Regional Finance Management Specialist at Plan International

The purpose of this position is to:

• Contribute to the success of Finance Management strengthening work including supporting the development of a robust finance management culture. This will include developing support material for finance managers, providing virtual and on-site support to finance managers and supporting finance managers to access and successfully participate in Plan’s finance management training.  
• Provide inputs to the finalisation and implementation of a new global ERP system including the finance management module to ensure that finance managers are able to manage, analyse and report on results in an effective and consistent way.
• Support finance managers to work in the new ERP system, including the finance management module, to ensure Plan’s approach to finance management is fully informed, transparent and effective.
• Dimensions of the Role.
• This position reports into in the Regional Hub Finance team and is matrix managed by the relevant Global Hub. Initially, 
• The Finance Management Specialist will support specific projects to strengthen Project Management across Country Offices, provide technical inputs to relevant regional initiatives and strengthen project management capabilities in preparation for the rollout of the Y.O.D.A. ERP system. 

Accountabilities.

• Outlined below are the key responsibilities for this position. 
• Support continuous Finance Management improvement as part of the CO preparedness.
• Provide technical support to Country Offices, including to implement the new online finance management disciplines and approaches and to provide high quality guidelines, tools and upskilling as prioritised by Country Offices. 
• Support the finalisation and implementation of the new ERP system within Country Offices.

Drive continuous learning  

• Contribute to drafting learning papers that capture lessons from Plan International’s work in order to inform better finance management to improve programme outcomes.
• Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Key relationships

• Country Office Finance Managers and Regional Hub Finance Manager
• Country Management Teams and Regional Management Teams on progress, capacity and status of finance management improvements.
• Colleagues at the Global Hub and Regional Hub with responsibilities for, or dependent on, good finance management. 
• Other organisations and forums externally, for coordination, collaboration, learning.

Knowledge and experience

Essential

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or equivalent
• Member of a professional body
• Minimum of 5 years relevant experience in the Training, Grants or project management, Donor reporting or Finance and system monitoring and support services. 

Knowledge

• Expert knowledge of financial management in a project context. 
• Significant experience and a strong understanding of training processes, approaches, tools and methodologies that facilitate finance management and financial project management, and organisational learning. 
• Appreciation of the realities of NGO finance management and how to achieve effective finance management, financial control, monitoring, reporting, evaluation and learning. 

Skills

• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities. 
• Able to develop appropriate guidelines, tools and templates for improved finance management and implement them at scale in challenging environments. 
• Able to develop global guidance that is simple and practical for Country colleagues to understand and use. 
• Writing in plain English (plus French for the West Africa region and Spanish for the Region of Americas). 
• Strong collaboration skills, able to build cooperation and negotiate compromises. 
• Strong attention to detail. 
• Proven experience of using online technology for communication and learning.
• Fluent in English (plus French for the West Africa region and Spanish for the Region of Americas).

Behaviours

• Listens to and consults with others with genuine curiosity and interest to learn.
• Co-creates with diverse staff across the organisation.
• Demonstrates genuine curiosity and enthusiasm to find win-win solutions when facing challenges and ambiguity.
• Facilitates joint understanding and the development of good practices.
• Inspires trust and support from others.
• Promotes innovation and learning.
• Takes responsibility for achieving significant results.
• Able to build rapport with wide range of groups. 
• Demonstrably committed to Plan’s goals and values.
• Committed to child safeguarding.

Desirable

• Capacity in languages appropriate to the region will be an advantage.
• Experience in or supporting project financial management in multiple countries.
• Proficient with Excel with knowledge of Power BI.
• Experience of using or training Microsoft Dynamics D365 would be an advantage.