Head of Department Finance at Action Against Hunger | ACF-International

Action Against Hunger is currently looking to fill the role of Head of Department Finance, who will be responsible for overall management of the mission financial portfolio for effective and efficient financial management in line with the Action Against Hunger financial guidelines and donor rules and regulations.

Reporting to: Deputy Country Director Support
Proposed start date: April 2025

Key Responsibilities:

• Play advisory role to other departments on their financial and budgetary needs in order to support the development of the country strategy;
• Ensuring that financial and budgetary needs and constraints are taken into account in the preparation of projects;
• Collecting data and writing the financial and budgetary section of proposals and reports to funding bodies and financing plans, and negotiation of the Z1 after validation of Country Director;
• Developing high quality and timely financial and budgetary contributions to proposals and reports for donors ensuring consistency and coherence;
• Represent the mission externally on topics related to of finance and budget and developing a network for the exchange of information and good practice;
• Develop and submit high quality financial reports;
• Monitor effectively, the setup and compliance of parameters of the mission accounting software;
• Continuous review of all data entered into the accounting software ensuring the right information are reflected in the software;
• Verification of bank books, accounts and bank reconciliations;
• Reviewing and final verification of invoices and ensuring proper archiving system in line with the organization procedure;
• Mission Budget follow-up (including forecast) with the coordination team, Heads of Department and base Finance Managers, raising possible issues when necessary;
• Identification of financial risks in collaboration with the headquarters (exchange rate flunctuations, inflation etc) and disseminate information to Head of Department and DCD Support required;
• Develop and compile financial reports according to the deadlines and formats required by donors;
• Supervision of the pre-audit of funding bodies' financial contracts and responding to queries raised by auditors;
• Verification and approval of the monthly accounting bundle and follow process of approval with HQ;
• Verifying the physical cash count in capital and in the course of visits to bases;
• Designing and keeping up to date cash management procedures adapted to local conditions, suggesting alternatives in the light of any changes, authorising and organising the transfer of funds to the bases;   
• Consolidating and approving the treasury forecast of the mission and forwarding it to headquarters;
• Consolidating requests to commit expenses on a non-signed contract (Z2) and submit to headquarters;
• Monitoring contractual payments made by donors and signed off in the field;
• Approving the selection of banking establishments for the mission in line with AAH procedures;
• Approve the methods of payment of on-going contracts and ensuring payment by the due date
• Authorise the payment of mission expenses.
• Mission Budget follow-up (including forecast) with the coordination team, Heads of Department and base Finance Managers, raising possible issues when necessary;
• Identification of financial risks in collaboration with the headquarters (exchange rate flunctuations, inflation etc) and disseminate information to Head of Department and DCD Support required;
• Develop and compile financial reports according to the deadlines and formats required by donors;
• Supervision of the pre-audit of funding bodies' financial contracts and responding to queries raised by auditors;
• Participate in the process of selecting partners and validating the financial risk analysis provided by the field team;
• Defining with partners the modes of financial and budgetary management in the framework of joint projects;
• Validate the financial and budgetary aspects of partnership conventions and agreements;
• Innovative practices in the field of financial and budgetary management in partnerships.
• Identify risks of fraud and corruption and set up preventive and monitoring mechanisms;
• Sensitization of team in terms of facilitating training on risks of fraud and corruption within the department;
• Recommend area of improvements in the mission financial management to the DCD Support and/or Internal audit and suggest possible corrective action;
• Work closely with the Internal Auditor and provide the required support to facilitate external auditors;
• Monitor financial risks and update the management on any possible risk;
• Provide suggestions and inputs to the continuous development of the financial administration procedures, routines, and SoPs;
• Collaborate with the mission HQ to improve financial systems and assist in introducing change where requested as part of the global improvement to provide timely and appropriate financial information to senior management team, program managers and budget holders;
• Contribute to the professional development of team members including providing input to appraisal of Finance Managers as technical supervisor;
• Assess the capacity of current country finance teams and make recommendations about training needs, organizational structure, and changes to staffing;
• Develop training plan for finance team, as well as program and other staff, on finance processes & financial compliance.

Position Requirements:

• Advanced Degree in Accounting/Finance with minimum of 5 years’ experience with at least three years in a managerial role;
• Accounting related Certification;
• Exceptional organizational skills, time management skills, and attention to detail;
• Capacity to lead and manage a large team across various locations;
• Strong Excel skills;
• Excellent communication skills with the capacity to write quality reports;
• Strong analytical and reporting skills;
• Experience in budget and risk management;
• Experience with SAGA accounting system preferably;
• Knowledge of international donor requirements;
• Experience with accounting systems; knowledge of SAGA would be a plus;
• Knowledge of ACF financial management framework preferrably.