Finance and Administrative Officer at Palladium Group

Palladium is a global leader in the design, development and delivery of Positive Impact - the intentional creation of enduring social and economic value. We work with foundations, investors, governments, corporations, communities and civil society to formulate strategies and implement solutions that generate lasting social, environmental and financial benefits.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Finance and Administrative Officer

Ref No: req21043
Location: Kano
Employment Type: Full-time

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

Propcom+ is a new FCDO-funded eight-year (2023-2030), rural and agricultural market development program supporting climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture and forestry that benefits people, climate, and nature.
The program is implemented by The Palladium Group, and it aims to transform Nigeria's rural economy by addressing environmental, social, and economic challenges in the country's food and land-use system.
It will do this by (i) increasing productivity, improving nutrition and food security; (ii) enhancing climate resilience, pursuing lower emissions, and protecting and restore nature, and (iii) helping tackle some of Nigeria’s underlying drivers of conflict and insecurity.
It does this by working as a ‘market facilitator’, identifying constraints in market systems and facilitating changes to enable rural markets to work better for the benefit of poor and climate-vulnerable smallholder farmers and rural small-scale entrepreneurs.
Propcom+ has a target of increasing the incomes and climate resilience of 3.9 million poor and vulnerable people in Nigeria, 50% of whom will be women, through a “3Ps” approach of interlinked components:
- P1: Scaling-up a focused basket of Proven climate-smart interventions around agricultural and primary processing / storage practices and models to get these adopted by millions of poor and vulnerable smallholder farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs.
- P2: Building markets by developing and Piloting new business models that improve productivity, enhance resilience to climate change, reduce emissions, and improve nutrition outcomes.
- P3: Enabling Policies that support a strengthened enabling environment for sustainable food and land-use system.

Purpose

The Finance and Administration Officer (FAO) is responsible for the day-to-day running of the office which includes management of the office resources and coordination of all logistical needs, ensuring timely payment of all invoices and expenses for the Propcom+ program and responsible for the remittance of all statutory payments at the state level related to both vendors, service providers, staff and consultants.
The FAO will directly manage all office support staff and drivers and will work closely with all state team members to ensure the effective delivery of the program. Where required the FAO will provide support to technical staff to ensure program activities and financial duties are completed in a compliant and timely manner.
The FAO will work closely with the Finance Manager to ensure effective oversight of the program finances.

Reporting:

This post will managed by the Regional Policy Lead and will report functionally to the Finance Manager and the Human Resource manager.

Line Management:

This post would supervise State Driver(s), Office Assistant, intern and any other Staff as may be assigned by programme management.

Key Responsibilities
Finance:

Preparation of payment vouchers for all transactions ensuring appropriate signing, filing and documentation and the existence of a clear audit trail in line with FCDO and Palladium guidelines.
Support the Finance Manager in preparation of monthly financial forecasts for the state, including statements of the office Imprest account and requests for funds from the Abuja office.
Vouching all cheques and getting necessary signatures on each cheque.
Passing all vouchers to the programme Finance Manager for checking and posting
Responsible for petty cash and payment out of the petty cash for project purposes.
Maintaining daily cash balances for each cash account and requesting for cash top up of petty cash whenever the balance is low.
Updateall financial registersincluding travel advance register, cash and bank registers, cheque registers, recurrent bill register, withholding tax register etc.daily.
Prepare monthly office running costs analysis.
Balancing all cash registers and payments against records of cash.
Liaise with program me bank account officers in respective banks on payment issues.
Responsible for making bank lodgements for receipts into project bank accounts or for payment into other banks for payees in the case of salaries and other payments.
Draw up schedules on withholding tax monthly for remittances to appropriate authorities, and ensure prompt remittance of PAYE, WHT and other statutory taxes in line with the tax guidelines.
Support the programme Senior Finance Officer in the preparation of cash books.
Coordinate funds/advance retirements, reimbursement and refunds ensuring that advances are promptly retired as at when due.

Administration:

Office Running – ensure efficient use of all office facilities including vehicles, compliant with Propcom+ policy. Give specific attention to monitoring and analysis of fuel consumption of office vehicles and generators. Oversee housekeeping and stockkeeping of consumable items and ensure necessary supplies are maintained at minimum stock levels, including fuel and provision of staff on front desk/reception duty.
Structure & Equipment – monitor the integrity of the property and condition of facilities and equipment, inform the proprietor of required repairs, oversee/monitor repairs, and ensure asset labelling and asset register/inventory are up to date.
Vehicle Running – co-ordinate vehicle movements based on the work schedule for the state team, and ensure all transport provisions for the state office are efficient, effective, and safe:
Car hire: check the condition of vehicles, tires, seat-belts availability of required vehicle documentation, and the standard of driving (with support from the national office for driver training) all meet minimum requirements.
Assist inprocurement, (clarifying specifications, analysing quotations, seeking approval) ensuring that purchases are made according to approved specification, price, quality and quantity.
Maintain rigorous operations that ensures systems are in place for proper receipt, rotation, and control of programme's materials.
Office vehicles: check office drivers are meeting the minimum required standards for vehicle maintenance and driving (to be checked periodically by the national office through driver training), and monitor and analyze fuel, and other consumable items, on a regular basis.
Ensure that Office Health, Safety, and Security (OHSS) information is displayed in an obvious position in the office in line with the guidelines laid out in the project operations manual.
Ensure that inventory quantities are adequate for the office by conducting regular inventory checks and timely ordering of supplies.
Support in the maintenance of fixed assets register by updating the assets register (tag numbers, condition, location, purchase date, repairs, etc.) on a regular basis.
Close supervisionof contractorsand service providersto ensureproper maintenance of generators, photocopiers, air conditioners, etc. is carried out promptly and to set standards of quality.
Other duties as delegated by the Finance Manager and the senior programme management team.

Working Relationships:

The Finance and Admin Officer will report to the Finance Manager.
S/he will form part of the programme Operations team and be expected to work closely with the Senior Finance Officer, Logistics Officer, and Human Resources Officer. S/he will also be expected to establish and maintain good working relationships with the rest of the Propcom+ team.
The State Finance and Admin Officer will also be expected to establish and maintain relationships with key account officers in the various banks through whom the programme financial transactions take place.

Teamwork:

Work as a part of P+ team towards delivering programme results.
Deploy consultative approach while working with both team members, consultants, and partners.
foster good relationship among team members and demonstrate through attitude maintenance of a respectful workplace.
Whenever tasked with management responsibility, ensure that good management practices are deployed.

Required Qualifications

The chosen candidate should have a Degree In Accounting, Economics, Business Administration, or any Related Field,
Strong organizational and teamwork skills.
Good cultural awareness and sensitivity.
Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
Excellent computer skills, particularly in the use of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
Holds self-accountable for making decisions, and managing resources efficiently, holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities
Substantial (7+ years) demonstrable, and professional experience, in supporting donor relations and grants management (e.g. with institutional humanitarian and development donors);
Good personal organizational skills, including time management, and ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure.
Willingness to travel to field offices and work in remote environments according to travel requirements.
Risk mitigation knowledge
Good communication and interpersonal skills.