Project Assistant (Finance and Payments) at the British Council

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.
 
We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Project Assistant (Finance and Payments)

Location: Kano
Pay Band: 4
Contract Type: Fixed term contract ending 30 September 2023  

Overview

• The British Council in Nigeria is implementing the PLANE Kano Accelerated Learning Project (KAL). PLANE is a 7 year, programme funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and represents one window of intervention in a broader package of investment intended to enable a more inclusive and effective basic education system in Nigeria.
• It seeks to do this through improvements in teaching and learning with a focus on foundational skills; through unlocking governance bottlenecks for better education service delivery; through improvements in the regulation of the nonstate sector and through embedding the use of data and evidence within the education system.

Role Purpose

• The post holder will manage and ensure financial processes of the Kano Accelerated Learning Programme are implemented in line with corporate and funders requirements using appropriate standards, policies, processes, systems, and procedures; while providing support to the Finance Manager and assistance to programme teams to specifically support the payment and invoicing process as required.
• Manages all financial and commercial aspects of the full cost recovery programme (FCR) in line with corporate and funders requirements using appropriate standards, policies, processes, systems, and procedures.
• The role will support the end-to-end accounting process across the operation (including month and year end close), client reporting, and ensures consistent, accurate and robust financial accounting processes.

Role Specific Knowledge and Experience
The main essential knowledge and experience points that we are looking for you to evidence are:

• Minimum of 2 years’ experience in a project finance environment
• Experience of working on SAP
• Experience of positive contribution to change
• Experience of working as part of a successful team/function
• High levels of personal effectiveness and the ability to focus on achieving deadlines

Qualifications:

• A University Degree in Finance, Accounting, or similar discipline
• Experience in comparable role(s) including working on donor funded development projects / programmes.
• Qualified accountant – ACA, ACCA – with at least 4 years post-qualification experience
• Experience of an ERP system
• All applicants should have a pre-existing legal status to live and work in country of application.  The British Council will not facilitate/sponsor visa applications and work permits.

Desirable Experience:

• Experience of working in a Full Cost Recovery (FCR) project
• Experience of operating in a complex, multi-cultural context
• Computer skills - A good knowledge of Microsoft Office suite

Remuneration
N6,154,368 per annum

Application Closing Date
3rd April, 2022 (23:59 South Africa Time)