Finance Manager 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 Manager

Location: Abuja with frequent travels in Nigeria
Type of Contract: Expatriate
Employment period: 12 months (renewable) 
Reporting to: Head of Support Services 
Technically supervised by: Reg. Finance Manager 

Background

• DRC has been operating in West Africa since 1998. DRC and its technical unit, the Danish Demining Group (DDG), have had an operational presence in Nigeria since July 2015. DRC has four main offices in Abuja, Yola, Maiduguri, and Mubi and five in deep field locations across Northeast Nigeria including, Mafa, Ngala, Bama, Pulka, and Michika.

Purpose

• We are currently looking for a Finance Manager in Nigeria.  Under the supervision of the Head of Support Services (HoSS), the Finance Manager will ensure that all financial functions in the country programs, including accounting, payments and banking payroll, budgeting, financial reporting (internal and external to donors and government authorities), capacity building of finance team, budgetary management training for support and program teams and grant financial management and compliance are done effectively and on time.
• The finance manager will manage a team of three staff members (two finance specialists and one finance officer).

Duties and Responsibilities
The main responsibilities and tasks of the Finance Management are the following:

• Financial Management
• In close cooperation with Managers in geographical areas, reinforce existing procedures and systems for financial management and control in compliance with guidelines of DRC’s Operations Handbook, internal guidelines, and donor requirements
• Support timely delivery of quality financial reports to donors and internal reports to colleagues and HQ In country compliance  with relevant statutory and other financial obligations such as tax, levies and statutory returns
• Monthly financial briefings to relevant Managers and Head of Support
• Ensure thorough and effective budgetary control in the country programs
• Liaise with relevant Managers on key financial issues for all programs in the country, including co-funding, financial reporting, key variances, and any remedial action
• Collecting cash forecasts from all Programme Managers and requesting funds in a timely manner
• Maintain a continuous overview of funding levels and pay particular attention to shared support costs, including staff salaries
• Ensure all required documentation for financial audits in cooperation with Coordination staff and HQ
• Ensure monthly meetings are held with project managers to discuss key variances, reasons for these, and any remedial action that is required
• Prepare for local audits. Ensure all required documentation for financial audits is processed in cooperation Support & supervises, audits (in-country, external). If required coordinate with the auditors on audit process.
• Contribute to the development of proposals with regards to budgeting in cooperation with Managers
• Ensure implementation of Dynamics 365 financial management system at country level and act as heavy user for most of the Projects & Finance functionalities
• Apply reports and data analytics from DRC Dynamics to improve overall performance.
• Capacity building of the finance team, on tools, policies, and procedures. Ensure that both specialists are in the position to work on budgets, BFU, and update the master budget.
• Provide training to support and program teams on budget management, donor rules, budget and BFU reading/analysis.

Technical Line Management Responsibilities:

• Provide technical guidance and support to all Finance staff
• Advise on and promote understanding and application of DRC policies, procedures and principles.
• Raise any issues of non-compliance
• When relevant, drives development of policies and standards in region or country and/or localizes global policies to regional or country level

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Accounting or Finance
• Minimum of 5 years of International practical experience in a senior financial management position
• Computer literate, MS Office and DRC Dynamic
• Fluent in English
• However, applicants must be aware that DRC cannot employ, under an expatriate contract, a citizen of the country in which she/ he is going to be stationed (in such case, the Republic of Nigeria).

Required Skills & Qualities:

• Core Competencies of DRC:
• Striving for excellence
• Collaboration
• Taking the lead
• Communication
• Demonstrating Integrity
• Proven leadership skills and a competence in people management
• Competence in providing technical guidance and training
• Proven experience in managing large budgets
• Advanced proficiency in Excel
• Proven experience in working with national partners, local/government authorities
• Working experience with relevant donors (e.g. UNHCR, ECHO, OFDA, WFP, DFID or BPRM guidelines
• Proven analytical and critical thinking skills.

Salary & Benefits 
Management F-  1, unaccompanied

Application Closing Date
4th June, 2023 at 4 p.m. (Dakar-time)

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

Note

• All applicants must send a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages). Both must be in English.
• DRC provides equal opportunity in employment and prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.
• DRC encourages all applicants to apply and does not practice any discrimination in any recruitment process.
• Applications submitted after the closing date will not be considered.
• Due to the urgency of the position, DRC has the right to recruit a candidate who matches the required profile before the above deadline.

General Regulations:

• The employee shall follow DRC instructions on safety, confidentiality and ethical guidelines, including the Code of Conduct and the Humanitarian Accountability Framework
• Employee should not engage in any other paid activity during the DRC contract period without prior authorization
• Employee should not engage in any activity that could harm DRC or the implementation of any project during the DRC contract period
• Employee should not give interviews to the media or publish project-related photos or other material without prior authorization
• Employee shall return all borrowed equipment for the project to DRC after the end of the contract period or upon request