Finance Team Leader at Danish Refugee Council

Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a Danish international non-governmental organisation, which promotes and supports durable solutions to the problems faced by refugees and internally displaced people all over the world. DRC is present in more than 30 conflict territories around the world assisting displaced people with shelter, food, income-generating activities, and a wide range of other assistance. It is of utmost importance for DRC to work in compliance with the DRC Accountability and Quality Management system and national legislations. Smooth, reliable and effective operational systems are preconditions for DRC to maintain its position as a trustworthy and reliable partner for our donors and an accountable organisation towards our beneficiaries.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Finance Team Leader

Location: Mubi, Adamawa
Contract type: National
Employment Duration: 6 months
Area of Operations: Nigeria
Reporting to: Area Manager Adamawa
Supervised by: Finance Coordinator

Background

• Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has had an operational presence in Nigeria since 2015.
• DRC Nigeria is the largest DRC country mission in the West Africa region and one of the largest DRC country missions globally.
• Currently, DRC delivers life-saving assistance and protection to vulnerable, conflict-affected populations including internally displaced persons, returnees and host communities in the areas of armed violence reduction, humanitarian mine action, livelihoods, nutrition and food security, protection, shelter and non-food items (NFI) and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in 30+ Local Government Areas (LGAs) across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in northeast Nigeria.

Purpose

• The Finance Team Leader serves as the focal person for Finance in the office at the location.
• Supports the preparation of Finance tasks and maintenance of Financial information.
• Works within the Finance procedures of DRC, municipal policies and procedures and in compliance with all national acts and legislation.
• Ensure that all DRC’s and donors’ finance procedures and policies are fully compliant with.
• The Finance Team Leader supports the Area Manager with reports for senior management in the country.

Key Responsibilities
Cash Management:

• Ensure weekly cash forecast/requirements are compiled for all departments and shared with Area Manager by 3 pm on Fridays (no supervision required)
• Follow up with the bank on receipt of funds from Yola Office (no supervision required; Coordination with field office Finance staff and Head of Base required)
• Anticipate the cash need for Mubi, Yola and Abuja  and communicate to the Finance Coordinator at least one week before the cash is needed (no supervision required; Coordination with field office Finance staff)
• Ensure adequate Petty cash is kept in Mubi, Yola and Abuja offices to cater small-time expenditures as per the Finance procedures (no supervision required)

Accounting Management:

• Follow up with staff and ensure the cash advances are settled within two weeks (Coordination with field office Finance staff and Area Manager/Finance Coordinator required)
• Reconcile various pending advance’s in the ledger and ensure proper and timely settlement and reports to be submitted to Area Manager and Finance Coordinator by 10th of the following month (training by Finance Coordinator and Coordination with field office finance staff)
• Conduct weekly cash counts for Mubi, Yola and Abuja  and submit cash count sheets by 4 pm on Fridays to the Area Manager and Finance Coordinator (no supervision required)
• Prepare monthly cash counts for Mubi, Yola and Abuja offices on the last working day of the month and submit them to the Area Manager and Finance Coordinator by 4 pm on the last working day of the month. (no supervision required)
• Prepare a bank reconciliation for Mubi, Yola and Abuja offices for accuracy and completeness and send to Finance Coordinator by 3rd of the following month (Coordination with field office Finance staff and Area Manager/Finance Coordinator required)
• Ensure payment documents and vouchers are scanned and sent to Country Office on or before 15th of the following month (Coordination with field office Finance staff and Area Manager/Finance Coordinator supervision)
• Ensure that statutory deductions are paid to relevant authorities monthly to avoid any penalties. (PAYE, Pension, NHF, NSITF, WHT, and others as applicable) and report to Finance Coordinator and Area Manager after payments (no supervision required)
• Review all Order Requests/Purchase Orders for proper coding and budget adequacy before approval. (no supervision required)
• In liaison with the Logistics department, prepare commitment lists every month for financial obligations already entered into but not captured in financial reports.
• Update commitment cash book in coordination with Administration, Procurement/Logistics departments, bi-weekly to ensure all Finance obligations are entered in the cash book. (Coordination with field office Finance staff, Logistic Staff and Area Manager/Finance Coordinator required.
• Prepare cash book for Mubi, Yola and Abuja offices as per the finance calendar (submission on 3rd of the following month) to Finance Coordinator(Training/Supervision of Finance Coordinator)
• Ensure payment requests/documents are reviewed to ensure DRC/Donor documentation guidelines (Including checking of project code/budget line, availability of funds) are adhered to, payments are finalized within three working days. (Support/Supervision of Finance Coordinator, Supply Chain Manager and Area manager)

