Finance & Operations Director at CARE International

Job Summary

• CARE Nigeria is seeking a Finance and Operations Director who will provide leadership and direction for CARE Nigeria Finance and Operations functions in line with the CO's strategy and vision. He/She will work closely with the Country Director to develop effective, efficient and results driven Finance and Operations team and will be responsible for operational oversight of CARE Nigeria including smooth functioning of Finance, Supply Chain, Logistics, ICT and provide technical oversight for field/sub office operations functions. The role will provide strategic oversight of Operations processes and the development of its functions in line with the changing demands and priorities of the Country Office. CARE Nigeria views Operations as an integral foundation of its programming and this position is expected to contribute to strengthening the integration of all Operations with program by working closely with the program team and fostering positive collaboration. The Director of Finance and Operations will foster a value-based organizational culture, ensuring good internal controls and conscientious stewardship of organization resources. The position requires advanced finance and business management skills, excellent team building and people coaching skills, extensive experience and in-depth understanding of finance administrative support processes and compliance requirements. A key element of the post will be to constantly review the structure and roles of the finance and operations team to respond to CO's operational support needs in a particular time. The position reports to the Country Director with a dotted line to the Regional Business Services Director. S/he collaborates closely with the ACD-Programme and serves as the line manager for the Finance Coordinator, Grants and Compliance Manager, Supply Chain Manager, and IT Coordinator. As a member of the CO Senior Management Team, s/he participates in decision- and policymaking on strategic issues including financial health and viability, program quality, program development, human resource management, and other organizational priorities and concerns. The Finance and Operations Director is expected to be an active change manager to support the implementation of CAREs transformation initiatives that aims at improving efficiency.

Job Details

RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS:

STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT

• Sets direction and takes responsibility for provision of overall strategic management across all Operations functions (Finance, Procurement and Logistics, IT, Field/sub office operations) by providing strategic leadership, advice and oversight to the Operations and Finance team.
• Develop priorities for Finance and Operations units that feed into the overall CO strategy and annual planning canvass targets, hold the team accountable to achieve those results 
• Fosters links between Programs, Finance and Operations ensuring seamless coordination and support for program management. 
• Ensure Operations and Finance strategies are integrated into the overall CO strategy, work with the senior management team to ensure that CARE has the appropriate staffing structures, management systems, and support systems to implement high quality emergency response and longer-term programming 
• Lead business process improvements for the CO operations to bring about cost efficiency and effectiveness to the CO. 
• Responsible for staff performance management, development and talent management, capacity building of the Finance and Operations team.
• Influences ways of working within the Operations and Finance Team to have a positive impact on the efficiency of the different units and value addition to the CO. 
• Work closely with CD and SLT to ensure financial viability, critical financial analysis and decision making for the program and CO mission. 
• In collaboration with program team ensure effective partnership management including due diligence review, capacity building and implementation of preventive/corrective actions.
• Negotiate/and review donor contracts to ensure full understanding of the donor agreement and possible implications on the CO

CO POLICY AND OPERATIONS SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT, REVIEW AND IMPLEMENTATION

• Initiate new, revise existing operations policies, systems and procedures in line with the legal and donor requirements in Nigeria
• Actively work with WCA RO Team in the preparedness for audits (FS, UG and CARE USA Internal Audit; supports in CO response to audit findings as well as planning and implementing audit recommendations.
• Develop and implement sound internal control systems and ensure they functioning to ensure adherence to policies and procedures and minimize loss of assets.
• Coordinate with the management on legal and regulatory matters in the CO, work with CARE USA legal, in country legal adviser, AMS and the RO to ensure CO’s full compliance with host country laws and regulations.
• Provide operational support during emergency scale-up to ensure field office set up is done in an efficient and effective manner and mobile teams are responding effectively.
• Work with Country Director to ensure that operations policies, systems and procedures are supportive of working with local partners.

