Finance Officer - ASPIRE at Plan International

Role Purpose

• The purpose of this role is to provide timely, accurate financial information and ensure that Grants expenditures are in line with specific FAD/donor requirements.
• The role’s support is to the ASPIRE project.

Dimensions of the Role

• Communicates within Plan International Nigeria and with partners and related government institutions. The post holder will contribute towards financial management of the office and programmes, interfacing with both operational and programme team members.
• The post holder will also contribute towards the organisational development of Plan Internationals implementing partners
• Budgets – Monitor the budget of the Project. 
• Reporting – Support financial reporting of the Project.
• Area of Responsibility –Aspire Project in the Sokoto state.

Accountabilities
SAP Administration: 

• Assist with the finance component set-up of the project in SAP.
• Support the Finance Manager – ASPIRE and the Finance Manager –Development to prepare the annual finance budgets for the ASPIRE project.
• Support the KP06 budget preparation and periodic upload in SAP.

Capacity Building and Support:

• Provide technical assistance in terms of accounting (use of SAP), financial management, financial policy formulation, and systems of internal control to all partners/grantees to ensure compliance in terms with donor rules and regulations.
• Support the assessments of partner/grantee organizations as directed by the Finance Manager - ASPIRE and the Finance Manager-development.
• Review partner budget, provide support and guidance where necessary including the monitoring and interpretation of project budgets versus actual expenditures.
• Support train staff and partners on donor policies, rules and regulations.
• Facilitate timely partner advance request and liquidation in SAP.
• Review Partners/grantee liquidation and recommend for approval.
• Conduct and document regular partner visits to ensure compliance with grant agreement.
• Ensure receipt of timely and accurate accounting and financial reports from partners.
• Monitor the partner burn rate and offer timely advice to the partner and programs team for prompt action and decision-making.
• Monitor and track finance related performance measurement indicators and liaise with Finance Manager – ASPIRE Project to implement strategies to improve performance.
• Explain donor requirements and organizational financial policy & procedures to staff and ensure compliance.
• Prepare and review on a monthly basis, donor-specific bank reconciliation statements and receipts/deposits reconciliations.
• Support the preparation of financial reports based on donor requirements.
• Ensure proper filing (electronic and hard copy) of grants financial reports.
• Ensure that partners use the standard reporting templates and formats for their reports.
• Prepare the Project expenditure tracker. 
• Support the CO in recharging costs to the relevant Projects.
• Fulfill Plan’s Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy at all times.

Internal Financial Controls and Payments:

• Ensure that the documentation for payment is acceptable and accurate with arithmetic calculations being correct.
• Approved payment request should be processed within one week of receipt.
• Prepare the withholding tax and VAT schedules where relevant before payment is done.

Travel Advances:

• Ensure that filing of travel advances, per diem calculations and travel reconciliation forms are reviewed;
• Ensure that all travel and purchase advances are liquidated on time.

Technical Expertise, Skills and Knowledge
Essential:

• Degree in Accounting or equivalent.
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in donor funds grants administration.
• Experience working with sub-grantees required.
• Fluency in local language and English required.
• Preferred qualifications: knowledge of and experience with the key donors in the industry is strongly preferred.
• Knowledge of SAP system
• Experience providing capacity development assistance to sub-grantees strongly preferred.

Desirable:
Skills & Knowledge:

• Excellent and demonstrable experience in grant and financial management.
• Knowledge and understanding of Nigeria’s policy environment
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including good listening skills, influencing, negotiation and coaching.
• Creates strong sense of purpose and commitment within own part of operations and with stakeholders.
• Holds self and others to account to deliver on agreed goals and standards of behaviour
• Demonstrates a high degree of professionalism/integrity.
• Provides good and adequate support to enable programmes to meet its agreed financial and program outcomes.
• Actively seeks for support in addressing difficulties in execution of duties.
• Strategic thinking and effective contribution to own work and Organizational development.
• Sound judgement and decision-making in complex situations.
• Strong emotional intelligence including self-awareness.
• Leads by example to motivate high performance of others.
• Very strong commitment to continuous learning.