Program Finance Officer at Heifer International

FUNCTION

• The Program Finance Officer provides substantive support for accounting aspects of the Heifer Naija Unlock program.
• S/he will be accountable for the maintenance of accounting-related systems.
• The role is accountable to implement accepted methods of accounting and ensure proper internal controls and perform guided assessments of controls related to financial activities, reporting and compliance.
• The role will apply critical thinking to manage the business of the Naija Unlock program, in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment.
• S/he will be accountable to apply and reinforce general accounting standards and Heifer's policies and procedures.
• The incumbent will equally be in charge of processing the country program payroll as well as providing support to the procurement and administration functions for the country program.

ESSENTIAL CHARACTER TRAITS:

• Financial Acumen; Tech Savvy; Action oriented; Plans and aligns; Optimizes work processes; Ensures accountability; Drives results; Collaborates; Communicates effectively; Courageous; Instills trust.

Responsibilities B. Processing of Accounting information (40%)

• Project Financial Management and Monitoring of Project Budgets (40%)
• Work closely with the Finance Director and the project team to ensure that project finance and assets are well managed.
• Support in analyzing expenses and presenting financial reports on a monthly basis to the Finance Director.
• Participate in the annual planning and development of budgets and their monthly review and tracking.
• Document and monitor overall financial performance, analyse trends, prepare routine burn rate/variance analysis reports, and identify and communicate any over/under-spending observations or other gaps to the Program Lead/Finance Director/Country Director.
• Work closely with the program team to ensure project expenses are incurred in line with the agreed budget whilst adhering to Heifer’s standard operating procedures.
• Review projects and staff payment request to ensure sound financial management systems of Heifer finance policy is adhered to on a daily basis.
• Ensure proper management and documentation of project assets in line with laid down Heifer policies.
• Support the Finance Director to monitor the project budget on a monthly basis.
• Maintain an efficient filing and retrieval system for financial and account records to ensure completeness, accuracy, and compliance on a weekly basis.
• Complete bank reconciliations, and advance reconciliations on time.
• Ensure that sufficient funds are available to meet ongoing operational and project delivery requirements
• Ensure financial transactions are input into the Agresso system on a daily basis and completed by the 3rd of the subsequent month to facilitate timely internal and external reporting.
• Ensure that all financial documents are duly approved and filed as per the policy.
• Maintain and administer project petty cash operations and provide accountability and reporting in line with the Petty cash management controls and policy.
• Validate financial transactions by thoroughly examining and confirming that all payments are adequately substantiated and duly authorized. This entails reviewing supporting documents such as field trip reports, purchase orders (LPOs), invoices, delivery notes, and other relevant records.
• Facilitate timely and accurate registration of transactions in Agresso on a daily basis.
• Scan and organize vouchers and support documents as required by Heifer Accounting Policies Procedures (APPs) on a daily basis and upload scanned financial documents into Agresso.
• Work closely with the Finance Director to ensure project transactions are completed before the 10 th of the following month to allow smooth execution of the month-end closeout procedures, facilitating the accurate generation of project monthly reports .
• Thoroughly examine the monthly closeout reports, including depreciation, revaluation, etc., to ensure accurate reconciliation.
• Manage the timely preparation and submission of the annual statutory accounts for the Country Office and liaise with the external auditors regarding the annual audits.
• Ensure that local taxation requirements for the Country Office are adhered to including meeting Revenue Authority deadlines (corporation tax, withholding tax, sales tax, payroll, etc.).
• Ensure prompt filing of statutory returns as and when due.
• Participate in Risk Management (20%)
• Ensure that Heifer Financial policies are always adhered to. Ensure that all payments and commitments are in line with Heifer policies and properly approved by relevant authorities.
• In liaison with the project leadership team, coordinate, and execute internal/external financial assurance reviews or audits and ensure timely follow-up to review audit conclusions and recommendations.
• Participate in the risk register implementation and take proactive steps to mitigate risks within operational functions.
• Participate in implementing internal control systems and ensure proper checks and balances exist to mitigate the risk of fraud and wastage.
• May perform other job-related duties as assigned by the Project Manager

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Finance or Accounting or a related field, plus a minimum of four (4) years of professional experience in Project Financial
• Management. ICAN Finalist or ACCA. Prior experience dealing with NGOs, as well as knowledge of grants and donor financial reporting, provides a considerable competitive advantage.
• Other job-related education and/or experience may be substituted for all or part of these requirements.

Preferred Requirements:

Experience in a donor-funded development environment with compliance requirements of institutional funders.

• Most Critical Proficiencies:

A. Knowledge of the NGO business sector; Knowledge of institutional funders for international development, a plus.

• Ability to navigate financial and non-financial data gathering and analytics; technically adept with the ability to quickly learn and maximize usage of technology and software; effective use of Microsoft Office Suite with intermediate skill in MS Excel.
• Practical knowledge of the local country’s generally accepted accounting principles and fiscal statutes.
• Experience with accounting systems. Knowledge of Agresso or a similar accounting application will be an added advantage.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to work cooperatively, tactfully, and diplomatically with a culturally diverse group of people.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Motivated to work with minimal supervision.
• Demonstrate a high degree of integrity.
• Ability and willingness to work with a flexible schedule.
• Sensitivity in working with multiple cultures and beliefs, and to gender equity.

Essential Job Functions and Physical Demands:

• Ability to work under pressure, perform multiple tasks and manage consistently competing priorities, comfortable in a rapidly changing environment. Must be flexible and able to improvise to handle a variety of situations.
• Ability to effectively train individuals and teams using participatory methodologies.
• Ability to work with delicate personnel situations and to maintain confidentiality.
• Ability to maintain close relationships and work with team members from a distance and with limited opportunity for personal interaction.
• Constant sitting and working at a computer for extended periods of time.
• Constant face-to-face, electronic and telephone communication with colleagues and the general public.
• Ability to prepare documents and other materials in a well-designed and attractive format, with attention to detail.
• Willingness and ability to work outside of normal business hours.
• Ability and willingness to travel both domestically and internationally.
• Adequate physical condition necessary to travel to project sites in rural areas.