Finance Officer at Danish Refugee Council (DRC)

Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a Danish international non-governmental organisation, which promotes and supports durable solutions to the problems faced by refugees and internally displaced people all over the world. DRC is present in more than 30 conflict territories around the world assisting displaced people with shelter, food, income-generating activities, and a wide range of other assistance. It is of utmost importance for DRC to work in compliance with the DRC Accountability and Quality Management system and national legislations. Smooth, reliable and effective operational systems are preconditions for DRC to maintain its position as a trustworthy and reliable partner for our donors and an accountable organisation towards our beneficiaries.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Finance Officer

Location: Damaturu, Yobe
Contract type: National Contract

The Position

• Under the direct supervision of the Damaturu Base Manager, and technical supervision from the Finance Team Leader in Maiduguri, the Finance Officer, assisted by a Finance Assistant, will be in charge of the daily finance and accounting management of Damaturu base.
• The Finance Officer will work on overall financial monitoring and support capacity building for Damaturu office and partners and to practice rigorous financial control mechanism.
• He will make sure that financial procedures, policies, and requirements are implemented in compliance with DRC and Donors and to contribute to the achievement of DRC Vision, Mission & Values.

Responsibility 1: Management of the Office Cash and Bi-weekly/monthly Cash Flow Forecasts

• Prepare the bank transfer instructions for suppliers’ payment on time for Damaturu office.
• Make payments on field when required by program team.
• Manage the cash box for cash payment when necessary.
• Collect financial information from program team and prepare the monthly cash flow forecast and send it to the Finance/Accounting Specialist/ Finance Coordinator.
• Ensure good relations with financial partners (banks, PFA, etc.);

Responsibility 2: Hold The Cash Book with Supporting Documents nn High Quality at Weekly/Monthly Basis:

• Ensure accurate recording of all transactions made by cash or bank; monitor timely receipt and expenditure returns from programs team and ensure correct data entry and reconciliation in the cash book; ensure that work advances are accounted for in line with DRC and donors’ financial guidelines.
• Manages daily operation in the area of accounting system which is in line with DRC and donor’s requirements; maintain cash and bank transactions; ensure the use of proper and correct budget code/ budget lines; monitor cash payment and ensure that the records or entries are up-to-date in the cash books; pay attention to the fluctuating exchange rate used for any transactions paid in dollars USD.
• Comply with Finance and Procurement guidelines when dealing with any transactions; provide initiative to review current guidelines and propose relevant recommendations.
• Check the justification of operational advances before making payment and ensure its settlement in a reasonable time.
• Check and control the elements of accounting packages, including the consistency between cash book entries, physical counting, and balances.
• Proceed to the monthly closure of accounting: physical counting, editing of accounting documents (cover sheets), verification of supporting documents.
• Stamp monthly the invoices with the donor stamp and/or the stamp “paid”;
• Ensure proper financial documentation in Damaturu office; prepare well and send documentation to Yola in timely manner; follow the financial check-list which will be developed.
• Regularly track the expenditure in the BFU and advise the programs and support teams accordingly; monitor availability of funds along all budget lines and advise before approval by the Base Manager.

Responsibility 3: Management of Financial Assets and Liabilities of the Base:

• Record all assets and liabilities in the cash book on a weekly/monthly basis and follow properly their settlement.
• Ensure that all payments of suppliers are cleared on time
• Ensure a monthly reconciliation of all assets/liabilities in X-es overview received from the region office/Headquarter.

Responsibility 4: Management of the Archiving of Finance Records of the Base:

• Ensure monthly scanning of finance records and save them on finance hard drive/drop box.
• Update monthly the scanning report and share it with the Finance/Accounting Specialist/ Finance Coordinator.
• Ensure monthly archiving of finance records and their transfer to the archive room in Yola.
• Ensure that reallocation request of costs is archived in related finance records when previous allocation has been modified.

Responsibility 5: Tax Deduction and Remittance on Time:

• Ensure that the withholding taxes is well calculated, recorded in the cash book and paid on a monthly basis.
• Follow up on the staff statutory and taxes payment on a monthly basis and ensure that all receipts are collected and archived.
• Collect the taxes clearance certificate or credit notes when the payment is done.
• Ensure a good relationship with the tax offices of Damaturu
• With support of Finance/Accounting Specialist and/or Finance Coordinator, take the role of info-sharing with staff in relation to HR matters (PAYE, PENSION, NSITF, NHF Payment).

Other Kinds of Support Required for this Position:

• Participate in audits preparation/execution (compilation of audit requirements)
• Provide feedback and enhance internal controls to satisfy audit requirements; take part of providing data and records during the audit process; reports immediately on irregular spending to Finance/ Accounting Specialist or Finance Coordinator as deemed appropriate.
• Identify the technical problems encountered at Damaturu base to be addressed by the management.
• Provide technical support to the program team of Damaturu base;
• Take part in regular staff meeting in respect to the weekly tasks report in line with performance management.

Essential / Requirements

• University degree in Finance / Accounting / Commerce / Business Administration.
• At least two years work experience in field of finance/accounting/book keeping in an NGO or the commercial sector.
• Hands-on experience/skills in MS Excel (experience in working with formulas)
• Excellent organizational skills, self-motivated, proactive and able to accomplish set deadlines.
• Willing to meet deadlines with minimum supervision
• Autonomous and ready to take initiative to improve within her/his area of responsibility
• Fluency in written and spoken English. Fluency in local spoken languages.
• Good communication and teamwork spirit.

Education:

• Degrees preferably supplemented by technical or university courses related to Finance, Accounting, Administration and Business.

Languages:

• Fluency in written and spoken English
• The knowledge of local Language will be considered an asset

Key Stakeholders: (internal and external)

• Programs staff
• Human resources staff
• Procurement and Logistics staff
• Finance staff of other bases staff

Application Closing Date
9th June, 2021.