Pacific Community
Communauté du Pacifique
JOB DESCRIPTION
| Job Title: | Finance and Administration Officer (FAO) |
|---|---|
| Division/Programme: | Public Health Division (PHD) / Finance, Administration and Procurement Team (FAPT) |
| Location: | Suva, Fiji or Noumea, New Caledonia |
| Reporting to: | Finance Team Leader (PHD) |
| Number of Direct Reports: | 4 |
| Purpose of Role: | The role will provide support to the Public Health Division (PHD) with budget preparation, financial monitoring and reporting, audit compliance, procurement and grants and efficient administration as part of the Finance, Administration and Procurement Team (FAPT). The key primary focus of this role is to ensure the smooth and efficient operation of the Division in strict adherence to the Pacific Community (SPC) and donor requirements. |
| Date: | August 2026 |
Organisational Context and Organisation Chart
The Pacific Community (SPC) is the principal scientific and technical organisation in the Pacific region, supporting development since 1947. We are an international development organisation owned and governed by our 27 country and territory members. In pursuit of sustainable development to benefit Pacific people, our organisation works across more than 25 sectors. We are known for our knowledge and innovation in such areas as fisheries science, public health, geoscience, and conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.
The Public Health Division (PHD) employs around 40 staff based in Noumea and Suva. It supports members in developing healthier Pacific Island people and communities. The primary focus of the division is to provide scientific and technical assistance and to support the implementation of plans and programmes in member countries and territories. The primary goal for all PHD activities is to promote population health and well-being,
prevent diseases, restore and/or maintain health and reduce inequalities in health. PHD is primarily concerned with improving and protecting public (population) health, rather than individual treatment services.
The PHD is comprised of five programmes: 1) Surveillance, Preparedness and Response Programme (SPRP); 2) Non-Communicable Diseases Prevention and Control Programme (NCDP); 3) Clinical Services Programme (CSP); 4) Laboratory Services Programme (LSP); and 6) Health Integration and Innovation Programme (HIIP).
The Finance and Administration Officer (FAO) position is based in Suva, within the Office of the Director PHD, as part of the Finance, Administration and Procurement Team (FAPT). The position will support the Finance Team Leader and the FAPT in the delivery and execution of workplans through the provision of sound financial and administration services, that are aligned to program objectives and are in compliant to all SPC and donor corporate requirements.
Key Result Areas (KRAs):
The position of Finance and Administration Officer (FAO) encompasses the following major functions or Key Result Areas:
- Budget preparation, monitoring, and financial reporting
- Accounting, audit, and compliance
- Procurement, grant and operational support
- Overall administrative support
The performance requirements of the Key Result Areas are broadly described below:
| Jobholder is accountable for | Jobholder is successful when |
|---|---|
| KRA 1 Budget preparation, monitoring, and financial reporting (30%) | |
| - Work closely with the Team Lead on the preparation of annual budgets for the Division including annual work plans. - Ensure that the Divisional spending is within the approved budgets and workplans through monitoring of the programmes / projects budget and forecasts. Specific focus areas include - Income and expenditure against Project plan, or annual workplan and budgets - Monthly analysis of expenditures against outputs/outcomes; and - Commitments, project execution rates and project acquittals. - Assist with preparation of the monthly financial and annual Divisional progress reports. - Assist the Team Lead with the development of budgets for new funding initiatives, work-force planning and resource mobilisation. - Preparation of periodic multi-purpose project financial reports (numerical, narratives and analysis) and costed workplans for SPC, partners and donors, as and when required. | - Accurate, regular reports are prepared for budgetary monitoring and audit processes, in line with SPC and donor reporting requirements. - Timely financial reports are readily available to the Division's management team for decision making. - Funding and activity implementation gaps are identified and addressed proactively. - Stakeholders are provided with timely and accurate financial information (periodic / annual) as and when required. - Expenditures are tracking within the approved budgets, and work plans are aligned to deliverables per the signed funding agreements - Development of appropriate tools to enhance budget monitoring and preparation, and periodic financial reporting. |
| KRA 2 Accounting, audit, and compliance (35%) | |
