Summary of Position:
The Head of Finance Department is responsible for sound and transparent administration of funds by providing accounting and financial management consistent with Action Against Hunger financial management framework and local legislation. She/he will ensure regular oversight, monitoring, and support to the management of the country finance portfolio throughout the lifecycle of all grants, from early discussions with the donor and/or organizational partners, to finance compliance checks, and reporting.
The Head of Finance Department will take the lead and coordinate the process of development of high-quality budgets to be incorporated into concept notes, proposals including budget narratives and reports in compliance with donor regulations. She/he will follow country-level and HQ related established processes, and ensure all documentation is in line with Action Against Hunger’s Internal Guidelines and according to Country Office standards.
Essential job roles
1: Contribute to the definition of Country strategy
- Creating the budgetary framework of the Country Programme.
- Make financial and budgetary information available to other departments to facilitate the establishment of the country strategy.
- Produce high quality and timely financial and budgetary contributions to "proposals" and reports for funding bodies.
- Contributing a financial and budgetary perspective to coordination discussions, while mainstreaming gender in planning and budgeting processes at country level
- Advising other departments on their financial and budgetary needs
- Ensuring that financial and budgetary needs and constraints took into account in the preparation of projects.
- Collecting data and writing the financial and budgetary section of proposals and reports to funding bodies and financing plans.
- Ensuring that his/her contribution to “proposals” and reports is consistent with the rest of these documents.
- Representing the mission to outside bodies on issues of finance and budget and developing a network for the exchange of information and good practice.
2: Ensure high quality accounting for the Country Programme
- Disseminating information about accounting procedures throughout the Country Programme and ensuring they are observed.
- Correctness of accounting and analytical entries
- Ensure timely sharing of the monthly accounting bundle.
- Verifications of cash stocks and bank accounts according to ACF regulations.
- Ensuring that parameters of the accounting software are properly set up.
- Ensuring that all accounting, extra-accounting and expatriate data are entered into the accounting software.
- Verifying bankbooks and validate bank reconciliations on monthly basis
- Supervising the checking of invoices and ensuring that they are archived according to ACF procedures.
- Verifying and approving the monthly accounting bundle and ensuring that it is forward to headquarters on time.
- Verifying the physical cash count in capital and in the course of visits to bases.
3: Ensure high quality cash management for the Country Programme
- Designing, promulgating and ensuring compliance with cash management procedures across the Country Programme.
- Ensure availability and safekeeping of the necessary cash.
- Adapting methods for cash transfer in the light of local conditions and security considerations
- Monitoring the correspondence between cash forecast and the BFU.
- Anticipating treasury risks and resolving difficulties.
- Ensure adherence of cash management procedures adapted to local conditions, suggesting alternatives in the light of any changes, authorizing and organizing the transfer of funds to the bases.
- Consolidating and approving the treasury forecast of the mission and forward it to Operations Director for review and validation.
- Passing on payments made through Regional Office.
- Monitoring contractual payments made by funding bodies and signed off in the field.
- Approving the methods of payment of on-going contracts and ensure payment by the due date.
- Authorizing the payment of mission expenses according to ACF procedures
4: Provide financial and budgetary management
- Promulgation of and compliance with the financial rules of funding bodies
- Establishing the annual budget.
- Leadership in budgetary matters at mission level and steering the process of budget forecasting.
- Cost analysis and issuing budgetary alerts when necessary
- Monitoring financial risks and issuing alerts when necessary
- Providing the necessary materials for negotiations with funding bodies and producing documents to funding bodies
- Calculating and ratifying project budgets
- Preparing and revising the mission's annual budget.
- Producing, checking and forwarding budget follow-up (including forecast) to the coordination team and to base Program Managers, raising issues of relevance and alerts, Director Finance and Administration.
- Ratifying the circulation and authorization thresh holds of expenditures laid down by Logistics.
- Identifying financial risks (exchange rate fluctuations, inflation...), making Heads of Department aware of financial risks in their field, alerting the Director Finance and Administration, providing support in the management of risk.
- Production and archiving of financial reports according to the deadlines and formats required by funding bodies.
- Supervision of the pre-audit of funding bodies' financial contracts and responding to queries raised by auditors.
5: Promote and ensure financial collaboration and coordination with Country Programme partners
- Participating in the process of selecting partners and validating the financial risk analysis provided by the bases
- Defining with partners the modes of financial and budgetary management in the framework of joint projects.
- Validating the financial and budgetary aspects of partnership conventions and agreements.
- Taking full advantage at mission level of all innovative practices in the field of financial and budgetary management in partnerships.
6: Prevent and manage fraud and corruption
- Identifying risks of fraud and corruption in his/her field of competence and setting up preventive and monitoring mechanisms
- Making his/her team aware of the risks of fraud and corruption
- Alerting the Senior management to cases of fraud and corruption and undertaking corrective action
- Putting in place and monitoring recommendations arising from the day-to-day control and audit
7: Manage the Finance team in capital and be Technical/Support Manager of Finance Managers in the bases
- The Financial Coordinator is responsible forthe day-to-day management of his/her team (guidance, follow-up, motivation...)
