Humanitarian Finance Manager at Save The Children

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY

Financial Accountability: 

• Emergency Response: support in leading the Borno humanitarian finance team:
• Support the Finance Lead in providing strategic financial support to the Response Team Leader (DDPO) including Master Budget development and monitoring, and advice on how to best to utilise a programme’s funding portfolio.
• Ensure that at all stages of the response the control framework of the operation is consistent with the situation and ensure that necessary risks are taken knowingly with appropriate mitigating actions.
• Ensure the correct level of budget authority exists within the humanitarian awards.
• Support the Finance Lead and FD in the management of financial aspects of budget development for new proposals.
• Ensure appropriate and adequate emergency finance and grants procedures are detailed in the Country Office Emergency Preparedness Plan to enable rapid scale-up.
• Ensure budget holders understand their responsibilities through training.
• Ensure the response receive adequate support to operate efficient accounting systems, including timely receipt of monthly budget variance analysis by budget holders, timely answers to queries and scheduling tasks and deadlines.
• Provide a high standard of financial accounting management, ensuring compliance to local statutory law and donors regulations and consistent with SC accounting policies, procedures and tools.
• Ensure preparation of donor financial reports and proposal budgets.
• Ensure all donor requirements are complied with and reports are prepared on time with complete audit trial.
• Recruit, train and manage finance staff on the response team and/or work closely with existing country finance staff & ensure a good handover at end of mission.
• Ensure that all new staff into the response are adequately inducted in SC emergencies and financial systems, and donors’ compliance requirements consistent with their various roles.
• Ensure that SC’s commitment to improving quality and accountability in humanitarian work is upheld, through reference to the Sphere Project Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards, the NGO Code of Conduct, and other relevant tools.

Budget Monitoring and management:

• Participate in the annual budget development.
• Support budget holders in the proposal budget costings, creating Reporting Templates and DRCs
• Support budget holders in the understanding of budget reports including phasing and re-phasing of budgets.
• Review monthly transactions with Budget Holders and provide comments to relevant stakeholders.
• Prepare donor financial reports and ensure timely submission to Awards, Members and Donors
• Support in managing the Humanitarian awards financial systems and provide the budget holders a monthly update on the budget variance analysis and led the monthly meeting.
• Ensure that effective systems are put in place, and regularly reviewed, to allow adequate financial management and control including:
• Cash and cash flow management and control in particular gain/losses on currency exchange.
• Expenditure procedures, especially around procurement active meeting participation 
• Documentation of all controls and procedures.
• Finance training for staff in the field and partners as necessary.
• Prepare and monitor accurate and timely submission of financial reports and attachments to members, donors, and government regulatory agencies.
• Responsible for checking and verifying the food voucher e-payment to beneficiaries on all humanitarian cash transfer awards.
• Coordinate submission of control reports, respond to findings and recommend resolutions or action plans for the Northeast field offices.
• Participate in the development of financial policies and procedures to be able to maintain a well-financially controlled environment in both development and emergency contexts.
• Coordinate and assist the Humanitarian Finance Lead during any internal or external audits.

Award Management & Reporting:

• Monitor completion of financial reports for awards/contracts. Work with awards focal persons to ensure proper accounting and closing of books upon receipt of completed reports and documents.
• Work with Awards Management Team to coordinate the release of donor fund summaries from the members to ensure accurate and systematic accounting of grant transactions.
• Provide guidance to finance and non-finance staff and coordinate efforts to ensure compliance with donor requirements.
• Ensure timely and accurate information is provided through Award Management systems.
• Develop sub-grantees through training and capacity building.
• Ensure that donor financial reports and additive reports align.

Audit & Evaluation:

• Assist with the Internal and External audit preparations including putting together relevant documentation and TOR for the Audit
• Coordinate all SCI awards audits and ensure complete implementation of recommendations.
• Ensures humanitarian grants audits are conducted effectively.
• Follow up on audit issues and provide an appropriate response with support from Director of Finance
• Capacity Building: Coaching humanitarian finance and non-finance staff in their financial professional development and contributing to the development and advancement of policy and procedures:
• Support the Finance team to strengthen the non-finance staff knowledge and capacity to manage finance and grants by providing, induction, training and coaching consistent with their various roles and responsibilities.
• Contribute to ongoing finance policy revisions and maintain and continue the ongoing development of the Finance Department’s emergencies finance toolkit.
• Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development - Finance: ◦ensure appropriate staffing within finance.
• Ensure that all staff understand and can perform their role in an emergency.
• Manage finance team; define expectations, provide leadership and technical support as needed, and evaluate direct reports regularly.
• Ensure the recruitment, training, and promotion of staff as appropriate and ensure availability of appropriate professional development opportunities for staff incorporates staff development strategies and Performance Management Systems into the team-building process.
• Provide interim support to a country or regional programme which lacks finance resources in various roles (Country Finance and/or Award Manager, Regional Finance Manager, Audit Officer etc).
• Upon request, provide country programme finance and none-finance staff with finance induction, training and coaching into SC policies, procedures, and tools and on major grants compliance issues.
• Represent Finance at Procurement Committee Meetings
• Attend to Financial related queries from Staff/Budget Holders
• Attend to financial queries related to awards administration from Donors/Member, Budget Holders, Regional Office, and the Centre Finance.
• Participate in Year-End & on-going processes relating to awards status including final reconciliation of donor disbursements & awards expenditure, confirmation of debt and income carry forward positions, awards closures.

Other ad hoc tasks as requested by line Manager.

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values.
• holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same.
• widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others.
• future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters.
• values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength.
• approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• develops and encourages new and innovative solutions.
• willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity.

QUALIFICATIONS  

• Level of Education – BSc /HND, MBA/MSc, Accounting, Banking and Finance or equivalent
• Specified Study Area – Finance / Accounting  
• Professional certificate in accounting and finance (ACA, ANAN, ACMA, CPA), etc

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• Knowledge and experience in working with INGO, 6-9 years. 
• Experience working in humanitarian Finance in a major response. 
• Excellent verbal communication and listening skills.
• Language Requirements: Spoken English-Excellent; Written English-Excellent
• Level of IT Expertise: Excellent (Word, Excel, PowerPoint,), Advanced Excel
• System Application: ERPs, SUN System, Aggresso FMS, AMS, PROSAVE

Additional job responsibilities:

• The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.