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Finance manager, Poorest Areas Civil Society Programme, India

The Poorest Areas Civil Society Programme (PACS) is an initiative of the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), to work with civil society in India, to help socially excluded groups claim their rights and entitlements more effectively. PACS covers 90 districts in seven states: Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The five-year programme (2009-2014) supports civil society organisations (CSOs) promoting inclusive policies, programmes and institutions at local, district and state levels. PACS will target socially excluded groups: scheduled castes (SCs), scheduled tribes (STs), Muslim minorities, women, girls and people with disability (PwD). For more details please visit www.pacsindia.org

We are looking for a Head of Finance to strengthen the quality and impact of the PACS programme, by improving our ability to assess, learn from and maximise programme performance and results. This is an exciting and challenging opportunity to contribute to Christian Aid’s impact on poverty by improving our ability to understand, learn from and improve the performance of our international programme work. Based in Delhi, you will work closely with Christian Aid and PACS team and partners involved in this initiative.

As Head of Finance, you will be responsible for strategically managing the finance and compliance functions of the PACS programme.

You will be a qualified chartered accountant with strong background knowledge of financial principles and practices, considerable experience in financial management and budgeting, management of audits and familiarity with local government regulations and procedures. You will have considerable experience in working for not-for-profit organisations. You will have a demonstrated capacity to manage large institutional funded grants and possess skills in budget preparation, analysis and training, consolidated financial reporting and presentation. Experience of capacity building work of national organisations is desirable. A minimum experience of ten years in a similar role is desirable.

A natural communicator and leader with excellent analytical skills, you will have a strong, positive attitude and the ability to manage a wide range of issues.

Please show your suitability for this post by giving answers to the following questions: Using the guidance notes may help you formulate your answers.

Innovation and creativity

Please describe a time when, as a line manager, it was necessary for you to make a decision quickly.

What was the situation?
Why was the urgency?
Did it change things?
How?

Effectiveness and accountability

Describe an assignment you supervised that required detailed planning and organization and where you delegated parts or all of the tasks.

What was the assignment?
What were the goals and deliverables?
How did you decide who the tasks should be assigned to?
How did you monitor the progress of the assignment?

Management accounting and budgeting

Describe a project you worked on that had to adhere to a strict budget and monitor the same.

What was the project?
What type of constraints did the budget create?
How did you monitor it?
How did you ensure that the project remained focused on the goals and expectations?

Financial accounting and reporting

Describe a time when you had to solve a complex problem that required coordinating numerous different processes and/or integrating different types of information/data.

What was the problem?
How were the different processes or types of information related?
How was the problem solved?
What was the outcome?

Poverty is an outrage against humanity. It robs people of dignity, freedom and hope, of power over their own lives. Christian Aid has a vision – an end to poverty -and we believe that vision can become a reality. Our overarching aim is both very practical and very ambitious: to change the lives of some of the poorest people in the world. We want to see change happen and we want to know that it is tangible. We campaign against the inequalities that keep people poor and we work with local organisations to give people strength to find their own solutions to the problems they face, irrespective of religion or any other consideration.

We value the contribution each person makes to the success of our organisation, so you can expect a range of rewards and benefits that will ensure you enjoy a good work/life balance.

Download the role profile (42 KB pdf)

To apply for this post, please download an application form and email your completed International application form to: delhirecruitment@christian-aid.org (quoting the reference number). Alternatively, your completed application form can be printed out and posted to us at:

Christian Aid
D-25-D, South Extension Part II
New Delhi
India 110 049

Please note that CVs will not be accepted and that only short-listed candidates will be contacted. If you have not been contacted by 4 November 2011, please assume your application was unsuccessful.

Preference will be given to applicants who are Indian nationals or who are eligible to work in India.

Job reference: India/2011/0902

Closing date: Thursday, 20 October 2011

Interview date: Week commencing 7 November 2011

Christian Aid values diversity and aspires to reflect this in our workforce. We welcome applications from people from all sections of the community, irrespective of caste, race, colour, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief. We encourage applications from socially excluded communities, ie Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, religious minorities, people living with disabilities and especially encourage women candidates to apply.