FINANCIAL PLANNING, MONITORING AND REPORTING

• Provide oversight support on annual budgeting process and proposal budgeting ensure full cost recovery of SPC and funding gaps from potential donors. Make use of the Master budget tool to inform decision making in the CO. 
• Lead the mid-year forecasting and annual budgeting processes coordinating with all stakeholders for input to achieve realistic budgeting and forecasting for the CO.
• Oversee monthly analysis of expenditure budget versus actual (UNR, GPF, Overall CO portfolio) monitoring and ensure required actions and adjustments are done timely; ensure these critical reports are submitted to SLT for decision making
• Ensure the effective and efficient implementation of PeopleSoft (CAREs financial software) and Oracle (supply chain system) at all applicable levels of program support.
• Ensure effective internal control systems and that assets and resources and CARE are appropriately safeguarded. 
• Work with program teams to ensure full donor compliance for all projects and programs under existing and new donors e.g financial and narrative reports, audits and evaluations.
• Provide input including operational risk analysis and recommendations to the Country Director related to effectiveness of CO reporting and planning systems.
• Ensure country risk mitigation and response by coordinating the updating of the risk register for the CO and follow up with Risk owners on implementation of mitigation measures
• Ensure CO compliance with CARE’s accounting policy and procedures, donor rules and regulations and generally accepted accounting principles(GAAP)

TEAM MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP

• Through supervision of the Grants and Contracts Team, ensure that CARE’s investments achieve the desired impact and that finances are managed in accordance with CARE, CO regulations and Donor requirements, rules and regulations; Provide analysis to SMT and PMT on efficiency and value for money achieved with our financial resources,
• Through supervision of the Accounting staff, ensure good practice in treasury and cash management, promoting the use of wire and digital transfers, timely and efficient process for making payments; and always maintaining appropriate levels of cash in country to keep operations going; This includes supporting project managers and heads of departments with accurate and timely cash forecasts; Always maintaining a healthy level of cash in country to maintain operations going; 
• Through supervision of the Supply Chain staff, ensure the CO achieves value for Money, cost savings on procurements and ensure timely delivery of goods and services to support CARE Nigeria program delivery
• Provide proper supervision and management for all direct reports and lead the establishment and functioning of a strong, effective and coordinated team in Finance and Operations.
• Ensure the proper and timely implementation of CARE’s performance management systems for direct reports including job description, regular feedback, midterm reviews and annual performance appraisals.
• Proactively address performance issues through regular, and constructive feedback and coaching; identify necessary staff development, and career development strategies for direct reports.
• Ensure that functional units under Operations are organized in the best way possible, i.e. the structure is the most appropriate aligning to the goals of the unit and the situation;
• Ensure staff has clear, well-designed roles and responsibilities, KPI’s are developed and consistently used to measure staff’s performance and Staff are well trained and motivated; services are effectively and efficiently rendered to support program delivery.

FIELD OPERATIONS AND EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT

• Ensure strong, effective and principled CARE Nigeria liaison with government agencies and departments at national level and in areas of operations.
• Oversee CARE Nigeria’s relationship with various departments, local authorities, and line ministries, ensuring that CARE Nigeria’s interests are being served at all times, and advising Senior Management Team on how those relationships can be strengthened.
• Work closely with Field office Coordinators to ensure that support systems and structures are in place to meet program needs and that they are compliant with relevant internal and external policies and procedures.
• Provide operational and strategic support to the field offices and ensure Field Office are appropriately positioned, supported and accountable to offer operations support to the programs in their domain.
• Ensure that there is a coherence in the Operations support provided amongst the field offices.

RESOURCE MOBILIZATION:

• Contribute to CARE’s resource mobilization efforts

OTHER RSPONSIBILITIES:

• Perform any other duties as assigned.

Requirements

QUALIFICATION/EXPERIENCE/TECHNICAL SKILLS:

Required

• Master’s degree in business administration is an added advantage.
• A fully certified professional accounting qualification such as CA, ACCA, CPA together with university degree in finance or business administration.
• Registered with the Professional accounting body with a good track record
• Minimum of 12 years’ experience in finance and operations in large international NGO with a minimum of 5 years at the senior leadership position. 
• Good knowledge and experience in institutionalizing compliance and accountability system and procedures.
• Sound knowledge and hands on experience of internal and external audit requirements. 
• Experience in managing complex budgets and donor compliance and reporting.
• Demonstrated skills and motivation towards gender and cultural sensitivities, valuing diversity and championing organizational and staff diversity, upholding the organizational core values
• Excellent knowledge of Host Government regulations on NGO’s 
• Strong analytical skills, able to interpret complex data into meaningful reports to senior management. 
• Excellent interpersonal skills; ability to listen, to build support from staff across teams and across stakeholders, and to build the capacity of others.
• Excellent computer knowledge with command of Microsoft Office 365 especially Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Sound facilitation and presentation skills to ensure productive meetings, trainings, and consultations with project teams, partners and other stakeholders.

Competencies:

• Building Effective Teams
• Learning on the fly
• Strategic Agility
• Timely Decision Making
• Problem Solving
• Creativity
• Action Oriented
• Customer Focus