Ethiopia: Finance Deputy Director

JOB Summary

ROLE PURPOSE:The primary function of the Finance Deputy Director is to ensure Ethiopia Country Office compliance with Save the Children’s accounting policy, donor requirements and generally accepted accounting principles through the development and supervision of CO financial policies and procedures, ensuring that accurate, complete and reliable financial information is maintained in the CO financial system, and ensuring an effective and efficient control of CO assets and cash flow to minimise receivables and currency revaluation losses etc. and providing on time accurate and meaningful reports to stakeholders

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Financial Accounting, Control and Audit

• Develops and supervises Country Office accounting system and procedures and ensure that procedure incorporates local financial and reporting regulations that regulate INGO operations in Ethiopia.
• Ensures financial transactions are adequately documented, reviewed and validated in a timely to ensure that transaction are entered in Agresso on a weekly basis.
• Responsible for the monthly review of Balance sheet accounts and ensuring that accounts such as advances, prepayments and accruals are regularly reconciled and appropriate action is taken
• Plays a leading role in the closing of month and year-end financial reports.
• Reviews monthly financial reports to ensure the correctness of information before closing the accounts
• Institutes a system in place that limits exposure to transactions that are questionable and establishes a follow up plan to clarify the allow ability of the charges with budget holders
• Ensures that effective systems are put in place, and regularly reviewed, to allow adequate financial management and control
• Coordinates preparation of control reports, respond to findings and recommend resolutions or action plans;
• Facilitates the statutory audits both local and international as well as SC internal and donor audits.
• Reviews and approves exchange rate (monthly average) form for the Financial Analyst to input in FMS. control in particular gain/losses on currency exchange;
• Ensure monthly allocation of support costs to appropriate and active awards
• Ensure proper accounting for partner advances and liquidations, periodic monitoring of partners on-site for spot checking adequate documentation of transactions, and reconciliation of partner related accounts.
• Ensure timely recognition of GIK income and expenditures
• Review and check recognition of monthly and year-end accruals and deferral adjustments per SCI policy

Planning and Budgeting

· Lead the development and periodic revisions of the SCI Master Budget and annual/periodical projections of expenditures and funds in coordination with Awards, PDQ and the rest of the finance team.

• Work with senior management to ensure that a meaningful suite of reports and analysis is developed in order to enable a thorough understanding of the current position and support forward planning and decision making. These will include a top line reporting system by area, a master budget and funding gap analysis by area.

· Build strong relationships with all stakeholders on budget realignments, revisions and rephrasing where required.

· Ensure that the thematic, cross thematic and operational cost of donor budgets are accurate, well developed, phased correctly and are available for uploading into the financial system in a timely fashion.

· Ensure that all budgets are entered into the financial system Agresso and phased correctly.

· Develop and tailor budget templates, tools, and justifiable costing strategies in accordance with SCI policy..

• Supervise and monitor use of tools such as Cost allocation methodology both in the budgeting process and actual spend to support full cost recovery for SCI.
• Participates in developing an organizational long term funding strategy for programme and collaborates with all departments in the funding gap analysis.
• Acts as gatekeeper to ensure budget quality, full cost recovery and implementation feasibility when comparing with master budget.

Reporting

• Produce monthly financial reviews (MFRs) and Monthly Management controls (MMC) with full commentary.
• Ensure all relevant budgets versus actual reports are provided to the Awards management team and senior management team on a monthly basis in order that budget monitoring meetings can be held and explanation for the variance is documented and action plan are laid out.
• Ensure all donor financial reports are produced and issue in timely manner. Work closely with Awards unit to streamline the donor reporting requirements.
• Manage the production of statutory reports in accordance with the local and generally acceptable accounting standards.
• Organizes and facilitates workshops training to CO reporting users to improve their understanding of the financial and management reports. Support all sub-office finance units have development and training opportunity related to their role.
• Together with Deputy finance operations director, Ensures that Field offices have access to the information they need including producing effective reports and variance analysis to enable them to understand what is recorded and reported

Create and lead a high performing finance team

• Set the team direction based on goals and objectives from the finance Strategy
• Develop and maintain a high performing team
• Be a great business partner to all stakeholders
• Create and monitor key performance metrics in a score card
• Deliver on work plan and other commitments
• Hold yourself and your team accountable for delivering on performance metrics
• Give clear and regular feedback to your team on performance and adhere to HR submission needs
• Manage career paths and develop the team

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

· Recommended a minimum of 10 years management experience in a corporate or an NGO environment, of which four years at a senior management level within the finance department of a national or international organization

· CPA or equivalent degree (CA, ACMA, ACCA) strongly recommended

· Excellent understanding of business and financial planning including strategic modelling

· Excellent analytical skills – the ability to analyse complex financial data and design and produce effective management information

· Excellent experience of budgeting and budget management

· Excellent understanding of financial systems and procedures

· Excellent experience of computerised accounts packages, Excel, PowerPoint and Word

· Strong communication and interpersonal skills

· Ability to manage a complex and diverse workload and to work to tight deadlines

· Ability to build a small, proactive team, motivating staff and working collaboratively with colleagues and providing support and advice as necessary

· Willingness and ability to dramatically change work practices and hours, and work with incoming surge teams, in the event of emergencies

· A full appreciation of the value of co-operation within a team environment

· Understanding of Save the Children’s vision and mission and a commitment to its objectives and values

· Written and verbal fluency in English

Interested applicants who met the MINIMUM requirements should send the following throughethiojobs.net**or send it to ethiopia.recruitment@savethechildren.org before**June 28, 2015.

a. A CV (not more than 3 pages)

b. A cover letter (not more than one page)

c. A one page table summarizing your educational background, work experience, technical skills and competencies to facilitate the screening process. Refer the vacancy announcement while doing this

Please DO NOT SUBMIT copies of transcripts, academic degrees or recommendation letters with the application. You will provide them upon request.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU STATE THE CODE OF THE VACANCY ON THE SUBJECT OF YOUR EMAIL. Forhard copy applicants you can forward your application through Save the Children; P.O. Box 387; Addis Ababa; Ethiopiaensuring that the job title is clearly stated in the cover letter. All applications should be received within 10 days of this advertisement.

In the selection of its staff, Save the Children is committed to gender balance and diversity without distinction as to race, sex or religion, and without discrimination of persons with disabilities.

“We need to keep children safe and as such, our selection process reflects our commitment to ensuring that only those who are suitable to work with children are considered for these posts. All successful applicants will, therefore, be required to complete a Police Check and must sign onto our Child Safeguarding Policy and Code of Conduct.”

Note: All travel costs should be covered by the applicant if invited for written exam or interview.