Compliance Officer at Oxfam

Job Purpose

• The Compliance Officer will be primarily responsible for overseeing and managing regulatory compliance issues internally and on donor-funded projects.
• This critical role will put in place mechanism to support staff in meeting institutional donor and Oxfam compliance requirements.

Levels of Responsibility
This role is broken down into two levels of responsibility:

• Level 1: Compliance with the rules and regulations of donors
• Level 2: Compliance with Oxfam's internal systems of control that are imposed to achieve compliance with the externally imposed rules

Dimensions:

• Assisting and alerting management to implement adequate internal control procedures as a tool for effective stewardship and management of the agency’s resources
• Alerting management on irregularities via periodic reports and recommendations for timely corrective measures
• Using standards, policies and procedures as tools to measure and monitor consistency and compliance
• Ensuring compliance with all applicable Donor rules & regulations and Local law and related reporting.
• Ensuring that all employees are informed of their obligations
• Identifying major compliance risks and recommending corrective action of risk factors Roles, Responsibilities and Accountabilities:
• Research Oxfam policies and procedures and make recommendations to management to enforce those policies and procedures applicable to Nigeria context.
• Develop internal audit/Compliance tools (paperwork, checklist, standards, audit report template, internal control survey questionnaires, physical counts of properties tools/checklist etc.)
• Research and suggest new approaches to effective and efficient management system
• Monitor implementation of action/corrective action plans relative to both internal and external audits
• Responsible for preparing audit closure status and progress report for the management and SMT review, responsible for collecting and arranging all the audit closure exhibits and responsible for submitting to the management the reviewed audit closure status/progress reports as well as all the exhibits
• Verify the closure of all audits findings
• Assist and guide the management team members in the implementation of new systems, tools, policies, and processes
• Prepare and arrange training to programme and programme support staff as part of the strategy to build the program’s compliance capacity
• Perform specific audits when assigned and when irregular activities indicate the existence of fraud during the audit process. Exercise due diligence to detect misconduct and wrongdoings
• Document all observations regarding activities and transactions to be audited highlighting potential areas of compliance weakness, risk and discrepancies
• Prepare supporting schedules & reconciliations
• Stay abreast of organizational policies, activities and programmes; and ensure that the Oxfam Nigeria Humanitarian Programme Office and partners are informed of any changes in the laws or policies that regulate the NGO sector
• Conduct monitoring visits to Implementing Partner organizations to assess adequacy of internal controls & to check if partners maintain proper records for all financial transactions
• Develop an annual/quarterly monitoring, compliance and internal audit programme work plans in consultations with the Finance Support Manager at the beginning of each fiscal year
• Develop/update audit programmes and tools for compliance review
• Prepare reports on internal controls as related to procurement, fleet, asset and stock management; as well as management of human resources at all Oxfam Humanitarian Offices.
• Submit reports containing findings and recommendations to the Humanitarian Programme Manager within one week of conducting the compliance reviews

Requirements/Skills and Competences

• A Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration or any relevant field is required; Master’s desired
• 3 -5 years of progressively responsible and directly relevant professional experience, such as finance, accounting, grants management. Audit experience essential
• Skilled in collecting, synthesizing and analysing data
• Previous experience working with institutional donors (ECHO, DFID, UN Agencies, etc.) preferred
• Excellent analytic and computer skills; skilled in MS Office package including Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Willingness and ability to travel to North East Nigeria 20 - 30 % of the time
• Effective verbal and written communication skills, including high-level interpersonal and representational capabilities; fluency in written and spoken English essential
• A strong commitment to Oxfam’s purpose, a broad understanding of the work culture in the “humanitarian” sector and its impact on key areas of responsibility and a commitment to humanitarian principles and action
• A strong budget and operations analytical skills

Oxfam Behavioral Competencies:

• Understand humanitarian contexts (program phases, underlying causes of crisis, coordination mechanisms) and application of Humanitarian Principles (vulnerability, gender and diversity awareness; Humanitarian principles, codes and standards)
• Achieve results effectively (demonstrate accountability to partners and affected people; making decisions involving others; flexibility; delivery of timely and appropriate results using available resources)
• Develop and maintain collaborative relationships (communication with affected people; collaboration with the team and partners; challenge decisions and behaviors that breach humanitarian principles)
• Operate safely and securely in a humanitarian response (Identify, communicate and minimise risk for the agency, yourself and others; comply and help uphold safety and security protocols; uphold the Do No Harm principle with partners and affected people)
• Manage yourself in a pressured and changing environment (ability to recognize and manage stress in yourself and others in order to remain ethical, constructive and objective focused; awareness of internal and external pressures and should be able to manage emotions)
• Leadership in humanitarian response (Awareness of your own skills and how they can complement those of others; demonstrate initiative, ingenuity, and tenacity in achieving solutions to fulfill objectives and motivate others to do the same; communicate humanitarian values and motivate others towards them)
• The incumbent will stay abreast of professional standards, trends and issues affecting this set of responsibilities, demonstrating continuous learning of the field in line with Oxfam in Nigeria’s mission and vision
• S/he will work effectively and collaboratively to build a team-based culture of work, treating all persons with dignity and respect, and will be familiar with and committed to Oxfam in Nigeria mission and goals