Senior Finance Officer Short Term 5-6 months

Organizational Unit / Duty Station

The Senior Finance Officer (SFO) will work in the Nepal consortium office based in Kathmandu. The Consortium Members (American RC, British RC, Canadian RC, Danish RC) have had a longstanding partnership with the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) having worked closely with them for several years, working alongside in the April 2015 earthquake response and recovery, as well as in the delivery of disaster risk reduction, health and community preparedness programs. This role is based in country and will support Programme, PMEAL, Administration, Procurement and Logistics Units, other Finance team members, as well as collaborating with the Consortium Partners and the International Finance Officer in DRC.

The Senior Finance Officer will report to the Consortium Finance Manager with oversight by the Country Consortium Manager.

Control, compliance and audit

Consortium Country Office

• Acts as the focal person for the assigned projects and collaborate with the consortium programme staff of the assigned projects and with the International Finance Officer (IFO) in DRC.
• Ensure monthly closure of the accounts of the assigned projects, hereunder timely and accurate booking of all NCRS costs, DRC delegates costs and share of consortium office costs on the relevant projects into the DRC accounting system (Microsoft Dynamics AX09)
• Control and monitor projects budget and expenditures throughout the year, and ensure compliance with DRC as Lead Agency’s finance procedure, donor guidelines and the project agreement 
• Closely monitor all financial activities related to the assigned projects and advise of all situations which have the potential for a negative impact on internal controls or financial management performance. 
• Produce and interpret to the project managers, the financial statements from NRCS and DRC, and support with follow-up action
• Advice the project managers on all financial matters related to your project portfolio, in consultation with Consortium Finance Manager
• Keep track, follow up and maintain an updated overview of projects and grants within Nepal under your portfolio
• Keep track and report on Time registration in Timelog on projects under your portfolio, ensure any outstanding matters regarding Time registration are solved, in corporation with International Finance Officer
• Compile donor financial reports for the assigned projects as per the donor requirement
• Provide project finance data for the annual Country and project Progress reports (CPPR and PPRs)
• Provide feedback to DRC HQ Finance on the implementation, usability and operational realities of the SOP’s accounting tools and systems, as well as budgeting and reporting templates and contribute to improvement initiatives in corporation with Consortium Finance Manager
• Contribute to efficient communication and coordination between DRC HQ,  programme team and NRCS on financial matters
• Ensure that all DRC Consortium Lead obligations with respect to the Consortium Corporation Agreement and the project agreement with NCRS concerning financial matters  are properly carried out.
• Support the development of (and adjustments to) project agreements, by providing the necessary financial input 
• Assist in performing due diligence procedures when needed.
• As requested by Consortium Finance Manager, supervise of the cash book/ sheet and bank account; ensuring reconciliation weekly/monthly. Carry out/ ensure weekly/monthly cash counts for office petty cash/safe.

NRCS

• Coordinate and assist Consortium Office and NRCS in preparing the project budgets and subsequent revisions, and ensure that donor specific guidelines are adhered to.
• Control and monitor project budgets and expenditures throughout the year, and ensure compliance with the DRC SOPs, donor guidelines and project agreement
• As part of the monthly closure the NRCS accounts must be checked (to ensure quality, proper documentation and accuracy, coding and compliance with Project Agreements) for the assigned projects, including transactions, bank statements, reconciliations, advances, budget coding, supporting documentation and asset management.
• Check all NRCS supporting documentation (for internal controls and audit purposes) and enabling provision of feedback to NRCS from the Consortium team.
• Assist in conducting surprise pretty cash counts, and physical asset verification at least once a year.
• Ensure that all payments request from NCRS under your responsibility are following the budgets and that DRC as Lead Agency’s finance procedures control measures are followed
• Facilitate cash transfer requests submitted by the NRCS and processing through the DRC payment system (FXECUTE) and follow up
• Prepare / provide timely and quality consolidated monthly and end of project finance reports (including both DRC and NCRS/other partners expenditures) with correct coding/allocation per budget lines and in compliance with donor regulations
• Review the bank and cash reconciliation submitted with the NRCS financial reports to ensure transparency and oversight on utilization of the project funds. 
• In accordance with donor requirements, plan, support, advise and organize timely financial audits of the Consortium funded projects, in close coordination with the NRCS including the tender process for local auditors, and ensure the relevant audit instructions are adhered to. 
• Guide NRCS finance staff and management in responding to findings raised by the external auditors and support NRCS to implement corrective actions to manage financial risks.
• Support and facilitate, in close coordination with NRCS the compliant closure of projects (including final reporting and external audit) and secure filing of all required documents in accordance with DRC Lead/donor policies.
• Conduct regular (minimum quarterly) field monitoring visits to project sites, in conjunction with the Consortium programme team, Consortium Finance Manager and NRCS,  and contribute to establishing the most efficient and effective financial setup
• Strictly adhere to anti-corruption guidelines and ensure the guidelines are also adhered to by DRC/Consortium partners funded NRCS programme staffs.

Capacity Building

In co-operation with Consortium Finance Manager

• Support and further build the capacity of Consortium Country office team on financial matters (hereunder give advice and train programme staff in activity-based budgeting
• Facilitate the development of relevant training materials to be used in financial training of Consortium programme team and NRCS finance staff engaged in the Consortium supported projects, in close consultation with the DRC Headquarters International Finance Officer
• Contribute to NRCS financial systems and procedures development as per request from NRCS

Other Tasks

• Any other tasks specific to this position to be identified and agreed upon by the job holder and line-manager  

Integrity, team building, credibility, motivation, honest, reliable and cultural awareness