Job Title: Regional Finance Specialist
Job Reference: F2022-3354
Department: Finance
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Updated: January 2022
JOB SUMMARY:
The African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) is recruiting a Regional Finance Specialist. The role will be to provide quality and proper stewardship of all field-level financial management, through the effective day to day management of field financial resources, systems, processes, policies and procedures, acting as the field based resource for the HQ finance team to ensure proper adherence to AFAP’s financial policies.
The Regional Finance Specialist will be responsible for all field-level financial activities, including day-to-day accounting and finance related practices, management and reporting, budget, general accounting, billing, financial recording, accruals, bank reconciliations, trainings and all grants financial management activities as needed.
The following duties are intended to provide a representative summary of the major duties and responsibilities and ARE NOT intended to serve as a comprehensive list of all duties performed by all employees in this classification. Incumbent(s) may not be required to perform all duties listed and may be required to perform additional, position-specific duties.
REPRESENTATIVE DUTIES:
Direct Financial Support:
Reporting to, and under the direction of the CFAO, serves as a Senior Business Partner and a resource to the field-based Country Managers and Finance and Administration leads in field offices for local support, training and guidance.
Provide direction and capacity building to field Finance and Administration teams; directly supervise Finance and Administrative leads.
Lead and manage the day to day financial management for field offices who have a gap in their finance function, and cover the day to day duties of payments, recording, record retention, bank reconciliations, financial reporting and other activities as required.
Supports Finance and Administration lead to implement financial and operations functions for donor-funded projects. Ensures compliance with donor and partner regulations, local country laws and AFAP policies and procedures.
Provides oversight and management support for all aspects of field financial management including advisory and technical support, project budget planning and coordination support, procurement, Cash management, financial administration and compliance management.
Work with HQ finance team to further develop renewal/continuation of current processes, policies and finance functions, applications, including the development of annual budgets, finance tools, financial system training, required reports, narratives and capacity for financial support in field offices.
Regional Capacity and Building Assessment:
Assess the capacity of current country finance teams and make recommendations about training needs, organizational structure, and staffing changes; process and policy updates per field office and other items which may propose a risk to AFAP’s finance function.
Develop training and guidance tools for field finance staff, as well as program and other staff, on financial processes and the importance of financial compliance; as well as providing guidance and corrective actions to ensure that accounting process happen timely and without disruption
Recommend changes to AFAP financial processes pertaining to field requirements, and support improved execution of financial processes in the country offices;
Increase financial effectiveness and efficiencies of field offices from HQ support and processes.
Act as HQ based field finance manager for country offices lacking financial leadership, capacity or staff.
Regional Financial Reporting:
Leads financial management improvements initiatives and special projects as well as providing technical financial expertise to the projects and country offices in the areas of budgeting, financial management and risk management, and day to day financial management as needed.
Develop tools to support field knowledge for budget to actual reporting by line item and charging of expenses as per HQ guidance regarding charge and cost break out;
Develop activity-based reporting that works within a system from purchase order to payment, so that costs are properly recorded by activity, vendor, expense account, geographical area and other dimensions as required;
Develop cash forecasting and budget projection tools for field offices that cover a three (3) month period;
Work with staff to understand and properly implement cost allocations, and payroll FTE allocations, as well as procedures to implement payroll journal entries in line with best practices;
Develop overall country comprehensive reporting structures;
Prepares high-level financial reports required by senior management, headquarters, and donors alongside HQ finance team for review.
Create and implement other donor or AFAP reporting tools and templates as needed to support HQ finance reporting.
Compliance and Oversight:
Engage with the country and HQ compliance teams to improve overall compliance understanding;
Ensure the effectiveness of AFAP’s control environment among the countries’ finance, payroll, and accounting teams;
Along with the home office leadership team, provide a strong “tone at the top” for fiscal compliance within the organization and field offices.
Responsible for continuous improvement of AFAP policies and procedures and SOPS to sustain compliance with organizational and donor rules and regulations.
Oversee, understand and ensure countries statutory and tax compliance.
Coordinates the provision of risk management guidance to country offices to improve operational risk management through effective financial management and practices.
Collaborates with cross-functional teams and other regional operations counterparts in, HR, IT, HQ teams to develop processes to improve resource management efficiency for country office operational efficiency.
Supports coordination external audits, to ensure external audits are performed based on agreed upon accounting standards, and issues raised are resolved on time and that corrective actions are tracked and implemented.
Ensures that accounting processes in the field offices are executed with minimal error and on time.
Minimum Education and Work Requirements:
Education: Degree in Financial Management, Accounting, Business Administration or related field
A minimum of Five (5) years’ experience in project level financial accounting/ grants accounting
Experience with large Donors (USAID, CDC, DFID, BMGF etc)
Familiarity with specialized non-profit industry accounting practices, budget monitoring, reporting requirements and procedures
Experience in managing grants across a range of stakeholders and in supporting grantees to ensure compliance with grant processes
Proficiency in clearly communicating information about finances and accounting issues to non-accountants and individuals with varying levels of financial expertise
Acumen in maintaining accurate financial records and preparing clear and accurate reports for informational, auditing, and operational use
Demonstrated leadership qualities and ability and skills to succeed in a teamwork environment
High focus on deadlines and attention to detail
A proven track record of trustworthiness, personal accountability, and exceptional ethics
Action oriented and resilient
Computer skills including spreadsheets, database, accounting package (QuickBooks) and Internet/email
Relocation Eligible: Not Applicable
Job Type: Regular
APPLICATION INFORMATION
Qualified applicants are required to send a CV and a one-page cover letter to support their application along with salary requirements to [email protected].
The subject line for this post should read: Regional Finance Specialist F2022-3354.
The closing date for submission of applications is 11 February 2022.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.