Area Finance Manager - EAST AO

Child Safeguarding:

 Level 3:  The responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people.

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Area Finance Manager, East Area Office will report to the Area Office Manager - East, and dotted line with Head of finance control and Compliance, and deliver dynamic and robust financial and operational leadership and take responsibility for financial management, control and reporting of the field operations. The role holder will be accountable for setting, and coordinating the financial and operational aspects of the annual and strategic business plans and setting and measuring appropriate objectives and targets. In addition, he/she expected to support the Area Office manager in the managing and reporting of risk across their Area Offices and ensure that appropriate mitigating controls are in place.

KEY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Business partnering

• Become a valued business partner to the Area Office and field operation program leaders and finance staff and help them to achieve their objectives
• Communicate monthly &  year spending plans for each FO
• Work closely with FO accountants to track spending  and monitor  operational KPIs
• Monitor  financial gap and control spending on NTC of the field office under the area office management
• Attends BvA meetings & hold a meeting with field office & Area  office managers to discuss  field offices  performances
• Assist field offices in preparation of their master budgets & work closely with the FO manager and budget holders when phasing budget.
• Support the decentralization effort of the Country Office and provide advice to the Area office manager on financial matters
• Provide budget holder and other training to build the capacity of the operational team

Financial control & compliance

• To support, monitor and test field-based finance team adherence to accounting and internal control and reporting requirements, policies and procedures of the organization and various donor and statutory requirements

• To ensure that field offices meet accounting timetables and schedules

• Conduct processes and systems reviews and ensure that the Finance systems throughout the field office are improved to facilitate the delivery of improved financial information and an increased ability to manage resources and produce quality management information effectively.

• Ensure that field offices submit good quality on-time monthly summary accounts, including cash flow and other information as defined and send to stakeholders, including the Finance Director

• Champion accuracy in coding and assist managers in becoming effective budget holders
• Manage and monitor the work of senior finance coordinators, mentoring and providing guidance.
• Identify capacity gaps and training needs at Area Offices and Field Office and facilitate the provision of relevant training to staff at the field level in financial and budget management as necessary

• Create a high-performing finance team by:
• Good recruitment and induction practices
• Ensuring good skill needs identification and corresponding training
• Specific development plans for each team member
• Measuring performance through metrics and feedback
• Regular team meetings and mentoring
• Motivate and inspire the team

• Contribute in the preparation and implementation of strategic and  annual plans  of the Finance Department
• Prepare monthly reports for each Area Office with agreed score card and performance measures
• Facilitate and support in the conduct of various audits and closure of audit findings
• Support Area Offices and Field offices in the preparation and closure of year-end accounts
• Assess capacity and propose online access to Agresso FMS for off-line field offices
• Facilitate temporary capacity gaps in key Finance roles at Area Offices and Field Offices

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree from a recognized University in Accounting or Finance.
• Work Experience a minimum of 8 years, out of which 5 years’ experience directly related to financial management 
• Demonstrate experience managing large-scale operational and procedural change from proposal to execution and will ideally offer a track record in overseeing a successful new system and process implementation.
• Experience of statutory accounting management
• Experience in building the capacity  of local and international NGOs of their financial management
• Evidence of working across a range of field offices with different range of portfolio and capacity to achieve significant change
• Experience of strategic financial planning and development.

Skills & abilities

• Excellent leadership & influencing skills with professional finance credibility
• Self-starter” capable of generating & delivering innovative solutions
• Generate and critically analyze business cases and other financial plans in relation to SCI objectives
• Effective management of staff at all levels in both Line and matrix structure
• Good proficiency with MS Office & range of software packages relating to financial management.
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching
• Ability and willingness to dramatically change work practices and hours, and work with incoming surge teams, in the event of emergencies
• Fluency in English, both verbal and written, preferred
• Teams, in the event of emergencies
• Commitment to Save the Children values