Finance and Administration Officer at Kenya Red Cross Society

Overview

• The purpose of the Country Offices (CO) is to ensure implementation of Norwegian Red Cross (NorCross) International Strategy at country level through programme support to the National Society partner, as articulated and established in the approved Country Framework. This means that the CO is responsible for ensuring results-based project management, risk management, and operational in-country Movement coordination. Furthermore, the CO is responsible for ensuring project implementation in support to NS partners, in line with established project agreements and project plans. The CO ensures sound technical quality of all country projects, in line with established technical standards and best practices. The CO ensures that Norwegian Red Cross programme support is based on regularly updated humanitarian needs analysis in line with established practices. The CO represents Norwegian Red Cross in-country with regards to external partnerships and relationships. The CO is responsible for in-country security management.

Purpose

• Coordinate the financial and administrative management of the Norwegian Red Cross supported projects.

Strategic responsibilities

• Coordinate the financial and administrative functions of the country office in line with Norwegian Red Cross rules and procedures.
• Support, as necessary, National Society’s capacity building as required on financial management matters pertaining to operations and finance risk management.

Financial responsibilities

Budgeting

• Coordinate the NS budget preparation as per the National Society needs, and review to ensure accuracy and fund availability as per the matrix.
• Prepare the NFO budget in coordination with relevant Field Office staff.
• Regularly monitor the NS and NFO expenditures on a monthly basis in liaison with the programme staff, so as to highlight any major concerns, ease the budget revision process, and to ensure predictability in carryovers and expected underspends.
• Coordinate the budget revision process together with the country office team after analysing the expenditures vis a vis the original budgets.

Accounting

• Ensure that programme advances to the NS are controlled and cleared with acceptable documentation and vouchers.
• Work closely with the National Societies/country finance officers to ensure timely and quality reporting of advances
• Daily accounting for the NorCross Field Office in compliance with NorCross Operational Manual, Finance and Accounting Manual (FAM) and the Regulations for Financial Control.
• Prepare and present quarterly financial reports to the country Office management.
• Filing of documents according to guidelines in the Operational Manual/Finance and Accounting Manual.

Reporting

• Ensure accurate inputs of expenditures into Agresso accounting system and of budgets into the Financial planning and analysis (FP&A) system including monthly review of all expenditures posted during the month and that they are in the correct account codes and reporting codes.
• Ensure monthly upload of soft copies into Agresso per transaction number.
• Prepare the finance sections of the tertial and annual reports
• Ensure full implementation of the SAGE accounting system reporting by Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS).
• Ensure timely, quality and accurate reporting for ECHO Pilot Programmatic partnership (PPP) project.
• Prepare monthly reconciliations of balance accounts related to the Office. Ensure that the reconciliations are checked and signed by the regional office team and sent to HQ.
• Provide details of budget vs. actual expenditure to Country Programme Manager (CPM) as and when required and give advice on financial matters to make appropriate decisions.

Compliance

• Coordination of the interim and final audits for the Somalia Country office by accurately preparing reports and providing documents to the auditors as per the audit requirement list.
• Address audit findings reported by following up with SRCS in order to identify non-compliance and rectify it. This involves liaising with the responsible heads of department eg SRCS Finance Directors to ensure there is proper maintenance of records as per the organization's policy.
• Give an update on the auditor recommendation implementation status in the tertial and annual reports.
• Accompany auditors to the field to fulfil their engagement requirements.
• Ensure that the accounting is done in compliance with the relevant back-donor requirements on financial issues/financial management.
• Ensure that the accounting is done according to deadlines set by HQ. Together with the Country Programme Manager, ensure control of the overall finance and accounting tasks at the NorCross Field Office. Inform HQ on any delays and/or changes.
• Highlight any identified compliance matters to the CPM and the Regional Finance Manager (RFM).
• Capacity building of SRCS staff to improve overall compliance through organizing necessary trainings and one to one coaching sessions.

Monitoring

• Ensure that all project expenditure authorization process is as per approved Matrix.
• Ensure that all procurements are in line with Norcross policy and procedures at the point of clearing the payments.
• Review and analyze the monthly financial analysis report prepared and take appropriate measures to clear issues of concern raised by country manager/Case holder.
• Responsible for the review of SRCS returns and to provide feedback where necessary to both country manager and SRCS in the areas of concerns.
• Perform delegated responsibilities on all financial matters to ensure that internal control is in line and effective as required.
• Perform quarterly expenditure review against approved budgets.
• Take lead of the budget revision process for the country office.
• Perform regular field visits to SRCS for finance monitoring, supervision and coaching

Administration

• Make travel arrangements including tickets, visas, hotel bookings, office correspondences, minor purchases for Field Office staff and visitors.
• Liaise with Norcross logistics team on major procurements in line with NorCross’ Procurement Guidelines and donor requirements.
• Support NorCross CPM in the recruitment process for national finance and administration staff including preparation of terms of reference, confirming budget availability and being part of the interview panel.
• Prepare payments and ensure necessary signatures/approvals, before processing on bank portal.
• Review travel expense reports and ensure relevant supporting documents are attached before reimbursements and posting on Agresso.      

Collaboration

• Consistently provide support to NorCross and ensure compliance to donor financial regulations.
• Collaborate with SRCS and give guidance on donor requirements for fund management.
• Maintain and ensure efficient communication and coordination with the Country Programme Manager and other members of the Somalia team.
• Maintain and ensure efficient communication and coordination with the Regional Finance Manager at regional level and the Programme Finance Coordinator, the Accounting Unit and others, at the National Office on financial, administrative, logistic and HR issues.
• Support the Regional Finance Development Delegate on new finance related initiatives for SRCS.
• Perform any other duties as may be directed by the line manager.

Qualifications

• Formal Competence    -Relevant university degree or equivalent qualification in finance/accounting or related degree.
• Accounting qualifications such as Certified Accountant, Chartered Accountant, CPA, ACCA or equivalent.
• 3 years’ experience in a similar role.
• Personal qualifications, skills and knowledge           
• Skills and knowledge
• Advanced knowledge of accounting concepts, financial management and use of financial applications (e.g. Agresso and Advanced use of excel)
• Understanding of internal control and treasury management concepts
• Ability to analyze financial transactions.
• Proven ability to engage discretely and tactfully with internal and external stakeholders.
• Advanced skills in computer productivity applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook).

Personal Qualifications

• Ability to work towards achieving objectives and results
• Ability to convince and gain acceptance
• Ability to communicate effectively
• Ability to be solution oriented
• Ability to travel frequently to the field in Somaliland and Puntland. For Mogadishu, travels are currently restricted for NorCross staff but might be permitted if the security situation improves.