Finance Officer - Voices for Just Climate Action

Period: March 2023 to December 2024 (Renewable)

Scope: Amplifying Voices for Just Climate Action (VCA)

Location: Nairobi, Kenya, Hivos East Africa

Hours: fulltime

Reports to: Finance Manager – VCA

Application deadline: 13th March 2023

About Hivos

Hivos is an international development organization guided by humanist values. Together with citizens and their organizations, we aim to contribute towards just, inclusive and life-sustaining societies where people have equal access to opportunities, rights and resources. We work in partnership with others in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America on three impact areas: civic rights; gender equality, diversity and inclusion, and climate justice. Our approach is solution driven, and we build wider movements for change by amplifying and connecting voices.

JOB CONTEXT

The five-year strategic objective of the VCA program is “By 2025, local civil society groups have claimed a central role as empowered innovators, facilitators and advocates of climate solutions”. Our program is about climate justice i.e. climate change is not only an environmental problem to be addressed but also a societal challenge with ethical and human rights aspects. Hence our intention is to build wide societal support for locally shaped climate solutions through an inclusive and rights-based approach. This includes building a broad-based climate alliance at country level, bridging divides (urban-rural, gender, youth), that amplifies voices in new, unusual ways. In addition, we will influence national and global policies and financial flows in support of these locally shaped solutions. The program will be implemented by an alliance of 6 organizations: WWF NL, Hivos, SouthSouthNorth, Akina Mama wa Afrika, Shack Dwellers International, Fundación Avina. During the 5 years’ program period the alliance aims to increase ownership of the program by local CSOs. The program is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the “Power of Voices” framework.

In general terms, Financial Officer (FO) support program and project teams in both the resource mobilization process and the result delivery process: the financial project accounts. The FO designs and prepares budgets and financial aspects of project proposals; administers the donor and implementing contracts; keeps track of expenses and payments, and manages the related cash flow and reporting schedules. The FO assesses budgets and financial statements of grantees. The FO administers and reviews the income statements of projects implemented by Hivos and assists the Project Leaders with their internal and external reporting obligations

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

Budget Design

• Prepares financial aspects of Hivos proposals according to requirements & procedures and provides financial and administrative assistance to Project Leaders and teams.

Contract Management

• Administers funding (donor) and implementation (assignments) contracts in terms of ‘rights and obligations’ to comply with, operates remittance schedules and reporting cycles and prepares internal and external financial program and project statements. Assesses budgets and financial statements of grantees.

• Overseeing finance and project administration of the Program and also maintaining oversight of financial and contractual compliance of partner grants.

• Conduct onsite visits for expenditure verification of partner records.

• Performs financial inspections of project partners as needed.

Income Statements

• Reviews and administers revenue and expenditure and income statements for individual implementation contracts assigned to Hivos, according to donor and Hivos regulations and procedures.

• Ensure budget tracking, sound financial management, including programmatic budgeting, quarterly spending projections, monthly spending reviews, and monitoring of payments;

• Set up and implement the monitoring, evaluation and finance systems for partners and provides reports on financial progress of grantees.

• Assesses audited financial statements of projects and Program partners.

• Ensure all financial transactions are in accordance with the relevant grant agreement and are properly processed and correctly recorded in All Solutions.

Quality improvement

• Advises in order to enhance accounting and reporting methods and capabilities on both the organization and the individual level.

• Review financial reports submitted by the sub grantee partners and make recommendations to the Program Manager for payments and further disbursements.

Compliance

• Coordinate the program audit.
• Undertake due diligence and capacity assessments of potential sub grantee partners.
• Document the highlights and agreements of key activities with partners and stakeholders.

Financial Administration

• Timely and accurate preparation of supplier payments
• Capture of costs in the accounting system
• Management of staff travel accounts
• Preparation of monthly bank reconciliation
• Payroll preparation
• Other ad hoc duties

REQUIREMENTS

• Degree in finance, accounting, business economics or related / similar field.
• A holder of CPA, ACCA or related certification.
• Affinity with finances and administration: accounting, business economics and project/ program finance management.
• Excellent critical analysis skills.
• Minimum of five years working experience in an NGO

SKILLS NEEDED

• Customer orientation

• Independency with working and on deliverables

• Ownership, and is inspired by and willing to be accountable to its values and principles.

• Accuracy and has an appreciation of detail.

• Great with time management and workload management.

• She/He/They embodies what VCA stand for and acknowledges its mandate and willing to be accountable to its values and principles.

• Experience working in multi country and multi-cultural contexts.

• Experience working with implementing partners.

• Is fluent in English, and preferably also fluent in one or two other relevant languages (Spanish, Portuguese, French, Arabic).

• Has the ability and willingness to travel.

• Experience working with implementing partners

We particularly welcome applications from women and/or persons that belong to one of the rights holder groups that Hivos works for. We offer a contract based on Hivos East Africa local labor conditions, with remuneration commensurate with the experience and expertise requested.

Want to Apply?

Does this sound like your profile? You are welcome to submit your application  by the 16th March 2023.