Roving Finance Coordinator

Oxfam is a global community that believes poverty isn’t inevitable. It’s an injustice that can be overcome. We are shop volunteers, women’s rights activists, marathon runners, aid workers, coffee farmers, street fundraisers, goat herders, policy experts, campaigners, water engineers, and more.

And we won’t stop until everyone can live life without poverty for good.

Oxfam GB is a member of the international confederation Oxfam.

OUR VALUES AND COMMITMENT TO SAFEGUARDING

Oxfam is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work, including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity, and financial misconduct; and committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people, adults, and beneficiaries with whom Oxfam GB engages. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

The post holder will undertake the appropriate level of training and is responsible for ensuring that they understand and work within the safeguarding policies of the organization.

OUR WORK IN ETHIOPIA

Since the early 1970s, we have been working to address the underlying causes of poverty and marginalization by focusing on developing sustainable livelihoods, providing water and sanitation, agriculture, climate research, gender, and humanitarian issues.

TEAM PURPOSE

To bring excellence as a finance partner for Oxfam Ethiopia country office with the provision of value-adding support to all stakeholders.

To ensure a strong stewardship role in resources management; support in the achievement of program effectiveness; deliver efficient, cost-effective and quality operations, and technical/professional advice and expertise to develop and implement Oxfam’s strategic roles.

OBJECTIVE OF THE Role

To generate quality information and reports and perform analyses to support and guide program decisions

ROLE DESCRIPTION

Working directly with the Field Finance team, as well as indirectly with partners, internal departments, suppliers, and other stakeholders.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Technical

Financial Management:

• Lead the budgeting processes for the program and ensure review, consolidation, and submission of the budget within the timeframe.
• Ensure the preparation of high-quality financial reports, review/monitor financial performance against budget, and provide analysis/commentary on these as required by the Organization.
• Prepare a monthly financial plan and closely follow up utilization of the approved budget.
• Ensure effective financial management, asset management, and financial accountability to all assigned projects.
• Frequently travel to field offices and ensure proper financial management is in place and provide on job training for field office staff
• Ensure that all donor financial reporting requirements are complied with and that donor financial reports are accurate and submitted in a timely manner.
• Ensure effective, timely, and accurate functioning and monitoring of the complete People Soft financial systems (GL), including maintaining the completeness and integrity of data within the system, generating necessary reports, and authorizing monthly data compilation in the system.
• Lead on assessment of finance functions in partners and recommend improvement plans.
• Oversee monthly financial review of the assigned field office.
• Regularly travel to field offices and provide capacity building for finance and others to ensure smooth Oxfam policy and procedure implementation.

Processing and Accounting for Financial Transactions

• Ensures that all disbursements are prepared based on approved payment requests, sufficiently supported, approved by designated officials, and charged to a valid budget, donor source and project.
• Review payment requests and related supporting documents and assign appropriate staff to process disbursements.
• Verifies validity, accuracy, completeness, and correct accounting treatment of all disbursement functions, including petty cash payments, check payments, floats or advances and other receivables settlements.
• Checks that approvals for financial transactions are as per the authorization limit defined by the Country Office.
• Perform allocation of salaries and overheads to active and appropriate projects and contracts at month-end with an adequate audit trail.
• Ensure financial controls, processes, and procedures are in place for the project.
• Support project managers in-country teams with project narratives in relation to expenditure and financial risks.
• Ensure that project cash flows are managed in a timely and accurate manner.
• Prepare timely and accurate financial reports as required by the project manager and country office team.
• Inform the Project Manager of material issues and variances and propose and monitor actions.
• Ensure financial transactions are reviewed and validated before entered into PeopleSoft.
• Review monthly financial reports to ensure the correctness of information before closing the accounts
• Review for accuracy all financial reports generated from system.
• Review and advise on the allowability and reasonableness of costs charged to projects in consultation with budget holders to prevent disallowances and questioned costs.
• Assist the Preparation of field offices monthly payrolls, transfer to employees’ accounts and settlement of withheld amounts of taxes to respective offices.

Budgeting and Budget Management

• Assist Project Managers with the preparation of budgets for funding applications and ensure shared program costs are included at an adequate level
• Assist the Project Manager with monitoring and revision of project budgets.
• In collaboration with the Program/project staff, ensures that project budgets are administered in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement and donor policies.
• Makes a follow-up on budget utilization and project expenditure.
• Ensures that project managers receive monthly budget versus actual (BVA) comparison report and assists in replying to any queries arising from the report.
• Assists Project Managers with review of project proposal budgets and budget phasing before uploading to PeopleSoft
• Code phased budgets and upload into the Donor Reporting Tool for ease of retrieving interim and final financial reports
• Ensure that CRIMSON value of contracts is reconciled against OPALISED amounts
• Generate and review the Program Funding Report monthly and make appropriate adjustments as required
• Ensures that expenses are booked only against a valid budget.
• To be responsible for the compilation of the annual budget and support programme/finance staff with programme-related budget submissions.

Facilitating Audits and Project Closure

• Prepares financial information and facilitates internal, donor, or government audits
• Provides explanation on queries raised by auditors, assists in audit management response and implementation of internal and external audit recommendations.
• Assist field offices to respond to Country Office queries promptly.
• In coordination with the Country Office team takes the lead in developing action plan and corrective actions to implement audit recommendations related to project finance
• Ensures that all financial progress and final reports are prepared accurately and disseminated to donors in a timely fashion, in compliance with grant award provisions and guidelines.
• Coordinates grant closure activities with the respective project manager, funding coordinator and grant accountant and ensures that expired contracts are closed in time.

Reporting and Compliance

• Frequently travel to the field office and ensure all compliances are ensured in all processes.
• Ensure accurate and timely submission of financial reports, schedules and budget variance analysis to the project manager
• Prepares regular reports to Donors in accordance with donor reporting requirements in the contract agreement.
• Ensures that Project Managers and field office management receive monthly BVAs within three days after month-end close and provide timely response to any queries arising from the report.
• Ensure transaction listings and supporting documents are maintained for donor reporting and audit.
• Prepares regular financial reports to Field office, Country Office and Donors.
• Develop expertise on the rules and regulations of various donors and provides guidance in the area of donor compliance.

Ensure that Oxfam Internal Control Systems are compliant with set procedures.