| - Reconciliation – Lead on the Division's financial month-end closing processes. Ensure that all financial transactions are accurately reflected in the financial system, and discrepancies are proactively addressed. - Cash management - Monitor the income and expenses of projects, to ensure the adequacy of funds for the implementation of activities. - Preparation of periodic cashflow reporting forecasts for the projects and Division. - Audit - Coordinate and facilitate audit engagements (internal/external/projects) for the Division. Provide the relevant support to other review/evaluation engagements. - Compliance - Review and improve processes to ensure compliance with SPC policies, donor reporting requirements and contractual agreements. - Provide support to the PHD risk management assessment processes, and the technical finance capacity building for the Division. | - All financial data captured in the financial system are complete and accurate. - Audits, reviews and evaluations are completed in a timely manner. - Minimal (zero) audit issues. - Finance processes are fully compliant with SPC policies, donor reporting requirements and contractual agreements. - Finance processes are comparable to best practices. - Favourable liquidity levels for programmes and projects, as cashflows are appropriately managed. - Financial risks are adequately mitigated. - Periodic review of finance process for improvements. - Timely dissemination of financial information to stakeholders. |
KRA 3: Procurement, grant and operational support (20%)
- Lead PHD's procurement engagements (programmes and projects), in line with SPC policies and donor requirements.
- Preparation and monitoring of the Division's annual procurement plan.
- Support the SPC annual procurement planning process, as required.
- Provide solutions-oriented guidance to the Division on all procurement related matters.
- Lead PHD's granting engagements (programmes and projects), in line with SPC policies and donor requirements.
- Facilitate the granting process (as and when required) and the management of the relevant contractual agreements.
- Provide solutions-oriented guidance to the Division on all granting related matters
- Monitoring of the Division's risks associated with its procurement plan and grant activities.
- Manage vendor relationships, and the operational support provided to the Division, and ensure that the communication flows are clear and timely.
- Fully compliant Annual Procurement Plan for the Division.
- Timely dissemination of procurement and granting advice to the Division.
- Professionally managed contracts (vendors and consultants) with timely delivery of services to the stakeholders.
- Smooth collaboration with the Procurement, Grants, and Corporate Finance teams.
- Proactive risks and mitigation assessments.
- Updated PHD tracker of all Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Letter of Agreements (LOA), Donor, and Grant contract agreements.
- Professionally managed relationships with Division vendors.
- Operational support (including feasible ad-hoc requests) executed within the relevant periods.
KRA 4: Overall administrative support (15%)
- Contribute to the SPC Finance and Procurement shared services agenda which includes knowledge sharing, process refinements / reviews and increasing collaboration.
- Facilitate administration relating to staff travel, meetings, trainings, and field exercises
- Ensure that financial acquittals are provided on a timely basis and support documentation is sufficient and adequate.
- Ensure that all the Division's finance documentation is well prepared and stored in readily available mediums in line with audit standards.
- Liaise directly with PICTS and other stakeholders on project administration issues, country specific financial policies and financial reporting matters.
- Provide training to project stakeholders and grantees where required in SPC financial management policies and requirements.
- Provide general support across Programmes where required in finance and administration activities.
- Tasks allocated are completed in a timely manner and of high quality.
- All travel arrangements and training logistics successfully done in line with the SPC's policies.
- Financial management support provided to stakeholders is timely and well informed.
- All financial acquittals are vetted and cleared in a timely manner.
- All finance documents are well organized, audit ready and easily accessible.
- Project teams are well informed of SPC's financial and operational mandates.
- The project operations are well aligned to the PHD internal finance and administration processes as well as overall SPC policies.
The above performance requirements are provided as a guide only. The precise performance measures for this job will need further discussion between the jobholder and supervisor as part of the performance development process.
Most Challenging Duties Typically Undertaken (Complexity):
- Ensuring that financial progress and final reports are submitted in accordance with donors reporting requirements.
- Providing timely financial information to programmes and other stakeholders. Regularly reviewing budgets and forecast to ensure funds are managed efficiently.
- Identifying potential issues related to risk management and advising on solutions.
- Facilitating audits in a timely manner.
