Finance Officer

Internal/External

Vacancy Advertisement 

IR/INT/EXT/VN/103.22

August 14, 2024

Post Title:                   Finance Officer

Report to:                   Area Coordinator   

Duty Station:             Afar Regional State, Semera 

Salary:                        As per the organization scale

Required:                   One

Duration:                    Four months with possible extension based on budget availability  

Introduction:

Islamic Relief is an international relief and development charity founded in 1984 with its headquarters in Birmingham, UK. As well as responding to disasters and emergencies, Islamic Relief promotes sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities - regardless of race, religion or gender. The office officially started operation in Ethiopia in 2004. Islamic Relief Ethiopia (IRE) is operational in the Somali Regional State with a base office in Jigjiga, Hargelle, Elkere, Bare, GG and Dekasuftu, Afar Regional State; Ewa, Awra and Gulina; Oromia regional State, West Harergeye, Chiro and Meayso Woredas and an additional operational office in Addis Ababa. For more information please visit our website: http://www.islamic-relief.org/work-with-us

Job Purpose

The primary responsibility of the person should be handling finance matters at field office level. The main duties of the persons would include:

1. Facilitate Fund transfer: Review project financial activities against financial plan, prepare Transfer Request Form, Collect fund transfer request from Program Department, Ensure timely transfer letter authorization and delivery to the Bank.

2. Budget Preparation: Collect budget information from different units of the Organization, Review and correct the draft budget, Prepare and compile draft budget for Country Office (Core Admin), Collect draft budgets of the projects, Advice Program Dept in preparing the Budget, Review the draft project budgets, Communicate findings and agree on final version. 

3. Payroll preparation: Check Employment Contract file for new recruits and termination of contract, Check temporary employee file for new recruit and renewal of contract, Check status of staff Provident Fund - PF entitlement after probation period, Present Payroll for checking and approval, Prepare letter for salary payment/ transfer to savings accounts/letter to banks for CPO for Income tax & with holding taxes and sent to the Bank after payment authorization, Submit copy of letter initialed by the Bank to field Office, Retain copy of letter and collect bank advice for JV preparation, Distribute payroll slip to staff members, Prepare payroll summary for JV and File payroll copy for future reference.

4. Follow-up: Check whether budget originally allocated/approved for purchase request/services required, Present cheque and payment vouchers checking and initial on payments, 

5. Ensure cheques/authorization letters are signed, Ensure cheques are timely collected/CPOs purchased from the Bank are sent to payee, Verify and ensure expense are within budget, Check and verify against previous payments, Handle matters that may arise in relation to orphan 1-2-1 payments and report to Finance Manager, 

6. Controlling: Ensure all payments are carried out in accordance with IRW, Donor & Tax regulations. Return any incomplete documents by specifying missing documents, Present for checking and initial

7. Bank Reconciliation: Collect monthly Bank Statement, Collect Bank Account General Leger for the respective month, Reconcile and identify outstanding cheques, payments and deductions, Prepare Bank Reconciliation, Present for checking and approval, Follow up clearance of outstanding items of bank reconciliation

8. Record/Report: Ensure/participate in the daily Recording/posting all vouchers, Conduct quarterly budget variance analysis, Prepare quarterly financial budget performance evaluation report

9. Documentation: Ensure payrolls/JVs., PVs. are signed and filed, Ascertain payment vouchers supporting documents are complete, Ensure timely printing/availability of financial documents, Ensure copies of contracts (employment/purchases/services) are available in the department, Ensure Revenue Stamps are affixed to contracts, where applicable, Ensure all documents are filled on daily basis

10. Policy & Procedure: To ensure that that IRE is compliant with the donor Financial regulations - EC, OCHA and British Embassy DFID in the current case. This requires that the person fully internalizes the requirements, orient other employees and follow up compliance, implement financial regulations and tax laws to jobs. 

11. Advice: To provide professional financial management advice to the budget holders and programme officers to ensure compliance with donor requirements. This requires that he does close monitoring of the budget utilization. The financial management advice should be provided in a structured way after the production and distribution of reports. This should be done at least on monthly basis involving the primary budget holders. 

