Finance Officer at Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD)

Westminster Foundation for Democracy is the UK’s leading democracy-strengthening organisation. We bring together parliamentary and political party expertise to help developing countries and countries transitioning to democracy.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Finance Officer

Location: Abuja
Contract type: Full Time – Fixed term contract for service
Contract length: Until 31st March 2021
Reports to: Country Representative Nigeria

Main Duties 
Financial administration for all Nigeria programmes:

• Manage multiple programme budgets from different donors/funders
• Prepare quarterly financial reports in line with donor requirements
• Process local income and expenditure and input all transactions onto SAGE online accounting system (or other systems as required)
• Manage solely and responsibly the day-to-day financials and transactional processing, including office petty cash and bank account
• Complete daily, weekly, monthly and yearly bank reconciliations
• Prepare monthly accruals
• Prepare and analyse local cash flow – funds cash requests to WFD headquarters, petty cash etc.
• Support local partners and subcontractors to adhere to WFD policies and procedures
• Be responsible for the thorough and accurate filing and recording of financial documents across all programmes
• Assist with the preparation of programme budgets
• Advise Country Representative and London staff on forecasts and provide accurate expenditure and variance analysis
• Raise payments and process invoices and bills on time relating to the programmes and in line with WFD policy
• Produce monthly expenditure reports and monitor expenditure regularly with the budget lines
• Prepare monthly programmes reconciliation and forecast
• Ensure financial documents are correctly and accurately coded, recorded and filed and stored both hard and soft copy (on SharePoint), and in line with donor requirements (and data sensitivity)
• Work closely with WFD payroll service provider to facilitate payment of statutorily obligated payments and remissions, for WFD and its staff, including: withholding taxes, Pension, National Housing Funds, PAYE, etc
• Preparation of appropriate documents for internal and external audits, programme and organisational;

Office Management:

• Liaise with programme suppliers and service providers, as required
• Apply the procurement process consistent with WFD policy and Value for Money (VFM) principles
• Ensure documents and files are accessible and properly filed in paper form and online using SharePoint
• Order office stationery and supplies, as necessary
• Maintain the office asset register
• Keep and regularly update suppliers’ records

Programme Support:

• Provide logistical support to programme activities such as booking venues, flights, transport, accommodation and organising catering, etc.
• Work closely with the London office to provide support for visits to and from the UK and other countries outside of Nigeria
• Assist the Country Representative during events to ensure activities run smoothly
• Ensure accurate filing of programme documents in paper form and online via SharePoint
• Support local partners and subcontractors to adhere to WFD policies and procedures

Business Development:

• Assist with the preparation of programme budgets for business development purposes for different donors/funders
• Assist with the financial set up of new programmes

Reporting:

• Provide timely financial reports and ensure an up to date filing system for all programmes: capture expenditure, report against budget and provide accurate financial reports and reconciliation with Sage
• Support local partners and subcontractors to adhere to WFD policies and procedures re. reporting

Risk Management:

• To maintain an understanding and awareness of WFD’s risk management policy and procedures and to report any actual or potential incidence where WFD could be operating outside its ‘risk appetite’.
• Proactively review and identify any potential issues which would interfere with the reporting requirements and/or WFD compliance standards and take appropriate action to resolve them.

Person Specification 
Knowledge, skills and experience:

• University Degree, CPA or M.com or ACCA, ICAN, Master’s degree in related field is preferred
• Experience of, and excellent abilities in, accountancy and financial administration including management of cash flows, balance sheets, sizeable budgets (planning, monitoring and reporting)
• At least 3-5 years’ experience in Financial Management, Finance system, policies and procedures, preferably experience in working with INGO’s.
• Experience of supporting multiple programmes and budgets simultaneously
• Experience of using accounting packages (e.g. SAGE or QuickBooks). Proficient in working with Microsoft Office (MS Excel, Word, Outlook)
• Experience working on programme budgets from a range of donors, such as EU, DFID, UN, GIZ etc.
• Knowledge of project management methodologies and how to integrate good financial management into good project management
• Good command of spoken and written English
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to work in a changing environment
• Experience of procurement
• Knowledge of the Westminster Parliamentary system and Political Parties, UK and international funding institutions and donor agencies

Competencies Requirement:

• Analysis and judgement – Attention to detail, understands the importance of gathering and processing information accurately.
• Working with others – Recognises that other teams, organisations and communities have different ways of doing things, takes time to understand these and to establish shared understanding and goals. Seeks advice and ideas from others and proactively shares information and learning
• Communicating and Influencing – Anticipates the needs and concerns of partners and prepares to address these.
• Delivering Results – Tackles difficult problems, seeks to understand the reason for obstacles and takes personal responsibility for finding solutions. Asks questions to clarify expectations and to agree goal.

Salary
N 8,400,000 (Inclusive) per annum.

Deadline: 18th February, 2019.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should submit a completed “Application Form” below, to: recruitment@wfd.org to be considered for this role. Please state clearly the Job Title, Location and Your Name in the email subject when submitting your application.

Click Here to Download Application Form– (Ms Word)