Finance Officer, Propcom Mai-Karfi (PM) at Palladium Group

Project Overview and Role

• Propcom Mai-Karfi is a six-year DFID programme aimed at increasing incomes for the poor in Northern Nigeria through enhanced employment opportunities for increased employment and improved productivity in selected agricultural market systems in northern Nigeria. It now has a three-year extension 2018-2021 to work in a reduced number of states from mid-2018:
• Tier 1 (Borno, Adamawa and Yobe);
• Tier 2 (Gombe, Taraba and Bauchi) and
• Partnership states (Kaduna, Kano and Jigawa).

Purpose

• To supervise the efficient disbursement of funds in line with Palladium’s policies and procedures.

Responsibilities

• The Finance Officer - Abuja will be responsible for ensuring timely payment of all invoices and expenses for the Propcom Mai-karfi programme and proper documentation of financial transactions for audit trail.
• S/he will form part of the programme finance team and work closely with the Cash Officer, Logistics Officer, Operations & Security Manager and report to the Senior Finance Manager, and through him/her to the Finance and Administration Manager.

Specific Responsibilities
The Finance Officer - Abuja will support the Senior Finance Manager and the Finance and Administration Manager with the following:

• Preparation of payment vouchers for all transactions ensuring appropriate signing, filing and documentation and the existence of a clear audit trail in line with DFID and Palladium guidelines.
• Support the Senior Finance Manager in preparation of monthly financial forecasts for the state, including statements of the office imprest account and requests for funds from the Abuja office.
• Update all financial registers including travel advance register, recurrent bill register, withholding tax register, etc and support Cash Officer to maintain cash/bank registers, cheque registers daily.
• Prepare monthly office running costs analysis.
• Draw up schedules on withholding tax monthly for remittances to appropriate authorities, and ensure prompt remittance of PAYE, WHT and other statutory taxes in line with the tax guidelines.
• Support the programme Senior Finance Manager in the preparation of cash books
• Coordinate funds/advance retirements, reimbursement and refunds ensuring that advances are promptly retired as at when due.
• Support staff with lead responsibility for implementation of specific programme activities to calculate activity budgets (using the ‘standard unit costs’ spreadsheet in programme strategic planning framework) and to input into state workplans and budgets where required
• Support technical team to access, manage and retire funds for programme activities relating to partners and incidental expenses during and immediately after programme events.
• Compute Drivers’ monthly overtime and other associated costs in conjunction with the Logistics Officer
• Respond to any queries and requests from the FAM and SFM relating to financial oversight and quality control of state financial information and compliance with all external audit requirements.
• Provide support to Staff, Vendors, Consultants, etc with practical orientation and ensure adequate understanding of office financial management systems, procedures and individual responsibilities, and provide them with templates for fund requesting and financial reporting.
• Ensure all finances are managed in alignment with the Nigerian government regulations, company and client’s financial policies and procedures.

Working Relationship:

• The Finance Officer - Abuja will report to the Senior Finance Manager and, through him/her to the Finance and Administration Manager as designated by the Team Leader or Director Operations.
• S/he will also be expected to establish and maintain good working relationships with the rest of the Propcom Mai-karfi team.
• The Finance Officer - Abuja will also be expected to establish and maintain relationships with key account officers in the various banks through whom the programme financial transactions take place.

Requirements
Minimum education and experience required:

• Relevant academic qualifications in a related field.
• Relevant working experience within Finance and Administration.
• Good organizational and accurate record keeping skills.
• Ability to understand comprehensive information.
• Good numeracy and IT skills required for operating various systems.
• Ability to interpret, analyze, and explain financial report.
• Integrity and use of initiative.
• Good negotiating and influencing skills in implementing financial policies.
• Able to work alone on a broad variety of projects.
• Good interpersonal skills should be helpful and have an approachable disposition.
• Experience using standard editing/proofreading marks and graphic layout designing.
• Demonstrate excellent computer skills in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Ability to work independently with initiative to manage high volume and sensitive workflow, knowledge of DFID employment regulations.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Able to manage multiple tasks efficiently and must work well under competing deadlines.