Financial Compliance Officer at Nature Conservancy

The Financial Compliance Officer provides highly specialized finance/accounting-related services to the Africa Region business unit in all compliance aspects of finance/accounting. They ensure that Reporting, Audit, Taxation and other operational regulatory compliance requirements within the region are met. The position will be based at any of the following TNC office locations: Arusha, Cape Town, or Nairobi regional office.

Essential Functions

The Financial Compliance Officer provides highly specialized services in one or more of the following functions: audit coordination; taxation; accounting; management controls and reporting; compliance certification or similar financial activities for the Africa business unit financial management. They have a high level of expertise in their area(s) of specialization to address audit and tax compliance issues in accordance with TNC policies and procedures and best practices in financial/organizational management. The Financial Compliance Officer provides assistance to all levels of personnel in their specialty area. They respond to complex employee/management questions and problems based on advanced knowledge of the subject area in tax filing and audit compliance in accordance with government regulations for countries where TNC Africa has operations as well as TNC policies and regulations.

Responsibilities And Scope

• Ensures programmatic commitments, TNC policies and procedures, financial standards and legal requirements are met and managed for compliance and risk mitigation.
• Review and ensure tax returns and support financial statements are filed in a timely manner; Liaise with various tax authorities to resolve any queries and obtain tax compliance and other regulatory certifications for the region.
• Liaise with accounting vendors, operational administrators, and other regulatory advisors to ensure tax and audit submissions accurately reflect TNC Africa BU reporting.
• Responsible to lead and facilitate external, internal, donor or government /country audits, to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of audits, monitoring and completion of corrective action plans and submission within timelines as required by local laws.
• Lead person for audit planning and managing auditors to ensure they carry out audit activities promptly; guide audit implementation, and support in development and signing of audit reports.
• Provides audit and financial review support to the Africa Region by reviewing financial statements and audited reports.
• Promote a complete audit trail culture in the support documentation of all financial transactions.
• Maintain register of audit recommendations from financial audits, follow up and keep track of implementation of audit recommendations until they are closed.
• Perform general accounting duties including recording of accounting transactions such as journal entries, revenue, adjustments, payables as may be applicable, business and payroll taxes, JE for transfers, loans, land transactions, accruals, deferred revenue & expense corrections, recording expense adjustments into the financial system.
• Ensure the accuracy and timeliness of accounting transactions such as journal entries
• Reinforces consistency in the organization's policies and procedures and provides support related to relevant field.
• Maintains current knowledge of local government requirements related to finance and align with tax and other legal requirements.
• Provide training to build capacity in staff and partner organizations on tax and other regulatory compliance aspects.
• Build and manage networks with tax and statutory regulation officers in the region.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration or related field and 4 years' related experience or equivalent combination.
• Experience in tax compliance with over 4 years’ experience in the preparation and submission of tax returns and related statutory financial statements in the region.
• Experience with relational databases especially MS Excel and accounting packages.
• Experience using accounting and financial reporting systems.
• Experience in handling audit and tax matters of clients from countries other than their resident countries.
• Experience with technical command of spreadsheet programs, general ledger reports and other financial management tools.
• Experience in supporting multiple projects in various locations and/or countries.
• Experience with government regulations related to grants and contracts

Desired Qualifications

• Professional certification such as a CPA or CIA, or ACCA.
• At least 8 years of overall work experience.
• Multi-lingual skills and/or multi-cultural experience appreciated.
• Advanced expertise in Microsoft Excel.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Non-profit accounting experience preferred.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, accuracy, attention to detail and the ability to multi-task..
• Knowledge of current trends in finance, accounting, and regulatory environments.
• May require fluency in a foreign language to support global operations.
• Technical expertise on complex accounting/financial issues.