GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:
The Finance Manager is a member of the senior management team and part of the Mercy Corps Finance Department, and as such is responsible for all aspects of financial management of the country programs, working collaboratively to ensure compliance with Mercy Corps internal policies and procedures as well as donor regulations. S/he works under the direction of the Country Director and is responsible for all financial functions in Bangui, CAR, including accounting, payments and banking, payroll, budgeting, financial reporting and grant financial management and compliance. The Finance Manager, in support of the Program Department, provides timely reports and assistance to the Country Director and the Program team to ensure that financial resources are used efficiently and effectively.
PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:
Mercy Corps has been operational in the Central African Republic (CAR) since September 2007. With a focus on development and transitional programming, Mercy Corps is implementing water/sanitation, food security, livelihoods, civil society building, gender-based violence (GBV) and protection programs throughout the country. Programs focus on a range of interventions, including access to justice and GBV prevention, boosting agricultural livelihoods, water, sanitation, and hygiene, and build resilience and strengthening the protective environment for communities affected by violence. Recent developments of sectarian violence in the central and western portion of the country present new challenges for communities already impacted by instability following a March 2013 coup by Seleka rebels. Mercy Corps CAR is well-positioned to intervene with programming that engages divided communities into peace dialogue, conflict mitigation, protection and economic development activities that aim to build community resilience against violence and insecurity.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:
Strategy and Vision
* Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment of empowerment.
* Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions and resources to achieve objectives and contribute to country-wide strategy development.
Personal Leadership
* Consistently demonstrate flexibility, resilience and ability to maintain positive relationships and composure, even under difficult circumstances.
* Maintain high ethical standards and treat people with respect and dignity.
* Demonstrate an awareness of his/her own strengths and development needs.
* Support CAR team by conducting/participating in team building activities. Support team to ensure morale continues to improve during stressful times.
Representation
* Interface with UN/European Union representatives to convey information about programs as appropriate.
* Communicate with our partners including AFJC, FNEC, to verify their systems and that they understand and follow all appropriate procedures and archiving.
* Participate in sharing best practices with NGOs and governmental agencies.
Team Management
* Create a sustainable work environment of mutual respect that attracts motivated, skilled and effective team members and enables them individually and collectively to strive to achieve excellence.
* Supervise and lead a diverse team of direct and indirect reports in field offices.
* Contribute to country team-building efforts; build constructive internal relationships; help team members identify problem solving options and ensure integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.
Operations - Financial
* Ensure effective, transparent use of financial resources in compliance with Mercy Corps and donor policies and procedures.
* Maintain banking relations and plan and monitor country cash flow requirements to ensure the smooth implementation of Mercy Corps programs.
* Maintain appropriate local insurance coverage in coordination with the Admin. Department, to protect Mercy Corps.
* Provide monthly standard accounting submissions to Mercy Corps Headquarters, including general ledger files, account reconciliations, expenditures by cost center/project, required subgrantee reporting, as well as other financial information in a timely and accurate manner.
* Provide monthly management reports to the Country Director and Program Managers, including expenditures by cost center/project, subgrantee reporting and other financial information, in a timely and accurate manner.
* Develop annual fiscal year budgets with the Country Director and develop and implement grant budgeting and forecasting systems with Program Managers.
* Support finance team members during audits, and educate non-finance team members on the value of audits to foster stronger programming and outcomes
* In light of recent change in Accounting software, review Finance Department’s structure and workload to insure most efficient use of resources and appropriate segregation of duties
* Review finance team members’ performance and promote growth of local capacity by implementing development plans for each team member
Accountability: Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards 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.
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.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: All Finance Department staff (4 in Bangui, 7 in other offices).
ACCOUNTABILITY
REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Country Director
WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: HQ Regional Finance Officer (with authority for technical financial matters); members of Operations, Program Managers, TSU team members, and others.
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:
* A BA/S or equivalent in accounting or finance required; advanced degree preferred.
* At least 4 + years for Manager of progressive financial management experience, including supervisory experience required.
* At least 4 years’ experience in grants management as well as an understanding of USAID, UN, EC/ECHO regulations required.
* At least 3 years’ international experience required; international NGO/PVO field office experience is preferred.
* Demonstrated experience and skill with budget preparation and analysis, financial reporting preparation and presentation and the proven ability to translate technical financial data into informative reports.
* Strong accounting skills and experience, including management of the general ledger, journal entries, payroll, payables and balance sheet.
* Prior management experience and strong organizational skills.
* Advanced computer skills in MS Office programs, particularly Excel.
* Effective verbal and written communication, multi-tasking, organizational and prioritization skills.
* Excellent oral and written English and French skills required.
* Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive environment.
* Previous experience in insecure environments.
SUCCESS FACTORS:
The successful candidate will have an ability to interact effectively across international and national program and finance teams successfully, both in a Managerial as well as training capacity. S/he will be able to support programmatic objectives with timely and meaningful financial information, have a demonstrated ability to multi-task, meet deadlines and process information in support of changing program activities. An impeccable professional standard of finance and procurement ethics and the willingness and ability to enforce compliance with Mercy Corps and donor policies and procedures is essential. The Finance Manager must be willing to travel regularly to Mercy Corps field offices and project sites. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.
LIVING CONDITIONS:
The Finance Manager is based in Bangui. The location is unaccompanied for spouses and/or children and includes hardship allowance and R&R benefits. Travel in country to sub-offices (Bouar, Bambari, Bangassou, and Rafai) estimated up to 20%. Recent increases in violence around the capital and areas to the north and west has led to a more fluid and less stable situation on the ground. Hospitals and access to quality health care are very limited. Malaria is prevalent. It is estimated that 7-8% of the population may be HIV positive. Suitable group housing is available, but electricity and clean water are sometimes sporadic.
Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. 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.
