Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action - helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Senior Finance and Compliance Officer
Reference Number: MDG/HUMOPS/2021/0002
Location: Roving between Maiduguri and deep field offices of North Borno, Nigeria
Employment Type: Full-time
Program / Department Summary
- The Mercy Corps Finance Department is responsible for all financial functions in Nigeria, including accounting, payments and banking, payroll, budgeting, financial reporting, and grant financial management and compliance.
- The Mercy Corps Finance Department ensures compliance with donor regulations as well as Mercy Corps’ internal policies and procedures. In its role as a support to the Program Department, the Finance Department provides timely reports and assistance to the Country Director and the Program team to ensure that financial resources are used efficiently and effectively.
General Position Summary
- Working in the Finance Department under the direction of the Field Finance Manager, the Senior Finance and Compliance Officer will assist the Northeast programs in adhering to the compliance procedures, ensuring the Cash Transfers system and vouchers reconciliation procedures have followed the SoPs and guidelines.
- She / he will assist to ensure adequate internal controls are in place to mitigate risks in compliance with laws, regulations, donor requirements and Mercy Corps policies and procedures
Essential Job Responsibilities
Strategy and Vision:
- Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
- Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions & resources to achieve objectives and contribute to countrywide strategy development.
- Develop and organize activities to secure resources for programs and convince stakeholders to provide support.
- Create and maintain systems ensuring effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with donor and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.
Team Management:
- Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
- Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews.
- Supervise, hire and orient new team members as necessary.
- Provide team members with information, tools and other resources to improve performance and reach objectives.
Grant and Compliance Management:
- Assist the Field Finance Manager to enhance the efficiency of the existing control system and ensure any identified compliance gap is corrected.
- Ensure that programs are executed in alignment with the prime award agreement and the applicable donor regulations, staying abreast of changes in the regulatory environment related to donor / grant compliance.
- Identify and communicate compliance risks associated with program implementation particularly Cash Transfer Programming.
- Review procurement and program transactions, contracts and other documents for compliance requirements and ensure these requirements are met.
- Provide leadership and direction concerning any Cash Transfer Compliance functions needed for the program’s success.
- Provide regular compliance guidance and consultations to the project team on a demand-driven basis.
- Develop and conduct financial and compliance training workshops;
- Work closely with the Field Finance Manager and other departments to ensure the Standard Operating Procedures for voucher redemption followed properly, and support other departments in developing SoPs when is applicable.
- Assist the Finance Manager in responding to audit inquiries at the field level.
- Ensure all vouchers transactions in Navigator are reconciled against the E-voucher platform, and any discrepancies are corrected on time.
- Perform other related special projects and duties as determined and assigned by supervisor.
Finance:
- Work closely with Roving Senior Finance Officer, Finance Officers in the deep fields, and cash program team to ensure vouchers reconciliation are done on time and according to the SoPs.
- Review all top-up voucher requests before been uploaded to the E-voucher platform.
- Make sure the standard operating procedures for cash transfers to deep fields are followed.
Influence & Representation:
- Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, sub-grantees, donors, local governments and other stakeholders.
- Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met.
Security:
- Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership
Organizational Learning
- As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.
Accountability to Beneficiaries
- Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
Supervisory Responsibility:
- Finance Officer - Vouchers
Accountability:
- Reports Directly to: Field Finance Manager
- Works Directly with: Compliance and Finance department in Abuja, program and operational teams in Northeast Nigeria
Knowledge and Experience
- A University degree in Finance, Accounting or equivalent is required.
- Four or more years of compliance and finance experience is required.
- Three years’ experience in the compliance department of an international NGO is preferred.
- Demonstrated competency with computerized general ledger software
- This role is required an excellent MS Excel
- Prior management experience and strong organizational skills
- Excellent oral and written English skills
- Strong background in compliance accounting and internal controls; experience in auditing strongly preferred
- Thorough knowledge of major donor rules, regulations, and implications on budgeting and budget monitoring.
- Strong organizational and research skills with a broad understanding of various program sectors and activities
- Extensive knowledge of donor rules and regulations including BHA, ECHO, DFID, etc.
- Demonstrated experience and skill with budget preparation and presentation and proven ability to translate technical financial data into informative reports.
- Knowledge of Hausa is preferred.
- Working experience in Northeast Nigeria a plus.
- Strong accounting skills
Success Factor:
- The successful candidate will be capable of multi-tasking, rapid decision-making, have initiative, drive and a lot of energy, as well as high emotional intelligence, constructive mentoring skills and proven experience with capacity building.
- S / he will be committed to long-term program sustainability and the delivery of high-impact activities at the community level. Successful Mercy Corps team members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and challenging environments, and make effective written and verbal communication a priority.
- In particular, the successful candidate will be roving and travelling to locations such as Damboa, Dikwa, Ngala, Bama, Gwoza and other LGAs of Northeast program according to the needs of the Mercy Corps program. This will mean sometimes staying and working in stressful environments with very basic living conditions, strictly following security protocols at all times and sometimes working long and irregular hours).
- Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours.
- Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.
Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV and Cover Letters in one document, addressing the "Position requirements, Reference number and Location" to: ng-recruitment.nigeria@mercycorps.org with “Job title” as the subject of the email.
Note
- All applications must include the position title and reference number in the subject line
- Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interview
- We are an equal employment opportunity organization so women are strongly encouraged to apply for this position
