Finance Manager at Action Against Hunger International
Summary of the Position
The Finance Manager (FM) will perform varied activities of
financial management to support accountancy that facilitates efficient
operations in the Horn and East Africa Regional Office and ACF USA country
offices.
The Finance Manager:
- Purpose: Apply
professional knowledge in support of accounting and financial management
activities for HEARO office and ACF-USA country offices (CO’s).
- Engagement: Work
closely with HEARO and CO’s Finance staff and senior management in
financial follow up, planning and budget management by compiling,
summarizing data and assessing trends.
- Delivery: Add
value to Action Against Hunger by delivering comparable and quality
databases and outputs to contribute substantial work to HEARO/CO’s and
promote a sense of pride, purpose and continuous improvement.
Key activities & responsibilities to achieve this
objective:
- Responsible
for ensuring that all expenses are relevant to the activities implemented
at HEARO and are according to existing allocated financial resources.
- Responsible
for ensuring the timely, precise and transparent monthly financial
reporting to ACF Head Quarter (HQ), monthly Budget Follow-Ups (BFUs)
updated and uploaded into NHF.
- Responsible
for ensuring the timely, precise and transparent financial reporting
according to the periodicity, format/templates and rules agreed in the
contracts.
- Ensures
that donors` rules are always complied with.
- Ensure
that the Nairobi office running costs are proportionate to the volume of
activities of the projects.
- Responsible
for re-charges to ACF USA missions and HQ for expenses incurred by Nairobi
office on their behalf and reconciling intercompany accounts.
- Check
that all expenditures are authorized, related to budgets, reasonable;
justified (quality of the invoices/receipts, description, etc.); entered
in the financial system in the correct period and correct budget code.
- Properly
allocate shared costs (at least monthly) to ensure each project/fund pays
a fair share of its costs.
- Ensure
all accounting documents are filed (digitally/online and manual) and
retrieved as/when required.
- Sending
comments/questions to Nairobi office staff about irregularities in
accountancy and making sure to get feedback and that issues are addressed.
- Compile
and send monthly reports to HQ/RFS: (treasury forecast, burn report,
signed closing checklist).
- Study
and be informed about clauses of contracts with donors, changes in
procedures for reporting and requirements of donors.
Objective 2: Budget Management & Monitoring
- Key
activities & responsibilities to achieve this objective
- Providing
inputs during budget formulation
- Compile
Monthly Budget Follow-ups (BFU), distribute to relevant staff highlighting
issues like over/under expenditures or incorrect posting.
- Participating
in budget review exercises and CFP preparation for HEARO.
- Provide
recommendations to improve BFUs and BFU process.
- Review
country financial plans (CFP), revise and recommend changes prior to
submission to RFD.
- Support
assigned COs in preparation of proposal budgets and budget realignments.
- Support
in uploading of award/departmental budgets into financial management
system.
Objective 3: Treasury Management and Payroll
- Key
activities & responsibilities to achieve this objective:
- Cash
flow management: Compilation of Regional Office cash forecasts and sending
cash request (treasury forecast) to the RFS by 25th monthly; bank
transfers/Intercompany; withdrawals.
- Directly
manage and/or follow-up the managing of bank accounts (all currencies):
authorization of withdrawals and preparation of transfer forms, statements
collection, cheques deposit, continuous provisioning, performing monthly
reconciliations by 7th monthly.
- Promote
HEARO’s cashless operations culture and manage any existing petty cash
professionally.
- Uploading
payments for suppliers and other payables in bank system and in financial
management system.
- Monitoring
and negotiating exchange rates for both internal & external transfers.
- Uploads
salary payments in bank system in liaison with HR Generalist by the
deadlines given. Payroll must be processed and paid by the 25th monthly.
- Ensure
all payroll related expenses are posted in the respective month.
- Ensure
all deductions (statutory or otherwise) are remitted to relevant
authorities within agreed/statutory deadlines and proper archival system
maintained for the same.
Objective 4: Audits and Risk Management
- Key
activities & responsibilities to achieve this objective
- Take a
leading role in preparation for HEARO annual statutory audit, internal
audits & various award-specific audits.
- Review
of audit samples and ensuring availability of all the supporting
documents.
- Take
lead in answering any audit queries that may arise during the audit
exercise.
- Provide
management comments and share with RFD and RFS for review prior to
submission.
- Supporting
missions and HQ on audits by providing documents originating from HEARO.
- Inform
the Regional Finance Director (RFD) and be vigilant about any possible
financial risk ranging from over/under expenditures, potential ineligible
expenditures, need for renegotiating budgets etc.
- Identifying
structural weaknesses and proposing administrative/financial improvement
in the Regional Office. Share recommendations with RFD and assigned
Regional Finance Specialist (RFS)
Objective 5: Country Finance Oversight, Capacity Building
and Quality Assurance
- Reviews
and ensures the regular and timely production of the accounting reports
from assigned ACF-USA country offices to be treated and integrated at
global level.
- Oversee
internal control processes and appropriate use of financial resources
ensuring that ACF-USA COs are working in accordance with internal
financial procedures, donor rules and regulations.
- Proposes
and leads improvements in finance processes for country offices specific
to the FM’s scope of work.
- Provides
technical guidance, mentoring, capacity building and professional
development solutions to CO accounting staff.
- Plays
a key role in the performance management of CO Finance staff by providing
input on their technical skills, the accuracy of their work and timeliness
of budgeting and reporting.
- Oversee
the preparation of required reports to ACF network partners and donor
agencies (USAID, EU, ECHO, UN, etc.) based on assigned CO expenditure.
- Identifies,
adapts and implements best practices in the areas of financial management,
accounting and/or compliance from other INGOs and private sector
organizations to improve processes, systems and ways of working at country
and/or regional level.
Objective 6: Process Improvements, Collaboration and
Period-end Procedures
- Proactive
exchange of relevant information and consultation with the HEARO Office
and CO Finance teams.
- Guide
and collaborate with Finance teams to ensure assigned COs perform required
period end procedures within defined timelines.
- Lead
assigned COs in preparation of accounting schedules and signing off
closing checklist.
- Provide
key stakeholders within assigned scope with accurate financial data and
information for decision making, management and control.
- Short-term
deployments to other missions as/when necessary and undertaking regionwide
assignments.
- Make
recommendations regarding budgeting to ensure reasonable provisions are
included to meet general management, financial management, and audit
requirements.
- Serve
as the primary contact with auditors for areas specific to the FM’s scope
of work during financial audits.
- Review
cash projections for assigned CO’s and assigned RFS in consolidation.
- Review
and learn ACF-USA Financial Policy and Procedures while creating
recommendations to improve these policies and procedures.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s
degree in accounting, finance, economics or related fields.
- CPA/ACCA
qualifications
- Experience:
More than 5 years’ experience in finance/accounting with international
donor-funded organizations. Preference will be given to those who are
working/have worked with ACF.
- Financial
Acumen: Expertise in preparation of financial statements, supporting
audits, forecasting, financial reporting, risk management, and
strategic planning.
- Technical
Skills: Proficiency in Excel, PowerPoint, and Sylogist (Microsoft
Dynamics) financial management/accounting system.
- Communication:
Excellent verbal and written skills to present complex data to financial
and non-financial stakeholders.
- Analytical
Skills: Strong critical thinking, problem-solving, and data
interpretation.
- Adaptability:
Ability to work under pressure, manage tight deadlines, and adapt to
change.