Finance Manager

ACTIVITY OVERVIEW

The five-year (2020-2025) USAID Local Impact Governance Activity (Local Impact) will help Zambia build up a sub-national system of governance for devolved service delivery more responsive to citizen needs. The program will engage national and sub-national authorities to expand the capabilities of district-level governance bodies to deliver sustainable development outcomes, increase effective citizen and private-sector involvement in development planning and monitoring, and improve public financial management and domestic revenue generation.

The activity will work toward three objectives:

• Objective 1: Citizens improve their collective skills to effectively assess service-delivery needs and performance and constructively engage with government.
• Objective 2: The sub-national governance system becomes more responsive to citizen needs, generates, and accountably expends revenue, and improves service-delivery outcomes.
• Objective 3: The program generates learning and facilitates problem solving that supports the development of an effective, financially viable sub-national governance system for devolved services, capable of being scaled up throughout Zambia.

PURPOSE

The Finance Manager is responsible for managing finance staff, ensuring compliance to financial regulations, and adherence to policies and procedures, He/She will play a pivotal role in overseeing adherence to financial policies in project’s Field Operations Manual (FOM); USAID rules and regulations; and internal controls. He/She will be responsible for and the overall compliance and financial well-being of the project, reporting to and working closely with the Finance and Operations Director.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Compliance

• Provides oversight of accounting staff ensuring adherence to financial policies and procedures, as well as GAAP accounting standards
• Ensures that any/all contractual financial reporting requirements are identified and complied in a timely and accurate manner
• Reviews of all finance vouchers for correct coding, complete procurement documentation
• Works with the Finance and Operations Director to ensure that all staff adhere to separation of duties policies
• Ensures that project internal financial controls are implemented in accordance with DAI policies, USAID rules/regulations and the terms of the contract
• Works with the Finance and Operations Director to identify training needs for any staff on financial policies and procedures

Financial Management

• Coordinates with the Finance and Operations Director on a regular basis to ensure that funds for all forthcoming project activities are adequately planned for
• Manages project expense reports submission
• Trains all staff on supporting documentation and submission of expense reports and advance settlements
• Manages cash flow requirements and forecasts
• Ensures proper segregation of duties within the finance team
• Maintains banking relationships and procedures as required
• Reviews bank reconciliations ready for approval
• Ensures that foreign taxes paid, if any, are tracked, recorded, and submitted to the Finance and Operations Director for reporting to USAID in accordance with ADS guidelines, and in a timely manner
• Provides responses and performs approved actions to internal audit comments
• Conducts regular spot reviews of backup documentation to ensure completeness, accuracy, and full compliance with all regulations and the Field Operations Manual (FOM)
• Ensures accurate and timely execution of payroll, timesheet review and maintains the leave balance tracker
• Manages and provides training, guidance and direction to the accountant
• Ensures the accountant is properly executing his/her role
• Guides all staff on finance procedures relating to their role, including but not limited to expense management, USAID financial policies and procedures, and payroll.

Other duties

• Provides leave of absence cover for staff as required
• Escalates any issues to his/her supervisor immediately
• Prepared to travel to project provincial offices as required
• Performs any other duties as assigned

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE AND REPORTING

• The position will be based in the Local Impact main office in Lusaka, Zambia and will report to the Finance and Operations Director
• There may be some travel to provincial offices
• The position will directly manage the Accountant

QUALIFICATIONS

• Certified Accountancy Qualification (completed)
• B.A. Degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration or equivalent.
• Must have current Associate Membership of the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA)
• 7+ years of relevant experience in a finance position
• Minimum 2 years’ experience supporting USAID-funded projects in an accountancy/finance role
• Previous work experience with DAI in a finance role is an advantage
• Demonstrated understanding of applicable finance-related USG contracting regulations
• Experience handing compliance enforcement in a similar environment
• Accuracy in working with large amounts of data
• Ability to respond effectively to the time sensitive inquiries
• Experience with enterprise accounting software, and Microsoft office suite
• An energetic, forward-thinking and creative individual with high ethical standards and appropriate professional image
• An extremely well organized and self-directed individual with sound technical skills, analytical ability, good judgment, and strong operational focus
• Able to maintain good working relationships with team members whilst retaining high levels of confidentiality and discretion
• Fluency in English is required

APPLICATION

• Use the URL provided in the advertisement to apply
• Applications must be received before the closing date
• Only short-listed candidates will be notified
• No phone inquiries