- Ensuring compliance with SPC Corporate Policies.
- Ensuring the administrative Standard Operating Procedures are updated and adhered to.
- Managing competing procurement needs of PHD Programmes.
- Liaising with focal contacts within Ministries of Health, Ministries of Foreign Affairs, technical and other regional organisations.
Functional Relationships & Relationship Skills:
| Key internal and/or external contacts | Nature of the contact most typical |
|---|---|
| External - Ministries of Health - Ministries of Foreign Affairs - Technical agencies - Regional and national counterparts - Development partners/donors - Consultants - Auditors - Banking officials - Local and overseas vendors | - Resolving financial issues and obtaining budgetary reports. - Providing ad-hoc information, resolving financial issues, and providing reports. - Explaining, providing feedback on projects, including financial advice. - Explaining, providing information and advice pertaining to budgets and payments. - Providing information on project implementation and financial management. - Facilitating procurement and direct grant contracting. |
| Internal - PHD Staff - Central Finance Team - Shared Services Teams including IT, Human Resources, Facilities, Travel, Procurement, Grants, and Legal - SPC Staff | - Receiving and providing information (guidance). - Teamwork, collaborating, establishing work processes, advising, receiving, and providing technical input, support in procurement and grant contracting, advising on travel and other SPC administrative and operational procedures. - Providing financial information and reports as and when required. |
Level of Delegation:
Routine Expenditure Budget: <Overall operational budget managed by the role: 0 Euro
Budget Sign off Authority without requiring approval from direct supervisor: 0 Euro
Personal Specification:
This section is designed to capture the expertise required for the role at the 100% fully effective level. (This does not necessarily reflect what the current position holder has.) This may be a combination of knowledge / experience, qualifications or equivalent level of learning through experience or key skills, attributes or job specific competencies.
Qualifications
| Essential: | Desirable: |
|---|---|
| - Bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting or equivalent body of knowledge and experience. | - Post graduate qualification in accounting, business, commerce or public finance. - Member (CA or CPA) of an accredited accounting body. |
Knowledge/Experience
| Essential: | Desirable: |
|---|---|
| - At least 5 years of demonstrated professional experience in project finance, or finance and procurement operations or in a similar role. - Demonstrated experience of working with development partners at a strategic level. - Experience in financial reporting, project budgeting, risk management and business improvement processes. - Strong understanding of procurement and grant activities, contracts and liquidity management. - Demonstrated audit experience, with sound knowledge of accounting standards, and attention to detail. - Familiarity with the use of computerized financial management information systems, and applications. - Solutions oriented with sound coordination, administrative, networking and negotiation abilities - Demonstrated supervisory experience and people management skills. - Fluency in English. | - Experience with Navision financial management system, and Power BI dashboard reporting. - Project and Corporate finance work experience in the Pacific Island region. - Procurement, Grants, and contract management experience. - Initiative-taking and solutions oriented. - Fluency in French is desirable. |
Key Skills/Attributes/Job Specific Competencies
The following levels would typically be expected for the 100% fully effective level:
| Expert level | - Financial reporting and compliance. - Applying procurement and granting policy and procedures. - Budget preparation and management - Grant and procurement management |
|---|---|
| Advanced level | - Finance policies and guidelines - Budget management for multi-donor projects - Donor reporting and budget monitoring - Grants and Liquidity management |
| Working knowledge | - Accounting and risk management standards. - SPC financial management procedures. |
| Awareness | - Ability to deal with confidential information in a professional manner. - Organisational vision. |
Key Behaviours
All employees are measured against the following *Key Behaviours** as part of Performance Development:*
- Building Individual Capacity
- Change and Innovation
- Interpersonal Skills
- Judgement
- Leadership
- Promotion of Equity and Equality
- Teamwork
Personal Attributes
- High level of professional integrity and ethics
- Friendly demeanour
- Demonstrated high level commitment to customer service
Change to Job Description:
From time to time, it may be necessary to consider changes in the job description in response to the changing nature of the work environment - including technological requirements or statutory changes. Such change may be initiated as necessary by SPC. This Job Description may also be reviewed as part of the preparation for performance planning for the annual performance cycle.