Job Vacancies at the British High Commission (BHC)

Ref: 26/19 ABJ
Location: Abuja
Grade: C4 (L)
Type of Position: Fixed term, with possibility of renewal
Start Date: 1st July 2019
Job Category: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Policy & Political roles)
Job Subcategory: CSSF - Conflict Stability and Security Fund

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities) 

• The Conflict, Security and Stability Fund (CSSF) West Africa team, British High Commission Abuja, a rapidly growing team, is looking for a confident and proactive finance and compliance manager to lead oversight of a £35m p.a. regional portfolio of conflict programming across West Africa. The CSSF is a global cross-UK government fund which brings together the UK’s contribution to stability, security and defence activities in fragile and conflict affected countries and countries at risk of instability.
• The job holder will work directly to the Head, CSSF West Africa, and be based in Abuja. He/she will work with a wide range of regional UK government and international actors to monitor, report on and improve financial risk management across the entire portfolio. This will require a range of activities, including establishing and communicating UK financial processing requirements; strengthening systems to monitor spend and compliance; improving regional financial capacity; providing financial advisory support to programme leads in Nigeria, Mali and Sierra Leone; and leading procurement, due diligence and audit processes directly as appropriate.
• This role presents an exciting opportunity to support UK foreign policy priorities in West Africa. It would suit anyone who wishes to apply strong financial skills, risk management and stakeholder engagement skills in a fascinating, fast-moving and challenging context. You will need to have excellent communication and interpersonal skills as well as strong financial technical skills.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Leading oversight of financial and compliance performance across the West Africa CSSF portfolio, including delivering through a West Africa CSSF Finance Assistant, and supporting a Sahel finance officer based in Bamako and the CSSF lead in Freetown.  You will need to proactively ensure compliance with all financial risk management and audit requirements, advising on and escalating any identified risks and identified areas for improvement as necessary;
• Leading on providing financial reports to the CSSF Africa Team in London across the West Africa portfolio, coordinating with others in the team;
• Ensuring programme management cycle principles and best practice are applied to support delivery of projects in line with annual milestones and targets;
• Providing or supporting the production of accurate and timely financial and compliance reports for the Nigeria, Sahel and Sierra Leone strategy boards, presenting information in a clear and accessible way to inform strategic decisions;
• Improving regional capability on finance, procurement and risk management by sharing guidance, tools and training opportunities;
• Ensuring and implementing all necessary pre-contract compliance requirements such as due diligence and audit processes to protect programme funds,
• Maintaining and managing relationships with suppliers, implementing partners and programme managers professionally and effectively to ensure value for money, minimising the occurrence of fraud and inefficiencies;
• The post holder will have line management responsibility for the West Africa Finance and Programme Assistant and will be the countersigning officer for the Sahel Finance and Programme Officer in Bamako.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• A2L West Africa Programme and Finance Assistant; oversight of ca. £35mn CSSF budget

Essential qualifications, Skills and Experience 

• Experience in managing large  funds (preferably programme funds)
• Strong financial management skills
• A strong understanding of systems and tools for financial planning and budgeting (including excel) Strong programme and project cycle management skills and experience
• Be articulate, competent in drafting high quality written communication, and have an excellent attention to detail
• Able to engage effectively with both  technical level and senior staff in government and other donor
• Effective at networking and building relationships and able to negotiate with others
• Experience of working with commercial suppliers, multi-lateral agencies, civil society, government and development partners to identify problems/obstacles and develop/implement practical solutions
• Able to work as part of a team to deliver results, be a self-starter and able to take and see through delegated decisions

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience:

• Financial management qualification
• Conflict/Security/development experience

Required competencies:

• Collaborating and Partnering, Achieving Commercial Outcomes, Delivering Value for Money, Delivering at Pace

Remuneration
Starting monthly salary: NGN790,125

Other benefits and conditions of employment 
Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):

• There are a wealth of learning and development opportunities available through the Diplomatic Academy, as well as lots of on the job learning opportunities, attending CSSF professional development, conferences and training. 
• The CSSF is extremely supportive of ongoing professional development and open to creative ideas for interesting learning and development.

Working patterns:

• Face to face relationships involved in this role mean that a full time presence in Abuja with periodic visits to other parts of the region is required. Home/ remote working on some occasions would be feasible, but not on a sustained basis.

go to method of application »

Ref Id: 27/19 ABJ
Location: Abuja
Grade: A2 (L)
Type of Position: Permanent
Job Category: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Policy & Political roles)
Job Subcategory: CSSF - Conflict Stability and Security Fund
Start Date: 1st July, 2019

Main Purpose of Job

• This position is in the West Africa Conflict, Security & Stability Fund (CSSF) Team, based in the British High Commission in Abuja.  This dynamic team has a regional remit in support of upstream conflict prevention and security in West Africa
• The team manages approx. £35m per year (FY 19/20) of CSSF programmes, focused on Nigeria, the Sahel and Sierra Leone
• The biggest programme within our portfolio is Nigeria, valued at £24.45m this financial year
• The team supports a number of UK Government departments and Agencies such as the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), Department for International Development, Ministry of Defence, Home Office and National Crime Agency, as well as working with international and local civil society, ministries, departments and agencies
• The job holder will provide support to the CSSF West Africa team on aspects of programme management and administration
• The job holder will also be expected to undertake ad hoc tasks within the team as and when required.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Making administrative arrangements for regular meetings hosted by the team, in particular monthly Working Group and quarterly Programme Board meetings. This includes booking rooms, technical services and making diary appointments.
• Providing support for the team on administrative and programmatic matters across CSSF West Africa, especially Nigeria.
• Arranging programmes for visiting CSSF team leaders, HMG staff and consultants working with CSSF, including making travel plans (e.g. flights, transport and hotel bookings).
• Coordinating administrative activities to ensure day to day operational needs of the team are met.
• Supporting the team finance manager in the collection, collation and review of financial reporting and carrying out spot checks on implementing partners, and being able to provide cover during absences.
• Providing responses to the CSSF London team on specific request and queries, coordinating with comms teams/programme managers of implementing partners to collate success stories, liaising with the BHC and CSSF communications teams to circulate and amplify messaging on social media platforms.
• Preparation of regular programme fact sheets and regional news letters for the CSSF West Africa portfolio.
• Information Management (Shared folder, Easyfile and SharePoint management) which includes managing the filing, storage and security of documents (contracts, MOUs, Project Terms of References, etc.)

Qualifications, Skills and Experience 
Essential:

• Experience of providing administrative support in a busy working environment
• Strong oral and written English communication skills
• Highly organised, strong attention to detail and able to take initiative and to work accurately within deadlines and with limited supervision
• IT skills, MS Office applications e.g. Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Confidence to deal with senior personnel
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a team

Desirable:

• Prior experience of working with the UK government
• Excellent numerical and spreadsheet skills
• Some Financial Management and Accounting skills
• Knowledge and interest in peace, conflict and security issues in Nigeria and West Africa.

Required Competencies:

• Changing and Improving, Collaborating and Partnering, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace

Remuneration

• Starting monthly salary: NGN387,452.00

Other Benefits and Conditions of Employment 

• Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):
• There is a range of Learning and Development opportunities with in-house and overseas training, e-learning, coaching etc. These include: courses in FCO and CSSF administrative systems
• In addition, there are opportunities for career development and progression, which we would be pleased to support.
• There are also opportunities for travel and networking with other CSSF teams in Africa and the UK.

Working Patterns

• The working hours are 08:00-16:00 Monday to Thursday and 08:00 to 13:00 on Fridays.