Humanitarian Finance Manager at Save The Children

Job Description

• The Humanitarian Finance Manager will provide the primary financial management inputs in emergency response programmes, and ongoing support to develop best practice emergency financial management procedures and processes. 
• The role has three main aspects to it: lead the emergencies finance team in Save the Children responses; capacity building finance and non-finance staff in their financial professional development and contributing to the development and advancement of policy and procedures; providing short term interim financial management and/or capacity building support to ongoing emergencies, Fragile States and/or country/regional programmes.
• The main responsibilities of this post will vary according to the terms of reference for each assignment. 
• The post holder is likely to undertake senior deployments such as Emergency Senior Finance & Grants Manager.

Key Areas of Accountability
Emergency Response: Lead the emergencies /humanitarian finance team in Save the Children Nigeria responses:

• Provide strategic finance support to the AOM/Head of Humanitarian Response including Master Budget development and monitoring, and advice on how to best to utilise a programme’s funding portfolio.
• Ensure that at all stages of the response the control framework of the operation is consistent with the situation and ensure that necessary risks are taken knowingly with appropriate mitigating actions.
• Ensure correct level of budget authority exists within the humanitarian awards.
• Support the AOM/HPM in management of  financial aspects of budget development for new proposals
• Ensure appropriate and adequate emergency finance and grants procedures are detailed in the Country Office Emergency Preparedness Plan in order to enable rapid scale up
• Ensure budget holders understand their responsibilities (e.g., through training)
• Ensure sub-offices receive adequate support to operate efficient accounting systems, including timely receipt of monthly budget variance analysis by budget holders, timely answers to queries and scheduling tasks and deadlines
• Provide a high standard of financial accounting management, ensuring compliance to local statutory law and donors regulations and consistent with SC accounting policies, procedures and tools.
• Ensure preparation of donor financial reports and proposal budgets.
• Ensure all donor requirements are complied with and reports are prepared on time with complete audit trial.
• Recruit, train and manage finance staff on the response team and/or work closely with existing country finance staff & ensure a good handover at end of mission.
• Ensure that all new staff into the response are adequately inducted in SC emergencies and financial systems, and donors’ compliance requirements consistent with their various roles.
• Ensure that SC’s commitment to improving quality and accountability in humanitarian work is upheld, through reference to the Sphere Project Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards, the NGO Code of Conduct, and other relevant tools.

Budget Monitoring:

• Participate in the annual budget development
• Support budget holders in the proposal budget costings, creating Reporting Templates and DEAs
• Support budget holders in the understanding of budget reports including phasing and re-phasing of budgets
• Support Finance Director in the development of standard costings for country programme
• Review monthly transactions with Budget Holders and provide comments to FD.

Financial Accounting, Reporting, and Control:

• Manage the Humanitarian awards financial systems and provide the budget holders a monthly update on the budget variance analysis and led the monthly finance meeting
• Ensure that effective systems are put in place, and regularly reviewed, to allow adequate financial management and control including:
• Accounting and management information systems;
• Cash and cash flow management and control in particular gain/losses on currency exchange;
• Expenditure procedures, especially around procurement;
• Documentation of all controls and procedures;
• Finance training for staff in the field and partners as necessary;
• Prepare and Monitor accurate and timely submission of financial reports and attachments to members, donors and government regulatory agencies.
• Responsible for checking and verifying the food voucher e-payment to beneficiaries on all humanitarian cash transfer awards.
• Coordinate submission of control reports, respond to findings and recommend resolutions or action plans for the NE field offices.
• Lead and participate in the development of finance policies and procedures to be able to maintain a well-financially controlled environment in both development and emergency contexts.
• Coordinate and assist FD during any internal or external audits

Award Management:

• Monitor completion of financial reports for awards/contracts. Work with awards focal persons to ensure proper accounting and closing of books upon receipt of completed reports and documents from NE sub-offices.
• Coordinate the release of donor fund summaries from the members to ensure accurate and systematic accounting of grant transactions
• Provide guidance to finance and non-finance staff and coordinate efforts to ensure compliance with donor requirements
• Ensure timely and accurate information is provided through Award Management systems
• Develop sub-grantees through training and capacity building
• Ensure that donor financial reports and additive reports align

Audit & Evaluation:

• Assist with the Internal and External audit preparations including putting together relevant documentation and TOR for the Audit
• Coordinate all SC awards audits and ensure complete implementation of recommendations
• Ensures humanitarian grants audits are conducted effective
• Follow up on audit issues and provide appropriate response with support from Director of Finance

