Senior Finance Officer at Norwegian Church Aid ('NCA')

Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Employment Type: Full-time
Category and Level: Category II B Level 3
Reporting to: Finance Manger
Geographical area of responsibility: Borno State, Nigeria
Duty station: MMC, Borno State, Nigera (With travels to the deep-field locations)
Time frame: 6 Months with possibility of extension

Specific Objectives of Mission (Objectives, Scope and Deliverables) Max 7 or Less

• Objective 1: Supervision and monitoring -Cash flow monitoring,
• Objective 2: Local capacity building-staff and partners
• Objective 3: Verification of vouchers to enhance quality and sound financial reporting
• Objective 4: Reconciliation of accounts
• Objective 5: Donor and Partner Financial Reports
• Objective 6: Improvement of internal routines

Roles and Responsibilities (Specific Tasks, Coordination etc.)
Objective 1:

• Conduct and complete the review of transactions of Nigeria office as received from the finance officer with regards to:
  • Coding of activity PID and task
  • Completeness of transactions. Ensure all transactions are captured in the financial overview i.e cash, bank, recurring journals, correctional journals.
• Monitoring of cash flow as each batch of payment is made in order to have adequacy of resources to meet daily requirements and alerting the line manager when balance is about 10m Naira, and a transfer needs to be effected.
• Ensure timeliness of all reports as per reporting deadlines.

Objective 2:

• Provide support as required to Maiduguri Office, Monguno, Pulka, Ngala and local partners on all matters pertaining to their financial operation maintaining of accurate records and submission of reports as appropriate.
• Train staff in understanding the financial aspects of the program especially in coding, variance reports.

Objective 3:

• Verify that attached to each payment voucher is the appropriate supporting documentation indicating that the goods or services for which payment is being made have been received or rendered in accordance with the terms of the contract or purchase order. These include but are not limited to: Append your signatures for confirmation of verification.
  • Invoice
  • GRN
  • Valid contract
  • Quotations or RFQs
• Confirm that payment for the goods and services has not previously been made and ensure that the commitment / payment document has been properly certified, and that the documentation is otherwise appropriate.
• Ensure that all transactions are recorded under correct codes and ascertain as to the extent that no information/ amounts exist that would bar the transaction from being disallowed by donors. These include:
• Ensuring payments being made/ journals fall within the donor reporting timelines
• Verification of all petty cash payments for approval, accuracy and makng sure they fall within the petty cash thresh holds.
• Conducting and calling for petty cash count on adhoc basis, at least 3 times a month.

Objective 4:

• Ensuring timely clearance of the balances on the clearing accounts, prepaid expenses, imprest funds, advances accounts and payroll control accounts.
• Follow up on the clearing of these balances by:
  • Formally writing to the advance holders informing them of the balance and timelines of retirement of the funds.
  • Following up on unpaid dues to customers and statutory bodies.
• Providing listings for the balance sheet accounts as supporting schedules and updating monthly and reconciling the amounts with head office.
• Follow up on partner advances as disbursed to the eventual retirement of balances.

Objective 5:

• Compile financial statements for the donors on monthly basis and the eventual quarterly financials for submission to donors with close guidance from your line manager.
• Compile monthly budget & expenditure variance for the Nigeria office by PID , and assist in compiling schedules to all users of such records.
• Compile other customized financial reports as and when needed.
• Compile bank reconciliation statements by 3rd of every month.
• Play a key role before and during financial audits.
• Help in preparation of support budgets.

Objective 6:

• Assist in the enforcement of policies and procedures that are laid out for the smooth flow of operations.
• Point on areas of improvement in the internal control systems
• Suggest improvement on the policies and procedures.
• Offer the necessary checks and balances as you watch on NCA resources.

Other:

• Preparation of payments
• Preparation of financial overviews by 3rd of the following month.
• Preparation of recurring journals. Flights, rents, payroll, stationery etc.

Essential Skills and Competencies

• Four (4) years experience in Finance/ Accounting/Audit within the field of humanitarian relief programmes
• Proven record of management of Finance teams.
• University Degree in Finance / Accounting and ICAN Certification at an advanced level.
• Management of budgets and ability to prepare timely, complete and accurate reports.
• Experience of conducting training workshops in all areas of finance for staff.
• Commitment and demonstrated skills to build national staff capacity in financial management, supervision and monitoring
• Personnel management and leadership skills
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills
• Ability to train others in relevant skills
• Ability to work in participatory manner with staff to assess needs, implement and monitor activities
• Fluent written and spoken English
• Flexibility in the workplace
• Successfully manage a team through active monitoring, coaching and continuous support;
• Proactively seek solutions in a challenging context.
• Maintain high standards and quality of work.
• Work under pressure and with a tight deadline.

Personal Attributes:

• Personnel management and leadership skills
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills
• Ability to train others in relevant skills and be a team player
• Ability to work in participatory manner with staff to assess needs, implement and monitor activities
• Fluent written and spoken English
• Flexibility in the workplace

NCA’S Commitments
NCA is committed to following the following policies, standards and commitments and all staff are equally expected to conform to their requirements:

• Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP)
• Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Disaster Relief
• ACT Alliance Code of Conduct
• SPHERE Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Relief
• NCA Nigeria Security Plan
• NCA Nigeria Staff Handbook

Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse:

• Actively promote PSEA (Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse) standards within Norwegian Church Aid and amongst beneficiaries served by Norwegian Church Aid.

Compliance & Ethics:

• Promotes and encourages a culture of compliance and ethics within Norwegian Church Aid.
• As applicable to the position, maintains a clear understanding of Norwegian Church Aid’ and donor compliance and ethics standards and adheres to those standards. Conducts work with the highest level of integrity. Communicates these values to staff and to partners and requires them to adhere to these values.