12. Monitoring: To put in place a system of grant monitoring system which includes robust fund transfer trucking system (IRW-IRE-PAO + Donor-IRE); follow up budget amendments with the donors; Monitor each and every income and expense of the organization, check whether there is formal, reliable and convenient accounting system and procedures, if not so propose better way of accounting procedures for country office as well as project offices.

13. Report: To prepare monthly bank reconciliations on QuickBooks system, prepare monthly financial and budget statements and submit to respective departments, prepare donor financial reports-monthly, quarterly and final- according to donors’ guidelines & within the  time frame, prepare budget versus actual statement for budget authorization purpose.

14. Recording: Check the accuracy of recording of source documents; journalize code and post accounting data, integrating new donors’ budget code to QuickBooks system

15. Audit: Assist external/Internal auditors to facilitate their work on auditing, take the necessary audit recommendation/adjustments to be incorporated in the following accounting period.

16. Follow-up: Follow up timely submission of financial documents from field/partners, give professional assistance to field staff, review & examine take corrective action, orient & train field staff.

Personal Specification 

Formal Education/Qualification and Work Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance with a recognized university with a minimum of three years relevant experience in humanitarian sector; INGO experience is advantageous

Required Skills/Competencies

• Experience in closing accounts and undergoing an audit is a benefit 

• Proven skills and knowledge in AX Accounting Information System Software  

• Proven experience in grant monitoring 

• Excellent interpersonal skills – builds good relationships with internal and external stakeholders

• Good verbal and written communication skills in English and local language (Afar) is Mandatory.

• Good organizing and planning skills 

• Ability to manage a complex and demanding workload with flexible behavior

• Commitment to humanitarian principles and action 

• Willing to travel to the field offices to provide support to the field team in their compliance with donor regulations

Safeguarding and Equal Opportunity

Islamic Relief and Islamic Relief staff considers the welfare and protection of children, young people and people at risk to be paramount to the organization. And must adhere the principle of ‘do no harm and leave no one behind.’ It is critical we do not expose communities or staff we work with to the risk of harm through our interventions.  Islamic Relief have a number of related policies which also describe standards in behavior expected from the organization, its staff and representatives towards each other and those we serve. Islamic Relief is committed to responding swiftly, appropriately and constructively to any and all information children, young people and people at risk have disclosed.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks. We participate in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme and will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and child abuse during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment before signing the contract agreement.

Islamic Relief believes everyone has the right to be safe, respected and valued regardless of who they are or their circumstances, and an equal employment opportunity to all candidates and qualified applicants, we do not discriminate on the base of age, sex, race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, disability status and diversity. 

Islamic Relief has a zero tolerance towards all forms of violence, sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

IRE highly encourage female applicants to apply for this position. Our organization is committed to promoting gender equality and diversity in the workplace. IRE believe in creating an inclusive working environment where all individuals, regardless of their gender, have equal opportunities for professional growth and development.

IRE value the contributions and unique perspectives that women and persons with disability bring to our organization and are committed to providing a supportive, working environment. IRE believe that by promoting gender equality, we can enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of our programs.

If you are a qualified female candidate with a passion to join our team, we encourage you to submit your application. IRE look forward to considering your candidacy and working together to make a difference in the lives of those in need.

How To Apply

Application Procedures

• Interested candidates are required to submit a complete Job application form stated with the duty station that you are applying for with all required supporting documents (updated CV, copy of credentials and testimonials) through eth.recruitment2@islamic-relief.org.et

• You can access the Job Application Form with this link: http://www.islamic-relief.org.et/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Employment-Application-form-1.docx. Failure to follow the instructions will invalidate your application.

• Closing date for the application is August 28, 2024.

• Due to the high volume of application, we regret that we will be able to contact only the shortlisted candidates.

Disclaimers: The Islamic relief does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process, including the application, interview, offer and contract stages.