Senior Finance Officer - Anbar / Ramadi

Requisition ID: req6519

Job Title: Senior Finance Officer - Anbar / Ramadi

Sector: Finance

Employment Category: Regular

Employment Type: Full-Time

Open to Expatriates: No

Location: Iraq

Job Description

The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, IRC offers life-saving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in more than 40 countries and in 22 U.S. cities, IRC restores safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted by conflict or disaster. IRC leads the way from harm to home.

CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND

Iraq is emerging from over three years of civil war against the Islamic State and remains one of the most complex operating environments in the world. The devastating human consequences to huge numbers of people will endure for decades and the destruction of communities, livelihoods, homes and infrastructure will take years to repair. Over 4 million Iraqis have returned in the past year, but 1.9 million remain displaced. 230,000 Syrians continue to seek refuge in the Kurdish region. The new government will struggle to rebuild trust and restore basic services. 

A lead responder in Iraq since 2003, the IRC delivers aid and services that help communities survive, recover, and gain control of their future. The IRC is providing robust programming across five governorates through women’s protection and empowerment, child protection and protection and rule of law programming; cash distributions and livelihoods programming in support of economic recovery and development; education programming; and integrated early childhood development programming. Our work spans emergency response to long-term programming supporting our clients to rebuild their lives. 

Job Summary

TheFinanceSeniorOfficerwill directly report to the Field Coordinator and takes the lead in providingfinance andaccounting management and finance function of the fieldoffices. H/She will supervise Finance officer and will also be member of the field management team.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

1)Finance, Grants andAccounting:

• Visit the sub offices on a regular basis to provide training and support to staff on matters related to grants, contracts and budgets
• Review field office accounting procedures to ensure they are in compliance with IRC policy and various donor rules and regulations
• Review cash/bank spreadsheet originating from the Anbar field offices before it is loaded SUN Ensuring that uploads are complete, accurate and agree with cash and bank reconciliations.
• Work with the country Office finance to identify any matters arising in the monthly finance reports and ensure that appropriate action is taken.
• Review and consolidate field cash transfer request then submit to Erbil Finance.
• Manage all aspects of day to day operations of the finance and accounting in Anbar field office.
• Lead in implementation of Finance policies, procedures and systems in Anbar, Ramadi Field office.
• Inform relevant staff of any new updates on donor rule and regulations related to finance
• Represent finance on grant opening and close out meetings
• Work with the grants unit to ensure that all donor related information is disseminated to field based program and logistics staff to enable them abide by donor rules and regulations ensure compliance with IRC procedures and guidelines.
• Review all payment documents according to Authorization Matrix.
• Promote cooperative professional relations between finance and other program and support staff, especially in relation to the provision of finance services and support.
• Ensure timely submission of Operations and Program cash forecasts and submit to Erbil.
• Review, with the objective of gaining a clear understanding, budget guidelines and instructions.
• Review funding allocations to enable proper guidance to program and proper coding.
• Day to day troubleshooting errors to avoid mistakes.
• Stamp all payments and the supporting documents as POSTED immediately after posting daily transactions on spreadsheets.
• Daily posting of Ramadi expenditures into spreadsheets and ensure mathematical accuracy, correctness of coding and existence of supporting documents in accordance with IRC policies and procedures.
• Maintain good relations with external partners.
• Assist with audit preparation, pulling out vouchers from box files, review before handing over to the auditors.
• Review all payment documents according to the latest approved Authorization Matrix.
• Prepare monthly SPC allocation JV for Ramadi and submit to Erbil on 7th each month.
• Archive all finance documents for Anbar in the filing room, finance office and making sure all documents are well organized and sequenced.
• Adhere to deadlines of finalizing the tasks.
• Send the original payment documents to Erbil on monthly basis.
• Follow up with Baghdad Finance Officer to ensure Social Security and Tax for Ramadi staff have been paid on time each month.
• Verify Cash counts done by Finance Officer on weekly basis and ensure proper filing of the signed Cash Count sheets.

2)Budgeting

• In coordination with Field Coordinator -Budget and Planning discuss on a monthly basis Budget Versus Actual reports with relevant program staff. Ensure that key spending issues are discussed and appropriate action points are agreed.
• Ensure that any proposed adjusting entries are reviewed and acted upon within the month identified to avoid recurrence of the same issues.
• Train field based staff on how to interpret BVA and what appropriate actions to take.
• In coordination with the Field Coordinator Review and coordinate updating of field office-operating budget to ensure that it is up to date for all funding sources; that the costs are adequate in terms of completeness and reasonableness; that the field office has a plan for funding "gaps", if any
• In coordination with Field Coordinator and Erbil Finance Budget and Planning with grants and program staff on all budget realignments ensuring that the process is being done correctly taking into account the latest available information.

3)StaffTraining

•Train staff on IRC finance and budgeting process.

•Train staff on Shared Program Cost allocation methodology, monthly cash projection and follow ups.

•Train Field Program managers on how to monitor their budgets, code expenses and the proper use of T3's and T2's.

•Support the team in Anah sub-office on managing petty cash for sub-office operation and monthly salary payments

•Perform other duties, as needed and/or requested by the supervisor.

Qualifications