Terms of Reference for Senior Finance and Human Resource Officer

Global Fairness Initiative

The Global Fairness Initiative promotes a more equitable, sustainable approach to economic development for the world’s working poor by advancing fair wages, equal access to markets, and balanced public policy to generate opportunity and end the cycle of poverty.Since 2002, GFI has partnered with hundreds of marginalized working communities in Latin America, Africa, and Asia to enhance economic opportunities and build sustainable livelihoods. In Nepal, Over 200,000 workers, of whom as many as 32,000 are children, labor in unhealthy and unsafe conditions in Nepal’s brick kilns. The informal nature of the industry, which operates on the periphery of communities and with little government oversight, has served to entrench exploitive labor practices such as forced, bonded, and child labor. While work conditions are often harsh, the brick industry provides needed income to thousands of unskilled laborers, and in the wake of the Gorkha Earthquake of April 2015 the sector has become a particularly vital source of the jobs and building materials necessary for Nepal’s rebuilding and recovery. The Better Brick Nepal (BBN) Program’s core long-term goal is to eliminate child, bonded, and forced labor on brick kilns in Nepal and improve working conditions for kiln workers by incentivizing kiln owners to reform through a combination of increasing market opportunity and improving enterprise viability. To achieve this, long entrenched systems of recruiting workers, paying wages and operating kilns themselves must be reformed and new, locally appropriate, approaches introduced that maintain financial benefit for owners and workers alike. Brick kilns in Nepal play an important role in an economic infrastructure that supports the livelihoods of thousands of workers and provides the raw materials that drive Nepal’s reconstruction and future growth. A future goal of BBN would be to create a more nuanced vision of brick production with wider recognition of good and bad practices where, currently, the sector is largely disparaged on the whole. The impact of creating this “choice” leverages a prevalent interest from kiln owners to find solutions to social and environmental problems entrenched in the sector, and taps into an insurgent demand for responsibility and accountability in the commercial sector in Nepal, led in part by international donor agencies, and amplified in the wake of the Gorkha earthquake.

Details / requirements:

Terms of Reference

for

Senior Finance and Human Resource Officer

Project: Better Brick -- Nepal (BBN)

Job Description: Full-Time Financial and Human Resource Officer (One year with three months' probation period)

Country Focus: Nepal

Responsible to: GFI Country Director (CD)and Better Brick – Nepal Chief Operating Officer (COO) 

Organization: Global Fairness Initiative (GFI) 

Duration: One year contract, with possibility of extension and dependent on grant funding

Compensation: Commensurate with Experience

Opportunity Background

Over 250,000 workers, of whom as many as 60,000 are children, labor in unhealthy and unsafe conditions in Nepal’s brick kilns. The informal nature of the industry, which operates on the periphery of communities and with little government oversight, has served to entrench exploitive labor practices such as forced, bonded, and child labor. While work conditions are often harsh, the brick industry provides needed income to thousands of unskilled laborers, and in the wake of the Gorkha Earthquake of April 2015 the sector has become a particularly vital source of the jobs and building materials necessary for Nepal’s rebuilding and recovery. 

The Better Brick Nepal (BBN) Program’s core long-term goal is to eliminate child, bonded, and forced labor on brick kilns in Nepal and improve working conditions for kiln workers by incentivizing kiln owners to reform through a combination of increasing market opportunity and improving enterprise viability. To achieve this, long entrenched systems of recruiting workers, paying wages and operating kilns themselves must be reformed and new, locally appropriate, approaches introduced that maintain financial benefit for owners and workers alike. Brick kilns in Nepal play an important role in an economic infrastructure that supports the livelihoods of thousands of workers and provides the raw materials that drive Nepal’s reconstruction and future growth. A future goal of BBN would be to create a more nuanced vision of brick production with wider recognition of good and bad practices where, currently, the sector is largely disparaged on the whole.The impact of creating this “choice” leverages a prevalent interest from kiln owners to find solutions to social and environmental problems entrenched in the sector, and taps into an insurgent demand for responsibility and accountability in the commercial sector in Nepal, led in part by international donor agencies, and amplified in the wake of the Gorkha earthquake.

The Better Brick Nepal (BBN) Program

The Better Brick - Nepal Program is a collaboration between the Global Fairness Initiative (GFI), GoodWeave, and 11 local Nepali NGOs, supported by Humanity United. The program’s objective is to incentivize kilns to eliminate bonded, forced, and child labor in the brick industry by increasing market opportunity and improving enterprise viability. Better Brick - Nepal is achieving this objective by utilizing a “tiered” system of engagement to differentiate levels of progress towards improving working conditions, as defined by the Better Brick - Nepal Standards, the program’s levels of engagement and investment on each kiln, and intensities of market facilitation and promotion for the kilns. 

Better Brick - Nepal currently has 40 partner kilns, which fall into three tiers - Participant Kilns, Member Kilns, and Certified Kilns. By staggering engagement and investment based on performance, the program can partner with more kilns, more quickly. In addition, by marketing Member and CertifiedKilns, the program can start to add in suppliers to meet the increased demand, while also ensuring that a zero tolerance policy on child labor is upheld.   

