Finance Officer at Westminster Foundation for Democracy

Contract Type: Full-time Fixed Term Contract for Service
Department: Programmes
Contract: Until 30th June 2022 (subject to renewal)

Role Overview

• The Finance Officer (FO) Nigeria will play a critical role in assisting WFD’s Nigeria office to meet the objectives of all WFD Nigeria programmes and ensure an accountable and accurate approach.
• This role is responsible for the accurate and efficient management of financial procedures and for ensuring excellent communication on, and co-ordination of, these requirements with stakeholders (for example stakeholders in Parliament, political parties, FCDO, WFD colleagues in the UK and overseas). As a small team, the FO will also be required to support the Country Representative in logistical and administrative tasks and in the delivery of programme activities as required. The FO is therefore expected to be able to work on a variety of tasks, be flexible and possess good time management and prioritisation skills.
• The Finance Officer is part of WFD’s Africa team. The duties and responsibilities below set out how this role contributes to WFD’s organisational strategy and core priorities:

Duties & Responsibilities
1.) Policy and Programme Management:

• Programme Design and Development
• Programme Implementation and Delivery
• Programme Quality and Assurance
• Stakeholder Relations
• Research and Thought Leadership.

Programme Support:

• Provide logistical support to programme activities such as booking venues, flights, transport, accommodation and organising catering, etc.
• Work closely with the London office to provide support for visits to and from the UK and other countries outside of Nigeria
• Assist the Country Representative during events to ensure activities run smoothly
• Ensure accurate filing of programme documents in paper form and online via SharePoint
• Support local partners and subcontractors to adhere to WFD policies and procedures.

2) Resource Management:
Financial administration for all Nigeria programmes:

• Manage multiple programme budgets from different donors/funders
• Assist with the preparation of programme budgets
• Advise Country Representative and London staff on forecasts and provide accurate expenditure and variance analysis
• Raise payments and process invoices and bills on time relating to the programmes and in line with WFD policy
• Produce monthly expenditure reports and monitor expenditure regularly with the budget lines
• Prepare monthly programmes reconciliation and forecast
• Prepare quarterly financial reports in line with donor requirements
• Process local income and expenditure and input all transactions onto Business Central online accounting system (or other systems as required)
• Manage solely and responsibly the day-to-day financials and transactional processing, including office petty cash and bank account
• Complete daily, weekly, monthly and yearly bank reconciliations
• Prepare monthly accruals
• Prepare and analyse local cash flow – funds cash requests to WFD headquarters, petty cash, etc.
• Support local partners and subcontractors to adhere to WFD policies and procedures
• Be responsible for the thorough and accurate filing and recording of financial documents across all programmes
• Ensure financial documents are correctly and accurately coded, recorded and filed and stored both hard and soft copy (on SharePoint), and in line with donor requirements (and data sensitivity)
• Work closely with WFD payroll service provider to facilitate payment of statutorily obligated payments and remissions, for WFD and its staff, including withholding taxes, Pension, National Housing Funds, PAYE, etc.
• Preparation of appropriate documents for internal and external audits, programme and organisational.

Business Development:

• Assist with the preparation of programme budgets for business development purposes for different donors/funders
• Assist with the financial set up of new programmes

Reporting:

• Provide timely financial reports and ensure an up-to-date filing system for all programmes: capture expenditure, report against budget and provide accurate financial reports and reconciliation with Sage
• Support local partners and subcontractors to adhere to WFD policies and procedures re. reporting.

Office Management:

• Liaise with programme suppliers and service providers, as required
• Apply the procurement process consistent with WFD policy and Value for Money (VFM) principles
• Ensure documents and files are accessible and properly filed in paper form and online using SharePoint
• Order office stationery and supplies, as necessary
• Maintain the office asset register
• Keep and regularly update suppliers’ records

3) People, Culture and Operations:
Risk Management:

• To maintain an understanding and awareness of WFD’s risk management policy and procedures and to report any actual or potential incidence where WFD could be operating outside its ‘risk appetite’.
• Proactively review and identify any potential issues which would interfere with the reporting requirements and/or WFD compliance standards and take appropriate action to resolve them.

4) Leadership and Engagement:

• Participation in organisational leadership (i.e., consultation, feedback, change programmes, etc.).

Person Specification
The Finance Officer is required to demonstrate the following competencies:

Skills, Experience and Knowledge:
Essential:

• University Degree, CPA or M.com or ACCA, ICAN, Master’s degree in related field is preferred
• Experience of, and excellent abilities in, accountancy and financial administration including management of cash flows, balance sheets, sizeable budgets (planning, monitoring and reporting)
• 3-5 years’ experience in Financial Management, Finance system, policies and procedures, preferably experience in working with INGO’s.
• Experience of using accounting packages. Proficient in working with Microsoft Office (MS Excel, Word, Outlook, Business Central)
• Knowledge of project management methodologies and how to integrate good financial management into good project management
• Good command of spoken and written English
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to work in a changing environment.

Desirable:

• Experience of supporting multiple programmes and budgets simultaneously
• Experience working on programme budgets from a range of donors, such as EU, DFID, UN, GIZ
• Experience of procurement
• Knowledge of the Westminster Parliamentary system and Political Parties, UK and international funding institutions and donor agencies.