and oral).
• Ability to comprehend complex written material.
• Proficiency in using Microsoft Office software (specifically Excel and Word).
• Experience in using accounting software would be an added advantage.
• Strong self-motivation while being a team player.
• Integrity is of utmost importance.

IWMI will provide a monthly stipend to the selected candidate during the internship period.

The duration of the initial internship contract will be 6 months, with the possibility of extension for another 6 months based on performance, requirements of IWMI and the availability of funds. This is a nationally recruited internship and only Sri Lankans are eligible to apply. To apply, visit www.iwmi.org/jobs. Applications must be submitted by 24:00 (Colombo time) on Tuesday, 21 July 2026.

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is an international, research-for-development organization that works with governments, civil society and the private sector to solve water problems in developing countries and scale up solutions. Through partnership, IWMI combines research on the sustainable use of water and land resources, knowledge services and products with capacity strengthening, dialogue and policy analysis to support implementation of water management solutions for agriculture, ecosystems, climate change and inclusive economic growth. Headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, IWMI is a CGIAR Research Center with offices in 17 countries and a global network of scientists operating in more than 55 countries.

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