Senior Finance Officer at Search For Common Ground’s International

Location: Maiduguri, Borno

Summary of Position

• Search is recruiting for  a Senior Finance Officer for an upcoming project in Maiduguri.
• S/He will be responsible for a range of bookkeeping responsibilities as well as providing support on finance and project budget management functions.
• Carrying out and recording relevant financial transactions as well as coordinating the financial coding of these transactions will all be part of your daily routine.
• You will oversee the maintenance and reconciliation of bank records and, as SEARCH receives funding from a number of donors.
• You will be responsible for maintaining ledgers and contributing to the regular financial reporting.
• You will also oversee the petty cash disbursements and reconciliation.
• Working under the direct supervision of the Senior Finance Coordinator, you will have a close working relationship with the Finance Manager and other finance and Accounts coordinator as well as building good relationships with the project leads, some of whom are based in other parts of the country.

Major Duties and Responsibilities
Book-keeping:

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date books of accounts;  review general ledger accounts regularly to ensure accurate postings;
• Accurately and promptly process all accounting transactions, including operating expenses, procurement, travel, consultant payments, vendor payments, and transfer of funds to the other SEARCH sub-offices in Nigeria. Also, ensure recovery of advances and accounts receivables;
• Maintain and ensure consistency in the application of accounting rules and procedures, including safeguarding of cash and checks;
• Assist the Senior Finance Coordinator to prepare the Monthly Financial Report (MFRs);
• Ensure proper documentation of vouchers and receipts, financial reporting, proper coding of expenses, distribution of payments, tracking petty cash distribution and bank deposits;
• Work closely with the Admin and Logistics Coordinator and other Finance and Accounts Coordinators to ensure timely payments for goods and services rendered to SEARCH;
• Support Senior Finance Coordinator to strengthen financial and accounting systems - identifying gaps, weaknesses and issues and recommending and implementing solutions;
• Support Senior Finance coordinator to update financial policies and guidelines;
• Provide support during the grant and organizational audits;
• Process journal entries and trial balance information
• Consolidating accurate data entry into the INTACCT accounting system for monthly reporting
• Effectively support the Compliance staff in preparing internal audits as per donor policies where appropriate
• Responsible for review of partner’s report and upload
• Any other function required to undertake broadly in line with above functions

Financial Reporting:

• Monitor financial transactions and accounting reports, and reconciliations of accounts to ensure accurate and up-to-date financial information.
• Prepare donor reports and financial reports and management reports for project managers
• Prepare and Process monthly financial records (MFRs)
• Prepare BvA reports and coordinate monthly meetings
• Generate and assign barcode to financial reports

Petty Cash Management:

• Oversee the petty cash disbursement and ensure proper reconciliation and replenishment.
• Verify all petty cash receipts for compliance
• Perform cash count with the Admin officer and ensure the cash count form is signed by both parties.
• Ensure regular update of the petty cash log and adequate supporting documents.
• Ensure petty cash advances are retired in line with SEARCH policies.

Other duties:

• Deputize for the Finance Lead in his/her absence
• Keep colleagues appraised of developments in own area as appropriate
• Contribute to staff meetings, and other internal meetings with appropriate content , views and suggestions
• Fulfil requirements of internal staff management processes including performance reviews, supervisory meetings, etc.
• Develop strong relationships with all SEARCH colleagues and partners to enhance their understanding of finance and build their knowledge; in particular, develop strong relationships with non-financial staff in remote offices, who will be responsible for day-to-day financial reporting and accounting

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Manage day-to-day workload of finance assistant as directed by the Senior Finance Coordinator
• Support and develop capacity of finance assistant in field offices as directed by the Senior Finance Coordinator

Qualifications

• B.Sc qualification in Accountancy or its equivalent
• 3 - 5 years experience as finance/accounts officer or coordinator or similar
• Good understanding of accounting principles
• Chartered certifications( ACA/ACCA) would be a great advantage
• Effective oral and written English skills.
• Good level of proficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel
• Good administrative and organizational skills and ability to keep documentation tidy and accessible
• High level of attention to detail and accuracy
• Ability to plan and organize multiple simultaneous tasks efficiently
• Ability to work independently and ask for clarification where needed
• A demonstrated commitment to high professional ethical standards and a diverse workplace