Better Brick - Nepal’s specific objectives are:

  • Support kilns in sustainably improving working conditions on their kilns and ultimately help them become a viable enterprise that is certified as a Better Brick Kiln
  • Create a market segmentation for “Better Bricks” and secure buyers interested in purchasing socially-responsibly produced bricks 
  • Generate awareness around the challenges brick workers face among public consumers, policy makers, and decision makers to galvanize support for improving working conditions on brick kilns and creating a market preference for Better Bricks,  
  • Implement a multi-stakeholder engagement strategy to segment the brick market and drive a set of policies and practices that incentivize the production of Better Bricks.
  • Creation of a local entity – Better Brick Nepal – and strengthening ofits capacity to manage the program and supporting initiatives 

Roles and Responsibilities:

  • This position is responsible for maintaining and enhancing GFI/Nepal’s financial and human resource systems, policies, and programs. It is anticipated that the majority of the Senior Finance and Human Resource Officer’s time will be spent on the financial responsibilities and only about 25% of their time will be dedicated to the human resource responsibilities. 

Financial Management Systems and Policies

  • Maintain and enhance GFI/Nepal’s accounting, financial management, and budgeting policies and procedures
  • Ensure proper documentation and procedures are followed and are in line with GFI/Nepal’s systems, polices, and procedures and Nepali laws and regulations 
  • Work closely with CD, COO, and GFI’s Program Director (at Headquarters) to ensure the effective and efficient management of all financial processes 
  • Recommend improvements to CD, COO, and GFI’s Program Director (at Headquarters) on strengthening internal control processes, policies, and procedures to maintain the financial strength of the organization
  • Implement control system for financial integrity of GFI/Nepal in line with GFI/Nepal’s systems, polices, and procedures
  • Communicate relevant GFI/Nepal policies to partners for consistency and uniformity in financial management
  • Maintain banking relationships
  • Ensure successful outcomes in annual audits, as required by Nepali law
  • Any other duties, as assigned 

Budgeting and Financial Analysis

  • Work closely with senior management, staff, and partners to create accurate budgets and projections for GFI/Nepal, GFI/Nepal’s partners, programs, and grants
  • Maintain budgets for GFI/Nepal, GFI/Nepal’s partners, programs, and grants 
  • Track all financial transactions of GFI/Nepal in line with GFI/Nepal’s policies, procedures, and Nepali laws and regulations 
  • Support the development of operating budgets for GFI/Nepal as well as program budgets for partners and grants
  • Routinely analyze budget projections, expenditures, and surplus/deficits and highlight relevant issues or risks to management in a timely manner 
  • Any other duties, as assigned 

Capacity Development of Partner Organizations

  • Develop and manage reporting system for effective monitoring of partners’ financial management
  • Oversee the appraisal of financial and internal control systems of partner organizations and recommend areas for improvement 
  • Monitor partners to ensure their financial integrity within GFI/Nepal’s framework of policies and procedures
  • Support partners, where necessary, in developing financial policies or procedures that are in compliance with GFI/Nepal polices
  • Support in the capacity development of partners and staff around strong financial management practices, policies, and systems 
  • Any other duties, as assigned 

Reporting 

  • Provide monthly expenditure reports to GFI Headquarters that includes tracking expenses against relevant budgets
  • Provide semi-annual reconciliation of program partners expenses to GFI Headquarters against relevant budgets and projections 
  • Provide expenditure reports, budget projections, and other budget analysis for programs to GFI Headquarters to satisfy donor reporting requirements 
  • Any other duties, as assigned

Human Resource Management

  • Maintain and enhance GFI/Nepal’s human resources by planning, implementing, and evaluating employee relations and human resource policies, procedures, and practices
  • Maintain and develop up-to-date job descriptions for all current positions
  • Oversee recruitment and hiring practices 
  • Ensure transparent and fair policies and procedures are developed and followed for employee reviews, merit-based increases, promotions, and terminations  
  • Manage employee evaluation processes, including annual reviews 
  • Maintains employee benefit programs and informs employees of benefits and notifies staff of any changes to policies or programs 
  • Ensure legal compliance by monitoring and implementing applicable human resource requirements as defined by national or local laws or regulations 
  • Maintain human resource records, ensuring appropriate processes are followed on confidentially 
  • Any other duties as assigned

Knowledge and Experience:

  • At least 10 years of professional experience in finance, accounting, human resource, or other relevant fields 
  • Proven experience in managing financial processes and systems in Nepal 
  • Proven experience in human resource management in Nepal 
  • Strong skills in MS Office and Accounting Software, including Quickbooks
  • High-level of personal integrity, efficiency, and ability to balance multiple tasks and deadlines
  • Strong ability to work cooperatively with diverse teams and stakeholders, including staff members, partners, and management
  • Excellent interpersonal, networking, communication, negotiation and facilitation skills
  • Strong problem solving skills and the ability the work well under pressure 
  • Strong oral and written communication and presentation skills.
  • Fluency in English and Nepali required

How to apply: Interested applicants are required to submit a detailed cover letter, along with their updated CV. It is mandatory to submit three (3) references. Email: infonepal@globalfairness.org

Application deadline: 28th July, 2017 by 5pm.

Job Overview

Category Administrative / Management
Openings 1
Experience 10+ years
Education Please check vacancy details
Posted Date 21 Jul, 2017
Apply Before 28 Jul, 2017
City Kathmandu