Finance Officer at Oxfam

Requisition ID: 11246

Internal Job Grade: D2
Contract type: Nine (9) Months
Job Family: Finance
Reporting to: Finance Administrator
Staff reporting directly to this post: None

Job Purpose

• To support LINE in ensuring it maintains a high standard of accounting and financial control.
• The nature of this job demands rigorous and careful attention to details, proper understanding of financial systems and procedures, good inter-personal skills, and complete integrity at all times.
• The purpose of the role is to ensure that financial procedures are adhered to and non-compliances challenged while at the same time providing capacity building for the team to understand and comply with the procedures.
• The position holder will work closely with the programme and country finance teams to provide quality financial information, process payments and maintain comprehensive accounting records for the project.

Responsibilities
Payables:

• Ensure supporting documentation for payments is complete and correct (e.g. authorized and coded by budget holder) in accordance with Oxfam financial procedures.
• Prepare payments for authorization by account signatories.
• Ensure relevant statutory deductions are made, and transactions recorded accurately.
• Maintain a reliable and effective finance record filling system.
• Monthly reconciliation of accounts and follow up with any discrepancies.
• Support project team by ensuring payments in the field are anticipated, made in a timely manner and with safety in mind.
• Ensure payments are made in accordance with the delegation of authority limits.
• Ensure compliance checklist regarding transactions are adhered to.

Receivables:

• Ensure that all receipts are properly documented, e.g. by an invoice or receipt.

Bank Reconciliation:

• Reconcile project’s bank accounts on a monthly basis.

Managing Bank and Cash Balances:

• Proactively monitor balance on bank account to:
• Ensure that balances are sufficient to cover anticipated payments.
• Identify receipts or payments that may require further investigation.
• Manage LINE bank and cash accounts.
• Maintain journal vouchers for receipts, payments and balances.
• Ensure fully authorised payments and receipts are uploaded on the system on a weekly basis.
• Monitor and ensure outstanding floats or advances are properly and timely cleared.
• Ensure cash counts are undertaken weekly, monthly, and whenever responsibility is handed to another person.

Financial Administration:

• Act as point of contact for day-to-day matters with financial service providers.
• Oversee filing systems, both electronic and hard copy (payables, receivables, payments, receipts, cash payments etc).

Others:

• Provide technical and administrative supports to Supply & Logistics Officers who may be required to carry out related financial management functions on the field.
• Support external audits exercises and ensuring that internal audit exercises are conducted periodically.
• Provide day-to-day technical supports to the Finance Officers of Implementing Partners as may be required.
• Provide support and advice to LINE Project Staff on various matters including: completion of finance related forms (expense claims, float accounts etc.).
• Locating documentation, supporting payments and receipts.

Requirements
Educational Qualification:

• A Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration or any relevant equivalent is required.
• Three to Five (3 - 5) years of progressively responsible and directly relevant professional experience, such as finance, accounting, grants management - ideally with at least 2 years in International NGO.
• ICAN or ACCA qualification will be an added advantage.
• Ability to understand and implement government tax laws with respect to contracting, payments to vendors/service providers and remittance to appropriate authorities.
• Proven knowledge of computerized systems and demonstrable experience of working with computerized accounting packages and spreadsheets. Knowledge of Oxfam’s accounting software will be an added advantage.
• Proactive, flexible, and able to respond to a variety of questions relating to the job.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
• Manages own time under guidance and direction from supervisor and meet the deadlines.
• Strong analytical and planning skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a large multi-cultural organisation.

Key Attributes:

• Experience of developing and delivering policy and advocacy strategies and influencing policy change targeting different categories of stakeholders.
• Experience of working with high, mid and low level influencers across different socio-economic grouping and geography.
• Experience of advocacy and campaigning targeting diverse stakeholders in a similar position.
• Working with rural communities and facilitation of community development plans using participatory methodologies.
• Experience working with vulnerable rural people, including women and young children.
• Working in difficult terrains with limited access to urban facilities.
• Cultural awareness of the northern Nigeria and/or experience of the socio-cultural and religious issues of the region.

Key Behavioural Competencies
Influencing:

• We can engage with diverse stakeholders in a way that leads to increased impact for the organisation
• We spot opportunities to influence effectively and where there are no opportunities, we could create them in a respectful and impactful manner.

Relationship Building:

• We understand the importance of building relationship, within and outside the organization.
• We could engage with traditional and non-traditional stakeholders in ways that lead to increased impact for the organisation.

Agility, Complexity and Ambiguity:

• We scan the environment, anticipate changes, are comfortable with lack of clarity and deal with many elements interacting in diverse and unpredictable ways.

Systems Thinking:

• We view problems as parts of an overall system and in their relation to the whole system, rather than reacting to a specific part, outcome, or event in isolation.
• By consistently practicing systems thinking we are aware of and manage well unintended consequences of organizational decisions and actions.

Listening:

• We are good listeners who can see where deeper levels of thoughts and tacit assumptions differ.
• Our messages to others are clear and consider different preferences.