- Evaluating the performance and developing the skills of his/her team members
- Management of the teams for which s/he is support/technical Manager
- Defining the Human Resource needs of his/her area of activity and establishing the organizational chart of his/her team
- Taking part in the recruitment of team members
- Organizing and leading team meetings
- Working out and monitoring individual action plans for team members
- Managing the planning process, the sharing and coordination of tasks
- Providing for appraisal interviews for team members
- Providing technical support to the teams
- Identifying the training needs of team members
- Creating, organizing and leading training sessions
- Managing difficulties in the team
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
Technical supervision / advice to Field Finance Teams and directly managing Deputy Head of Departments; Deputy Manager for Audit and compliance, Budget and Reporting Manager; and Accounting Manager.
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
- Budgeting of gender related activities/ interventions/Safeguarding activities including trainings, translations, printing, field visit and community meetings and ensure implementation of these activities within budget, scope and time.
- Budget tracking - Bank accounts and cash balances -Donor financial reports -Expenditure approvals - Financial statements
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
- To travel to the field, the employee must attest to a level of physical fitness capable of enduring physically difficult, highly stressful situations, which may include the necessity to walk long distances, to eat a limited diet and/or to reside in potentially uncomfortable housing or tents.
- The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
WORKING CONDITIONS, TRAVEL AND ENVIRONMENT
- The duties of the job require regular job attendance at least five days per week. Must be available to work outside normal office hours or on the weekends as required.
- Must be able to travel as required for standard domestic and international business purposes. While performing the duties of this job in the field, the employee may be exposed to precarious settings under high security risks and/or very basic living conditions and outside weather conditions, as well as infectious diseases.
GENDER EQUALITY COMMITMENTS & ZERO TOLERANCE TO ABUSE
- Foster an environment that supports values of women and men, and equal access to information.
- Provide a work environment where women and men must be evaluated and promoted based on their skills and performance
- Respect beneficiaries’ women, men, boys and girls regardless of gender, sex orientation, disability, religion, race, color, ancestry, national origin, age or marital status,
- Value and respect all cultures.
- Promote and uphold the Safeguarding/PSEA policy and procedures.
COMMITMENT TO SAFEGUARDING
- Responsible to fully understand and adhere to Action Against Hunger’s safeguarding policy, PSEA and child safeguarding policies as well as its Code of Conduct and Charter of Principles
- Respect all policies during professional as well as private time and ask for clarification if needed.
- Accomplish tasks in a way not to harm children, vulnerable adults and other communities we serve, or expose them to risk of abuse and exploitation.
- Report all safeguarding concern according to the applicable reporting system
- Create and maintain an environment free of abuse and exploitation.
Requirements
Required Qualifications and Professional Experience
- Minimum of Master’s / BSc Degree in Finance and Accounting
- At least 8 years’ work experience in senior finance management level,
- INGO experience is advantageous
Required Skills & Competencies
- Knowledge of key institutional donors, including ECHO, USAID, SIDA, GAC, OCHA and others.
- Excellent experience in proposal and report writing, donor rules and regulations, validation procedures, coordination of processes.
- Proven ability to work independently under minimal guidance, pressure, and tight deadlines.
- Communication skills, and a diplomatic, but firm approach to obtain buy in and contributions from a range of staff involved in proposal and report production
- Initiative and ability to able to work independently and propose solutions to diverse problems.
- Experience of working within a team and team building.
- Experience in living and working in insecure and volatile contexts and in shared accommodation
- Proven ability to work in multi-donor short term contract situations and ability to effectively juggle priorities to meet the needs of the Country Office.
- Sound experience in finances and management skills and knowing different accounting software’s
- High level of integrity, discipline and professionalism; ability to maintain confidentiality of information and processes
- Very good in both verbal and written in French and English languages
- Very good computer skills including Microsoft Word and Excel.
- Highly organized, motivated, capable to learn and develop,
- Willing to travel frequently to the field
- High commitment to confidentiality
- Ability to provide or recommend solutions to problems; show flexibility to assume additional responsibilities
- Outstanding interpersonal, communication and presentation skills, including the presence to deal effectively with diverse constituencies including senior management
- Commitment to Action Against Hunger’s work and values
- Capacity building and facilitations skills
Benefits
Action Against Hunger-USA provides all staff with an attractive salary & benefits package. We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees & qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, ancestry, sexual orientation, national origin, age, handicap, disability, marital status, or status as a veteran. Action Against Hunger-USA complies with all applicable laws governing nondiscrimination in employment.
Application Process
Interested? Then apply for this position by clicking on the apply button. The applications will be viewed on a rolling basis.
