Finance Officer

The Ethiopian Women Lawyers’ Association (EWLA) invites competent and qualified candidates to apply for the vacant post of different positions of which the detail requirements are mentioned here below.

Brief Highlight of EWLA: Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association has been established at the federal level in 1995 by Women lawyers and re-registered as Local Organization in accordance with the Civil Society Organization. It has been working for more than 25 years to promote women’s social, economic, political and legal rights to help women exercise their constitutional and other rights.

The aim of the association is to promote equal participation of women in all sectors and to prevent sexual violence against women and create a safe environment for women through its three programs: Legal Research and Advocacy, Public Education and Capacity Building, and Free Legal Aid service.

The association is head quartered in Addis Ababa and has opened its regional offices in seven regions and one city administration namely Adama, Hawassa, Bahir Dar, Gambella, Asosa, Jigjiiga, Semera regions and city administration of Dire Dawa. In order to make the service accessible to all, the association is working to continue its service in the zones and woredas under its regional and city administration branches and has so far established 55 volunteer committee centers across the country. Besides, it has established a hotline service (7711) which operates in 3 local languages: Amharic, Afan Oromo and Tigrigna.

Job Summary

Under the immediate supervision of the Finance Manager, the finance officer is responsible for the proper management of finance and budget of the project and ensures proper transaction recording and reporting to the project manager.

Duties and responsibilities

The finance officer will have the following duties and responsibilities:

• Assist Finance Department Head in preparing budget plans;
• Liaise with the heads of finances of the lead partner and sub-partner on the financial management aspects of the project;
• Ensure that Program expenditure figures reconcile with those held by the lead partner and sub-partner/s;
• Prepare periodical financial reports based on agreed time frame;
• Facilitate the Project audit as required;
• Be responsible for the facilitation of any project administration matters;
• Prepare and executes budget plans of other core programs of the head office and regional branch offices;
• Analyze payments and receipts of both the Head Office & Regional Offices in the organization’s other programs;
• Prepare all necessary financial reports for internal consumption and/or external use;
• Reconcile monthly bank statements with the accounts record;
• Follow up the timely preparation of the Budgeted vs Actual Expenditure Report/Reconciliation and follow up the recording of each payment according to its Budget code;
• Organize payments and receipts documents of both the Headquarter & Regional Offices in a systematic way;
• Conduct coding of all documents and preparing Journal Vouches;
• Conduct reconciliation of all branch offices bank accounts balance with the Head office records on a monthly basis;
• Prepare monthly payroll;
• Process invoices
• Manages records and receipts
• Prepares balance sheets
• Record accounts payable and accounts receivable
• Update internal systems with financial data
• Participate in financial audits
• Review and implement financial policies
• Being a key point of contact for other departments on financial and accounting matters
• Support the Finance Manager and executives with projects and tasks when required
• Maintain a Fixed Asset Register and carryout yearly inventory;
• Carry out other duties assigned by the Finance Department Head.

Reporting Relationship:

The accountant is accountable to the finance manager and shall report to him/her.

Competencies

• Flexible and adaptable
• Ability to work well under pressure
• Corporate Competencies
• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the EWLA’s values and ethical standards
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of EWLA
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability

Functional Competencies:

• Organize and accurately complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities while taking into consideration special assignments, frequent interruptions and deadlines.
• Plan, coordinate and organizes workload while remaining aware of changing Priorities and competing deadlines.
• Establish, build and maintain effective working relationships with staff and clients to facilitate the provision of support.

Academic Qualification

• Bachelor or Master’s Degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics, Business Administration or relevant field of studies.

Required Skills and Experience

• 4-5 years of experience
• NGO/CSO areas experience
• Working experience in EU project is an added advantage
• Flexible and adaptable
• Being agile
• Bear criticism
• Maintain patience
• Organizational and interpersonal skills
• Professional ethics and integrity
• Being sociable and friendly
• A leaning attitude

Desirable Trainings

• Training in Financial and accounting procedures, financial and tax regulations, advanced financial software systems, Advanced MS Excel skills and Computer application related to his/her job.