Capacity Building: Coaching humanitarian finance and non-finance staff in their financial professional development and contributing to the development and advancement of policy and procedures:

• Support the Finance team to strengthen the non-finance staff knowledge and capacity to manage finance and grants by providing, induction, training and coaching consistent with their various roles and responsibilities.
• Contribute to ongoing finance policy revisions and maintain and continue the ongoing development of the Finance Department’s emergencies finance toolkit.
• Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development - Finance: â—¦Support the FD to ensure appropriate staffing within finance
• Ensure that all staff understand and are able to perform their role in an emergency
• Manage finance team; define expectations, provide leadership and technical support as needed, and evaluate direct reports regularly
• Support the FD to ensure the recruitment, training, and promotion of staff as appropriate and ensure availability of appropriate professional development opportunities for staff incorporates staff development strategies and Performance Management Systems into team building process.
• Establish result based system and follow up
• Ensure adequate segregation of finance duty within Area Office and Manage the performance of all Direct reports in the finance work area through: â—¦Effective use of the Performance Management System including the establishment of clear, measureable objectives, ongoing feedback, periodic reviews and fair and unbiased evaluations;
• Coaching, mentoring and other developmental opportunities;
• Recognition and rewards for outstanding performance;
• Documentation of performance that is less than satisfactory, with appropriate performance improvements/ work plans

Support to ongoing emergencies, Fragile States and/or country/regional programmes:

• Provide interim support to a country or regional programme which lacks finance resources in various roles (Country Finance and/or Award Manager, Regional Finance Manager, Audit Officer etc).
• Upon request, provide country programme finance and none-finance staff with finance induction, training and coaching into SC policies, procedures and tools and on major grants compliance issues.
•  Represent Finance at  Procurement Committee Meetings
• Attend to Financial related queries from Staff/BH
• Attend to financial queries related to awards administration from Donors/Member, Budget Holders, Regional Office and the Centre Finance.
• Participate in Year End & on-going processes relating to awards status including final reconciliation of donor disbursements & awards expenditure, confirmation of debt and income carry forward positions, awards closures

Qualifications and Experience
Essential:

• A Master's degree in Accounting/ Finance /Economics /Business Administration or other relevant professional qualification with 5-7 years working experience in relevant field.
• Extensive experience, including first phase responses, with NGOs in an international emergency environment or in fragile states with increasing responsibilities including a proven experience of establishing and running a field finance office.
• Knowledge of the requirements and experience managing grants from the major emergency donors including budgeting, eligibility issues, compliance management, and reporting.
• Experience of engaging with donors at country strategy levels
• Experience of and well developed skills in staff management and supervision.  Proven strong coaching and capacity building skills.
• Proven track record of active contribution to a senior management team, and providing strategic support across multiple sectors and/or regions
• Good attention to detail and analytical skills
• Computer literate (i.e. WORD, advanced Excel, Outlook, Internet Explorer, financial systems).
• Cultural awareness and ability to build relationships quickly with a wide variety of people
• Proven experience in financial management and producing appropriate management information to support strategy development and decision-making by budget holders and programme implementers
• Proven training experience to all levels of staff, both informal (on the job coaching) and formal (structured training courses).
• Proven analytical skills and ability to translate analysis into appropriate, feasible and practical implementation plans and goals.
• An understanding of development work in order to communicate effectively with Members/Donors and programme staff on funding sources and programme issues
• Patient, adaptable, flexible, able to improvise and remain responsive and communicate clearly and effectively under pressure
• Excellent planning, management and coordination skills, with the ability to organise a demanding workload comprised of diverse and challenging tasks and responsibilities
• Strong communication (written and spoken), and interpersonal skills in English, with experience in managing multicultural teams.
• Ability to translate complex, technical and financial issues into a language understandable by non-finance staff
• Experience of managing or supporting programmes in each stage of the project cycle, including development of funding proposals, budgeting, technical and financial monitoring in the context of grants/restricted funding sources.
• Thorough understanding of interdepartmental relationships, dynamics and functioning in an overseas programme setting

Desirable:

• Experience with Save the Children financial Policies, procedures and systems and overseas accounting software (including Agresso, SUN and FBS).
• Experience of Project Management, M&E Management or Funding Coordination would be a appreciated
• Fluent in English and Hausa