Financial & Institutional Funding Officer

Oxfam Novib is committed to ridding the world of poverty. We have a conviction that people are well capable of building a livelihood without poverty on their own, once given the chance to do so. Which is why we support local projects in developing countries, why we lobby governments and companies to take into account the interests of the poorest people, and why we campaign to involve Dutch men and women also in our work. We work together with other Oxfam affiliates to increase our impact on development issues. By the first of January 2012 the existing field presence in Niger will be functioning as a fully decentralised Field Office in Niamey, Niger. Therefore we are looking for a Financial & Institutional Funding Officer Fulltime position, single or family posting Based in Niamey, Niger Per direct Purpose of the function The financial & institutional funding Officer provides for the financial management aspects of the Oxfam Novib country portfolio in Niger, the implementation and monitoring of the financial aspects of the assigned Special Projects, the management of the financial risks and opportunities of grants provided to Civil Society organisations, and takes care of the appraisal and analysis of the necessary financial aspects of proposals and reports for back-donors. He/she ensures grant compliance to the conditions of programmes financed by external donors and does the tracking in the team to ensure timely processing of financial and content data and ensures timely quality reporting to back donors. The financial and institutional funding officer reports to the Associate Country Director.

Functie-eisen

Main tasks of the function You analyse the financial aspects of funding applications, financial reports and financial audits of Oxfam Novib counterparts for the sake of a proper accountability and transparency; you assess, together with the Programme Officers, the organisational structure, capacity and management systems of counterparts as well as the external risks and communicate about these issues directly with the counterparts and propose appropriate monitoring and/or capacity-building. You closely monitor counterparts' levels of expenditure and implementation of activities and outcomes in collaboration with Programme Officers. In collaboration with the Institutional Funding Coordinator you develop the funding strategy, and monitor the field office's performance on external funding in terms of revenue mobilisation and grant compliance. You contribute to the further development of the field office capacity to ensure proper accountability and compliance to Oxfam Novib grant management and/or specific back donors' requirements of programmes financed by these. You draw up the consolidated budget for (externally funded) project or program proposals on the basis of intended project activities and on the basis of the information supplied by the Programme Officers and/or implementing partners. You do this as part of the team, in close cooperation with the Program Officers. You provide a quality check by evaluating concept notes and proposals on consistency, completeness, presentation and relevance to donors and compliance with the donor's demands. You contribute to the development and the implementation of the annual contract for Niger and make proposals in this regard for approval and spending targets. You monitor periodically the approvals and spending and performance at country level and you revise the (financial) planning where necessary. You record this in the management information system. You check and process the declarations and invoices in order to have overview of the total spending of the project and/or programme. You signal to the Program Officer (or project officer of externally funded projects) when the spending is not in line with the budget. You write the financial management reports in line with the standards of the back-donor(s) for externally funded projects and programmes, including a (first) analysis. You work together closely with the Program Officers... You set up grant compliance training for staff and counterparts; design action plans for reporting and monitoring requirements per externally funded grant and proactively ensure monitoring of this. You ensure adherence to donor requirements in both financial and progress reports, and mobilise timely the required monitoring, evaluation and auditing exercises. You check and appraise the financial aspects (internal and external risks and opportunities) of proposals of intended local partners to be funded by Oxfam Novib's core funding. You coordinate findings with the Program Officer and you make proposal on the (manner of) financing. You carry out (un)expected internal financial audits according to the accounting manual, and prepare for external audits for externally funded programs. You develop a network of financial consultants, auditors in Niger to support these tasks. You regularly visit counterparts and their projects in the field and other relevant organisations/people in Niger in order to properly implement and check the above mentioned duties, and formally report on findings and take required actions. You report to the Associate Country Director, and have direct contacts with relevant units at HQ (project control, SPEF, Quality & Control). You have A degree in finance management on a Bachelor or MSC-level; 5 years of relevant work experience in financial position including financial management, planning, administration and budgetting and auditing; Several years of working experience related to international development organisations; Experience in making independent financial analyses of development programmes and organisational and financial management assessments, and you can evaluate these against the political and socio-economic context within which they are carried out; You have proven experience with grant management and setting-up grant compliance systems, and are able to train, motivate and monitor staff members. Experience and knowledge of relevant financial IT-systems, pref. Excel, Pastel and/or SAP-Adobe; Experience in procurement and logistics processes; Extensive knowledge of financial and administrative systems; Excellent communications skills in both French and English. Compentencies required: Excellent social skills and you are a team player; Result orientation; Cooperation; Planning and organization; Care; Flexibility; Analysis; Accuracy. We offer A competitive, fair and comprehensive pay and benefits package that is justifiable to our donors. Application procedure Are you interested in this position? Send your application in writing, including a motivation letter and a curriculum vitae and mentioning reference number 5-092 to jobs@oxfamnovib.nl to the attention of Frans Pakvis, HR Consultant, no later than October 24th, 2011.