Budgetary Management:

• Review Budget Follow Up/Transaction details for Mubi, Yola and Abuja offices in coordination with the relevant program managers to ensure postings are done correctly, over spendings are rebooked on a monthly basis. Budget monitoring Status report to be submitted to Area Manager within seven working days from receipt of BFU/TDL (Support/Supervision from Finance Coordinator, Area Manager, Program/Project Managers)
• Review project work plan against finance forecast in coordination with the program staff on a quarterly basis. (Training/Support/Supervision from Finance Coordinator, Area Manager, field office finance staff, Program/Project Managers)
• Compile and Prepare the finance details (analyses expenditure progress) for Mubi, Yola and Abuja offices for Quarterly/Annual review meetings. (Training/Support/Supervision from Finance Coordinator, Area Manager, field office finance staff, Program/Project Managers)
• Assist the Area Manager on budget preparations (Training from Finance Coordinator)

Staff management:

• Supervise finance unit team in Mubi, Yola and Abuja offices(Finance Assistants and Officers).
• Provide technical and programmatic leadership for finance Assistants and Officers and other stakeholders as deemed.
• Set performance objectives and annual appraisal for finance unit staff.

Other:

• The focal point for Finance in the office
• Serve as a technical resource person for the Finance department.
• Produce monthly and quarterly reports as required by Finance Coordinator/management as and when required.
• Assist in budget preparation at the field level.
• Follow any new procedures and guidelines designated in circulars from Country Director/Finance Coordinator/RO and HQ. 
• The responsibilities listed in the JD are not exhaustive and may be readjusted according to operational needs but will remain in line with the overall purpose of the role.
• Report to the Finance Coordinator any irregularities that occur within the DRC office, staff compound and sites on DRC policy and procedures.

Experience and technical competencies
Essential:

• University Degree in Finance / Accounting / Commerce / Business Administration.
• At least four years' work experience in the field of finance/accounting/bookkeeping management in an INGO or the commercial sector.
• At least two years of work experience in people management and leadership skills in the INGO.
• Hands-on experience/skills in MS Excel (experience in working with formulas).

Desirable:

• Excellent organizational skills, self-motivated, proactive, and able to accomplish set deadlines.
• Willing to meet deadlines with minimum supervision
• Ability to prepare basic training modules on Dynamics, accounting, and finance management.

Required Skills & Qualities:
Core Competencies of DRC:

• Striving for excellence
• Collaboration
• Taking the lead
• Excellent communication skills, as well as patience and politeness, are required
• Multi-tasking and organizational skills are a must
• Adaptable and Flexible
• Proven analytical and critical thinking skills
• Exemplary sense of ethics in the workplace
• Team-oriented & good sense of humour.
• Communication
• Demonstrating Integrity
• Ability to work in a multinational and multicultural environment
• Proactivity, with a sound commitment to teamwork and with a spirit of genuine collaboration

Salary & Benefits

• M-G

Conditions:

• Availability: 13.12.2021
• Salary and conditions: In accordance with Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment.
• The income will be subject to statutory deductions as per applicable Nigerian laws.
• The employee is responsible for the tax returns.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply

Note

• All applicants must send a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages). Both must be in English.
• However, all applicants shall take into consideration that DRC cannot offer an international work contract to a citizen of the country of assignment (in this specific case: Nigeria).
• Applications submitted after this date will not be considered.
• Due to the urgency of the position, DRC has the right to recruit a candidate who matches the required profile before the above deadline.
• The position is for Nigerian Nationals only. Residents / indigene of Ngala are encouraged to apply

Application Deadline  22nd November, 2021.