Senior Account Officer at the West African Power Pool (WAPP)

The West African Power Pool (WAPP) is a Specialized Agency of the Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS) established by the Authority of Head of States and Governments of ECOWAS Member States to ensure the integration of the national power system operations into a unified regional electricity market in order to provide the citizens of ECOWAS Member States with a regular, stable and reliable electricity supply at affordable costs, over the medium to long term. This aims to encourage industrialisation, improve Health and Education, Reduce Poverty, Create Employment Opportunities, etc.

The WAPP Secretariat, in view of achieving its global Vision, intends to increase its staffing by filling the vacant position below:

Job Tite: Senior Account Officer

Location: PMU HQ at Abuja, Nigeria and may be required to undertake frequent field visits
Position Type: International
Project: WAPP NorthCore
Contract Type: FTA
Reports to: Senior Financial Specialist
Subordinates: Account Assistants (HQ & countries local PMU)

Job Summary

• Under the direct supervision of the Senior Financial Specialist and the overall supervision of the project Director the Senior Account Officer is responsible of all accounting functions for the project in accordance to the best practices and in compliance with the WAPP and Donors guidelines.
• He / She is specifically responsible for the elaboration of periodic financial statements for each Donor according to its requirements and consolidated financial statement for the whole project.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The Senior Account Officer’s key tasks shall include but not limited to:

• Assist in designing and implementing the project chart of account and the staff payroll system
• Assist in configuring the financial and accounting software for the headquarters and countries & fields offices
• Record, update and archive in a secure and organised manner, all financial and accounting documents for the project.
• Manage project’s fixed assets (classify, tag, verify fixed assets and update fixed assets register)
• Allocate disbursement of funds to cost centres
• Record and manage project costs and disbursements
• Reconcile cash books with the bank statements
• Prepare according to the project Donors procedures disbursements requests and direct payments applications
• Prepare according to the project Donors procedures, the replenishment of the project accounts
• Assist in preparing budgets
• Prepare periodic expenditures reports and determine and analyse the variances to the budget
• Review, validate and consolidate the financial records of operations from various sites in countries involved in the project.
• Prepare monthly and quarterly financial statements for each donor the consolidated financial statement of the whole project
• Assist in performance evaluation of the project
• Compile financial information for auditors and Donors supervision missions
• Supervise, assist & train countries local PMU staff
• Carryout other duties as may be assigned

Education:

• A Master's degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics and other related fields
• Qualification as a professional accountant (CA, ACCA, CIMA, DSCG, DESCOGEF or Equivalent qualification.)
• Membership of an accounting body will be an added advantage

Professional Years’ Experience:

• At least eight years post qualification experience in the accounting field with practice in preparing financial statements and familiarity with external auditors.
• Working experience in a project funded by International Financing Institutions (World Bank, AfDB or AFD) would be an advantage

Knowledge:

• Corporate or Project accounting and financial policies and procedures
• Procedures and guidelines of International Financing Institutions, in particular, the World Bank (WB), African Development Bank (AfDB) or the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) would be an advantage
• Financial and accounting computerized systems (ERP),
• Budget and Cost control
• Preparation and consolidation of financial statements
• Familiarity with IFRS or IPSAS Standards
• Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook

Skills:

• A proven interpersonal relationship, organizational and team-building and excellent communication skills
• Ability to convey information clearly and concisely
• Self-starter capable of working with minimum supervision and with good initiative
• Ability to complete several varied tasks in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to work under pressure and maintain always a professional decorum
• Have a high sense of integrity, objectivity, tact, discretion, confidentiality, and professional ethics
• Ability to adapt and work in a multicultural environment

Language:

• Oral and editorial proficiency in English or French with a good working knowledge of the other language.

Remuneration

• The position is funded within the framework of WAPP North Core Project, for a period of one-year renewable, with a maximum of 4 years corresponding to the end of the project.
• The incumbent will therefore be issued a Fix-Term Appointment Contract of an initial period of one year.
• The renewal will be subjected to the successful performance of the incumbent.

Particular Conditions of Work:

• Possible extended working hours including weekends in an occasionally stressful environment
• Field missions in the countries involved.

Application Closing Date
06:00pm, Benin local time (GMT+1); 28th February, 2019.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• All Applications must be submitted online. Paper applications will not be accepted.
• Applications sent after the required submission deadline will not be considered.
• Due to a large number of applications expected, only shortlisted candidates shall be contacted for the next stage of the recruitment process.