Vacancies at Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI) – Ebonyi, Gombe, Sokoto

Job Title: Finance & Administrative Specialist

Locations: Adamawa, Bauchi , Ebonyi, Gombe, Sokoto
Start date: December 2020 – August 2025

Background

• The purpose of the five-year (2020-2025) “State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness” (“State2State”) Activity is to increase the accountability, transparency and effectiveness of selected state and local governments (LGAs) in Nigeria. This will be achieved by: strengthening governance systems (with a focus on public financial management [PFM] and procurement, as well as monitoring and evaluation) related to the delivery of services in key sectors (basic education, primary health care, and water, sanitation and hygiene [WASH]); increasing government responsiveness to citizen needs and priorities; and improving government and civil society capacity to manage conflict (through work on prevention, mitigation and reconciliation with the same sectoral partners, not stand-alone assistance to the police or judiciary).
• State2State will achieve this purpose by facilitating the strengthening of subnational governance systems in a sustainable manner, supporting the efforts of local reformers and building on locally-derived solutions including, to the extent possible, reforms already working in other parts of Nigeria.

Position Objectives

• The Finance & Administrative Specialist position will manage the State finance/accounting and administrative activities.

Responsibilities

• The Finance & Administrative Specialist will prepare relevant reports; ensures that all states transactions follow DAI/USAID standards, regulations and policies; Manage the states administration processes; collates financial and technical reports; ensures timely and accurate financial reporting, aligned with technical outcomes.
• S/he will be responsible for providing the Senior Accounting Manager and the Accountant with the appropriate financial and operating  information as necessary; allocate project funds among the states various program activities; work closely with other departments in the state on problems involving accounting systems and financial planning.
• The incumbent will help establish and maintain adequate system controls to protect against financial misstatement, in accordance with applicable government accounting and administrative regulations; will support the Federal level in coordinating the state annual and other financial audits—including preparation of supporting schedules and information—respond to auditor questions and consolidate report formats; manage all banking activities including withdrawals, deposits, and preparation of all bank payments and checks.
• S/he will record all financial transactions in Field Accounting System (FAS) on daily bases; ensures accurate and timely processing of invoices, advances and reimbursements, checks, and wire transfer payments; upload the expenses into Oracle based on DAI’s schedule; Performs monthly bank reconciliations and routinely monitors bank account balances.
• This role will work with the Accountant to approve and distribute travel advance amounts based on S2S’s travel advance policy; audits travel requests and expense reports for accuracy and compliance; follows procedures to ensure accurate and timely payment and reconciliation of travel advances, reimbursements for staff and partner travel; reviews and monitors outstanding advances report by paying close attention to advances that have not been settled after 30 days of issuance.

Reporting:

• The Finance & Administrative Specialist will report to the State Team Lead.

Line Management:

• The Finance & Administrative Specialist will supervise the Administrative Assistant and Drivers

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business Administration, Public Administration, Economics, or other relevant field is required. An advanced degree is preferred.
• At least 8 years of experience in finance and accounting. Previous experiencing working on US Government funded projects highly preferred.
• Strong training, communications, and personnel management skills.
• Previous supervisory experience highly preferred.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.

Job Title: LGA Coordinator

Locations: Adamawa, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Gombe, Sokoto
Start Date: January 2020 – August 2025

Background
The purpose of the five-year (2020-2025) “State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness” (“State2State”) Activity is to increase the accountability, transparency and effectiveness of selected state and local governments (LGAs) in Nigeria. This will be achieved by: strengthening governance systems (with a focus on public financial management [PFM] and procurement, as well as monitoring and evaluation) related to the delivery of services in key sectors (basic education, primary health care, and water, sanitation and hygiene [WASH]); increasing government responsiveness to citizen needs and priorities; and improving government and civil society capacity to manage conflict (through work on prevention, mitigation and reconciliation with the same sectoral partners, not stand-alone assistance to the police or judiciary).

State2State will achieve this purpose by facilitating the strengthening of subnational governance systems in a sustainable manner, supporting the efforts of local reformers and building on locally-derived solutions including, to the extent possible, reforms already working in other parts of Nigeria.

Position Objectives:

• The LGA Coordinators will support the implementation of all aspects of State2State at the LGA Level.
• They will individually provide support to their respective LGA Managers activities and ensure relevant LGA interventions within the state.

Responsibilities

• The LGA Coordinators will work with partner LGAs using our State-LGA Interface Assessment Tool to identify formal and informal relationships governing subnational governance – and help select LGAs, considering those with the strongest IGR performance potential and the capacity for sustained service improvements.
• The LGA Coordinators will apply the Local Government Performance Index (LGPI) as a baseline for LGA capacity and to identify State2State interventions; support in strengthening LGA budgeting and planning procedures and procurement processes while adapting existing citizen guides to the budget and co-create CSO grants to raise budget literacy; will work with local partners to mitigate conflict by using grants to forge partnerships between state, LGA institutions and CSOs to support participatory mechanisms for dialogue on budget priorities.
• The incumbents will provide training and mentoring to LGA finance and administration staff on developing systems for more rigorous controls on LGA expenditures; will support the development of a medium-term revenue strategy and a comprehensive review and update of state fee structures.
• S / he will support the projects service delivery by working with the M&E team to establish KPIs that flow down to the LGA level on health, education, and WASH facilities; track improvements at the LGA levels in all areas of governance including auditing, budgeting and planning, and procurement processes; while the State teams harness reforms within the states, the LGA Coordinators will extend the push for reforms to the local level and will spend at least a day to a week in their state offices, traveling to LGAs to work out of LGA offices.
• Reporting: The LGA Coordinators will report to the LGA Managers.

Minimum Requirements

• A relevant degree or HND in Social Sciences, Development Studies, etc.
• At least five (5) years of demonstrated experience in local government work in the successful implementation of international development activities, with preference given to governance activities under a USG instrument, related to technical area of the position.
• An ability to manage relationships and a sound understanding of institutional change in complex environments;
• Ability to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences including LGA staff, and community leaders;
• An excellent understanding of financial and technical delivery, monitoring and evaluation of program impact and reporting against results;
• Demonstrates excellent project management skills to agreed timescales (timelines, targets, donor requirements)
• A broad range of experience including logistics, training and capacity building ability
• An understanding of, and commitment to, equal opportunity service delivery.
• Flexible, ability to work both as an individual and as a team member and under stress in what can be a harsh environment
• Good planning, organizational and negotiation skills
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills
• A logical approach to solving problems
• Basic computer skills particularly Microsoft Office
• Fluency in English, Hausa and / or other local languages is required